Age of Stupid..How I Wish We Weren't So Stupid

I saw this film last night, Age of Stupid, from McLibel director, Franny Armstrong. It is a great climate change awareness film, containing the usual warning signs and look into the future of what life may become if we don't stop destroying ourselves and our planet. However, It didn't leave me with the usual doom and gloom feelings about our environment as other similar films, but instead just left me frustrated and ashamed-frankly- of our society(the U.S. in particular) and our lifestyle choices.

I thought the film did a great job of showing how climate change really is occurring around us - not with scientific facts about far away glaciers melting, but with personal stories, like that of an avid mountain climber who is noticing the glacier melting rapidly near his home in the French Alps, or that of a New Orleans oil industry employee who was awakened to the climate crisis when he found himself rescuing 100 people from their rooftops in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

But this film went further and exposed the deeper, more fundamental problem of how and why we find ourselves in this environmental and energy crisis: greed and consumerism. Age of Stupid pointed to the fact that oil companies, like Shell, have exploited many countries, like Nigeria, for oil and propelled the industrialized world into a comfortable habit of receiving cheap oil and therefore wasting products and energy without thinking of the consequences. We are not only taking what we want from the Earth but are taking from underdeveloped and vulnerable countries and their people, all to shoot ourselves in the foot with the consequences of destroying the planet that we ALL share.

We are basically committing suicide in order to own hummers and flat screen TVs- it is not only stupid, it's disgusting.

Happy Earth Day

Many environmentalists usually speak out on this day, saying they wish every day could be Earth Day, as it is for us tree huggers. However, I like to live in the moment and be grateful for what we have. At least society has agreed to recognize one day, this day in April every year, for our mother Earth. It is a day where people, who may not remember to live in tune with the environment in every other day of their lives, decide to dedicate this day to pitching in and cleaning up their local beach or river, planting new trees or participating in festivals and workshops to raise awareness about harmful practices that are damaging our planet.

These past few years have been particularly full of days that resemble today. Days, weeks, months, and years have passed this decade with people, activists, advocates, lobbyists, and entire non-profit organizations dedicating every waking moment to raising awareness about the one, vital aspect of our society that is causing most harm to, and drastically changing, our environment-yes those three all too familiar characters- CO2. Carbon Emissions. Green House Gases. They didn't use to be known as such. Back in the day, CO2 was just another living element on our chemistry tables, feeding the trees and keeping our planet alive. But something happened along the way. We started taking advantage of this Earth that gave life to us. Something blinded us along the way. We began to create and produce and manufacture and destroy and consume and waste, not worrying about the consequences. Something took over- and I believe the word for it is Greed. We began to create so much CO2 in our quest for ultimate capitalism that all of a sudden it was no longer a friendly element, CO2 was now the prime suspect in the assassination of our environment.

Trapped CO2 in the atmosphere, which is causing our planet to warm at frighteningly speedy rates, has been the core focus of many people's lives over the last few years, causing every day to be some form of Earth Day for them. These days are those in which people are fighting for the Earth and all that it has given to us that is worth fighting for - dramatic mountain ranges, endless oceans, breathtaking deserts, endearing animals, and all the many wonders that nature has to offer.

So it is today that I am grateful that the rest of society, even if only for a few hours, can recognize and appreciate the fight that so many others are dedicated to for the rest of the year- and will remain dedicated to until we see the end of fossil fuels and harmful CO2 emissions, and begin to see renewable energy, organic farms and happy healthy communities - and then every day will truly be an Earth day.