Endangered Species
Environmental Activism
Forests
Genetic Modification of Crops and Foods
Global Warming / Climatological Issues
Green Business, Green Building, Alternative Agriculture
National Parks
Nuclear and Electrical Energy Controversies and Disasters
Oil/Petrochemicals/Alternative Energy Sources
Population Issues
Toxic Substances / Industrial Pollution / Environmental Racism
Urban Environment
Waste and Recycling
Water Supply / Oceans, Rivers, Lakes / Water Management
General and Miscellaneous Environmental Issues
- Documentaries about Food Production, Consumption and Politics
Earth Science
Environmental Design(architecture, city and regional planning)
- Endangered Species
- At the Threshold of Eternity.
- Protection and survival of endangered species are illustrated through current recovery program for peregrine falcons, greenback cutthroat trout, river otters and white pelicans. [1977?] 27 min. Video/C 77
- The California Condor
- Illustrates the behavior and natural habitat of the extremely endangered California condor and shows the work of the Los Angeles Zoo in rearing these birds in captivity for future release into the wild. 1984. 13 min. Video/C MM813
- The Chances of the World Changing
- This documentary begins in a penthouse apartment high above the urban frenzy of New York City, where writer Richard Ogust lives among 1200 turtles and tortoises. For years, Richard has rescued these endangered turtles from the food markets in Southeast Asia, where an unregulated and flourishing trade keeps many turtles and tortoises at the top of the world's endangered species lists. Overwhelmed by the demands of managing his personal ark, Richard decides to create the country's largest turtle and tortoise conservation institute. Directed & produced by Eric Daniel Metzgar. Originally produced in 20055; Broadcast premiere on P.O.V. 2007. 99 min. DVD 7572
- The God Squad and the Case of the Northern Spotted Owl
- A documentary focusing on the controversial Endangered Species Committee proceedings over the Northern Spotted Owl and 44 proposed federal timber sales in Southwest Oregon, presented through interviews with cabinet members, staff, committee witnesses, lawyers and people in rural Oregon. While the proceedings ostensibly focused on the owl and timber sales, the controvery was a microcosm of a much larger debate concerning the fate of the Pacific Northwest's old growth forests and the Endangered Species Act. 2001. 57 min. Video/C 8119
- Milking the Rhino
- A ferocious kill on the Serengeti; warnings about endangered species... These clichés of nature films ignore a key landscape feature: villagers just off-camera who endure the dangers and costs of living with wild animals. The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Namibia's Himba -- two of earth's oldest cattle cultures -- are emerging from a century of 'white man's conservation,' which threw them off their lands, banned subsistence hunting and fueled resentment. They are discovering that earnings from wildlife tourism can rival the benefits of livestock. But change is not easy. Charting the collision of ancient ways with Western expectations, this film offers complex, intimate stories of Africans at the forefront of community-based conservation. Directed, produced, written and edited by David E. Simpson. Dist.: Kartemquin Films. 2008. 83 min. DVD X1879
- The Sinking Ark(Only One Earth [videorecording] ; [2])
- Takes viewers from the Amazon to Indonesia illustrating the variety of plants and animals which provide life-saving vaccines and medicines. Also examines the crisis faced by individuals trying to maintain species in danger of extinction. 1987. 58 min. Video/C 1665
- Wildlife for Sale: Dead or Alive
- Because of the multi-billion dollar trade in wildlife worldwide, thousands of animal species are poised on the brink of extinction. The demand for exotic pets, the whims of fashion and the quest for rare animal parts used in folk medicines, are all taking a toll on animals. This program investigates the politics and problems behind the wildlife trade, taking a look at both the legal and illegal aspects and investigates some success by the Wildlife Forensics Lab in Oregon, where illegal animal trade issues are being approached in a new way. Host, David Suzuki. 46 min. Video/C 7205
- Global Warming / Climatological Issues
- Acid Rain, Requiem or Recovery
- Explains the concept of "acid" rain and the effects upon our environment. 1982. 27 min. Video/C 521 NRLF #: B 4 175 325
- Acid Rain: New Bad News (Nova series).
- Traveling through West Germany, the mid-Atlantic and New England, this program looks at the controversy surrounding acid rain. 1984. 58 min. Video/C 863
- Acid Rain, Requiem or Recovery.
- Explains the concept of "acid" rain and the effects upon our environment. 1982. 3/4" UMATIC. 27 min. Video/C 621
- Acid Rain: The Choice is Ours.
