CRUDE - directed by Joe Berlinger

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Having been immersed in this intense consumption driven lifestyle for the last 60 years, we are now attempting to extricate our habitation on the planet from the carelessness pursuit of using everything in our path to meet our needs. Sounds strangely like an addiction. We are making progress however.

We may not directly be aware of the suffering caused others in pursuit of boundless material wealth, power and crushing corporate domination of the world's markets and natural eco-systems. A pursuit that has been a ruthless hunt within the context that only the fit survive. A false pretense that supports a false truth revealing only an ignorance of our place in life - which is to live in harmony with nature, the complete life sustaining system of the planet. It's something we all witness in passing moments of our days - like the sun cresting on the morning horizon or a pigeon making a perfect landing. Glimpses of the web of life.

"Crude" is a film, three years in the making, which provides us a look at this ruthless pursuit of wealth in the form of oil. Director Joe Berlinger captures an account of Texaco's careless pillaging of oil reserves in the Ecuadorian Rain Forest and the damaged caused to the environment and the lives of it's indigenous people. Referred to as the - Amazon Chernobyl case - the Ecuadorian people filed a lawsuit against Texaco, now Chevron, in 1993 - Texaco has yet to pay. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints the film tells an important story of environmental peril and human suffering.

We can say we are pursuing cleaner energy technologies like solar, wind or biomass that offer a solution to oil dependency. We are in the process of solving the oil question. However these clean energy concepts are not new and have been adapted in a variety of ways historically in different cultures. We can feel good that we are working toward living sustainably and pride ourselves on what we are achieving as we now change our ways, but realistically we are yet faced with the consequences of where we find ourselves ecologically. This yet requires our on-going attention and long-term supportive efforts that mean to heal devastated natural habitats like the Ecuador Rain Forest.

Can we be making the mistake of living in another self created consumer bubble labeled - sustainable and green? Can we think of each other and the natural world outside of marketing concepts, fads and trends? It requires we listen and understand that natural systems require our greatest attention in order to heal - before we can say we are truly living sustainably. "Crude" shares with us not simply an eco-tragedy and the suffering caused, but reminds us afresh of the work we have to do in salvaging our damaged natural habitats around the world or in our backyards.

Learn more about Ecuador's environmental situation and ongoing legal campaign at CheveronToxico.com