[00:00:01.02]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:00:06.02]
- [Riki Ott] People sometimes think that

[00:00:07.09]
a community is place-based.

[00:00:10.00]
I kind of think of my community as...

[00:00:14.01]
...as everyone and everywhere.

[00:00:18.04]
It can be an inner city,
it can be a high school,

[00:00:22.05]
a middle school, it can be a university,

[00:00:25.05]
or an occupy camp.

[00:00:27.03]
- [Woman] Exxon, you need
to see the face of a victim.

[00:00:29.09]
- That sounds big but
really, when I'm in a place,

[00:00:33.03]
I'm in that community.

[00:00:35.02]
It can be anywhere.

[00:00:37.08]
People want to do something.

[00:00:40.07]
- [Man] ...the 20% of the victims of that

[00:00:42.03]
oil spill that have already died.

[00:00:46.08]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:00:53.08]
[bird chirping]

[00:01:07.09]
- I don't even remember
becoming an activist.

[00:01:15.08]
What I remember is watching my
father as a concerned parent

[00:01:21.07]
and just realizing that when
the DDT was being sprayed

[00:01:26.04]
out of the trucks in the
late 1960s in Wisconsin,

[00:01:30.00]
that something was wrong.

[00:01:31.04]
[suspenseful music]

[00:01:33.06]
[children shouting]

[00:01:37.01]
He was worried if the robins were dying,

[00:01:39.04]
his children might have health impacts.

[00:01:43.04]
He didn't know, I don't
think anybody knew back then.

[00:01:48.04]
He was a concerned father, he
was a concerned human being.

[00:01:53.01]
And he stepped up.

[00:01:56.04]
My dad, Fred Ott, sued
the state of Wisconsin

[00:01:59.05]
over use of DDT.

[00:02:02.01]
In 1969, the state banned DDT.

[00:02:06.00]
In 1972, DDT was banned nationwide.

[00:02:10.02]
To me, that really wasn't about activism,

[00:02:13.04]
that was living in a democracy.

[00:02:15.05]
Who's gonna take care of the democracy

[00:02:17.01]
if people don't step up?

[00:02:19.06]
[suspenseful music]

[00:02:23.02]
It's not about saying,

[00:02:24.03]
"Oh, somebody else is
gonna take care of that."

[00:02:26.02]
"Oh, the police will take care of that."

[00:02:28.01]
"Oh, the public health officials
will take care of that."

[00:02:30.05]
"Oh, my elected officials
will take care of that."

[00:02:33.03]
It's about what we can do as a community

[00:02:36.03]
of concerned citizens to
step up and fix things.

[00:02:47.04]
When I graduated from the
University of Washington

[00:02:49.07]
with a PhD in biology and toxicology,

[00:02:52.08]
I really wanted to go to Alaska.

[00:02:55.01]
That was the summer of 1985.

[00:02:57.08]
I got a job crewing on a
commercial salmon fishing boat.

[00:03:02.02]
This is how I first saw Cordova.

[00:03:04.06]
Well, I came in on a fishing
boat from Prince William Sound

[00:03:07.05]
and I just saw this
incredible little community.

[00:03:10.04]
I was elected to the board

[00:03:12.00]
of Cordova District Fishermen United.

[00:03:14.08]
Alaska's fishermen were
concerned that the oil companies

[00:03:17.06]
were ill-prepared for any oil spill.

[00:03:21.06]
Four years later, we had
the biggest oil spill

[00:03:24.04]
in US history, the Exxon Valdez wreck

[00:03:27.07]
in Prince William Sound,
our fishing ground.

[00:03:30.06]
So I stepped up, becoming
an accidental activist.

[00:03:33.07]
[dramatic instrumental music]

[00:03:42.03]
- One of America's most
magnificent waterways

[00:03:44.02]
is blackened and befouled
tonight by the biggest

[00:03:46.08]
oil spill in American history.

[00:03:48.09]
- [Reporter] 240,000
barrels, 11 million gallons

[00:03:51.09]
of Alaskan crude oil escaped
from the huge vessel.

[00:03:59.03]
- I had formed the mayor's
ad hoc committee on what

[00:04:02.02]
would happen in the
event of a big oil spill.

[00:04:04.06]
And the night before the oil spill,

[00:04:09.01]
we had scheduled Riki Ott
to come in and speak to us.

[00:04:12.07]
It was a teleconference--
she couldn't get in,

[00:04:15.00]
I think it was a weather
problem or something

[00:04:16.05]
that kept her out-- so she
was speaking from Cordova.

[00:04:21.06]
Riki has been quite an activist,

[00:04:23.09]
so we wanted to hear her comments.

[00:04:29.01]
And Riki then said, "Gentlemen,
it's not a matter of

[00:04:33.01]
if you have an oil spill,

[00:04:34.01]
it's a matter of when
you have an oil spill."

[00:04:37.01]
- When I flew over the
Exxon Valdez oil spill

[00:04:39.09]
on March 24, 1989, I
made a promise to myself

[00:04:45.09]
that I would work upstream
of these oil disasters,

[00:04:51.06]
because as long as we
drill we're gonna spill.

[00:04:58.07]
So, oil residue of the
Exxon Valdez 18 years later.

[00:05:04.07]
What it's really going to
take to drive a transition

[00:05:08.06]
away from fossil fuels
is a social movement

[00:05:11.09]
of ordinary people in America.

[00:05:16.04]
- [Man] Definitely.

[00:05:18.04]
[explosion]

[00:05:19.03]
- [Male Voiceover] On April
20, 2010, a powerful explosion

[00:05:22.04]
rocks the Deepwater
Horizon drilling platform

[00:05:25.00]
in the Gulf of Mexico.

[00:05:27.00]
The greatest concern is
that the crude will reach

[00:05:29.07]
the mainland, less than
80 kilometers away.

[00:05:33.03]
BP and the US Coast Guard
agree to spray a chemical

[00:05:36.05]
dispersant on an unprecedented scale.

