Battling for a clean planet: ‘A Fierce Green Fire’ gave Earth Day reminders in Morris Township

0

 

By Jim Stevenson

A Fierce Green Fire was reflected in the eyes of 50 viewers at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship on the 47th Earth Day, April 22, 2017.

The environmental film of that name depicted five landmark struggles, difficult and deadly, that brought major advances for the people, the land, and the animals of the earth.

The film starts with the Sierra Club’s battle, lost but then won with a newspaper campaign, that the Grand Canyon not be dammed.

In Act II, Lois Gibbs led the campaign against government indifference to get a buyout of homes at Love Canal, where 20,000 tons of buried toxic waste caused widespread illness and birth defects.

Greenpeace inflatable hooks on to a Japanese whaling boat while it is pulling a caught whale on board 2000. © Greenpeace / John Cunningham. Used with permission.
Greenpeace inflatable hooks on to a Japanese whaling boat while it is pulling a caught whale on board 2000. © Greenpeace / John Cunningham. Used with permission.

By facing down harpooners and showing the agonizing death of whales, Greenpeace led the effort that ultimately resulted in a ban on whaling.

The campaign that led to protection of one-third of the Amazon rainforest was energized by the assassination in 1988 of the movement’s bold leader, Chico Mendes.

In the last act, the film documents the tortuous path to the recognition of climate change and the bold actions and calculated indifference (often the US stance) to combating global warming.

Jamie Boyce, ministerial intern at the fellowship, welcomed the audience and introduced the movie.

After the film, your correspondent recalled how the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, was overshadowed by Vietnam War protests at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Next came Ken Collins, a “confrontational environmentalist” and recent Green Party Candidate for the NJ Assembly, who offered comments and answered questions.

The children of Love Canal protest hazardous waste buried in their backyards, as seen in the film A FIERCE GREEN FIRE.
The children of Love Canal protest hazardous waste buried in their backyards, as seen in the film A FIERCE GREEN FIRE.

Ken made the point: “Even with the administration in denial, you as an individual can act: Switch to green energy for your home, drive a hybrid car, eat less meat, write your representatives, or, better yet, get in their faces.”

Linda DeLap and a fellow member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby collected constituents’ written comments about climate change to be delivered to their members of Congress.

Claire Mayer and Diane Finn circulated a petition in support of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Information on several environmental organizations was distributed, and people were urged to “double down, join more than one.”

Bob Calafiore provided detailed information on three different ways to reduce your carbon footprint: (1) Switch your electric supplier, (2) Buy or lease solar panels, and (3) Get carbon offsets for the energy that you use for electric, natural gas and air travel.

Morristown resident Jim Stevenson is a member of the Green Earth Ministry at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, where he works on environmental issues and preventing gun violence. He is retired from Honeywell Aerospace and has a consulting company.

LEAVE A REPLY