- Explains acid rain, how it is produced, its geological interactions, and its meteorological distribution. Examines its effects on wildlife, the ecosystem, and the human body. Suggests ways in which to reduce the amount of acid rain and control its dispersal. c1988. 20 min. Video/C 2413
- After the Storm
- All across America people live, work, and play in watersheds, without knowing it. As this video shows, protecting the nation's water resources will take the awareness and effort of individual citizens. Case studies (New York City, the Santa Monica Bay in California, and the Louisiana Gulf Coast and Gulf of Mexico) focus on the interconnections between water supply, water quality and the economic vitality and quality of life in our communities. A co-production of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Weather Channel. c2003. 22 min. Video/C MM1158
- Alterations in the Atmosphere (Fragile Planet).
- The troposphere is showing the effects of man-made pollution in alterations in climatic patterns. The giant Rhone glacier has shrunk dramatically in the last century; data received from every part of the globe documents the rise in temperature. The program examines the role of rising levels of CO2 and methane, as well as of nitrous oxide and CFCs, in raising temperature. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 18 min. Video/C 2408
- Assault on the Ozone Layer (Fragile Planet).
- This program shows how the ozone layer is depleted and how its depletion is stunting, mutating, and destroying life. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1990. 18 min. Video/C 2407
- Civilization and Climate (Climate & Man<; 3).
- Changing climate probably played the decisive role in drawing hominids out of the trees, up on their hind legs, and off in search of food whose supply had been dispersed by the replacement of rain forests by grasslands. Migrations were motivated by the search for food; during ice ages, when sea levels dropped, new areas became accessible and populations spread. Links between climatic changes and emerging civilizations have also been postulated; the collapse of civilizations confronted with climatic challenges to which they could not or would not adapt is clearly documented. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 26 min. Video/C 2403
- Climate Out of Control?
- Discusses the implications of of global warming. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1989. 24 min. Video/C 2417
- Danger Ahead (Climate & Man; 6).
- This program suggests some less drastic solutions to the global warming : reducing CO2 emissions; using the sun and the wind as energy sources; using nuclear power; reducing energy usage; curbing or stopping the use of CFCs; preserving the rain forest. It may also be taken as a given that, while individuals may be able to adapt to climatic change, societies cannot. c1990. 26 min. Video/C 2406
- Dimming the Sun
- While global warming has been heating up the world, recently scientists were stunned to discover that the sun has actually been growing dimmer, with less and less sunlight reaching earth's surface. In this episode of Nova climatologists unravel this baffling climate detective story. Originally broadcast as a segment of the PBS television program Nova, April 18, 2006. Original program: Global dimming, BBC, c2004. Dimming the sun has additional material. 56 min. DVD 7292
- The Endangered Earth: The Politics of Acid Rain.
- Examines effects of acid rain upon the environment, art, and sculpture, particularly in Gettysburg, Pa. Discusses the Clean Air Act and subsequent legislation in Pennsylvania. c1986. 53 min. Video/C 2412
- Everything's Cool
- A film about the most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action - Global Warming. The good news: America finally gets global warming; the chasm is closing and the debate is over. The bad news: the United States, the country that will determine the fate of the globe, must transform its fossil fuel based economy fast (like in a minute). Features scientists, journalists and activists including Step It Up's Bill McKibben, Pulitzer Prize winner Ross Gelbspan, the Weather Channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen and White House whistle-blower Rick Piltz. Directed by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand. 2007. 89 min. DVD 9239
- Global Climate Change.
- Al Gore speaks with Orville Schell, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, following a presentation on the possible consequences of global climate change. Recorded by Educational Technology Services, University of California, Berkeley on October 26, 2004. 47 min. Video/C MM491
View it with RealPlayer
- Global Warming (Climate & Man; 5).
- Shows the effect of rising temperatures on earth, with its foreseeably disastrous consequences. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 26 min. Video/C 2405
- Global Warming: Hype or Hazard?
- Skeptical ecologist Bjorn Lomborg questions the frenzied focus on global warming, arguing that time and money would be better spent tackling more concrete and rapidly spreading environmental issues. Over a dozen scientists and researchers are featured in this provocative program that uses hard evidence to counter the sensationalism in the media's coverage of global warming. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2004. 40 min. DVD 5331
- Global Warming: The Signs and the Science.
