Kristin Wood
Environment and Politics
Film Annotation
Jeremy Rifkin Global Warming and the Solar Future
Word Count: 1006
1.) Title, Director, and Release Year?
Jeremy Rifkin’s lecture on Global Warming and the Solar Future
was released in 2013.
2.) What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The central narrative of this lecture revolves around the
economic and environmental issues of widespread fossil fuel use.
Jeremy Rifkin speaks of the inevitable economic downfall the world
will face if it continues its reliance on fossil fuels. It can be explained
by the fact that as fossil fuels run out and become more rare, their
costs will increase, and because these fuels currently power
essentially all technology, the cost of living will greatly increase and
have significant negative impacts on people throughout the world. He
also estimates that if the world does not completely end carbon
emissions within the next thirty years, the problem of global warming
and climate change cannot be solved, and the sixth mass extinction in
the history of the planet will occur, leading to upwards of 70% of all
living creatures on the earth to being obliterated. He has a very grim
view on the environmental crisis, stating that humans have a very
slim chance of survival considering the fact that 99.5% of all species to
have ever existed on this planet have become extinct, and humans are
very late on taking action to solve this problem. Even though he has a
relatively pessimistic perspective on this issue, he does believe that it
can be solved, and that the world has already completed the first half
of the process by creating a communication system where one-third
of the population can interact instantly, and now all that needs to be
done is the construction of infrastructure and an energy revolution.
3.) What environmental and political problems does the film draw out?
This lecture draws out the political issue of the lack of effective
action taken by any government leaders on global warming and also
the avoidance of this topic by most political leaders; he describes the
world to be in widespread denial. Rifkin speaks with the objective of
educating people on the severity of this environmental crisis, and
offers the solution of laterally distributed renewable energy sources.
Overall, this lecture informs listeners on the dire issue of global
warming and the actions that must be quickly taken in order to fix the
problem before it is too late.
4.) What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
I found the idea that the way that the world currently runs
must be completely transformed in order to stop global warming to be
persuading. The economic perspective from which Rifkin describes
the crisis is really interesting and brings not only the environmental
issues of fossil fuels into the light but also the economic downfall that
will occur. In my opinion, he used a number of facts and evidence to
support his claims and seemed to be very knowledgeable on the topic.
I was also convinced by his philosophy that the world could overcome
this obstacle through the use of laterally distributed renewable energy
sources.
5.) What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?
Although I was convinced by most of Rifkin’s theorized
solution, I was not persuaded by the idea that the world is already
halfway through the process of an energy revolution. I understand
how widespread, instant communication is a large part to creating a
massive change, but I do not believe that it plays nearly as large of a
role in the solution to global warming as he suggests, especially
considering the fact that this new communication can be used in
direct opposition to the main goal as well. So although, this new
communication technology is useful in connecting people in order to
generate change throughout the world, I do not believe it should be
considered half of the process of creating a completely green planet.
6.) What kinds of corrective actions does the film suggest? If the film itself does
not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being
effective.
Rifkin offers a solution to global warming that involves a
complete transformation of the world’s energy systems within the
next thirty years. He suggests that every nation around the globe
establishes a laterally distributed renewable energy system. In other
words, in order to shift the current condition of the planet from the
edge of economic and environmental crisis, every country must
employ the distributed use of various renewable energy sources, such
as wind, tidal, solar, and geothermal, throughout their lands. He
proposes that buildings be retrofitted into mini power plants using
these energy sources. The construction of this new infrastructure
would allow the economy to flourish as well as the environment. Even
though there is a strict time constraint, he believes that on an
exponential curve it can be done, and this generation can save the
earth for the future generations.
7.) What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out?
(Describe what you learned in a couple of sentences, providing at least two
supporting references).
After listening to this lecture, I felt compelled to further
research the time constraint on finding a solution to global warming.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, the world must
shift to low-carbon energy sources by 2050 and to carbon-free
renewable energy sources by 2100 in order to avoid irreversible
damage to the earth. These numbers give humans a much less strict
timeline than Rifkin’s to work with, but then according to the
Washington Post, the earth must end its growth of carbon emissions
within seven years and be completely free of carbon-emitting
technologies within the next forty years in order to prevent severe
climate consequences from occurring. So, overall, it appears that it is a
relatively accepted concept that within the next half-century the
planet must be rid of carbon emitting technologies and have moved
on to use renewable energy sources.