[00:05:40.05]
The chemical dispersant is called Corexit.

[00:05:43.03]
More than four million liters
of Corexit are deployed,

[00:05:45.08]
according to official numbers.

[00:05:49.01]
- In this case, these
dispersants were used

[00:05:51.03]
in massive quantities, almost
two million gallons so far,

[00:05:55.03]
to hide the magnitude of
the spill and save BP money.

[00:06:00.01]
And the government, both
EPA, NOAA, et cetera,

[00:06:03.06]
have been sock puppets
for BP in this cover-up.

[00:06:08.02]
[ominous ambient music]

[00:06:10.08]
- [Riki] What these Corexit
dispersants do is sink the oil,

[00:06:14.05]
break it up off the surface,

[00:06:16.02]
sink it below the water's surface.

[00:06:19.06]
These are very powerful
industrial solvents.

[00:06:23.04]
What you use to dissolve
oil-based paint off your hands

[00:06:26.07]
when you're painting a house.

[00:06:29.00]
When it's sprayed on the surface,

[00:06:32.00]
it creates solvents that
move through our own skin

[00:06:37.04]
into our bodies.

[00:06:41.05]
A lot of oil evaporates
and goes into the air,

[00:06:44.05]
and then it blows over communities.

[00:06:47.01]
And people are breathing
this contaminated air daily--

[00:06:51.03]
three months straight of
using unprecedented amounts

[00:06:55.02]
of these very hazardous
oil-based dispersants.

[00:07:00.06]
- [Hugh Kaufman] Experts
saw that the amount of oil

[00:07:03.04]
being released is orders
of magnitude greater

[00:07:06.02]
than what BP, and NOAA
and EPA were saying.

[00:07:10.09]
And the cover-up started to evaporate.

[00:07:13.03]
But the use of dispersants has not.

[00:07:15.09]
We have dolphins that are hemorrhaging,

[00:07:19.02]
people who work near it are
internally hemorrhaging,

[00:07:22.06]
and that's what dispersants do.

[00:07:25.04]
[ominous ambient music]

[00:07:29.02]
- These dispersants are not a miracle cure

[00:07:32.00]
and they do increase the
toxicity of the dispersed oil.

[00:07:36.04]
- [Riki] Corexit use
was still experimental

[00:07:38.04]
during the Exxon Valdez disaster.

[00:07:40.08]
Corexit was widely applied
in exceptional amounts

[00:07:44.02]
during the 2010 BP disaster.

[00:07:48.01]
This time, scientific
studies would show that

[00:07:50.02]
dispersants are deadly to
marine life and humans.

[00:07:56.04]
- The average lifespan of
a person who did cleanup

[00:07:59.05]
on the Exxon Valdez is 51 years old.

[00:08:03.07]
Almost all those people who
did work on the Exxon Valdez

[00:08:06.09]
are now dead.

[00:08:08.02]
And BP is not giving the
information to the doctors

[00:08:12.00]
and the healthcare officials.

[00:08:14.00]
[ominous ambient music]

[00:08:16.06]
- I arrived in the Gulf
of Mexico communities

[00:08:20.04]
in early May of 2010.

[00:08:23.02]
By June, people were starting to say,

[00:08:26.01]
"I think I'm sick because
of the dispersant spray.

[00:08:29.05]
Why is EPA telling us
the air is OK to breathe

[00:08:33.00]
when I can step outside and
I get a headache instantly?"

[00:08:36.07]
- I'm just gonna go ahead
and give you the Demerol

[00:08:38.03]
because I know I may
not be able to get ahold

[00:08:41.01]
of the doctor right away.

[00:08:42.05]
- I got sprayed with dispersants
over, and over, and over.

[00:08:46.00]
I've been sick nine months now.

[00:08:47.05]
Nobody wants to step to the plate and

[00:08:49.02]
say these chemicals is poisonous.

[00:08:52.07]
- [Physician] Your face
appears to be quite swollen.

[00:08:55.00]
- It's about three times
its size and so is my neck.

[00:08:59.05]
- [Physician] And what's
the bruising on your chest?

[00:09:00.09]
- I don't know, it just appeared.

[00:09:03.09]
- I went to a skin disease specialist and

[00:09:07.09]
he told me that my rash--
that it is staph infection.

[00:09:11.03]
Basically, what I've had
to use is cotton balls,

[00:09:15.09]
gauze, band aids, tape, Betadine,

[00:09:20.03]
triple antibiotic ointments.

[00:09:22.04]
- People have pretty
consistently said the doctors

[00:09:25.05]
in the Gulf communities have
ignored their health problems,

[00:09:30.04]
have refused to treat them
as chemical illnesses,

[00:09:33.07]
and instead have been
treating five, six rounds

[00:09:36.08]
of antibiotics for something
that hasn't gone away.

[00:09:40.00]
- I have been on enough
Prednisone to kill a horse.

[00:09:45.07]
And I have had two shots
and I've been on four

[00:09:50.01]
different kinds of antibiotics.

[00:09:52.06]
And nothing is touching this at all.

[00:09:55.01]
- The federal government
has declared that there

[00:09:57.05]
is an acceptable human
health risk trade-off

[00:10:01.03]
with using dispersants
in future oil response.

[00:10:04.08]
And this is setting up
for this complete clash

[00:10:08.07]
of industry government
versus the citizens,

[00:10:11.09]
saying "No."

[00:10:13.01]
- It was our government's
responsibility to make sure

[00:10:15.05]
that our environment was protected.

[00:10:17.03]
In my opinion, they did nothing to do it.

[00:10:19.02]
All they did-- whatever
they had to do to please BP.

[00:10:23.03]
- [Riki] What I'm definitely
seeing now is jobs being

[00:10:27.06]
replaced with, "It's all
about oil at all costs."

[00:10:32.04]
- Upfront, we asked for
work for the fishermen.

[00:10:36.03]
And actually, we just
played right in BP's hands.

