Awareness by Maria Hansen: October 2009

The Metra

It is a nice way to travel it was five dollars for the weekend! The ride proved to be much more relaxing than I thought and the scenery was great. Next time I take the train I will be more prepared with reading material and headphones. My ears were charged with the sound of the horn, I was in the first car. Wake up Maria! When we arrived at Clyborne it was rainy windy and cold, I should have dressed much warmer. This is the wilderness of the city, greeted by garbage and graffiti. This is no Savanna the plants here are hanging on walls of cement, small fragments of green here and there. The only sound of a waterfall is a missing gutter. Ugg advertisement on street wall reminding me I need to be wearing Ugg’s and sitting in front of the fireplace. Cigarettes buds on the ground? Why do people do that? Smoking is bad for you and littering is not nice. Pigeons always seem to find a home; they are the seagulls of land. The noise level here is thundering like surround sound. Traffic is everywhere trains, airplanes Highway 294. As if the noise pollution was not enough, piles of unwanted metal are being shuffled around by a huge red and orange crane, it looks like a giant spider walking. You can never get lost in Chicago. Just look at the horizon and you know you have to go east. The street started to hum and the smell of hot metal was in the air. We were at Finkl & Son’s Factory. The employees of Finkl were watching a huge metal caldron with red hot molten steel, which seemed to drown all the traffic noise. The garbage no longer on the street just clean and tree lined, and easy transition to Sheffield the garden district of Chicago with more restaurants and coffee shops for the convenience of residents and visitors. Bicyclist, kids on skateboards and people running with their dogs. The trains above me like a roller coaster at Great America. The street now filled with perfect four story apartments in all colors they are so close together they seem attached. This unique district is a commodity for those who could afford to live here. To enjoy the finer things in life all within walking distance from home. The traffic here is people. A Bicycle or walking is the best way to get around this neighborhood.

I came across an article about the Mexican Wolves.
So I decided to look them up for their environmental
influence. They have a really nice blog.

RT @Carbonfundorg: #climatetuesday action: join @350! http://bit.ly/1pUcwZ #green #climatebill about an hour ago

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Recent

Helping get the word out Brandon Smith 27-Aug-2009
COP-15 for naught? Brandon Smith 19-Aug-2009
A cool green case for your iPhone Brandon Smith 09-Aug-2009
World Oceans Day Q&A with Filmmakers of A Sea Change Brandon Smith 12-Jul-2009
SAVE THE DATES Brandon Smith 07-Jul-2009

Subjects

News widgets and RSS news feeds - Feedzilla.com

Helping get the word out

Thursday, August 27, 2009

We have two new partners helping get the word out about ocean acidification, and we're very grateful.

First, Alternative Channel, an international Web TV (in 3 languages) devoted to sustainable development. It's a free platform where citizens, corporations, NGOs and NPOs can share uploading videos about sustainable development and humanitarian causes. The channel has 100,000 monthly visitors coming from 156 different countries. Sustainable development is clearly a global concern.

And the North American Assocation for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is letting their members know about the film. If anyone can use A Sea Change, they can!

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COP-15 for naught?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

You may have noticed the drop off in our blogging. We're finding Twitter a super convenient way to convey info quickly. There's a certain ease in the short-form format; we don't feel the need to craft our language quite as carefully. And it's unbeatable for live coverage of an event. If you've been following us, you know we tweeted quite a bit at Netroots Nation last week.

But we're hearing a bit about what's not going to happen in Copenhagen in December this year and want to devote a bit more space that topic.

Two recent stories in Grist:

Game theorist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita says COP-15 doomed already;

Yvo de Boer of UN climate convention says 350 ppm is a pipe dream, that there's "no hope in hell."

Frankly, we're not relying on COP-15 anyway. Sure we're planning to show. But it's determined CITIZENS we're counting on, NOT GOVERNMENTS. Citizens are nimble; governments are ponderous—they move at the speed of old-school glaciers.

>And TIME IS JUST TOO SHORT TO DILLY DALLY and wait for someone else to save us.

We'll keep working on getting the word out about the connection between excess carbon dioxide and changing seawater chemistry. And the urgent need to cut emissions, starting at home.

We hope you'll join us.

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A cool green case for your iPhone

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Well, our old cell phone was on the verge of dying. The body was cracked in two or three places. High time to upgrade massively because we're also wanting to tweet more frequently and generally be more accessible. Yet not carry our laptop everywhere. So we took the plunge into the 21st century.

