![1](http://pulitzercenter.org/sites/default/files/styles/overlay/public/oil%20hands.jpg "<p>
Donald Moncayo leads "toxic tours," seeking justice for his country and his family. Photo by Daniel Grossman.</p>")
Scientists are certain that Earth is suffering impacts of global warming, and that these impacts will become increasingly dire. Americans, in contrast, are growing less concerned. Widespread American ignorance about and disregard for global warming undermines support both at home and abroad for action to confront the problem.
Ecuador's Oil Demons
Published May 19, 2010
Dan Grossman, for the Pulitzer Center
The Deepwater Horizon accident reminds us that oil drilling is dirty business.
Ecuadorans know this fact. They've lived off, and with, oil for more than three decades. For many Ecuadorans, oil promised riches but delivered ruin. Along with great wealth, for a few, it stimulated political vice and the noxious excretions.
Outsiders rarely glimpse the dark side of oil. But I traveled recently to Ecuador's Amazonian lowlands, driving through cleared rain forest, flying to a bumpy landing strip, and squatting on the damp floor of a dugout canoe.
My local friends pointed to the obvious evidence that this small nation has paid exorbitantly for its membership among oil-producing nations. They also showed me evidence of hope that Ecuadorans might tame their oil demon.
I learned in school that Ecuador straddles both the Equator and the Andes, the Pacific to the west and the Amazon Basin to the east. Barely the size of Nevada, the South American nation is a gilded jewelry box of treasures...
The rise of commercial hunting in Ecuador is disrupting the balance of the Ecuadorian ecosystem.
Scientists fear Ecuador's rainforest is under threat from the bushmeat trade and illegal commercial hunting by the native Huaorani.
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