"Crude" - the story of oil in Ecuador

Last week I was fortunate to see two great movies relating to the environment and the food we eat. The first was Crude, which a lawsuite against Chevron for the large scale spillage and contamination of the Amazon in Ecuador when Chevron decided to drill.

In essence, the company dumped all their waste into nearby watersheds, contaminating the drinking water of thousands of residents. It also buried excesses by piling small amounts of dirt on top - later families that had homes on top found that their teenagers were dying of cancer. In one scene that stays in my mind, a baby was covered in a red rash. The nurse at the hospital said it was due to all the chemicals, and that eleven to fifteen out of every twenty babies had it. (Chevron has said that the deaths are due to poor sanitation.)

The amount of damage was shocking, but I wasn't shocked that we had never heard of these disasters - like many industry giants today, the oil industry has a lot of money and power behind it, so claims or lawsuits usually don't have a chance. In this case, a NY law firm was backing the indigenous tribes that were filing for damages. By the end of the film, an independent investigator judged that the damages were an estimated 37 billion; however, at this time the company is appealing the ruling.

For more information, please keep reading up on oil and check out the website: www.crudethemovie.com

the oil's still coming...

The other day I joined the group "Boycott BP" on facebook. And I invited my friends.

I rarely send out invites to people, although I'm always receiving "gifts", "high fives", "green plants", "green bottles", you name it. But seriously, we are about to celebrate Memorial Day at the end of the month of May, and the oil is still leaking. No one is saying if they've stopped it, although you would think between one of the largest companies and one of the wealthiest nations someone could think of a way to stop it and actually put that plan in action.

I know it's not good to complain and do nothing. When I'm upset by some news, I usually try to pass on important info, write to the editor, or leave a comment to let the powers that be know that it matters to me. I've looked through many news sites to see the different opinions on this matter. For one, it doesn't seem that the government wants to move fast, although according to the latest Live Feed Obama will suspend"planned exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska until at least 2011." (Doesn't that seem like a lot of specifics?)

Also, I also found out through DawnWatch that once animals are exposed to oil, they are basically as good as dead. This is obviously not what the media are showing, based on the wealth of animal clean-up pictures that insinuate that there is hope where unfortunately there shouldn't be.

The animal rights group PETA has chosen to address the oil spill by focusing on an underlying factor: heavy reliance on oil. Since a vegetarian/vegan diet uses less oil and fossil fuels, they suggest using diet to influence a system of consumption and business structure that responds to consumer demand and profit margins.

Tonight, May 28, there is a protest in NYC against BP. So I guess there are ways to get involved, although stopping the leak immediately is still a bit out of reach for most of us.