You didnt mention this directly, but did you realize Avatar director James Cameron actually IS involved in a fight to help save the Amazon from Chevron oil exploitation?
There are some other, better articles out there but this is the only one I could find quickly http://www.chevroninecuador.com/2010/02/avatar-director-james-cameron-on.htm l and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/han-shan/avatar-director-james-cam_b_474203.ht ml Wendee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendee Holtcamp, M.S. Wildlife Ecology ~ @bohemianone Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com ~ 6-wk Online Mag Writing Bootcamp Starts Feb 26 & April 9~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bohemian Adventures Blog - http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Emily LeGrand Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 1:36 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] If you've seen the movie Avatar... Hi everyone, I was just reading Nature magazine and apparently the plan the Ecuadorian government has to avoid oil drilling in Yasuni National Park, the most biodiverse place on earth, and home to one of the last groups of people living in voluntary isolation, is not working. Estimates are that there are possibly 920 million barrels of oil underneath the national park, and the Ecuadorian government has proposed to avoid drilling if the world is willing to pay Ecuador $3.6 billion, approximately half of the expected value of the oil. This $3.6 billion is a measure of how the world values biodiversity, a sacred way of life and perhaps most of all, a stable climate. The money would go toward helping the Ecuadorian economy shift away from the oil dependency of the last 30 years. My thought is that if the movie Avatar, which essentially is the story of Yasuni, was the highest grossing film in history in North America, surely it touched a nerve, and surely each and every person who saw the film can afford to spend the price of the movie ticket or video rental to contribute to this fund, which reportedly has only $100,000 in it. Each barrel of oil is worth about $5-9, depending on how you value the oil itself versus the cost to mitigate its combustion. This is about the price of a movie ticket or video rental. There is debate about whether the Ecuadorian government is trustworthy. And of course, there is the very legitimate viewpoint that this is essentially holding biodiversity and native people ransom, and that since life is priceless, this is unacceptable behavior. But if this is what it will take, most people who could afford to see the movie initially can also afford to be put out another $7 in hopes that this will work. If you are more comfortable signing a petition to register support, do that. I have put together the following links so that you can educate yourself about the issue, allow yourself to feel what could be lost, and to buy your barrel of oil. Please send this to everyone you think would care and/or everyone you know who has seen Avatar. If you have seen it, definitely send it to the people you saw the movie with. Let's make this viral and let's make the fund grow! http://www.yasunigreengold.org -lots of information, and an opportunity to sign a petition and to donate. http://www.theworld.org/2010/01/29/avatar-in-the-amazon/ - movie and article about how indigenous groups in western Ecuador felt about Avatar http://www.saveamericasforests.org/Yasuni/SS/index.html- a slideshow http://www.saveamericasforests.org/pages/GivePage1.htm <http://www.saveamericasforests.org/pages/GivePage1.htm-donation>page to donate Thank you! Emily LeGrand