It's time to exercise our options

Leonardo DiCaprio's powerful documentary "The 11th Hour" is a perfect companion piece to Al Gore's Academy Award winning film "An Inconvenient Truth". While "The 11th Hour" does open with a summary of what DiCaprio calls our "convergence of crises" it eventually moves on from there and lays out the options for emerging from a global catastrophe of our own making.

In the end, this film is hopeful -- even inspiring. For that a great deal of credit must go to the directors of "The 11th Hour" Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. They brought together an amazing group of individuals and skillfully wove dozens of interviews into a seamless, compelling narrative. Their commitment, drive and integrity was absolutely contagious. I was honored to be able to play a small part in the making of this documentary and to be infected by their positive energy.

But don't take my word for this. Please go see and support this important film. You can find out where and when it will be shown near you by visiting "The 11th Hour" Website. And don't forget to invite as many friends, relatives, loved ones, and acquaintances as you can to go along with you.

While on the topic of environmentally-oriented media events, don't miss "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central this Tuesday, August 7th at 11:00 PM. Cape Wind -- the first proposed offshore wind farm in the United States will be the featured topic. Jason Jones interviews representatives from the Clean Power Now, the grassroots proponents of the proposed offshore wind project and Save Our Sound, the organized opposition.

Clean Power Now executive director Barbara Hill says she expects the show to "be a hoot!" (GW)

The 11th Hour

Leonardo DiCaprio's “The 11th Hour” is a feature length documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet. The 11th Hour documents the cumulative impact of these actions upon the planet's life systems and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.

DiCaprio states, “With the onset of global warming and other catastrophic events, environmentalism has become a broader unifying human issue. We as citizens, leaders, consumers and voters, have the opportunity to help integrate ecology into governmental policy and every day living standards.”

With the help of over fifty of the world's most prominent thinkers and activists, including reformer Mikhail Gorbachev, physicist Stephen Hawking, and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, “The 11th Hour documents the grave problems facing the planet's life systems. Global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction, and depletion of the oceans' habitats are all addressed, and their causes rooted in human activity. The combination of these crises call into question the very future not of the planet, but of humanity.

However, the most powerful element of “The 11th Hour is not a portrait of a planet in crisis, but the offering of hope and solutions. Scientists and environmental advocates such as David Orr and Gloria Flora paint a portrait for a radically new and exciting future in which humanity seeks not to dominate the earth's life systems, but to mimic them and coexist. “The 11th Hour calls for a future now within our grasp that is both sustainable and healthier.

The film was directed by sisters Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. They state, “We made this film as call to action, especially to young people. They are the ones who have the power to reshape the future. We must begin now.” They have established, http://www.the11thhouraction.com/, as a place for people to gather and effect change.

“The 11th Hour” will be released in New York and Los Angeles on August 17th and then begin wider national release on August 24th.