[00:10:42.02]
- We needed the jobs, we
needed to work, we needed money

[00:10:44.03]
so we could feed our
family, but at no time

[00:10:46.08]
did we sign on to put our
health at risk or in danger.

[00:10:52.02]
- [Clint] A lot of these
guys have families,

[00:10:53.06]
they have bills to pay, so
they went after the money.

[00:10:56.06]
They didn't talk because they were afraid

[00:10:59.02]
they'd lose a paycheck.

[00:11:01.03]
- I'm using the money I made
to clean up the oil spill--

[00:11:06.00]
the money that I made with
them is turning around

[00:11:09.00]
and going right back into my health.

[00:11:11.04]
And that's not the way it should be.

[00:11:13.01]
The money goes fast.

[00:11:14.05]
People across the coast are suffering,

[00:11:16.09]
they're losing their houses,
their boats, their cars.

[00:11:20.02]
I'm in the same position.

[00:11:22.01]
I've already lost my boat,
I've lost my business,

[00:11:24.07]
I've lost my life.

[00:11:29.01]
- Beaches all along the Gulf Coast

[00:11:32.03]
are clean, they are safe,
and they're open for business

[00:11:35.09]
as a result of the
massive cleanup operation

[00:11:38.02]
that's already taken place.

[00:11:39.04]
The majority of oil has now
evaporated or dispersed.

[00:11:42.09]
- That's why Corexit was so important.

[00:11:45.09]
As time went on, the financial
interests of the polluters

[00:11:50.09]
had a louder and louder
voice on how environmental

[00:11:55.04]
protection would happen.

[00:11:57.05]
For example, the manufacturer
of Corexit is owned

[00:12:02.03]
by a corporation that's
owned by another corporation

[00:12:06.03]
where the majority owner is Bill Gates.

[00:12:09.01]
Corporations are a vehicle,
they are not an individual.

[00:12:13.02]
Bill Gates could pick
up the phone and say,

[00:12:15.09]
"We are not going to
manufacture Corexit anymore.

[00:12:19.03]
We are going to spend 10 million
dollars to find something

[00:12:23.05]
that's not so toxic."

[00:12:25.09]
He could do that with one phone call.

[00:12:28.01]
- So they do whatever
they can do to keep us

[00:12:30.07]
dependent on the oil--

[00:12:32.09]
it's big business, it's big money.

[00:12:35.00]
And as far as them making
the drilling any safer,

[00:12:39.05]
I doubt it.

[00:12:41.02]
- [Riki] What rebuilding
the economy does not include

[00:12:44.09]
is the closures for shellfish,
the shrimp fisheries

[00:12:48.04]
are struggling--that
industry hasn't recovered--

[00:12:51.08]
the Vietnamese fishing community

[00:12:53.04]
where that's all they know.

[00:12:55.01]
- So we actually had a meeting
with some state agencies

[00:12:57.07]
here and they were saying that
all the seafood is very safe

[00:13:01.04]
and none of the fishers believed it.

[00:13:02.06]
- Herring are sensitive at
like 100 parts per trillion.

[00:13:07.05]
And the herring adults,
I just heard this year

[00:13:10.04]
maybe they're starting to come back.

[00:13:12.07]
So, 22 years.

[00:13:14.06]
The scientists who aren't
funded with BP dollars

[00:13:17.03]
are saying that there's a
problem with reproductive damage

[00:13:20.06]
in the basic forage fish
that underpins the whole

[00:13:24.01]
Gulf ecosystem.

[00:13:26.01]
- [Joey] I've lived off the
tourist industry my whole life,

[00:13:28.05]
but I also am not gonna
tell people to come down

[00:13:31.00]
and poison themselves
and convince them to eat

[00:13:33.04]
seafood if I don't think it's safe.

[00:13:36.07]
- Big oil companies and
the politicians on top

[00:13:42.06]
wanted things to look clean.

[00:13:45.07]
If they took a picture and
they found contamination,

[00:13:50.06]
the public would be angry.

[00:13:52.07]
But if they took a picture and

[00:13:54.07]
they couldn't see the contamination,

[00:13:57.07]
then the public says, "Ah good,
that problem's being fixed."

[00:14:01.09]
And if it took toxic
chemicals to do that and

[00:14:05.03]
people got sick, well, tough.

[00:14:08.02]
People were just getting in the way.

[00:14:10.08]
- [Riki] We have all these
environmental laws on the books--

[00:14:13.01]
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act.

[00:14:14.09]
The trouble is the laws are on the books,

[00:14:17.01]
but what's happened is
corporations change the law

[00:14:21.07]
through lawsuits

[00:14:23.09]
so that anything that costs money,

[00:14:25.09]
such as our laws that protect our health,

[00:14:28.02]
become a taking of industry's profit.

[00:14:32.03]
- [Reporter] They just
declared a state of emergency

[00:14:34.03]
here in Calhoun County, and
I spoke with an official

[00:14:36.08]
with the state and they
say this may be the worst

[00:14:38.08]
oil spill ever in the Midwest.

[00:14:41.04]
16 miles of affected area,
877,000 gallons of oil

[00:14:46.09]
spilling into the Kalamazoo River.

[00:14:49.05]
- I was working with people
in Gulf Coast communities

[00:14:52.03]
on the BP oil disaster when
I was contacted by people

[00:14:56.06]
in Battle Creek, Michigan,
about another oil disaster

[00:15:00.01]
in July, 2010.

[00:15:01.07]
The Enbridge pipeline
had split and spilled

[00:15:04.09]
tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River.

[00:15:07.09]
This Enbridge Kalamazoo River spill became

[00:15:10.06]
the largest tar sands disaster
in our nation to date.

[00:15:13.07]
Somewhere around one million gallons.

[00:15:16.07]
Most Americans don't even
know about it because

[00:15:19.06]
the national media was
focused on BP's oil disaster

[00:15:22.08]
in the Gulf of Mexico.

