Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives - a movie
Mar. 13th, 2008 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smittenbyuTuesday, March 11 was the launch of the 16th Annual Environmental Film Festival at the Nation's Capital. We went to watch the world premier of Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: Environmental Footprint of War.
" Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: Environmental Footprint of War"
The movie was made by two of the board members of the Film Festival who have been members for a bit over 15 years now. This was due to the lack of adequate coverage on the subject not only by the film festival but also by media in general. They couldn't be further from the truth. We have witnessed the burning oil fields during the Gulf War, the intentional oil spills in Lebanon, the nuclear testing in the Bikini islands in the Pacific, the deforestation of Vietnam during the Vietnam war, and the list continues for pages and pages. The destruction might be at as large a scale as the dropping of the nuclear bomb to a "small" bombing on the streets of Baghdad or NYC. The environment is always the silent victim as portrayed so well in the movie. Ultimately it's the people's lives & health that is deeply affected.
The movie also focuses on the military spending! It's outrageous! It's beyond outrageous. The world spends $1.5 trillion on military (and the US makes up 48% of the spending) and the spending continues to rise (one source). It's beyond baffling. This is of course nothing new. We know this. But what adds to the bafflement & bewilderment is Lester Brown's comment on how much it could potentially cost us to clean up the environment, address the poverty issues (healthcare, education, food, shelter) would be a whopping $160 billion! If I remember correctly, Bush's budget is asking for $900 billion in military spending with an amazing $70 billion in funds for alternative fuels & other environmental related issues.
Another point the movie made, was as each one of us has begun to feel the pinch due to oil prices, we must start looking at not the oil producers but also our own government's military oil consumption. An F-16 jet in 1 hour consumes oil, what an average American consumes in a year! So, increased spending in military also means further increase in oil consumption by the military and higher gas prices for us. On the side, US alternative to petrol is the addition of ethanol. ethanol's source is corn. Farmers earn more from sending their corn to this use than to food source. And we wonder why our food prices are going up. On a side note, there's another documentary (King Corn - You are What You Eat) coming up that looks at the abundant use of corn in our everyday foods. Foods that often are cheap and eaten by many who aren't well off and can't afford the healthier foods. Increases in food prices will further hurt the poor man/woman's pocket.
The film's solution to change is for us to be more active in politics. As it's the government that makes these decisions that affect us. The governments can afford to make the changes we need. Help to get their priorities straight. We should make better use of our rights of living in a democratic nations. We have the right to make sure candidates who make promises are held accountable after elections.
This movie specifically focuses on the US, but it's applicable to any country that has military budget.
"
When we make war, we destroy not only the enemy, we destroy our earth as well. In all its stages - from the production of weapons through combat to clean up - war entails actions that pollute land, air and water, destroy biodiversity and drain natural resources. Yet the environmental damage caused by war (and preparations for war) is underreported, even ignored. The environment is war's silent casualty. Using specialist and eyewitness accounts from Vietnam and Afghanistan to Australia and the Pacific Islands and supported by on-site and archival footage, Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives shows how war and preparations for war further compromise the environmental health of a planet already under stress from massive population increases, unsustainable demands on natural resources, and ruinous environmental practices. In the context of today's growing awareness and alarm about global climate change, the film shows that natural security (the protection and preservation of ecosystems) is an essential component of any realistic approach to national security. Directed and produced by Alice and Lincoln Day and VideoTakes, Inc.
The movie was made by two of the board members of the Film Festival who have been members for a bit over 15 years now. This was due to the lack of adequate coverage on the subject not only by the film festival but also by media in general. They couldn't be further from the truth. We have witnessed the burning oil fields during the Gulf War, the intentional oil spills in Lebanon, the nuclear testing in the Bikini islands in the Pacific, the deforestation of Vietnam during the Vietnam war, and the list continues for pages and pages. The destruction might be at as large a scale as the dropping of the nuclear bomb to a "small" bombing on the streets of Baghdad or NYC. The environment is always the silent victim as portrayed so well in the movie. Ultimately it's the people's lives & health that is deeply affected.
The movie also focuses on the military spending! It's outrageous! It's beyond outrageous. The world spends $1.5 trillion on military (and the US makes up 48% of the spending) and the spending continues to rise (one source). It's beyond baffling. This is of course nothing new. We know this. But what adds to the bafflement & bewilderment is Lester Brown's comment on how much it could potentially cost us to clean up the environment, address the poverty issues (healthcare, education, food, shelter) would be a whopping $160 billion! If I remember correctly, Bush's budget is asking for $900 billion in military spending with an amazing $70 billion in funds for alternative fuels & other environmental related issues.
Another point the movie made, was as each one of us has begun to feel the pinch due to oil prices, we must start looking at not the oil producers but also our own government's military oil consumption. An F-16 jet in 1 hour consumes oil, what an average American consumes in a year! So, increased spending in military also means further increase in oil consumption by the military and higher gas prices for us. On the side, US alternative to petrol is the addition of ethanol. ethanol's source is corn. Farmers earn more from sending their corn to this use than to food source. And we wonder why our food prices are going up. On a side note, there's another documentary (King Corn - You are What You Eat) coming up that looks at the abundant use of corn in our everyday foods. Foods that often are cheap and eaten by many who aren't well off and can't afford the healthier foods. Increases in food prices will further hurt the poor man/woman's pocket.
The film's solution to change is for us to be more active in politics. As it's the government that makes these decisions that affect us. The governments can afford to make the changes we need. Help to get their priorities straight. We should make better use of our rights of living in a democratic nations. We have the right to make sure candidates who make promises are held accountable after elections.
This movie specifically focuses on the US, but it's applicable to any country that has military budget.
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Date: 2008-03-13 03:35 pm (UTC)