School teaches us a lot of cleverness — that is, knowledge about the world — but it doesn’t always teach us wisdom, asserts Ecosophia, the LWV Green Films’ documentary selection for July. The film bills itself as seeking ecological wisdom to address the root causes of climate change: human addiction to economic growth and consumption.
“If you think that it took us 10,000 years to get to our current consumption rate and that we will double this again in just 30 years, then we are thinking about a change in civilization,” says mathematician B. Sid Smith in the film. “We are using up the world and just because we’re doing it with renewable energy doesn’t mean we’re doing it any less.”
Ecosophia is the type of documentary that shrugs off easy answers, the kind that might persuade a diverse audience to react strongly, sometimes in agreement, other times with strong disagreement. One minute it could prompt the skeptics of renewable energy to say “Yeah! That’s what I’ve been saying!” The next minute it flips.
The film’s underlying warrant — a term for the unspoken assumption that the filmmakers believe everyone agrees upon — is that we’re in a climate crisis. The trouble is, a portion of the American population remains unpersuaded that the magnitude of growth in energy usage in 100 years does not correlate with the increasing changes to climate or the temperature hikes in oceans and atmospheres. Exxon Mobile executives from 1977-2003 sat on accurate and compelling research [SG1] while pouring money into campaigns to spread disinformation, as Scientific American, Science Magazine and Harvard News have all reported.
Early in Ecosophia, the documentary projects a list of all the fossil and renewable fuel sources and the ratios of the raw resources that go into producing energy outputs from them. The numbers flash on the screen too fast to digest — one of the documentary’s flaws. The larger point, which they repeat several times, is that creating energy to maintain our civilization and all its material goods is not a 1:1 ratio.
It takes considerable energy to explore, mine, refine and transport fossil fuels. And the more we use, the more waste we create. The fossil fuel industry expanded the plastic and synthetic fiber industries to make a profit from byproducts. Those microfibers and plastics are now leaching into our bloodstream. In addition to the wasted carbon in the atmosphere, we have abandoned coal mines that turn into sinkholes (and would only increase the risk if we tried to leech the last of the low-grade coal out of them). We have polluted water from natural gas mining in shale reserves.
Each bit of waste doubles in the debt we cannot repay to ourselves and our planet. The filmmakers don’t shy away from critiquing the waste that results when we are creating energy out of lower-density sources like the sun, wind, water, and hydrogen, nor do they let nuclear power sources off the hook. Our collective appetite is outgrowing what nature gave us to use and its ability to deal with waste, they assert.
The film poster’s tagline reads “An infinite spirituality meets a finite ecology” under Ecosophia, which the filmmakers define as ecological wisdom. Sophia means wisdom in Latin. They interview a wide variety of indigenous sources, mathematicians, scientists, permaculture practitioners, and other thoughtful voices to address the spiritual, emotional, social and physical dimensions of the problem. They frame the ultimate problem as overgrowth and discuss its causes: greed, power, consumption, the myth of limitless economic growth and liberal individualism. If viewers find the film over-extending its stay, becoming convoluted, spiraling without purpose — which it does — they can at least let it pick their brains.
The film’s value is in living with hard questions and challenging conventional assumptions. Take economic growth, for instance. Is it a valuable end unto itself? What happens when the resources driving current growth dry up? Nations and regions begin scrambling for what’s left rather than collaborating to make livable solutions for all. Humanitarian organizations [SG2] are already seeing climate refugees fleeing for a better life.
The documentary challenges the notion that technology will solve the current conundrum, letting us believe in limitless growth when nature that cannot keep up. (In Dunder Mifflin terms, Limitless possibilities in a world trying to restrain you ... Limitless paper for a paperless world.)
It also takes aim at the psychology of individualism. Abigail Shirar, author Bad Therapy, might nod in agreement because it points out that our modern focus on the self is excluding social and evolutionary psychology. It not only contributes to narcissism and our epidemic of loneliness. It also ignores that humans are interdependent with each other and the rest of the planet.
It would take another 1,800 words to tackle all that film explores, so when it came time for the League of Women Voters Green Film Series attendees to discuss the film’s value and actional insights, it was hard to tease out what to do with all the big questions asked — and sometimes not well answered.
Nevertheless, the film offers some nuggets tucked in the bog of big ideas. (Reading Wendell Berry will produce similar results with much more pleasure.)
First, recover family and community. That’s the advice of one of the native Australians interviewed. It’s a challenge in this era of distrust and disconnect from social, civic and spiritual institutions. At one point the filmmakers say we’re in a crisis of spirituality. Many people have given up on religion but go to “the church of consumerism,” they assert.
Second, pay off debt and stop accruing more. The filmmakers assert it’s one of the most environmental actions we can take. Our entire economy is built on a mirage that debt is sustainable. The filmmakers point out that banks don’t hold your wealth in a box for you. They lend it out to create more wealth, but debt represents overconsumption and waste. All the extra junk we store in units, attics, garages and closets, or around our waists is not wealth.
Third, localize rather than centralize. The filmmakers offer up bread as an example. One caloric energy unit from bread takes 1000 caloric energy units to create —from growing the ingredients with all the tractors and technologies to shipping to a manufacturer to a warehouse to a store to you in packages. How can we localize and simplify what we can live on? Grow what you can. Stay local. Barter, trade and share with neighbors rather than using credit to get it for you and yours. Depend on each other.
But most of all, avoid the comforting but false idea that we can replace one bad thing — like fossil fuels — with some other technology just because the free market and companies say is greener. We tend to overshoot and over-rely on technology’s promise, hoping we can sustain our appetites. What we should entertain is degrowth, less debt, and more interdependence.
Ecosophia may wander and certainly doesn’t ease fears about the accumulating debt of nations, increasing international and local divisiveness, or the climate crisis. It does give voice to some people’s skepticism, and if they are willing to reflect deeply they may agree that the answers to complex problems can begin with recognizing our dependence on those near us and interdependence with all aspects of creation.
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