- This documentary profiles people who are living with the grave consequences of a changing climate, as well as the individuals, communities and scientists inventing new approaches to safeguard our children's future. Filmed across the U.S., Asia and South America, this program brings the reality of climate change to life and offers viewers a variety of ways to make a difference in their own communities. Dist.: PBS. 2005. 60 min. DVD 4988
- The Great Global Warming Swindle
- Challenges the current premise of global warming, suggesting that the chief cause of climate change is not human activity, but changes in radiation from the sun. Scientists in the film set forth scientific and historical proofs to support their arguments and claim that global warming advocates have created a mass hysteria that has no basis in reality. They also examine the censorship and intimidation experienced by dissenting scientists perpetrated by political and environmental activists who have an economic stake in the debate. The film also looks at the economic costs of a movement to discourage development in third world countries by those who claim industrializaton is a primary cause of global warming. Special features (79 min.) : Climate history; sea levels, CO2; Industrial society; IPCC; Political science; Al Gore and malaria ; Solar; What is to be done?; Our climate future; solar variations and clouds; some real science. Written & directed by Martin Durkin. 2007. 79 min. DVD 8773
- The Great Warming.
- Three part documentary on global warming. 46 min. each installment. Dist.: FilmWest Associates. 2003.
The Human Fingerprint. Explores the underlying science of climate change. From North and South America to Asia and Europe, the evidence is examined to assess what today's rising temperatures mean for the future of mankind. Video/C MM167
Age of Uncertainty. Reveals the often surprising consequences of climate change through the stories of real people already living through them. Because it's more than just the heat.... Video/C MM168
Our Children's Planet. Sweeps around the world to introduce the people and communities who are combating the effects of global warming with commitment, enthusiasm amd exciting new technologies. Video/C MM169
- The Greenhouse Effect (Climate & Man; 1).
- Analyzes the sun's gradual brightening and the relationship between sunlight and CO2, explains why the atmosphere of Mars has too much and Venus too little CO2 to sustain life, theorizes about the disappearance of dinosaurs and dinosaur-friendly life and explains the relationship between climate change and continental drift. 1990. 26 min. Video/C 2401
- Green House Effect.
- Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide which traps the sun's heat and raises the world's temperature. The impact on sea level, crop growth, and rainfall could be disastrous for us and all living things. This disturbing program addresses questions vital to our survival. What are the on-going effects of our insatiable appetite for generated power? How can we prevent environmental catastrophe? 1989. 50 min. Video/C 1474
- The Heat is On.
- Discusses how global warming may affect our delicate ecosystem and how future generations will have to cope with a changed planet. c1989. 27 min. Video/C 2416
- The Heat is On, Better Be Prepared
- Examines strategies, many of them in operation, designed to protect land and populations made vulnerable by rapidly rising worldwide temperatures. From life-saving weather forecast methods in Mozambique to fishery replenishment systems in Vietnam, a range of innovations are studied. Also includes details of the struggles against drought and violent climate in the U.S., Australia, and the Netherlands. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2003. 51 min. DVD 5622
- The Hole in the Sky (Nova series).
- Examines the controversy over chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which might be responsible for depleting the ozone layer thus causing the hole in the sky over Antarctica. c1987. 58 min. Video/C 1358
- Hot Planet, Cold Comfort
- Examines the latest warnings from scientists that large-scale changes in the earth's climatic systems are taking place, with potentially serious consequences. Shows what is already happening to the Alaskan glaciers. Dist.: PBS. 2005. 30 min. DVD 4989
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Former Vice President Al Gore explains the facts of global warming, presents arguments that the dangers of global warning have reached the level of crisis, and addresses the efforts of certain interests to discredit the anti-global warming cause. Between lecture segments, Gore discusses his personal commitment to the environment, sharing anecdotes from his experiences. Special features: Commentary with director Davis Guggenheim ; Commentary with producers Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns and Leslie Chilcott ; An update with former Vice-President Al Gore. Directed by Davis Guggenheim. Released theatrically in 2006; program content, c2005. 96 min. DVD 6601
- Aufderheide Pat "An 'inconvenient truth'."
Cineaste 32 (1): 50-52 WIN 2006
UC users only
Epstein, Paul R. "An Inconvenient Truth.(Movie review)." British Medical Journal 332.7554 (June 10, 2006): 1397(1).UC users only
Gefter, Amanda. "No climate crisis? Watch this movie." New Scientist 191.2559 (July 8, 2006): 51(1).
Larsen, Josh. "Al Gore Saves the universe.(Albert Gore Jr.)('An Inconvenient Truth')." The American Enterprise 17.6 (July-August 2006): 46(1).
UC users only
Meyer, John M. "Another inconvenient truth.(by Al Gore)(Critical essay)." Dissent 53.4 (Fall 2006): 95(2).
