"The End of the Line” is a disturbing new film about the destruction of the oceans and everything that lives in them. Like most people in North America who live away from the sea, I have a romantic idea of the oceans’ abundance. Maybe it is Hemingwayesque. “The Old Man and the Sea” remains a seminal exploration of how we live lives interdependent with the mystery that is the sea. Except it is less and less a mystery. The primal, frightening forces of unknowing are being swept away leaving behind the stark truth that the oceans are finite and their populations fragile. Here is a trailer for the film. It will disturb you.
You may have heard about the latest affront to the planet: There is a floating “island” of plastic larger than the state of Texas off the western coast of the US. A swirling vortex of currents collects plastic consumer products in one place. Discarded bottles, and bags, and a mind-numbing array of crap that we have convinced ourselves we need in our lives end up dumped at sea. The island grows. It breaks down. Animals eat it. We eat the animals. You know what happens next.
CKF Film Friday No. 20: Carbon Cap And Trade Explained
There is a growing discussion in the press about the validity of carbon Cap and Trade schemes. Most people do not really understand the fundamentals of Cap and Trade, so I thought I’d invite some experts to explain it. First, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club explains the basics in 45 seconds:
Charles Komanoff of the Carbon Tax Centre explains the difference between Cap and Trade and the Carbon Tax. Note that he applauds British Columbia for its rapid implementation of its Carbon Tax scheme.
Do you want to know what Warren Buffet thinks of the Cap and Trade system? Some think he is objecting to it by calling it a tax, and that it will be passed through to the consumer. My reading is that he understands the importance of paying now for the impact our activities have on the future.
CKF Film Friday No. 18: Alternative Electric Power For Cars
A lot of us have seen the film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” One of the reasons the car failed, according to the film’s producers, was that advanced battery technology needed to extend the car’s range was stifled by Chevron-Texaco.
Batteries have their own environmental issues. While better than oil, batteries are far from clean. What new battery technologies are on the horizon?
Apple Computer made great strides in the battery technology that powers their new 17” Macbook Pro. Watch this video for more information. Is there the possibility that Apple may move from computers and phones to electric cars someday soon. ;)
CKF Film Friday No. 17: Protecting Great Lakes Water
Yesterday’s airplane crash in the Hudson river got us thinking about things that don’t belong in fresh water. Because Toronto sits on the shore of Lake Ontario—one of North America’s Great Lakes—we thought this week’s Film Friday should take a look at the latest regulatory efforts to protect the watershed. First, lead does not belong in the lake…
CKF Film Friday No. 16: Remarkable Green Inventions
Given the amount of hot air wasted by Canada’s politicians this week we thought it would be a good idea to explore some new technologies that just may—or may not—revolutionize the way we produce energy. The first video comes to us from Australia where a local inventor and his partner have come up with a prototype home generator that runs almost forever and requires one fifth of the energy it produces to work. It may be the long dreamed about perpetual motion machine (physicists can skip this one).
Then there is the “Wind Belt” system that harnesses the power of wind in a completely out of the box way.
And for the conspiracy theorists out there who love to hear about great, energy efficient technologies that have been suppressed, here’s one from eastern Europe you’ll appreciate.
