“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” -Alan Watts
I can’t get this film out of my head. Watching it at 35,000 feet with the melting ice caps continually under my windows view has cemented this new altered reality into my head. Before the Flood, the new release by Leonardo DiCaprio in cooperation with National Geographic should be the talk of the day, instead almost everyone I mention it to hasn’t even heard of it. I remember when Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth launched the ridiculous yet persistent to this day climate denial platform. The nonbeliever have made it their business to make no progress on the damages we continue to inflict on this planet. It is embarrassing and a farce to hear their delusional response to the growing crisis all around us.
In the documentary, the mayor of Miami is describing the $400 million dollar civics project to keep the ocean from flooding the city every day. They believe it will buy Miami 40 years, while other believe the time it will buy is more likely 4 years. While their esteemed State Senator, Rubio, insists that humans cannot change the course of climate. What is most embarrassing is that humans can do it, but it only takes one greedy industrialized super power to push the whole thing over the edge.
The most interesting thing about watching this film is that DiCaprio who was named as a Climate Ambassador of Global Friendship a couple of years ago by the UN spared no expense as he traveled the world, knitting together for us all of the news stories that we have heard told and denied in a way that leaves no stone unturned and not one inch of room for any more questions. Gore’s Inconvenient Truth opened the way for change, but unfortunately most of the action that the Earth has seen is rhetoric, dialogue that goes nowhere, that never pushes back against the greed that makes it all churn.
This is not true elsewhere. Several European nations are now completely fossil free and China is the leading producer of solar energy—yes, China. Whatever else you think about Elon Musk, he has built the first workable model of factories that can replace all energy worldwide. The truth is that we know the truth and we have squandered our knowledge with our inability to change and take responsibility for the real impacts that the American way of life have exacted.
We are in the 11th hour and Before the Flood should be mandatory viewing for every citizen on the planet and certainly in our new floundering administration. So do something worthwhile for yourself and the planet this weekend. Watch DiCaprio do his truly investigative reporting of the condition of this beautiful blue planet and all of the people who are now racing to find solutions. I promise it will make you want to join the dance of change in which we are now swept up. The clock is ticking, and there may be no reversing course, but we could slow down the second hand and give our kids a chance to make their stand. Speaking of, there is hope—some kids in my hometown of Eugene are spearheading a lawsuit against the federal government. So proud to live here.
This is my biggest plea yet, wake up, watch before the flood and figure out one way that you can love the earth. We have no back up plan.
