Sunday, January 31, 2010

"Crude" nominated for NAACP Image Award!


Great News! Joe Berlinger’s "Crude" has been nominated for NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical /Television) category.


    Other nominees in this category are:

  • "Capitalism: A Love Story" (Overture Films)

  • "Crips and Bloods: Made in America" (Gravitas Ventures)

  • "Good Hair" (Roadside Attractions)

  • "More than a Game" (Lionsgate)

"Crude" is a remarkable documentary about a $27 billion environmental lawsuit between Texaco and 30,000 Ecuadorians who have spent three decades battling Texaco -now owned by Chevron for contaminating their land and water with toxic oil sludge. It tells a horrifying story of pollution, cancer, illness and death on one side and Chevron's refusal to accept responsibility for it on the other.

"Crude" is a must see for those who care about the environment and social justice!

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1902 and is the nation’s largest and most influential civil rights organization. It advocates social, political, educational equality of all people and stands against racial discrimination.

The annual NAACP Image Award is given to the individuals and groups who promote social justice in the arts and entertainment.

This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of the 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members.

To become a member and cast your vote as well, visit the NAACP website: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/

The Award Ceremony will air live 8/7 c on FOX Friday February 26, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Chevron Way: If We Repeat Lies Enough, Maybe Somebody Will Believe Us!

Chevron’s only defense in the massive oil contamination lawsuit brought by Ecuadorians living in the Amazon rainforest is that Texaco cleaned its share of the oil sites in exchange for a liability release in a 1995 agreement with Ecuador. Problem is, this isn’t true: 1) Tests show lethal levels of toxins at 45 of 54 of the so-called “cleaned” pits & 2) The agreement did not release Texaco from individual claims, only those by the government. See the list of the pits below.

In the list below, you’ll see TPH; that stands for total petroleum hydrocarbons. The higher the TPH, the worse the contamination. In the US, a lot of states allow only 100 parts per million of TPH. In Ecuador, it’s 1,000 parts per million. As you can see below, the numbers are thousands of times higher than what the law allows. And, Chevron wants us to believe these pits are clean!

Chevron, though, never lets the facts stand in its way. See this CNN interview by Anchor Rick Sanchez with Chevron attorney Silvia Garrigo, preceded by an interview with human rights activitist Kerry Kennedy who visited the oil pits recently and spoke out against Chevron’s refusal to take responsibility for the contamination.

http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2009/1022-kerry-kennedy-interviewed-on-cnn.html

Before signing off, Garrigo also happily informs Sanchez that some of her best friends are Ecuadorians. If that’s the way she treats her friends, then ......


#

SITE

CHEVRON’S CLAIM

TPH

NUMBER OF TIMES OVER LEGAL LIMIT

1

Sacha 18

Complete Remediation

35,380

35.3

2

Sacha 65

Complete Remediation

32,444

32.4

3

Shushufindi 27

Complete Remediation

26,413

26.4

4

Atacapi 5

Complete Remediation

21,976

21.9

5

Sacha 21

Complete Remediation

17,000

17

6

Shushufindi 21

Complete Remediation

16,033

16

7

Shushufindi 67

Complete Remediation

13,587

13.5

8

Shushufindi 45A

Complete Remediation

13,290

13.2

9

Shushufindi 48

Complete Remediation

13,000

13

10

Shushufindi 7

Complete Remediation

12,715

12.7

11

Shushufindi 25

Complete Remediation

10,956

10.9

12

Shushufindi 27

Complete Remediation

10,452

10.4

13

Ron 1

Complete Remediation

9,632

9.6

14

Lago Agrio 5

Complete Remediation

8,830

8.8

15

Sacha 94

Complete Remediation

8,700

8.7

16

Aguarico 8

Complete Remediation

8,183

8.1

17

Sacha 57

Complete Remediation

8,100

8.1

18

Sacha 65

Complete Remediation

7,519

7.5

19

Sacha 53

Complete Remediation

7,430

7.4

20

Shushufindi 13

Complete Remediation

7,415

7.4

21

Sacha 51

Complete Remediation

7,200

7.2

22

Shushufindi 45A

Complete Remediation

5,721

5.7

23

Sacha 94

Complete Remediation

5,600

5.6

24

Shushufindi 25

Complete Remediation

5,574

5.5

25

Guanta 4

Complete Remediation

5,510

5.5

26

Shushufindi 7

Complete Remediation

5,334

5.3

27

Shushufindi 48

Complete Remediation

5,000

5

28

Shushufindi 18

Complete Remediation

4,881

4.8

29

Lago Agrio 2

Complete Remediation

4,777

4.7

30

Auca 19

Complete Remediation

4,014

4

31

Yuca 28

Complete Remediation

3,876

3.8

32

Shushufindi 46

Complete Remediation

3,697

3.6

33

Sacha 56

Complete Remediation

3,600

3.6

34

Sacha 6

Complete Remediation

3,300

3.3

35

Shushufindi 21

Complete Remediation

3,133

3.1

36

Sacha 51

Complete Remediation

3,100

3.1

37

Shushufindi 48

Complete Remediation

3,000

3

38

Sacha 10

Complete Remediation

2,802

2.8

39

Shushufindi 48

Complete Remediation

2,700

2.7

40

Sacha 57

Complete Remediation

2,400

2.4

41

Shushufindi 24

Complete Remediation

2,180

2.1

42

Parahuacu 3

Complete Remediation

2,065.12

2.065

43

Shushufindi 24

Complete Remediation

2,000

2

44

Shushufindi 8

Complete Remediation

1,600

1.6

45

Lago Agrio 6

Complete Remediation

1,300

1.3