To protect our new investment, we needed a case. Imagine our pleasure at finding something recycled, right in the Apple Store: this cool case by Agent 18, made from recycled plastic bottles.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Peters for her advice and support during the transition!

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World Oceans Day Q&A with Filmmakers of A Sea Change

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Following a screening of A Sea Change at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby answer questions about the film and ocean acidification. The plan was to receive tweeted questions and emails from other venues screening for World Oceans Day. Well, we couldn't get online: Verizon decided to test its cables during that one-hour period, alas. So no live webcast.

However, we did receive some questions from Spain. From Vilanova i la Geltrú, to be exact, in Catalonia. Outreach coordinator Angela Alston fielded those.

Moderating is Beacon Institute CEO John Cronin.

Our thanks to John and the Beacon Institute staff for making the screening and this video possible.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

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SAVE THE DATES

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

NEW YORK CITY PREMIERE OF A SEA CHANGE
Sept. 13, American Museum of Natural History. Free! Filmmakers Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby present. 4 pm; W. 79th St.. and Central Park West.

U.S. TELECAST
Sat.,Sept. 26, 2009, 8 pm, Planet Green Network. Look for this channel on cable,Direct TV, and more. It's the first & only 24-houreco-lifestyle TV network. A Sea Change airs as part of Planet Green's "Reel Impact" series. We're in terrific company: also airing are An Inconvenient Truth, Who Killed the Electric Car, and No-Impact Man.

TAKE ACTION
Organize a house party and watch the telecast with your neighbors. We're working on setting up a quick way to email your representatives and express your concern about ocean acidification and the need for the US to lead the way in CO2 emission reduction at COP-15. The oceans aren't on the table at COP-15. We have to change that.

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ACT TODAY

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The American Clean Energy and Security Act -- the Waxman-Markey bill, HR 2454-- represents a critical opportunity to deliver on President Obama's vision for a clean energy economy.

The bill's coming up for a vote on the House floor by Friday, June 26, the end of this week. Congress needs to hear from you, if you're an American voter.

To act immediately, go to 1Sky.org, where they've set up an easy-to-use action page.

You can fax or call your representative toll-free and urge her or him to oppose any moves to weaken this bill, support all efforts to strengthen it, and to vote to pass H.R. 2454 so it can be made even stronger in the Senate and beyond.

If you call, ask to speak to a legislative assistant in charge of energy policy. 1Sky provides a calling script you can use in talking with staffers about the bill using the calling script on the next screen.

Thanks for 1Sky for this great tool.

Thank you taking action!

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Grist reviews A Sea Change

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

"One reviewer has called it a “global warming horror documentary.”And there is certainly plenty to fear as Huseby—and the audience—learnsmore and more about the threat of ocean acidification. He interviewsscientists who tell him 118 billion metric tons (or 118 billion VW Bugsworth) of CO2 have already been absorbed by the ocean. He watches theenamel of a human tooth quickly dissolve after sitting in a cupful ofcarbonated water. He listens during a conference where scientists askeach other how they missed this big issue—and whether we’re alreadyscrewed (answer: probably).

But despite all this, A Sea Change emerges as more love story than horror flick. . . .

Huseby is more energized than ever in his quest to publicize thedual threats of ocean acidification and global warming. During a paneldiscussion following a Seattle International Film Festival screening,Huseby announced that he’ll be attending the United Nations ClimateChange Conference in Copenhagen this December and will be showing thefilm there. He’s also planning screenings for the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a UN delegation. He’s even beenasked to testify on the topic in front of Congress.

“We have a 10-15 year window to make some noise,” he said. “I wouldlove to see the term ‘ocean acidification’ become part of the politicaldiscourse.”

And thanks to this film—and Huseby’s love of the ocean—it just might."

—Sarah van Schagen, Grist

Read the rest of van Schagen's story here.

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KOMO ABC Segment on A Sea Change

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Sven Huseby interviewed on KOMO ABC Seattle. Sven co-produced and stars in A Sea Change.

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A Sea Change screening in San Diego for World Oceans Day

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Elena and Dennis of Sea Rocket Bistro appeared on Channel 6 in San Diego to promote their World Oceans Day screenings of A Sea Change. The best advocates we could ask for!

Sea Rocket Bistro is a farm-to-table restaurant that focuses on localfoods in order to provide a more physical connection between their guestsand the food they serve. Their focus is seafood, naturally.