Minkel, J.K., and Gary Stix. "Al Gore.(Albert Gore)(documentary film 'An Inconvenient Truth')." Scientific American 295.6 (Dec 2006): 51(1).
UC users only
Sweet, William. "Climate emergency.(An Inconvenient Truth" IEEE Spectrum 43.8 (August 2006): 49(2).
Taubin, Amy. "An Inconvenient Truth.(Movie review)." Sight and Sound 16.9 (Sept 2006): 56(1).
UC users only
- The Last Days of Shishmaref
- A documentary on the first victims of global warming. The filmmakers travel to a small village in northwest Alaska, home to an Inupiaq Eskimo community, where homes are literally falling into the sea. The entire village is expected to disappear within 10 years. The Inupiaq community is now facing a very difficult and expensive decision – whether to move the entire village to the mainland, an act that will irreparably change their community, their livelihood, culture and traditions. Director, Jan Louter. Dist.: Cinema Guild. 2008. 90 min. DVD X2114
- Modifying the Weather: The Case of the Man-made Desert (Climate & Man; 4)
- .Shows the effect of migration in the Sahel in changing regional climate; the tomorrow-be-damned policy of water usage in Arizona; and the drastic miscarriage of good intentions in Central Asia, where the efforts to irrigate the desert turned into the worst climatic disaster in the history of the Soviet Union. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 26 min. Video/C 2404
- Only One Atmosphere (Race to Save the Planet; 2).
- Violent storms, heat supply are crises forecast for the coming century, if we don't slow global warming now. The problems caused by CFC's and the depletion of the ozone layer are reviewed. c1987. 60 min. Video/C 1789
- Mapping the Weather (Blue Revolution; 8).
- Discusses ways to measure weather and efforts made to forecast it, along with examining economic and human effects. c1990. 26 min. Video/C 2421
- The Return of the Child: The Effects of El Nino (Blue Revolution; 7)
- Charts the birth and development of the weather system El Nino. Shows the ferocity of El Nino, relates it to the ocean waters and traces the roots of man's study of waves, ocean currents, and the interaction of sea and sky. c1990. 27 min. Video/C 2420
- Stopping the Coming Ice Age.
- Discusses the likelihood of another great ice age, with emphasis on the economic and environmental factors which contribute to a changing climate. c1988. 47 min. Video/C 1547
- Weather Report
- Takes a journey to the front-lines of our climate changing world - in the Canadian Arctic, Montana, Northern Kenya, China and India - visiting communities and ordinary people whose lives and livelihoods are being impacted in the most dramatic ways. Special features (31 min.): extended interviews with Bruce Sterling (5 min.), James Howard Kunstler (7 min.), Sunita Narain (7 min.), Sheila Watt-Cloutier (6 min.) & Wangari Maathai (6 min.). Director, Brenda Longfellow. 2008. 52 min. DVD X2145
- Genetic Modification of Crops and Food
- Against the Grain
- Discusses genetically engineered food crops concerning the ecological, human health, and ethical reasons why the public should pause, if not seriously question the transformation of the food supply. Includes a look at bioengineered crops and interviews with farmers, both for and against the rapid conversion to bioengineered food crops. Based on Against the grain : biotechnology and the corporate takeover of your food / by Marc Lappe & Britt Bailey (Bioscience S494.5.B563.L3 1998; Bus & Econ S494.5.B563.L3 1998) 1999? 14 min. Video/C 7902
- Bullshit
- Documentary following environmental activist and nuclear physicist Vandana Shiva for a period of two years, from a whirlwind tour of her organic farm at the foot of the Himalayas to the summit of the World Trade Organization in Mexico to a protest outside the European Patents Office in Munich. Here, in these institutions of power, Shiva does battle with the proponents of globalization, multi-national corporations like Monsanto, an American bio-tech company manufacturing genetically modified foods (whom Shiva holds responsible for a rash of farmers' suicides) and Coca-Cola, accused of depleting and contaminating groundwater in India....The film elucidates some of the most pressing social and technological questions of the 21st century - Can genetically modified foods alleviate world hunger? is it legal for corporations to patent natural crops? Can indigenous knowledge inform modern genetic engineering? A film by PeA Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian. Dist. Cinema Guild. c2005. 73 min. DVD 5410
- Deconstructing Supper
- Documentary film that looks at the way modern food is produced through genetic modification and through organic farming in Canada, Europe, India and the United States. Gourmet chef, John Bishop, leads the investigation looking at Monsanto, the leader in genetic engineering, genetically modified food products, and organic farming through interviews with scientists, activists, journalists and farmers. A film by Marianne Kaplan. 2002. 48 min. Video/C 9522
- Fed Up!: Genetic Engineering, Industrial Agriculture, and Sustainable Alternatives
- Using archival footage interspersed with interviews with farmers, scientists, government officials and activists, this video presents an overview of the American food production system and explores the unintentional effects of pesticides, the resistance of biotechnology companies to food labeling and the links between government officials and major biotechnology and chemical companies. It addresses many questions regarding genetic engineering, the Green Revolution, genetic pollution and modern pesticides. 2002. 58 min. DVD 3226
- Field of Genes
- There are many genetically altered foods on the market now, including soybean, canola, and corn. This program investigates the biotechnology industry's claims that the creation of genetically altered foods will be beneficial to the world's food suppy and considers the potential dangers and ethics of "improving on nature" with seed crops and livestock. 1997. 45 min. Video/C 8854
- Food Factory
- Experts on food and the environment gathered at the University of California, Berkeley, to address whether organic, community-scale agriculture and food production can replace conventional, large-scale agribusiness, and the likely costs of such a dramatic shift. Speakers include food heavyweights Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan, Mark Hertsgaard, Corby Kummer, and moderator Orville Schell.
