What Erin Brockovich thinks about: Cover-ups Gaslighting Ass-backwards regulation And why Superman's not coming

摘要

Erin Brockovich knows a lot about gaslighting. "They'd tell me: you're not a doctor, you're not a lawyer, you're not a scientist. You run around in a short skirt. You're just a crazy, loud-mouthed girl, what could you possibly know?" She's speaking to me from her California home in the Agoura Hills, her vitality familiar from Julia Roberts' portrayal in the Oscar-winning movie that took Brockovich's name and made it synonymous with taking on big polluters. "I've had people tell me the green water and the two-headed frog is normal, and I'm like, yeah, we may not have the science on this but I'm pretty certain this isn't right." It's been more than two decades since she proved the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) was poisoning a community in Hinkley with chromium VI, leading to a multimillion dollar payout, but she sees little improvement in the way pollution is handled. "We're just seeing more problems and we're covering it up more. We'll start getting better when we start addressing antiquated infrastructures... antiquated laws and policies that don't work."