After viewing only 25 minutes of this 2015 film by Dr. Stephen Emmott, Director of Computational Science at Microsoft in the UK, I sent it out to as many groups as I could. This was not just another film explaining CO2 and the extreme weather due to the warming of the Earth. This was everything we do to the planet. EVERYTHING.
Yes, it is overwhelming. But maybe . . . just maybe, it will inform people who did not realize this was happening. And, it is just possible that it may enrage some people and get them to pressure our corporate/political machine we call a government to actually do something. Because right now, they are doing absolutely nothing. It is business as usual, and let’s just burn more fossil fuels as they run humanity off the cliff.
It is critical that everyone watch this film. Not only mainstream America, but also environmentalists because slapping up some solar panels and an electric car is not going to get us out of this mess . . . if that is even possible at this point. Renewable energy is better than burning fossil fuels but it poses its own degradation to the planet. Whatever we do now will lessen the pain and suffering for some of us.
The link for the film is attached here: Ten Billion Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qs_f4ZOA6E
I find that mainstream America is aware of the climate crisis. Polls prove that. Although many people are in the thick of the forest fires and hurricanes, the rest of us are not. It is easy to just forget that news, and we are on our way to work or the grocery store. Unless you lost a loved one or your house, it is business as usual. The fact that people are still moving to these areas tells me that they are not informed at all.
A prime example of mainstream America is my sister and brother-in-law and their family and friends. I thought I would just ask her if they talk about it with their grown kids or friends. She said no. I wasn’t really surprised. It is never discussed at family gatherings. They are upper middle class and both are recently retired. She was a nurse and my brother-in-law was an electrician running his own small company. Their three kids all went to college. You would think the climate crisis would come up sometime. She said now that she has more time, there would be more time to learn out it. At least she is open to learning more. So . . . mainstream America . . . clueless. Prove me wrong if you think otherwise.
Let’s face it . . . as I took a walk with a friend this morning, there was no evidence of extreme weather or some climate emergency. It was a beautiful fall morning. This warming of the planet has been going on since the burning of fossil fuels started at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s. People used coal for heat in their homes in the 1800s. Factories used it for electricity.
It has been a very slow journey to this climate emergency.
We are all so insulated, as well. Flip a switch for heat, electricity, water, and a refrigerator and freezer full of food. Our lives are ones of extreme convenience. Grow your own food? Forget about it. Head to the grocery store. Give up beef and dairy? Not on your life. Give up processed food and fast food? Cooking makes a mess and there is no time. Unless you live in a city, the car is the main way to get places. Stop buying all those clothes? Fast fashion is the norm.
So why get involved, concerned, . . . or possibly enraged that nothing is being done about it. This film will tell you why. It is our responsibility to take care of this planet. After all, it is the hand that feeds us.
I used to think that all we needed to do was change our habits and what we buy. Recycling, composting, getting some solar panels, buying an electric car, turning down the heat, line drying clothes, or becoming a vegetarian or vegan were all the answers. But this problem is so much bigger than that. Once you understand how all the stuff we buy is degrading the planet with deforestation, biodiversity loss, monoculture crops, mining, the embodied energy in all of the products and food we buy, not to mention the burning of fossil fuels, you begin to understand that Joni Mitchell had it right. We are not only paving paradise with a parking lot . . . we are destroying it.
How do we get out of this mess? Is it even possible?
Watch the film . . . get enraged. Most of all . . . share it.
Ten Billion Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qs_f4ZOA6E
Fossil Fuel Energy Guide https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/Elem_Coal_Studyguide.pdf
Industrial Revolution https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution
Coal Used for the Industrial Revolution https://sciencing.com/energy-resources-industrial-revolution-7639537.html
An Off Grid Life - Climate Crisis Solutions 