The folks at STV in Scotland must have Muir on the mind this fall – just as we did during Ken Burns’s The National Parks series – because they nominated Muir for the title of "Greatest Scot." That’s pretty good for a guy who left the country when he was 11.
There’s going to be a whole series of shows about great Scots, with the episode about Muir airing on Friday, Nov. 13. You’ll be able to watch the show online after it airs on TV.
Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.
Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home (2007)
Available on DVD; watch the first 20 minutes here
--Michael Mullaley
Great news! We can all go home. No need to campaign about the climate anymore. The earth is actually improving because of carbon emissions. At least that’s what Plants Need CO2 says. The group, a pending nonprofit organization, hopes to woo climate activists with its tag line: “CO2 is Green.”
Why, pray tell, is it green? In short, it's good for plants. Carbon dioxide is “essential” to the earth and provides food for all living creatures. The site even explains that the carbon dioxide produced in China has made the country greener and plants thrive there. That’s funny. Aren’t China’s cities some of the most polluted in the world? China’s citizens say that pollution is a big problem in their country.
It seems this organization, led by retired energy-industry executive H. Leighton Steward, has forgotten about EPA's ruling earlier this year. You know, the one that says that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, contribute to air pollution that harms the environment and human health? So the group launched campaign ads promoting fossil fuels.
--Julie LittmanTip #4: Do Something Else
You can adjust all the brightness settings, turn off all the surrounding lights, stick to smaller screens, and unplug when you're done. But when it comes to your television, the best emissions-reducing habit is simply to watch less. Instead, go for a hike, read a library book (our weekly reviews can help), write, draw, play a board game, exercise, or volunteer.
Tell us: What do you do instead of watching television?
Some of the names you’ll recognize there are those of Melissa Etheridge, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Michael Bloomberg, and the Sierra Club’s own Carl Pope.
To see people's postings, just click on a box and the content will load. To upload your own content, click on "Add Your Voice," then add a video or photo along with your thoughts about global warming.
--Julie Littman
Sierra’s article is about L.A. teens who participated in WildLink, a program that helps underprivileged urban kids experience the outdoors. Students from rival high schools Crenshaw and Dorsey explored Yosemite National Park and befriended each other.
The Utne article also mentions Sierra's accompanying profile about African American park ranger Shelton Johnson, who connects with Yosemite’s visitors dressed up as a buffalo soldier from the 1800s.
For more information about programs that bring urban kids to the outdoors, check out the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges program.
--Julie Littman / photo by Michael Winokur
Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.
Searching for Michael Peterson (2009)
Available on DVD
This surfing documentary plunges below the surface to find out what happened to 1970s legend Michael Peterson, whose incredible talent and supreme confidence in the water was rivaled only by his extreme shyness on dry land. Director Jolyon Hoff takes us back almost four decades, when Australia was in the midst of turmoil much like that in the United States. What with Vietnam War protests, drugs, and a back-to-the-land movement, surfing was an outsider sport that drew those searching for a simper life.
Things didn’t turn out the way the everyone had hoped, though. Despite the spirit of the time, consumerism continued and surfing turned mainstream. Michael Peterson, it turns out, was schizophrenic, and his condition might well serve as a metaphor for the era.
This film will be of most interest to those passionate about surfing and its history. But it'll also draw in viewers who are interested in counterculture, the ocean, and mental illness. The environmental themes are subtle, but it's hard to resist the call of the crashing ocean.
--Kyle Boelte
Sex sells. While people all over the world last Saturday submitted photos of themselves spreading the word during 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, a handful of fashion models drew attention to the cause in their own way: by taking off their clothes.
At the beginning of this video, the models are dressed in heavy layers to represent 387 parts per million, the current harmful level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. How on earth do we possibly escape the life-altering effects of this warmer climate and get down to the ideal limit of 350 ppm? The models creatively demonstrate the importance of reaching this goal by undressing to almost the bare minimum as the numbers tick down.
The ad is certainly intriguing, but it raises some questions. The ladies are marketed as "supermodels" but it's unlikely that anyone reading this knows any of their names (post 'em in the space for comments if you do). Also, it occurs to us that the video almost encourages global warming; as it gets hotter, will hot girls be taking their clothes off more?
As we approach Copenhagen, innovative methods to convey messages about global warming are surely welcome. But while this video might leave some wanting to watch it again, that desire may not be out of concern for the environment.
--Michael Mullaley
Sarah Kelton is offering her song "The River's Tears" on the Sierra Club's social network Climate Crossroads as a free music download.
Kelton's roots are in folk and her tunes have been played on FOX, NBC, and MTV's "Making the Band." After spending a year playing in Nashville, she's heading back into the recording studio.
"I eat mostly organic foods because I strive for optimal health and because I believe in clean farming processes that sustain a healthy Earth," she said. "To me, any product, action, or organization that is protecting the environment is important and should be supported."Click here for the free download.
--Brian Foley
Wallace Stegner's West (edited by Page Stegner, Heyday Books, $19, Oct. 2008)
Wallace Stegner won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. But his greatest contribution might well have been as mentor to arguably the most influential, environmentally savvy writers America has seen since Emerson and Thoreau’s transcendentalism. The director and founder of Stanford University’s creative writing program, his sphere of influence included Wendell Berry, Edward Abbey, Larry McMurtry, Barry Lopez, and Robert Hass.
Wallace Stegner’s West gives us the very best of his visionary writing, framing the West in his own words. Compiled, edited, and introduced by his son Page, several previously unpublished essays are part of this important collection.
--Pamela Biery