- Food for Thought.
- This film features science writer, Roger Bingham, talking about the environmental consequences of a meat-centered diet. He explains the inefficiency of using meat as fuel for the human body, especially in the light of the environmental impact of raising all that meat - from loss of topsoil and groundwater depletion and pollution, to methane's contribution to global warming, and the growing gap between the rich and poor nations. c1990. 29 min. Video/C 4205
- The Future of Food
- In-depth investigation into unlabeled genetically-modified foods which have become increasingly prevalent in American grocery stores. Unravels the complex web of market and political forces that are changing the nature of what we eat. Written, produced and directed by Deborah Koons Garcia. 2004. 88 min. DVD 3378
© notice
View this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4MacInterview with Michael Hansen: View this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4MacInterview with Arpad Pusztai: View this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac - Harvest of Fear
- A in-depth exploration of the intensifying debate over genetically-modified (gm) food crops. Through interviews with scientists, farmers, biotech and food industry representatives, government regulators, and critics of biotechnology, this two-hour report presents both sides of the debate, exploring the risks and benefits, the hopes and fears, of this new technology. Contents: Are GMO's safe to eat? -- Are we tampering with nature? -- Do GMO's damage the environment? -- Do we need GMO's to feed the world? -- What does the future hold? c2001. 120 min. Video/C 8222
- Risky Business: Biotechnology and Agriculture
- Thousands of plants and animals are being genetically engineered yet so far there has been relatively little public debate about the impact of biotechnology. This documentary, filmed in laboratores and fields, presents scientists, industry proponents, environmental and consumer activists from the U.S., Europe and developing countries who discuss the risks and benefits of biotechnology and its growing international impacts. 1996. 25 min. Video/C 8852
- Toxic Substances and the Environment/Industrial Pollution/Toxic Racism
- Arlit, The Second Paris (Arlit, deuxième Paris)
- A case study in migration and environmental racism set in an uranium mining town in the Sahara desert of Niger. Here European corporations extracted nuclear power and profits, leaving behind illness due to radiation, contamination and unemployment. Arlit flourished during the oil crunch of the early 70s when its uranium mines employed 25, 000 workers from around the world in high paying jobs. It has now become a ghost town, a place of transit. A film by Idrissou Mora Kpai. 2005.