[00:15:27.00]
I visited Battle Creek, Michigan,

[00:15:28.09]
and other oiled communities
along the Kalamazoo River

[00:15:32.02]
one year after their oil disaster...

[00:15:34.07]
It's definitely a different color

[00:15:36.04]
than what we had down there.

[00:15:37.08]
...and over the next four years.

[00:15:41.08]
[somber instrumental music]

[00:15:46.00]
People who stayed became sick.

[00:15:48.06]
By 2013, over a dozen
residents in one trailer park

[00:15:52.06]
closest to the river had already died.

[00:15:57.02]
A large amount of the
spilled tar sands oil

[00:16:00.03]
was not recovered.

[00:16:02.02]
The EPA estimated in December 2013

[00:16:05.01]
that about 20% of the submerged oil

[00:16:08.03]
still remained in the river.

[00:16:12.05]
The damaged pipeline was dug
up, repaired and replaced.

[00:16:17.09]
The response is the
most expensive oil spill

[00:16:20.02]
cleanup on record-- $1,185 per gallon.

[00:16:27.02]
The oil industry knows that
most of these public exposures

[00:16:30.08]
and illnesses are preventable.

[00:16:39.03]
I feel privileged to have
spent a year in the Deep South,

[00:16:44.03]
it's frontline communities.

[00:16:46.09]
I've been in communities in
what's called "Cancer Alley,"

[00:16:50.08]
which is an 82 mile stretch
of the Mississippi River

[00:16:53.08]
with massive amounts of refineries

[00:16:56.06]
that are polluting the air
and polluting the water.

[00:16:59.04]
And there's really high
incidence of cancer.

[00:17:02.07]
The people ask me, "We need information,

[00:17:05.07]
we need the science so
that we can have a voice

[00:17:08.02]
in what energy we want
in our own backyard."

[00:17:13.02]
I shared the science, but
I also shared the civics

[00:17:16.08]
because they go hand in hand.

[00:17:20.00]
[ominous ambient drone]

[00:17:23.08]
- We are here today because we are saying

[00:17:25.06]
we value ourselves, we value our future

[00:17:28.06]
and we value our children.

[00:17:31.00]
From beginning to end,
the fossil fuel industry

[00:17:33.04]
is a carousel of death
that we must get off.

[00:17:36.07]
We will keep our families safe,

[00:17:38.06]
we will restore our land and our property,

[00:17:41.02]
and we're gonna do it together!

[00:17:43.01]
[people cheering]

[00:17:46.05]
- [Group] We, the people won't be silent!

[00:17:48.02]
- Anyone who knows social
movements knows that

[00:17:51.05]
you've gotta change the
South, you change the nation.

[00:17:58.00]
What we gotta move is the Red
and Rural to make this work.

[00:18:02.01]
- [Group] What's the
solution to pollution?

[00:18:03.08]
Keep it in the ground!

[00:18:05.03]
- The last time I read the Constitution,

[00:18:07.04]
it said, "We the People."

[00:18:09.02]
It didn't say, "We the
petroleum companies,

[00:18:11.07]
chemical companies, politicians"
or any of the likes.

[00:18:14.08]
It just simply said, "We the People."

[00:18:18.01]
- [Group] We won't be washed
away! We won't be washed away!

[00:18:21.08]
[protestors shouting]
[intense instrumental music]

[00:18:34.05]
- [Riki] So our democracy is in crisis,

[00:18:37.03]
and this democracy crisis
was precipitated in part

[00:18:41.03]
by our oil dependency.

[00:18:43.04]
Big Oil is in our Congress writing laws

[00:18:48.04]
that they want the legislatures to pass.

[00:18:50.09]
It's in our executive branch,

[00:18:53.03]
writing the rules for these laws.

[00:18:57.01]
Big Oil is in our court system

[00:18:59.02]
in order to minimize
any fines and penalties

[00:19:02.05]
from harms that they
cause to our environment.

[00:19:05.06]
- It's pretty clear that
EPA today is in no position

[00:19:10.03]
to confront whatever
the big oil companies,

[00:19:13.08]
for example, wanna do.

[00:19:15.09]
- [Group] Congress, clean up the Gulf!

[00:19:17.04]
- It's gonna be very
difficult for the government

[00:19:20.08]
at any level to do the
kind of protective work

[00:19:24.08]
necessary to protect our
air, water, and land.

[00:19:28.07]
In some ways, we have
to turn the clock back.

[00:19:31.06]
And now, with some of the

[00:19:35.05]
campaign contribution laws,

[00:19:38.05]
large financial interests
carry even more weight

[00:19:42.00]
in Washington and Capitol Hill,

[00:19:44.03]
where you can contribute
unlimited amounts of money

[00:19:47.03]
to political candidates and hide the fact

[00:19:50.01]
that you're doing it.

[00:19:51.03]
- Did you know that on January 21st, 2010,

[00:19:54.03]
the Supreme Court ruled
that corporations have

[00:19:57.08]
the same rights as individuals
when it comes to free speech.

[00:20:01.00]
The courts decision opens the
door to unlimited spending

[00:20:04.02]
by special interest
groups and corporations,

[00:20:07.02]
including multinational corporations,

[00:20:09.06]
to spend without limit in our elections.

[00:20:12.08]
Essentially, that means
they can buy elections

[00:20:16.04]
and thus run our government.

[00:20:19.03]
- The Constitution was not meant to embody

[00:20:21.06]
a particular economic theory.

[00:20:24.06]
But that's just what the
courts have done over time.

[00:20:29.00]
They have embodied an artificial entity,

[00:20:31.04]
a business model, with human rights,

[00:20:33.08]
and since 1886 it has
just been one court ruling

[00:20:38.04]
after another that have
empowered this business model

[00:20:42.09]
and it's owners to
dismantle our democracy.

[00:20:47.07]
You have to change people's
minds before you can

[00:20:49.04]
change a culture and before
you can amend the Constitution.

