11th Hour: How One Film Saved An Ancient Forest

On the heels of a failed COP15, one story reminds me of the importance of media in the fight to save our planet.

Like many activists and bloggers on those fateful last days of the Copenhagen climate summit, I was dragging my tail between my legs. There was definitely a sense of defeat lingering in the air -- that despite the historic unification of the both environmental and social justice NGO's into a veritable eco-army it wasn't enough. We didn't even get close to the emissions cuts needed.

Is Avatar Radical Environmental Propaganda?

Environmentalist and producer Harold Linde weighs in on the Hollywood-izing of the environmental movement.

 

James Cameron’s Avatar is without a doubt the most epic piece of environmental advocacy ever captured on celluloid, and it only very thinly veils its message which, on the heels of a failed Copenhagen summit, is more timely now than ever … Nature will always win.

The film hits all the important environmental talking-points — virgin rain forests threatened by wanton exploitation, indigenous peoples who have much to teach the developed world, a planet which functions as a collective, interconnected Gaia-istic organism, and evil corporate interests that are trying to destroy it all.

Top 10 Environmental Films Of All Time

A countdown of the most important environmental films ever made.

After hearing the amazing story of how the film The 11th Hour helped to save an ancient rain forest, I realized the power that films have both as political tools and as cultural influencers. So I turned to environmentalist and media expert Harold Linde to help develop a list of the top 10 environmental films of all time. Some will disagree with the selection and others with the ranking (in order of importance). Please feel free to argue with me and put forth your own suggestions and rankings in the comments section below. 

So here it goes ...