Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) brings “Crude” film to Hill

[babylonsister]

15-year legal battle against Chevron? This is disgusting.


http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/03/31/mcgovern-brings-%E2%80%9Ccrude%E2%80%9D-film-to-hill/

McGovern brings “Crude” film to Hill
@ 4:50 pm by Hill Staff


Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) spoke Tuesday of the pools of spilled crude oil he saw in a November 2008 trip to Ecuador as impetus for bringing a documentary with a message to the Hill.

In a small movie theater in the Library of Congress, McGovern introduced “Crude”, a documentary on Chevron’s alleged dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rain Forest, as a way to educate his colleagues about what has been called the world’s worst oil-related environmental catastrophe.

“People need to know that there’s an area the size of Rhode Island that’s contaminated,” McGovern said. In his fact-finding trip, McGovern said he met people who were drinking water out of wells that reeked of oil and saw toxic sludge leaking into streams and rivers, he said.

McGovern said he is not taking a position on the pending lawsuit that pits the oil company against the people of Ecuador, but he thinks his colleagues should know about the man-made disaster.
The documentary follows many of Ecuador’s indigenous groups who live among the black muck and have fought a 15-year legal battle against the American oil giant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

“My hope is that when you see this film, that it’ll inspire you to make this issue a priority,” McGovern said.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. K&R -- needs three more for Greatest page! nt