ENVIRONMENT - The Threat of Big-Oil in Ecuador

Another example of $big-money profits$ threatening our ecosystem.  More importantly, rain forests are the biggest generators of oxygen in our world.  Oil exploration will also threaten the forest itself.

"Ecuador Exposes Rain Forest and its Inhabitants to Oil Extraction Effort" PBS Newshour 8/16/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Thousands of species of plant and wildlife call Ecuador's Yasuni National Park home, but it is believed that beneath the lush floor lies $7.2 billion of oil.  Drilling could threaten the rain forest's biodiversity and indigenous populations.  Some scientists argue a balance could be found.  Hari Sreenivasan reports.

HARI SREENIVASAN (Newshour):  Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is teeming with plant and animal life.  According to scientists, any football-field-sized area of Yasuni has more species of trees than the U.S. and Canada combined.

The park also includes 121 different species of reptiles, 150 species of frogs, 596 species of birds, and 187 species of mammals.