78 min. DVD 5274
- Blue Vinyl
- An investigation of vinyl siding and its effects on people and the environment. Looks at the impact of vinyl manufacturing and disposal on the atmosphere, the food chain and humans. In Lake Charles, Louisiana, giant petrochemical plants cough out vinyl by-products while residents suffer multiple health problems due to groundwater contamination. In Venice, Italy vinyl company executives stand accused of manslaughter for knowingly exposing their workforce to deadly chemical levels. A film by Judith Hilfand & Daniel B. Gold. c2002. 97 min. Video/C 9437
- "Toxic comedy: alternatives talks to director Judith Helfand about environmental justice in her award-winning film Blue Vinyl." (Interview)
Alternatives Journal Wntr 2003 v29 i1 p35(2) (UCB users only)
"Blue Vinyl: a toxic comedy." (movie review)Greenpeace (Washington, D.C.) Spring 2002 v7 i1 p7(1)
Nelson, Rob."Blue Vinyl." (review)Mother Jones March-April 2002 v27 i2 p86(1)
- Borderline Cases: Environmental Matters at the United States-Mexico Border
- A documentary describing the consequences of 25 years of environmental neglect by factories along the U.S./Mexico border focusing on the cities of Brownsville, Matamoros, Tijuana, San Diego, Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. It chronicles the 5 year bi-national effort to craft remedies to the border's deteriorating environmental conditions by a diverse mix of people of both countries from grass-roots activists to government, academic and industrial leaders. c1997. 65 min. Video/C 4748
- Choropampa: The Price of Gold (El precio del oro)
- On June 2, 2000, 151 kilograms of liquid mercury spilled from a truck hauling the mercury away from the Yanacocha goldmine in the Peruvian Andes. The spill covered a 25-mile long area, contaminating the small mountain villages Choropampa, San Juan, and Magdalena. The owners of the mine, a Peruvian company, the World Bank, and the Newmont Mining Corp. of Colorado, claim that the problem was quickly resolved, but hundreds of people still suffer the ill effects. This film details the legal battles of the people of Choropampa to get proper medical care and compensation for the damage done to the town and its economy and "exposes the global gold trade's nasty underbelly." c2002. 78 min. DVD 5227
- Crops Protected, Water Threatened.
- Addresses a problem on Long Island, N.Y., where an agricultural pesticide entered the aquifer system. Explains the geology of groundwater and covers the history of pesticide development and how to judge how persistent a pesticide really is. Highlights thecooperative approach by industry, government, farmers, and consumers to solving groundwater contamination problems. 1987. 21 min. 3/4" UMATIC Video/C 491
- The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa
- Exposes the ugly underbelly of what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers. In Lagos, while there is a legitimate robust market and ability to repair and refurbish old electronic equipment including computers, monitors, TVs and cell phones, the local experts complain that of the estimated 500 40-foot containers shipped to Lagos each month, as much as 75% of the imports are "junk" and are not economically repairable or marketable. Consequently, this e-waste, which is legally a hazardous waste is being discarded and routinely burned in what the environmentalists call yet "another" cyber-age nightmare now landing on the shores of developing countries. 2004. 23 min. DVD 8252
- Exporting Harm: The High-tech Trashing of Asia
- Unbeknownst to many, "recycling" electronic waste often means that the material is shipped to Asia, where it causes major environmental, health, and occupational hazards. This film reveals "the dirty secrets" of the high-tech revolution and provides a ringing call to action for corporate responsibility and global environmental justice. Video by Jim Puckett. 2004. 23 min. DVD 8251
- Hazardous Waste: Are We Poisoning the Golden State?
- UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. "The California forum, September 8, 1983." Debate about the problem of regulating production as well as disposal of hazardous waste in California. 1983. 59 min. Video/C 672
- Fenceline: A Company Town Divided
- Explores the environmental struggle between Shell Oil Company and the people of Norco, LA, illustrating how a community and a corporation struggle over the question of pollution and its effects on Norco residents. With nterviews of people from a wide spectrum including industry experts, industry workers, environmentalists and local community members, this documentary juxtaposes misconceptions about the role of industry in polluting the environment against scientific facts. Directed by Slawomir Grunberg 53 min. Video/C 9156
- In Our Children's Food.
- A Frontline special that traces the 30-year history of the U.S. pesticide use, regulation, and scientific study and explores the risks of agricultural chemicals in our food. Examines how the government has failed to certify the safety of pesticides and why the only source of data on pesticide safety is the industry that profits from them. c1993. 56 min. Video/C 3066
- In Our Own Backyard: The First Love Canal.
- A documentary that combines footage of public events and interviews to examine the ways that residents in the Love Canal area, their scientific and legal advisors, and government officials understood and responded to the discovery of toxic wastes in Niagara Falls, New York. 1982. 59 min. Video/C 506
- In Our Own Backyard: Uranium Mining in the United States
- The mining and milling of uranium involves the stripping of vast areas of land, reduction of water tables and the creation of huge amounts of radioactive waste. Through interviews with mining executives, scientists, environmental and health advocates, Navajo Indians and other residents the film explores the impact of the process on the environment and on the health of workers and nearby residents. Looks at the specific case of the uranium waste problem in Church Rock, New Mexico. 1982. 29 min. Video/C 9836
- In Our Water.
- Investigates the degree of chemical pollution in local drinking water. c1981. 58 min. Video/C 575
- Killer Bargain.
- An indictment of the corporate irresponsibility of various Indian textile companies, who expose their workers to dangerous chemicals (long since banned in the developed world) and pollute their surrounding environments. Consumers who remain unaware of the conditions under which the goods they buy are produced must hold companies accountable. A film by Tom Heinemann. 2006. 58 min. DVD 8482
- Killing Ground.
