Join North Island College’s Global Learning Initiative Wednesday, Jan. 23 for the documentary, Burned – an unflinching, critical look at the woody biomass industry as a climate change solution.
The film examines the accelerated, mass destruction of forests to produce wood pellets as an alternative energy source.
It covers the struggle of forest activists, ecologists, scientists and concerned citizens fighting to establish the enormous value of forests, protect their communities and alter energy policy in the US and abroad.
Produced by filmmakers Alan Dater and Lisa Merton, Burned received the Audience Choice award at the American Conservational Film Festival in 2017, among other accolades.
“Yes, these trees may grow back in time, but we don’t have 50, 70, 100 years to wait for those trees to grow back to take that carbon out of the atmosphere,” said Dr. Mary S. Booth, an expert in greenhouse gas emissions quoted in the film. “We need to do it right away.”
“If you’re interested in reducing emissions now, then burning something that puts more carbon into the air than the thing you’re replacing, which is coal, doesn’t make sense,” Booth said.
The 74-minute film runs in the Stan Hagen Theatre at NIC’s Comox Valley campus, starting at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Admission is by donation to the Global Learning Initiative, which fosters awareness of global issues through partnerships with local communities and individuals. The student-run initiative supports NIC students’ experiences in remote communities in Uganda, Nepal and Mozambique and continues to strengthen cultural understandings through field schools to Aboriginal and global communities.
Following the film, Jennell Ellis of Clean Air Comox Valley will lead a short presentation about local air quality concerns. Fair trade coffee and chocolate are also available for purchase at the event.
For more details, contact Lynne Oberik at 250-334-5061 or email lynne.oberik@nic.bc.ca.
For more information on Burned, visit www.burnedthemovie.com