Kilowatt Ours (No Rating)
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Expanding on An Inconvenient Truth, director Jeff Barrie starts this doc with a compelling question: What if every time you flipped a light switch, you blew up a mountain? It's not so far-fetched. In West Virginia, where the coal-mining industry operates at a furious pace to keep up with ever-growing energy demands, mountaintops are exploding all the time in order for companies to expedite the removal of coal. Footage of Dick Cheney intoning that 1,900 new power plants are needed over the next 20 years drives home the message that government and corporate interests know a crisis of resources is looming. Barrie does his homework well, exploring alternative energy options such as solar and wind power as well as the limitations and serious risks of nuclear energy. Best, though, is the folksy approach of Barrie and his wife Heather, who decide to do what they can to help--not a lot, perhaps, but their suggestions are easy for anyone to follow, and, as the film reminds us, we’re all in this together. We need to care about the Great Smoky Mountains, where haze from pollution blocks the gorgeous views; we need to be alarmed about the increase in childhood asthma; and we need to worry about the radically changing West Virginia landscape, where mountain demolition has already led to deadly flooding. In essence, Barrie demonstrates that even the smallest effort--e.g., exchanging a standard light bulb for a more efficient version--can, if multiplied by millions, reverse the dangerous course we appear to be following. (Caroline Palmer)
Review by Caroline Palmer
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