[00:20:53.03]
So Move to Amend is about
amending the US Constitution

[00:20:56.07]
to affirm that only human beings
have Constitutional rights.

[00:21:00.02]
In other words, to abolish
corporate personhood.

[00:21:02.05]
Now, how are we doing that?

[00:21:04.03]
Because it's one thing to say,

[00:21:05.07]
"Let's amend the Constitution,"

[00:21:07.00]
but what does this look
like out in America?

[00:21:10.00]
- I knew about the Supreme
Court Citizens United case.

[00:21:14.03]
It really... to be frank,
it really pissed me off.

[00:21:19.08]
[rhythmic instrumental music]

[00:21:23.05]
For the first time in my life
I was happy to have lawyers

[00:21:25.02]
as friends because they
were the only people who

[00:21:28.08]
could understand why I was so pissed off.

[00:21:32.01]
[rhythmic instrumental music]

[00:21:35.02]
So when I saw Riki's presentation

[00:21:37.02]
around corporate personhood,
where she talked a lot

[00:21:40.01]
about Move to Amend and
how our government works,

[00:21:43.09]
it really resonated with me

[00:21:45.09]
because some corporation was behind it.

[00:21:47.04]
If I started looking at oil spills,

[00:21:50.02]
I'd come across BP or
I'd come across Exxon.

[00:21:53.00]
So for me, it seemed really
clear that if we really

[00:21:57.00]
wanna make any progress,
why don't we go after

[00:22:00.06]
all of them at once instead of going after

[00:22:03.06]
this individual corporation and
this individual corporation?

[00:22:07.06]
- People ask, "Well, who are
you working with in Congress?"

[00:22:09.06]
Forget Congress! OK?

[00:22:11.09]
Congress is broke and
the system is broken.

[00:22:14.05]
Why would we go to a
broken system to fix it?

[00:22:16.08]
This is about us, "We the People,"

[00:22:19.02]
taking back the power of the pen and

[00:22:21.08]
writing our own energy
legislation that writes

[00:22:24.07]
out the fossil fuel industry.

[00:22:26.05]
[audience applauding]

[00:22:27.09]
Daniel Lee told me that he
had gone back to his hometown

[00:22:30.04]
and he had started up a
Move to Amend chapter.

[00:22:33.04]
And the way he said "hometown," I thought,

[00:22:36.03]
great, more power to you.

[00:22:37.06]
This is what we need everybody doing.

[00:22:39.03]
And what do I discover
is that Los Angeles has

[00:22:42.04]
just passed a unanimous
resolution to amend

[00:22:47.01]
the US Constitution that
corporations are not people

[00:22:49.07]
and money is not speech.

[00:22:51.07]
And there's Daniel,

[00:22:53.01]
it turns out his hometown was Los Angeles.

[00:22:56.03]
- An affirmative vote
today will make Los Angeles

[00:22:59.00]
the first major city in
the United States to call

[00:23:02.02]
for a Constitutional
amendment to ensure that only

[00:23:05.03]
human beings, not corporations,

[00:23:07.09]
are endowed with Constitutional rights.

[00:23:11.01]
[audience cheering]
[uplifting instrumental music]

[00:23:13.09]
- In December of 2011, we
moved to get a resolution

[00:23:16.09]
through the Los Angeles City Council

[00:23:18.07]
because there's a lot about
civics in our constitutional

[00:23:21.02]
process that people do know,

[00:23:22.09]
but there's a lot that people don't know.

[00:23:25.01]
So if we pass something
through the LA City Council--

[00:23:28.00]
the councilors would
support a resolution saying

[00:23:30.01]
"Corporations are not people
and money is not free speech"--

[00:23:32.06]
we could, one, educate
people about the problem

[00:23:35.06]
because of Citizens United,
and on the second hand

[00:23:38.05]
we basically let people
know that we have the power

[00:23:41.07]
to solve this problem.

[00:23:43.03]
The policy of Move to Amend
at the time was to try

[00:23:45.09]
to either get a ballot initiative
for a city or a county,

[00:23:51.05]
or to get a resolution
through a city council.

[00:23:55.02]
Not only can we sway the
opinions of people who might run,

[00:23:59.06]
but a lot of us who already
agree on our principles

[00:24:03.02]
can become elected officials ourselves.

[00:24:06.08]
I'm actually running for city council in

[00:24:09.00]
Culver City, California, right now.

[00:24:11.03]
And I think I have a very good chance.

[00:24:13.01]
I came very close last time.

[00:24:15.00]
We need to get our people into power.

[00:24:18.01]
- How do you actually work
together in your community,

[00:24:22.06]
find common ground, identify
what is the problem,

[00:24:25.04]
identify possible solutions,
identify an action plan

[00:24:29.07]
to fix the problem?

[00:24:31.07]
That's really the heart
of democracy and civics,

[00:24:36.02]
are people doing this work.

[00:24:39.08]
- Preparing for the future
must begin, as always,

[00:24:42.06]
with our children.

[00:24:44.02]
And let's insist that
students not leave high school

[00:24:47.08]
until they have studied
and understood the basic

[00:24:51.01]
documents of our national heritage.

[00:24:53.05]
[audience applauding]

[00:24:55.03]
- [Riki] During the Reagan
years, civics was really

[00:24:57.06]
dialed back quite a bit and dumbed down

[00:25:00.02]
so that what's taught is,
"This is the ideal democracy.

[00:25:03.09]
We have these three branches of government

[00:25:06.03]
and we have this system
of checks and balances,

[00:25:08.08]
everything's just fine.

[00:25:10.02]
Shop and vote."

[00:25:11.06]
OK, you show up and you vote.

[00:25:13.06]
That's one day out of 365.

[00:25:17.04]
What are you gonna do the other 364?

[00:25:21.08]
The kids are not taught that
there's a difference between

[00:25:25.00]
the ideal that we set out
in concept, and the real--

[00:25:29.03]
what we have in practice.

