"The chemical industry is running this state" says one angry resident of Louisiana's "cancer alley." The profits over people theme dominates this look at three communities coping with environmental calamities that this video says didn't have to happen. In a region dubbed "Bhopal of the Bayou," critics charge petrochemical plants have license to spew forth deadly cancer causing poisons. In Washington state, "down winders" living near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation claim that released radioactive gases have caused birth defects and other illnesses. Farmworkers of California's San Joaquin Valley argue that agribusiness has exposed their children to dangerous levels of pesticide. The interviewees say that government does little to help in these cases because the affected communities are minorities with little power. Their case is persuasive, but there is little new in this call to environmental action. Sincere, but not nearly as skillfully made as the average segment of 60 Minutes, the video unfortunately will not arouse much interest outside the afflicted communities. An optional purchase. Aud: C. (S. Rees)
Witness to the Future: A Call for Environmental Action
(1996) 50 min. $159. The Video Project. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 12, Issue 2
Witness to the Future: A Call for Environmental Action
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