Multinational corporations and their effects on the environment and human rights were discussed by award-winning director Larry Lansburgh in his speech "Is Earth Day Really Necessary: A Hard Look At Global Realities".
Lansburgh displayed clips of his documentary "The Dream People of the Amazon" as he spoke on 'economic hitmen' and corporations which he said stripped third world countries of their rights and resources.
"What do invasions have to do with Earth Day?" he asked the audience before answering, "Absolutely everything."
Referencing a book called "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins, Lansburgh told the audience that the 'hitmen' would identify third world countries with desired resources, arrange major loans for projects by corporations like Halliburton which benefited the already wealthy, then convince heads of state to allow access to resources to pay off these debts.
Uncooperative leaders, he said, were assassinated by private security companies, or what he called "jackals".
"It's a fundamental reality that permeates our world," he said. "Our legal system considers corporations as people with rights and nature as property."
Lansburgh said that in '90s, the Achuar people of the Amazon became aware of oil under their territory in the Amazon, oil that "everybody on Earth wanted." After seeing the effect of oil drilling on nearby ecosystems, he said, they realized the rest of the world was willing to wipe them out.
He said the Achuar realized that to survive, they'd have to form alliances with the outside world and other tribes. As a result of these alliances, he said, the Achuar have managed to keep oil corporations off their land.
Even more surprising, he said, "magic happened": Ecuador's people voted for a new constitution which granted nature rights.
Lansburgh ended the lecture by telling the audience that "Earth Day can never be only about nature-- when we damage nature rights we damage human rights."
Public speaking instructor Colette Harris brought her students to the speech and said she enjoyed the presentation.
"I thought, the world around us has changed," she said. "His understanding was very profound."
One of the students she brought along was architecture major Nicholas Andreas, 18, who said he had seen the effect of multinational corporations in his native country of Peru.
"They promise to the people free healthcare, healthy environments and benefits," he said. "None of that happens."
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