[00:25:30.07]
And that there's a huge gap
between the real and the ideal,

[00:25:34.00]
and that we need to
work to close that gap.

[00:25:39.02]
I created a curriculum
to teach young people

[00:25:41.07]
basic civic skills, to
actually do democracy.

[00:25:45.09]
It's called Activating My Democracy,

[00:25:48.08]
and it teaches students
skills to tackle issues

[00:25:51.08]
affecting their lives or their community.

[00:25:54.04]
There are videos and
activities for students

[00:25:57.00]
and support materials for teachers.

[00:25:59.09]
It's interactive, it's fun,

[00:26:01.06]
and it inspires students to take action.

[00:26:04.06]
First, students learn about
some of the tools available

[00:26:08.03]
to citizens to protect their liberties and

[00:26:10.04]
well-being in a democracy.

[00:26:13.07]
Then they examine basic
concepts about our democracy

[00:26:16.07]
and some of the landmark laws
that have shaped our society.

[00:26:21.05]
And finally, they explore
game-changing ideas

[00:26:23.07]
and action plans.

[00:26:25.09]
How might the Constitution
be amended to ensure

[00:26:28.06]
that only natural persons
have natural rights,

[00:26:31.00]
not corporations?

[00:26:33.00]
These lessons inspire youth to
be game-changers in society.

[00:26:39.00]
♪ We, the people, are ready to leave ♪

[00:26:42.03]
♪ Because the White House
making it hard to breathe. ♪

[00:26:46.09]
In 2016, I was asked by
180 middle school students,

[00:26:52.08]
"If you were our age now,
what would you be doing?

[00:26:58.06]
What's the most important
thing you would be working on?"

[00:27:01.03]
And I realized that children their age

[00:27:05.02]
were actually suing the federal
government over the climate.

[00:27:09.05]
♪ Because you can never take
away the youth of the... ♪

[00:27:15.05]
- My name is Levi and I'm 10 years old.

[00:27:18.04]
If we don't stop climate change,

[00:27:20.09]
then I might not have
a home when I'm older.

[00:27:24.00]
And so that's why our
case needs to go to trial.

[00:27:26.06]
- What we do is we connect
with young people to uplift

[00:27:29.08]
their voices and give them
a say in our democracy

[00:27:33.09]
by helping them to go to
one of our three branches

[00:27:36.06]
of government, which are the courts.

[00:27:39.01]
One of the claims in the case

[00:27:41.01]
is an Equal Protection violation.

[00:27:43.03]
It's children born into this
dangerous climate situation

[00:27:46.04]
as a class are being
discriminated against.

[00:27:48.09]
- At the end of the day,
these institutions are just

[00:27:50.05]
made up of people, just like us.

[00:27:53.00]
And the best thing that
we could do is remind them

[00:27:56.01]
of their humanity.

[00:27:57.03]
- This isn't just traditional tactics

[00:27:58.09]
of activism and resistance.

[00:28:00.03]
This is us standing in our courts.

[00:28:01.09]
This lawsuit is a
demonstration and an act of us

[00:28:05.01]
young people reclaiming our democracy.

[00:28:07.03]
- We started looking at
the deeper roots in law,

[00:28:10.06]
like the Public Trust Doctrine and

[00:28:12.06]
fundamental constitutional rights.

[00:28:15.05]
We've been making really
significant progress

[00:28:18.01]
in the last couple of years,

[00:28:19.07]
winning some important
decisions that are moving

[00:28:22.06]
our cases forward on behalf of children.

[00:28:27.01]
[crowd shouting and cheering]

[00:28:33.03]
[somber instrumental music]

[00:28:38.06]
- Artificial persons
are about making money

[00:28:40.02]
versus human dignity, human
equity, human respect,

[00:28:45.03]
human equality.

[00:28:46.07]
Those are like apples and oranges,

[00:28:48.03]
those don't even belong
in the same court house.

[00:28:52.04]
Right now, civics, if it's even taught,

[00:28:55.01]
teaches the Declaration of Independence,

[00:28:57.09]
the Constitution, the Bill of Rights.

[00:28:59.07]
What's not being taught
is something called

[00:29:01.08]
the Public Trust Doctrine.

[00:29:04.02]
...as part of the duty of your government

[00:29:06.04]
to take care of the air, the
running water, the sea...

[00:29:10.01]
Legal scholars and courts have called that

[00:29:13.02]
"the slate on which all
constitutions are written."

[00:29:17.06]
That's how foundational this
Public Trust Doctrine is.

[00:29:23.01]
It's about having public
property in the form

[00:29:27.06]
of the air that we breathe,
the water that we drink.

[00:29:31.01]
That actually is public
property that is held in trust

[00:29:37.00]
by our government.

[00:29:38.09]
It means we have to take
care of what we have now

[00:29:42.06]
so that future generations will
also be able to pass it on.

[00:29:47.07]
[rhythmic instrumental music]

[00:29:50.00]
- Public understanding
leads to public support.

[00:29:53.04]
So I'm a big believer in
educating the public in civics.

[00:29:57.09]
And in a democracy, if you
don't have public understanding

[00:30:01.08]
and public support, you're not
gonna be able to do anything.

[00:30:05.05]
- The scientists aren't
the ones who are the movers

[00:30:08.04]
and shakers, they're the
ones with the information.

[00:30:10.06]
It's up to us, the people,
to take that information,

[00:30:13.03]
integrate it, make it real and
take it to the policy people,

[00:30:17.08]
the people we elect.

[00:30:19.05]
- And as more and more of
the public understand this,

[00:30:22.06]
then there'll be support
for the regulatory agencies

[00:30:25.09]
and the government to
do something about it.

[00:30:28.09]
And the companies will, too.

[00:30:30.03]
If there's more pressure from
the public on Bill Gates,

[00:30:34.01]
he will pick up the phone and say,

[00:30:36.03]
"OK, we're not gonna use
this Corexit anymore."

