I just finished watching a terrific documentary, Tomorrow. Here’s the synopsis:
WHY THIS FILM ?
TODAY, we sometimes feel powerless in front of the various crises of our times.
TODAY, we know that answers lie in a wide mobilization of the human race. Over the course of a century, our dream of progress commonly called “the American Dream”, fundamentally changed the way we live and continues to inspire many developing countries. We are now aware of the setbacks and limits of such development policies. We urgently need to focus our efforts on changing our dreams before something irreversible happens to our planet.
TODAY, we need a new direction, objective… A new dream! The documentary Tomorrow sets out to showcase alternative and creative ways of viewing agriculture, economics, energy and education. It offers constructive solutions to act on a local level to make a difference on a global level. So far, no other documentary has gone down such an optimistic road…
TOMORROW is not just a film, it is the beginning of a movement seeking to encourage local communities around the world to change the way they live for the sake of our planet.
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Today I was skiing at Aspen Highlands. It’s the worst year I’ve seen since we moved up here, in 2002. As I note in my poop duty climate change index, winter has on par, gotten shorter each year since we moved to Eagle.
Everyone I talked to in Aspen today seemed uncomfortable talking about why there’s not much snow. Instead, they wanted to brush it off as just a bad year. I had lunch at ski patrol HQ, was listening to the conversations. Not one mention of “climate change”. Maybe they’re not supposed to talk about climate change?
What occurred to me is that people in Aspen don’t want to admit that everything about Aspen is wrong, in so far as the environment is concerned. From the giant mansions that suck up energy, to the jets bringing the rich and powerful. It’s all wrong. Aspen is antithetical to what’s necessary to save skiing and the planet. Because Aspen is all about consumption, with a capitol C. What the people in Aspen, Vail, and probably every other ski resort town don’t want to admit is that they’re killing what they’re selling. No one wants to admit that what they’ve done is all wrong. Instead, they make up awards and have fundraisers that amount to nothing more than a celebration of themselves.
A while back I wrote a post about a vision I had for a city where people walk to work, where all their food is grown nearby. Maybe it’s time to start making that happen.
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