>> today on "earth focus"... mining, a new film on conflict over a uranium mill in colorado, and reports on the unexpected effects of minining coal in n south africa and gold in ecuador. coming up on "earth focus." filmmaker suzan beraza screened herer new film, "uranium drive-in" at the 2014 enenvironmental film festival in the natation's capital. promise ofof jobs from a proposd uranium mill is a tantalizing prospect for r economicacally devastated colorado town, until environmentalists step in to try to shut itit down. will jobs or healtlth and environment prevail? the film documentnts how a l local commumunity

cocomes to g grips with the did. >> we'e're trying to open up a uraranium mill,l, and they'y'e trying to shut it dowown. you know,w, it's s a big dreaea, and people arere looking forward to thesese jobs out there.. >> i i want themem to undersrstd thatat there's people here. >> yeah, but i don't think they care about us people. i mean, there's ncompromisese. they don't care about us. >> nuclear power was supposed to be our future. a lot t of this totown was heree bbecause of union carbide, and then when they left, we're still here. they're long gone now. >> it's almostst like we're still surviving, but it't's just kind of l like thoose last few breaths. we want to keep breathing, but we've got to get something in here to do it. >> nuclearar energy reremains oour largestst source of fuel that t produceses no o carbon emimissions. we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear powewer. >> i it is the first uranium mil

to be buiuilt in the ununited ss in 25 years. >> the o only thing i'm m interd in is seeieing this mill get stopped. >> if you're only hearing the piecece about jobs, you're notot protectgg yourur community. i dare yoyou to do better. >> the people complaining the most are driving to the protests in their mercedes. you can only kick a dog soso many timemes and pretty s n he's going to turn around and bite you. >> we have a a lot of peoeople tellingng us that t the land iis more immportant than i people. >> there is no impact from what we have done or what w we plan to do in the fututure regarding uranium mine d development. >> we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, anand that memeans building a n new genereration of sasa, c, nucclear p power plants in this s country. >> they're not telling you the truth. i'm rereally disgusteded, and i'm against this mill.

>> ♪ for the one thhat feels s >> i guess, i initially, going into the film, i probably y felt that t the mill was a bad idea, like, why wowould anyonene want to usher b back in an n industry that had obviously shortened people's lives and had d created a lot of environonmental havococ inin the area? so,, i was going to do the film in t this commununity looking at t the pros and cocons within that community. but what i found, which surprised me, is that in that region, almost everyone was unanimously for this uranium mill. soso, i reallyly wanted ththe fm to look from a very human perspective, why t that would b, why people would usher back in this industry. >> as the mayor of naturita, i am very excited and hopeful that in 6 to 8 months we're going to start seeing ore trucks rolling through the town, we'e're going to o see the minig picking up, and we're goiing to seee the milling moving forward. >> the towns of naturita

and nucla are located in the west i in the montrose coun. >> can n everybody hear me okakay out therere? [microphone noise] [laughter] let's talk a a bit aboutt the induststry in general, where our proroject is situated. of course, it is the uranium mining indndustry, nothing g w to you people. the supupply and demand got s sh that we couould reopenn these facilities, build this mill, and we're going to bring that to reality so that you can reap benenefits from that along g with the c company. [applause] >> uranium has been a huge economic boom to this whole area. these small communities never had it as good as when there was uranium mining. and i do know that when you're struggling to put your kids through college, put food on the table, some of these arenas look very,,

very appppealing. anand i cannonot say thatat if s in that t boat that i wouldn't e right there swimming the same stream. is i it worth h it to open more mineses and more e mills? to me, it is. it's an issue we all face, not just me or the miners. it's an issue t that we all fac, bebecause we do not give up our consumption of fossil fuels, and... so, where e it's going to o lea? i'm jusust a cowgirl. i don't know. >> after spending some time in this s community,y, i reallyly empathized with their position. first of all, they have a very strongng sense ofof communityty and of place, and i feel, if you are from some of these smaller towns in america where community is so important,, yyou don't want to lose that. you know, people just say, "just pick up and go to a city, like, go somewhere else," and they will say,

"no, you know, we love it here. we've been here for generations." i think it started out for me that i thought it would be more of an environmental film, and veryry early on i thought,t, this isis much more a s story abouout rural aameric, and about economy, and how it't's really unfaiair when-- if someone is in a state of desesperation where t they fl that they have to pit jojob agaiainst healthth and enviriro, that's like the expression, you know, being between a rock and a hard place, that's just not a fair place to be. 5 years s we have been tryrying to keep ouour doors open, thinking, "any day now those jobsbs are goingng to be here." these are the only people that have come in and offered us jobs. if any of the peoplle here who are agaiainsit had come e in and sasaid they had jobs t to mh iit, we'd be behind that, totoo. bubut right now this is all we''ve gogot. and i just w want the people h e to rememember that t they'rere g 11,200 peoplple fromururviving, and that's really all i want them to know.

is thatat every one of yoyou that has stood up against this cocould have e brought in jobs for us, anand you didndn't yyet, 5 y years. soso, please, , remember that whwhen you guys make ths dedecision.. wewe're e waiting, a and we've n waititing a lo t