[00:30:40.08]
- If I had to re-learn the
operating instructions of how

[00:30:44.03]
to run a democracy and how
we need to get it on track,

[00:30:47.06]
then maybe everybody did.

[00:30:49.03]
What side of the power line do you think

[00:30:52.02]
they put a corporation on?

[00:30:56.06]
Each of these is like a piece of a puzzle.

[00:30:59.07]
The puzzle pieces could only best be seen

[00:31:02.02]
if the students all come back together

[00:31:03.06]
and put all their pieces together.

[00:31:05.03]
Here, we have a huge cycle of power with

[00:31:07.06]
the Civil War amendments--
blue, blue, blue,

[00:31:10.08]
with people getting rights recognized--

[00:31:13.05]
followed by big chunks
of yellow and orange

[00:31:18.02]
as corporations gain human rights.

[00:31:23.05]
So corporations gain standing
in the Bill of Rights,

[00:31:25.08]
and then there's just
chunks of blue and orange

[00:31:29.03]
as the money-power seek
to regain their control

[00:31:33.04]
of the people.

[00:31:34.09]
This is Citizens United,
where then they use

[00:31:38.00]
First Amendment rights to usurp
our free and fair elections.

[00:31:42.09]
And once we've lost First Amendment

[00:31:46.03]
and free and fair elections,

[00:31:48.01]
really, we've lost our democracy.

[00:31:50.07]
I've been teaching this now
for like four or five years.

[00:31:54.09]
For me, it's not about
telling people what to do,

[00:31:58.00]
it's about giving people the tools

[00:32:00.03]
and watching them change
right in front of me--

[00:32:03.02]
that all of a sudden they get it,

[00:32:05.00]
that they can make a
difference, and then...

[00:32:08.04]
This is what a democracy's
about-- people caring.

[00:32:12.08]
There's a lot more wrong than
the oil that's on our beaches.

[00:32:16.06]
I waited 26 years for a new rule-making

[00:32:20.04]
post Exxon Valdez.

[00:32:22.01]
...the next oil spill
and the one after that,

[00:32:24.04]
and the one after that...

[00:32:25.03]
I co-founded Move to Amend back in 2009

[00:32:29.04]
because we expected an
adverse court ruling

[00:32:33.04]
in Citizen's United,
and that came to pass.

[00:32:37.02]
And we were ready for it.

[00:32:38.09]
The thinking with Move to
Amend is that we wanted it

[00:32:42.01]
to be grassroots, we wanted it
to be all across the nation.

[00:32:45.03]
Now we're active in 38 states.

[00:32:47.02]
But the point is that we
can't do democracy by proxy.

[00:32:50.09]
You really can't cast a vote

[00:32:53.02]
and then assume that
your elected officials

[00:32:57.03]
are gonna take care of business for you.

[00:32:59.03]
- I came back to Los Angeles

[00:33:01.05]
and joined the Move to Amend affiliate

[00:33:03.04]
that had newly formed here.

[00:33:05.00]
And we started going
around to small clubs,

[00:33:07.09]
like democratic clubs, Sierra
Clubs and things like that,

[00:33:11.02]
and passing resolutions in support of

[00:33:13.06]
a constitutional amendment that says

[00:33:15.03]
corporations are not people
and money is not free speech.

[00:33:18.04]
- Daniel is a really good
example of a community

[00:33:21.08]
coming together, finding
its power and saying,

[00:33:24.05]
"We're tired of politicians
that get into office

[00:33:27.03]
and then don't do what they
said they were going to do.

[00:33:30.03]
So we're gonna really search
for a grassroots candidate."

[00:33:33.01]
- We've got Daniel Lee,
who is going to step up

[00:33:37.04]
and make history as the
first African American

[00:33:40.05]
on our City Council in Culver City.

[00:33:43.02]
[audience cheering]

[00:33:44.05]
- [Riki] Daniel Lee stepped forward

[00:33:47.02]
and they elected him into office.

[00:33:48.09]
- The city was more or less built on oil

[00:33:51.03]
and oil exploration.

[00:33:53.01]
There's no reason for us
to tolerate still having

[00:33:57.06]
the Inglewood Oil Field operate.

[00:34:00.02]
- [Riki] Daniel Lee delivered
on his promise to minimize

[00:34:03.02]
corporate exploitation
of natural resources

[00:34:06.06]
in the Culver City jurisdiction.

[00:34:09.06]
- In 2006 in Culver
City there was a flare,

[00:34:12.08]
it made a lot of people sick.

[00:34:14.05]
Residents have been
organizing for over a decade

[00:34:17.01]
to try to make sure the largest
safety measures as possible

[00:34:20.09]
were put in place, and
prior to running for office

[00:34:24.01]
I had been working with
groups like the Sierra Club

[00:34:26.07]
and many other local groups
to try to lobby people

[00:34:29.04]
to close it down.

[00:34:30.04]
It's actually one of the big
reasons I think I was elected,

[00:34:33.04]
because so many people knew that I had

[00:34:34.08]
been working on that issue for so long

[00:34:37.02]
and I was not bashful about
my desire to close it down.

[00:34:41.04]
- And he's done it because
he's had a good basic training

[00:34:43.09]
in how corporations evolve
from business models

[00:34:47.09]
to artificial persons entitled and endowed

[00:34:52.05]
with human rights.

[00:35:02.02]
- And so I'm super excited
and proud to introduce

[00:35:05.03]
Ella Shriner, who's a part of the

[00:35:07.06]
high school Environmental
Leadership program.

[00:35:09.08]
- My name is Ella Shriner.

[00:35:10.09]
I live in Portland, Oregon,
and I'm 15 years old.

[00:35:14.00]
This is a proud day for Portland because

[00:35:16.00]
the City Council is about
to pass a resolution

[00:35:18.06]
that takes an essential
step towards the transition

[00:35:21.02]
to a cleaner, greener economy.

