The 90’s, episode 214: The Environment And Our Oceans

Episode 214 of the award winning series, The 90's. This episode is called "THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR OCEANS" and features the following segments:

0:50Copy video clip URL “Advice Ladies” by Skip Blumberg. A trio of women sit out on the streets of New York City dispensing free advice. “Ecology: I think it’s the big issue for the 90’s. People are really concerned with the environment because it’s starting to affect us personally.”

01:36Copy video clip URL “Malibu Surfers” by James Mulryan. Glenn Henning, a surfer, talks about the polluted and disease-riddled ocean as he floats on his board, waiting for the next wave. “We’re actually seeing the very first stages of the Greenhouse Effect, the very first stages of long-term pollution starting to effect the health of people who are supposed to be healthy. Surfers in Malibu are actually coming down with diseases that doctors are unable to diagnose. Everybody’s causing the pollution and everyone’s going to have to figure out what they personally are going to do about it.”

04:44Copy video clip URL “Redwood Forest” by Jay April. Jay April visits Redwood Country and encounters different opinions on the timber industry’s notion of progress. Earth First has been protesting the rapid pace at which the timer industry has deforested the region and call for a policy of “sustained yield.” One environmentalist notes that the forest has already been reduced to 4% of its original splendor: “Some of us question if Redwoods as an ecosystem can survive at all.” An argument ensues between lumber workers and a lone protester. One worker claims that cutting down trees is like harvesting a garden.

13:00Copy video clip URL “Uncle Sam Falls” by Bill Stamets. A humorous clip where a mannequin dressed as Uncle Sam topples over and people scramble to right him.

13:35Copy video clip URL “Base Jumping “by Kerry Appel. A rare breed of adventure seekers are caught in action as they illegally jump off a building and a radio tower with the help of a parachute. Voice-over: “I think these guys do it for their own reasons and don’t feel compelled to ask permission or explain their actions.”

16:17Copy video clip URL “Balbina: Mark of Destruction” by TV dos Trabalhadores. Set in Manaus, Brazil at the heart of the Amazon, the video opens with a montage depicting the poverty, destruction, and pain that has plagued the region. The people of Manaus are suffering the consequences of their designation as a tax-free zone. Originally conceived as a means to attract industry and create jobs, the tax-free policy has been an advantage only for big business. As industry expanded it became necessary to use alternate sources of energy, leading to the damming of a tributary of the Amazon River. Massive pollution followed, ravaging the ecosystem and destroying the lives of those people who depended on the river for their existence.

24:40Copy video clip URL “Todd Alcott” by Skip Blumberg. 90’s regular, Todd Alcott rants: “You know what they’re talking about now? – the Greenhouse Effect. They’ll be growing peaches in Siberia, here we’ll be roasting weenies on the car hoods… So I’m gonna destroy the world if I put Right Guard under my arm pits. Believe me. God help us if I didn’t…Here’s what I’m saying, five years ago these scientists were telling us about the Ice Age… okay, where’s the ice? Wasn’t here when I woke up. Hope it doesn’t wreck my car… Maybe this Greenhouse-ozone thing is keeping away the ice. Greenhouse. Ice Age. Which do you want? Me? I look better in summer clothes.”

26:28Copy video clip URL “Santa Monica” James Mulryan. John Young, a long time surfer and cancer victim from Santa Monica, reads a sign on the beach that warns of potential contamination. Drain pipes spit sewage out in the ocean near favorite surfing spots. “Every major city street in Los Angeles dead ends in Santa Monica. I would think every major drain also dead ends in Santa Monica… The man in East L.A. changing his oil and thinking ‘it’s cool, I’ll just dump it down this storm drain’… He doesn’t realize that in a week we’re out here sucking it up… We’ve had lifeguards on this beach die from the contamination… This is Santa Monica, welcome to it, and be ready to read our sign.”

30:51Copy video clip URL “‘Clean Dan’ Grandusky” by Jimmy Sternfield. A builder from Denver, Colorado voices his concerns about environmental change, likening the current situation to a global war. “The significant problem with the urban landscape is our cars, our highways. World War III is being waged right now. We are the last generation who can save the planet.”

32:36Copy video clip URL “Control Emissions” by Paul Tassie. A PSA in which a dog rebels against a car’s excessive exhaust by clogging up the muffler with a potato, causing the car to shoot into the air. “Control emissions, won’t you? Thanks,” says the dog.

33:34Copy video clip URL “Zeke’s Heap” by Jay April. Segment about a communal compost heap run by Tim Dundon, aka “Zeke the Sheik.” The county health department is trying to force the removal of the giant compost pile, claiming it is a public nuisance. The people in the town organize a protest to save the heap.

31:51Copy video clip URL “One Man’s Trash” by Dee Dee Halleck. Two little girls sing “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

38:29Copy video clip URL “Steve Brill: The Wild Man” by Esti Marpet. In Central Park, New York City, the “wild man” conducts tours pointing out edible plants and teaching about conservation. In 1981, when he was leading tours in New York’s parks, he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for picking plants. After that, he made a deal with the city and now he’s an official Park Department employee. His advice: “Enjoy this planet, it’s yours to partake of, it’s yours to protect.”

45:02Copy video clip URL “North Pacific Driftnet Expedition” by Greenpeace. Ben Deeble, a Greenpeace representative, discusses the ecological devastation caused by driftnet fishing. Each year nets kill 1,000,000 sea birds and 120,000 dolphins, not to mention just about everything else that gets in the nets’ path. However, legislation is currently pending to limit this type of activity. One bill proposes to prohibit the nets altogether, while “The Tuna Labeling Act” would force tuna caught by the nets to be labeled as “dolphin unsafe.”

46:36Copy video clip URL “Diving Fundamentals” by Jonathan Giles. Artistically manipulated video showing the wrong ways to dive.

47:16Copy video clip URL “Anthony Kiedis” by James Mulryan. Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, visits the beach: “When the UFO’s come down they see our oceans and they say, ‘Look at all these creatures’… and everyone’s hugging each other and swimming through this liquid space atmosphere and they’re having a good time. And the people get to go swimming and surfing and sail boating and its just beautiful out here and the idea that some guy in a office is sitting behind his desk saying, ‘How can I make a few million dollars… Well maybe if I cut the cost and pollute a little more’… I don’t want my kids to come out of the water and get into some sort of detoxification booth, because it takes all the fun out of it.” He then raps the tune “Green Heaven” (The smile of a dolphin is a built feature/They move in schools/But everyone’s a teacher…)

50:18Copy video clip URL “Popeye “by Eddie Becker. At the Earth Day celebrations in Washington, D.C., Popeye joins the ecology movement. “I’m Popeye the sailor man, I recycle my spinach can… Anyone who pollutes the air, earth, or ocean is nothing more than a criminal!”

50:51Copy video clip URL Excerpt from “Garbage Mountain” by Nancy Cain. In Los Angeles, California, Jody Procter takes us on a tour of a garbage dump and shares his reverence for what is found there.

55:33Copy video clip URL “Four on the Floor” by Sandy Smolen. A classical music quartet plays while cars are crushed at a junkyard.

58:16Copy video clip URL Promo for The 90’s.