Filmmaker Craig Rosebraugh Pursues Trail of Environmental Destruction, Illness and Death Perfectly Timed to Reflect the Voices of the Global Occupy Wall Street Movement
What happens when an industry has too much power? “Greedy Lying Bastards” presents a searing indictment of the influence, deceit and corruption that defines the fossil fuel industry. Filmmaker and political activist Craig Rosebraugh documents the impact of an industry that puts profits before people, wages a campaign of lies to thwart measures to combat climate change, uses its clout to minimize infringing regulations and undermined the political process in the U.S. and abroad.
Rosebraugh’s in-depth investigation into the industry took him to the U.S., Tuvalu, Peru, England, Uganda, Kenya, Belgium, Denmark and Germany. “Greedy Lying Bastards” is the disturbing portrait of what he uncovered on his journey. By interweaving the stories of the victims of the Gulf oil spill and the global climate crisis, he lays bare the industry’s deliberate pattern of irresponsibility. And, while oil companies worldwide exert influence over policies that will protect their revenues, those who speak out against the industry’s reckless practices risk their livelihoods, and in some instances, their lives.
The 2010 tragedy of Deepwater Horizon that cost 11 men their lives, is but one byproduct of the industry’s unchecked, and often unregulated, drive for profits. More than a year later, the documentary shows how Gulf Coast residents continue to pay a steep price. Settlements promised by BP are proving largely insufficient and thousands of claims remain outstanding.
“Greedy Lying Bastards” goes inside emotionally charged meetings with BP, where those most affected by the spill share their anger, and hopelessness. Businesses are being forced to close, and families are being rendered destitute. Perhaps one of those victims put it best when he asks a single word be relayed to BP… “Help.”
How can you right the wrongs when the fossil field industry wields so much influence over energy and environmental policies? “Greedy Lying Bastards” details the people and organizations casting doubt on climate science and claiming that greenhouse gases are not affected by human behavior and includes interviews with scientists, industry experts, international political delegates, climate change victims as well as deniers, and people affected by the practices of the fossil fuel industry. Among them: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon; Rep. Henry Waxman; former EPA head Christine Todd Whitman; leading climate science skeptics Myron Ebell, Christopher Lord Monckton, and Jay Lehr; Ken Wiwa, the son of the slain Nigerian environmentalist; farmers in Peru and Uganda; and Mike Robichaux, one of the few doctors willing to treat Gulf residents sick with chemical poisoning from the BP spill, Republican Presidential candidates, Texas governor Rick Perry and Minnesota representative Michele Bachman, as well as other prominent politicians like Senator James Inhofe, from oil-rich Oklahoma.
“This film is an investigation into an industry that is simply out of control,” Rosebraugh contends. “The fossil fuel industry has shown that it will stop at nothing to maximize profits for shareholders, whether it’s cutting corners on safety, employing highly paid lobbyists to impact the political process, giving huge amounts to climate change deniers to ensure that no legislation is passed that would impact the bottom line, or complicity in the murder of individuals who speak up against environmental degradation.”
“Greedy Lying Bastards” was co-written and edited by Patrick Gambuti Jr. To find out more information about the topics discussed in the film and how to get involved, visit the website http://www.GreedyLyingBastards.com
