"If we don't pay attention to it, the scales will tip heavily the wrong way and corporations will jeopardize human health and life. It has to be stopped." -- Erin Brockovich
Right now where you live, there is a whole lot of hidden poisoning going on. It has not been stopped. It is accelerating. And dishonesty for profit is killing someone you know. But, if we do pay attention, we can do something about all of that....
Almost two decades ago, while researching and writing an environmental health book, I came across the story of two scientists at Columbia University that were investigating breast cancer.
They had become increasingly interested in the chemical make-up of their own lab equipment that seemed to mimic the biological reactions of a woman's natural estrogen. Long story short - the alarming possibility was that a substance in many plastics might be triggering cancers!
Naturally, those scientists attempted to learn everything that they could from the manufacturer. And they were stonewalled.
In spite of the researcher's concerns that the substances appeared to encourage cancerous cell growth, the corporation offered and gave nothing - labeling that information 'proprietary.'
Lately, the Wikileaks furor has me thinking about a thousand malicious-deception examples like that all over again, and an idea I had toyed with a few years back. I thought we should very actively encourage people to leak information about their own - or any company that endangers the health of the public: A 'green whistle' campaign, about 'blowing the whistle' on environmental crimes and deceptions. And I began thinking again about an interview I conducted with Erin Brockovich for another book of mine. She had surprised me:
When Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her role in the real-life story of Erin Brockovich, the movie and the award combined to thoroughly publicize a single chemical poisoning case. Ms. Brockovich, and her boss at the time, the late Ed Masry, had not previously been involved in environmental activism. What came after the events in the film was even more shocking to them than what they found at Hinkley.
Interview excerpts: Rick McLean with Ed Masry and Erin Brockovich
Rick: [...] is it fair to say that you both basically stumbled across that situation, rather than intending to be involved in environmental health battles?
Erin: Neither Ed nor I were looking for an environmental lawsuit, we basically did stumble on it. I had gotten a call to go out there and meet some nice people, and we had no idea we were sitting on top of PG&E's corporate secrets and were going to resolve this lawsuit for $333 million dollars, let alone a movie. For Ed and I both, it just became a real crusade for us to try to be there on behalf of those people and stand up for not allowing the corporation to knowingly poison them and get away with it.
Rick: Since you both became involved at Hinkley, are there other locations, other toxins, other cases, that have been drawn to your attention?
Erin. Since the movie came out, we have had a hundred thousand hits on our web page of potential toxic sites throughout the United States. It's everywhere.
Ed: And we've only accepted seven cases as of now out of the literally thousands we've gone through. So not every toxic case will get through. Not even one out of a hundred that come in here we accept, because they are very difficult to prove.
Erin: More often than not the corporations will get away with it.
Erin: [ ...] and I just keep thinking 'God, haven't we seen the last of it yet.' Every day is a new lesson for me. I think I'm prepared and then something comes in, and I think 'Oh my God, how could this be going on right under our noses?' And it is. I'd have to say my biggest wake-up call as been since the release of the movie, because it gave awareness to so many people and gave us the opportunity to look at so many things that are going on. Now we see it’s happening everywhere.
I will add a link below to the rest of that interview. For now, let's just double check if that is true. Is is happening everywhere?
Richard Wiles of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group answers that in a profoundly concise manner, "American babies are born pre-polluted, their bodies laced with as many as 300 industrial compounds, pollutants, plastics, pesticides and other substances that threaten public health." - April 16, 2010
He is right. That is thoroughly documented, and he is talking about every American baby. So, yes. It is happening everywhere.
After decades of research, the clearest thing of all is that corporate polluters are successfully lying about what they are doing. And the big corporate image adds "we are all about the future, and you," are just a lot of nasty nonsense. BP was selling us that while they oiled the Gulf of Mexico last year.
The ugly reality - pollution, lies and deception for profits - is well documented thousands of times over - there are hundreds of studies and dozens of books exposing horrific corporate crimes against all of us:
When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution
Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating
Toxic Deception: How the Chemical Industry Manipulates Science, Bends the Law, and Endangers Your Health by Dan Fagin, Marianne Lavelle.
Notice the word 'deception' in all of the above. Deception is what must be overcome if we are to poison less, not more, of each other. Deception is an industry of its own: Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
I have a thousand examples for you if necessary, but I think most people know, there is a whole lot of poisoning going on. In every case there is every effort to deceive the public about it. In every case, we need to make every effort to expose the truth.
The Green Whistle-blower idea may be a little too gimmicky, I don't know. But write us at info@worldforallpeople.org and we can talk about anonymous access to these pages. Or contact the Sierra club with information. Or any national environmental organization. Or your local environmental law organization.
We have a culture that encourages snapping a pic or making a video if you see a crime taking place. Let's make that apply to societal self-destruction by poisoning. That is happening, as Erin said, everywhere. Expose polluters' crimes against yourself and your family and the human family. If you have information people should be aware of, blow the whistle, set it free. If you think it's appropriate, contact Rolling Stone magazine, or wikileaks at wikileaks@wikileaks.info. If you think it is appropriate, you might want to try Erin Brockovich's whistle blower page: http://www.brockovich.com/...
We can all do something. In blunt harsh language, thousands of secreted injustices are killing people, all around us. And more and more to come. At the very least, let's get the truth out about that!
cross-posted at worldforallpeople.org here.
The entire Erin Brockovich interview is here.