About 75 people filled a community room at the Durango Public Library on Thursday evening for a free screening of the 2019 film “2040,” hoping to leave with a seed of inspiration.
The audience, composed primarily of viewers 65 and older, gathered for a peek at director Damon Gameau’s vision of what the world could look like in the year 2040 if society takes action on climate change today.
The event’s organizers, who represented the Citizens Climate Lobby and the League of Women Voters of La Plata County, hoped viewers might leave feeling called upon to act and empowered to do so.
Gail Harriss, a member of CCL’s local leadership, said taking action is an important first step, whether that's talking about it, voting, going to city council meetings, going to La Plata Electric Association meetings, or calling senators and representatives and asking for action on climate change.
Although CCL’s foremost goal is to push for legislation that would institute a fee and dividend system on carbon, organizers are calling upon La Plata County residents to take action any way they can.
Before G. Sam Foster sat back to watch the film with a bag of popcorn in hand, he said he showed up because he feels a deep sense of concern. Foster, a retired forestry scientist with a 40-year career around the world, has observed firsthand the impact that climate change is having on the ecosystem.
“Driving across from the Front Range to the Western Slope, I saw the devastation due to the bark beetles, and it took my breath away,” he said. “I've been in over 30 countries all over the world and I've never seen anything like that.”
Unlike Al Gore’s 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth,” “2040” makes a distinct effort to leave viewers feeling empowered. Gameau takes an Anthony Bourdain-esque tour of the world to explore existing climate solutions, and then tries to depict what their impact would be if the world immediately adopted them. For added levity, he punctuates the film with tired dad jokes; interviews with young children from around the world saying things such as, “I would like for the government to have done something,” bring the viewer tumbling back to reality.
The audience murmured in approval as images of greenery usurping the concrete hellscape of Los Angeles’ freeways flashed before them. And although some of the solutions in the film, such as mass electric public transit and widespread autonomous vehicle ride-sharing, are less compatible with La Plata County’s environment, the transition to solar energy and regenerative agriculture could take root here.
And, according to viewers, it was these ideas that resonated the most.
The film presented a concept of an interconnected network of solar panels to form a grassroots grid, allowing energy to be produced where it is used and for excess energy to be shared or sold to those in the immediate vicinity.
Dave Rakita, who said he already has a solar array at home, left wanting to investigate whether it was feasible to install a small battery system in his home, which would be the first step of forming the sort of microgrid shown in the film.
“We're looking into how to get people supporting themselves because it’s much better to put a collector on top of an already existing house and on the ground,” he said.
Jim Miller said the regenerative agriculture practices shown in the film were inspiring, but needed to be taught to the next generation of farmers.
And for Cheryl Clement, the next step was as simple as going out and planting more carbon-sequestering trees.
“I just feel empowered, even though I’m not exactly sure what to do,” she said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
