Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In

The extraordinary documentary movie Crude is showing in Santa Monica this week.
It's a compelling portrait of epic legal struggle by indigenous peoples
in Ecuador to force Chevron/Texaco to clean up the toxins left behind
from decades of oil extraction in the Amazon rainforest.

Streetsblog generally focuses on the local impacts of our car
culture (and the hopeful stories of greener transportation
alternatives.) Crude tells part of the other end of the story
of car culture. Excessive reliance on automobiles doesn't just
pollute, disrupt, kill and maim locally; it poisons the peoples, the
lands, the rivers and watersheds of peoples from Ecuador to Nigeria to
the Middle East.

Crude features some famous faces - Ecuadorean President Rafael Corea
and even rockstar Sting - but the real inspirational hero of the story
is Pablo Fajardo, the resourceful Ecuadorean lawyer behind the case.
Due to Fajardo and his team's efforts, the courts have recommended $27
Billion in damages, but Chevron is still dragging things out.

Catch Crude on the big screen this week, and redouble your efforts to minimize your dependence on oil.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

What’s Next for Measure HLA, in the Face of Metro Opposition?

This is probably something a judge would need to decide at some point

March 21, 2025

Metro Lawyers Up Against Measure HLA, Tells L.A. City that Metro Projects Don’t Require Planned Bus/Bike/Walk Improvements

Metro: "any attempt to enforce [Measure HLA] against Metro is beyond the City's legal authority, and Metro will challenge any such attempt."

March 19, 2025

Metro Tests Foothill A Line Extension, Authority Prepares to Construct Next Segment

Emergency drills are being practiced and vital systems double checked while a final price tag and start date are being worked out for Pomona to Montclair.

March 19, 2025
See all posts