- Improper disposal of toxic chemical wastes poses a long-range threat to the environment and human health. The consequences of illegal and improper waste reduction are illustrated by sites where serious chemical pollution has occurred, such as Love Canal in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and by interviews with government officials, representatives of businesses involved, and individuals whose health and property have been affected. While existing disposal problems are ineffectively regulated, the more serious problem of locating and cleaning up old dumps remains unsolved. Telecast in the ABC News Close-up series March 29, 1979. Video/C 212
- Litigating Disaster.
- The worst and deadliest chemical disaster of all time occurred in 1984 in Bhopal, India. Vast amounts of toxic gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory, killing thousands of people and poisoning hundreds of thousands of others. This film documents this tragedy and presents the legal evidence assembled against Union Carbide including never before seen documents and exclusive interviews with former Union Carbide officers. A film by Ilan Ziv. c2004. 58 min. DVD 5257
- Maquilapolis (City of Factories)
- Explores the environmental devastation and urban chaos of Tijuana's assembly factories and the female laborers who have organized themselves for social action. Carmen earns six dollars a day but she is not a victim. She is a dynamic young woman, busy making a life for herself and her children. In "Maquilapolis," Carmen and her friend Lourdes confront labor violations, environmental devastation and urban chaos, reaching beyond their daily struggle for survival to organize for change, taking on both the Mexican and U.S. governments and a major television manufacturer. The women also use video cameras to document their lives, their city and their hopes for the future. Produced and directed by Vicky Funari, Sergio De La Torre. 2006. 68 min. DVD 6606
© noticeView this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac - Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos (Emerging Powers)
- This documentary presents the pros and cons of the maquiladora (or maquila) an export manufacturing program established by the Mexican Government and looks at industrialization in Mexico after NAFTA, considering low wages, working conditions, environmental and cultural impact. 2000. 55 min. Video/C 7459
- Pesticides and Pills, For Export Only. Part I.
- Documents the sale by large chemical companies to 7 underdeveloped countries of pesticides banned from use in the United States and Europe, noting the irony that the hazardous substances return to the industrialized nations in the form of contaminated agricultural imports from the underdeveloped countries. c1981. 57 min. Video/C 2972
- Pesticides and Pills, For Export Only. Part 2.
- Documents the practice of large pharmaceutical companies selling medicine banned in the United States and Europe to Third World countries. Shows pharmaceuticals marketed in Asia, Africa, and Latin America with no warnings of the side effects or danger of these products. c1981. 59 min. Video/C 5779
- A Plague on Our Children (Nova series)
- Part 1 focuses on dioxin herbicides and their possible harmful effects on man and the environment. Shows sites in Oregon where residents suffer from an extremely high incidence of cancer, miscarriages, and disease. Also discusses claims made by veterans who blame their health problems on Agent Orange. Part 2 documents the problems of disposing PCB's. Examines the ecological crisis at Love Canal, N.Y., where a school was built directly over buried chemicals and where hundreds of families have been evacuated because of the disposed chemicals. 1980. 57 min. Video/C 209
- Politics of Poison.
- A documentary which focuses on herbicide spraying in the United States and shows how the Environmental Protection Agency is dealing with this problem. 1979. 53 min. Video/C 417
- The Rise and Fall of DDT
- Deals with the pros and cons of DDT by investigating its various uses as an insecticide, military weapon, safeguard against tropical diseases, and threat to the environment. A segment from the television program: Nova. 1975. 18 min. Video/C 92
- Stepan Chemical: The Poisoning of a Mexican Community.
- When the Chicago-based Stepan Chemical plant in Matamoros, Mexico dumped xylene, a toxic solvent linked to birth defects, into open canals near the homes of the people of Matamoros, the people of Matamoros, through their community leaders and with help from the U.S.-based Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, fought to end this contamination and demanded a full accounting from Stepan Chemical and environmental agencies in the U.S. and Mexico, as part of their struggle for a clean environment. c1992. 18 min. Video/C 2615
- Toxic Chemicals: Information is the Best Defense.
- Part 1 presents a PCB fire in San Francisco and a toxic gas release near an Orange County school; part 2 examines long-term problems caused by hazardous chemicals at abandoned sites and dumps. 1984. 55 min. Video/C 850
- Toxic Trials (Nova series).