[00:35:22.07]
We're here as youth because we care and

[00:35:25.01]
not because we're on a payroll
or we're told to be here.

[00:35:28.00]
It's purely out of our hearts.

[00:35:29.05]
Which is why it is so
important for our voices

[00:35:31.06]
to be on the forefront of climate...

[00:35:32.09]
- This is where change really starts,

[00:35:34.04]
is here in a community.

[00:35:37.01]
- I think Riki Ott began
teaching young people

[00:35:40.03]
because she recognized
how powerful our voice is,

[00:35:44.01]
and wanted to teach us
about the government

[00:35:46.09]
that we're going to be
interacting with in our future

[00:35:49.06]
and how we can make a
difference from a young age.

[00:35:52.04]
Also, we are youth who
care about the future.

[00:35:54.04]
- This is the power of
middle school students.

[00:35:56.07]
They're ready, they're
passionate about things.

[00:35:59.01]
Once they get the tools, they take off.

[00:36:01.01]
- Youth whose vision is not
clouded by corporate voices,

[00:36:04.04]
youth who are too often ignored.

[00:36:06.07]
Let's all speak up today and
make sure our voices are heard.

[00:36:09.04]
Thank you.

[00:36:10.02]
I was really excited and
I also felt empowered

[00:36:12.04]
and inspired to continue my work,

[00:36:14.05]
and I'm thrilled that the
youth will be able to help

[00:36:17.04]
the city council in the future.

[00:36:19.05]
- I feel like we are on the
cusp of a serious revolution

[00:36:23.00]
where people wake up and
take back their power

[00:36:26.05]
and stand in it and demand that we become

[00:36:30.02]
a "little D" democracy
again, where the people rule

[00:36:32.06]
and the corporations
are subservient to us.

[00:36:37.00]
- [Group] ...are the
youth, respect our views!

[00:36:38.02]
We are the youth, respect our views!

[00:36:40.02]
- [Riki] I'm Riki, and you are?

[00:36:42.00]
- I'm Jamie Margolin and I'm 16.

[00:36:44.04]
- You've had a complete
different sort of awakening.

[00:36:48.01]
- You know when you have
something that you're called to do

[00:36:50.01]
and you're, like, "I need to do this,"

[00:36:51.01]
and you push it down and
then it, like, comes back?

[00:36:52.08]
- This is what's driven me the whole time.

[00:36:54.04]
If an idea comes to me, it
means I'm supposed to do it.

[00:36:57.03]
- [Group] Justice! When
do we want it? Now!

[00:36:59.09]
- It's not about me--

[00:37:01.07]
it's about my ability to
effectively communicate

[00:37:05.08]
my knowledge, my enthusiasm and passion.

[00:37:10.08]
- [Group] Take it to the polls!

[00:37:12.00]
- Under the Public Trust Doctrine,

[00:37:13.05]
we have the rights to the
air, the water, the land.

[00:37:17.03]
We're powerless because
I can't vote, I'm 16.

[00:37:19.07]
- What I like to do is encourage people

[00:37:22.00]
to find their passion and
grab one puzzle piece.

[00:37:25.08]
- I like the term "community organizer."

[00:37:28.07]
- [Riki] That's how we
can get this whole puzzle

[00:37:30.05]
put back together in a
way that will work for us.

[00:37:32.08]
- I didn't learn, you know,
there's, like, activists

[00:37:34.04]
and there's non-activists.
And then I learned about

[00:37:36.08]
corporate influence on the government,

[00:37:38.07]
and all the money in the government

[00:37:40.01]
despite the fact that it's
not in our best interest

[00:37:42.04]
and that doesn't make sense
if we're in a democracy.

[00:37:44.07]
- People who are looking
and paying attention

[00:37:47.04]
are seeing that there's a
lot of really big problems.

[00:37:51.03]
- ...why I think that there
was a hole in my education,

[00:37:54.02]
because we learned the ideal

[00:37:56.02]
and then once you learn the reality

[00:37:57.05]
the ideal seems a little bit irrelevant.

[00:38:00.09]
- This is exactly the way I felt.

[00:38:02.05]
- The first thing I would do
is to educate the public--

[00:38:06.06]
something that Riki Ott is doing.

[00:38:08.07]
[upbeat instrumental music]

[00:38:11.04]
- "What can I do? What can I do?"

[00:38:13.01]
That's always the main question I get.

[00:38:16.05]
I like giving people
the skillset and ideas

[00:38:20.06]
to move what they wanna do into action.

[00:38:24.07]
- It falls to each and every
one of us in here in this room.

[00:38:27.00]
- I would love to see more
people around the country

[00:38:29.05]
run for local office, move up to state,

[00:38:31.08]
and move up to Congress.

[00:38:33.09]
- [Riki] Because I travel so
much, I feel like the thread

[00:38:37.00]
in a crazy quilt,

[00:38:38.05]
seaming all these stories
of place together.

[00:38:41.01]
- Oil or tar sand.

[00:38:42.05]
- I guess that's what
I like about the people

[00:38:44.03]
who ask me to come.

[00:38:46.03]
If enough of us, of
all ages and diversity,

[00:38:49.08]
step forward now, we would be the change

[00:38:53.00]
that we're waiting for.

[00:38:54.05]
- We all need to come
together, as a community,

[00:38:56.07]
as a global community.

[00:38:58.01]
- It was designed so
people would have rights

[00:39:01.00]
that would protect them...

[00:39:02.08]
That's what I like best
about me being an activist.

[00:39:06.01]
In my own mind, what it's about
is effectively communicating

[00:39:09.08]
to others my passion, my
knowledge, my optimism

[00:39:14.01]
and getting people up off the couches

[00:39:16.06]
and motivated, and feeling
like I can make a difference,

[00:39:19.07]
no matter if you're 9 years old or 90.

[00:39:40.02]
[gentle piano music]

[00:40:08.09]
[percussive instrumental music]

[00:40:12.05]