SUNfiltered by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
A global warming documentary even a greedy bastard could love
February 14th, 2011 by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
Tried arguing climate change science with someone who doesn’t buy it? Yeah, it’s tough… and getting tougher. Even as the science itself becomes more clear, fewer people are concerned about global warming and its effects. It’s enough to make a good greenie bang his/her head against the wall, or just move to a cave.
Or… we could just stop arguing about it.
That’s the tack film maker Peter Byck has taken with his new documentary CARBON NATION, which opened in New York last Thursday. Rather than argue climate science, Byck’s film focuses on climate change solutions… and the economic gain that’s already coming from those solutions. According to the film’s official site, “Even if you doubt the severity of the impact of climate change or just don’t buy it at all, this is still a compelling and relevant film that illustrates how SOLUTIONS to climate change also address other social, economic and national security issues.”
With that kind of approach, you don’t see the usual cast of characters you might expect in an environmental documentary. Some names familiar to greenies are in the film — Van Jones and Amory Lovins, for instance — but so are former Army colonel Dan Nolan, former CIA director James Woolsey, and James Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy. Environmental impact is obviously a key issue, but so are the creation of jobs, the challenges of global security and terrorism, and the potential for economic growth underlying the shift to a low-carbon economy.
Sound interesting? The film’s out in limited release at this point… if you’d like, you can organize a screening in your community. Several people who’ve already seen it are singing its praises, including William H. Schlesinger of NRDC and Robert Kropp of Social Funds.
Take a look at the trailer above, as well as some other clips from the film, and let us know: do you think it’s time to focus more on the benefits created by moving towards clean technology rather then the threats posed by global warming?