- Examines how one community was affected by hazardous wastes and follows the course of the resulting lawsuit that was filed against a local chemical company. Also looks at the variety of scientific, medical, and legal expertise amassed by both parties to the lawsuit. 1986. 58 min. Video/C 1196
- Toxic Waters
- This program documents the efforts of neighborhood residents to clean up and close down a toxic waste dump in southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In Sept. of 1999 Hurricane Floyd flooded the Darby and Cobbs creeks, bringing smelly, multicolored ooze into the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia. Rhonda Hill Wilson, lawyer-leader of the Saturn Place Committee, led the fight to close the site. 2000. 58 min. Video/C MM691
- Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report.
- This documentary exposes the 40 year history of the American chemical industry's supression of information regarding the threats to public health by synthetic chemicals being introduced into the environment at all levels. Addresses the danger to public health by the continued use of approximately 9000 of the 15,000 mass produced chemical substances that have never undergone toxicological study in the United States. Concludes with a panel discussion with industry spokesmen, environmental, and medical experts. c2001. 120 min. Video/c 7879
- White Snow: The Dirty Truth About Environmental Cleanup
- In this investigative documentary of "environmental racism," environmental cleanup workers in the United States, who are often illegal immigrants, tell about their health risks incurred while working on environmental cleanup projects for industry and government. If they speak out about their working conditions they risk loosing their jobs and being deported. 2000. 21 min. Video/C MM604
- The World According to Monsanto
- Monsanto Company is the world's leader in agricultural chemicals, seed and genetically modified crops, as well as being one of the most controversial companies in industrial history. This film uses hitherto unpublished documents and testimonies of victims, scientists and politicians to expose Monsanto's lack of care in protecting the environment and the health of those exposed to their products. Shows how the company promoted such products as Roundup (glyphosate), bovine growth hormone, and genetically modified plants. Directed by Marie-Monique Robin. Dist: National Film Board of Canada. 2008. 109 min. DVD X277
- Urban Environment
- America the Ugly.
- Program looks at suburban sprawl and how town planners are trying to create a more intimate community environment. Looks at the housing paradigm called "traditional neighborhood developments" through an interview with architect and town planner Andres Duany who is part of the new urbanism movement. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1999. 22 min. Video/C 6797
- Cities
- Discusses the effects of the world's increasing urban population on the environment and on our quality of life. Addresses issues such as transportation, urban sprawl, socioeconomic divisions, and pollution. Looks at what sustainability means in locations as diverse as East L.A., Vancouver, Portland, and Sao Paulo and Curitiba, Brazil. Directed and produced by David Springbett, Heather MacAndrew. c2000. 49 min. DVD 8970
- Radiant City(1979)
- Cast: Daniel Jeffery, Bob Legare, Jane Macfarlane, Ashleigh Fidyk. In this examination of the nature of modern suburban living, a Canadian family struggles with existential despair, exacerbated by the drabness of their suburban locale. This program is primarily fictional. Some elements are based on real people and events. 85 min. DVD 8775
- Save Our Land, Save Our Towns
- Explores how America can save its cities, towns, and countryside and enhance the quality of life for all. Americans are frustrated with traffic congestion, angry about the loss of open space, and perplexed by the decline of America's cities. Many think sprawl is inevitable, but it's not. Filmed in Pennsylvania, England, Oregon and North Carolina, this program shows how America's towns can be rebuilt and its countryside preserved from strip malls and subdivisions. 2000. 57 min. Video/C 7810
- The Story of Sprawl.
- This series of historic films, ranging from 1939 until 1952, gives a unique look at the forces that created urban sprawl. Each film includes an optional commentary track by experts in the field of urban development. 2009. DVD X1344
Disc 1: The story of sprawl / introduction, Tim Halbur (3 min.) -- The City / American Institute of Planners ; commentary, James Howard Kunstler, Duncan Crary (1939, 31 min.) -- Cities : how they grow / Encyclopaedia Britannica Films ; commentary, Anthony Flint (1952, 9 min.) -- Homes for veterans [Edited version] / U.S. National Housing Agency ; commentary, Mark D. Van Ells (1946, 14 min.) -- For the living / New York City Housing Authority ; commentary, Jackie Leavitt, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris (1949, 21 min.)
Disc 2: Give yourself the green light / General Motors ; commentary, Robert Cervero (1954, 22 min.) -- The Changing City / Churchill Films ; commentary, Neal Peirce (1963, 16 min.) -- No time for ugliness / American Institute of Architects ; commentary, Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (1965, 23 min.) -- Community growth : crisis and challenge / National Association of Home Builders ; commentary, John Norquist, Jacky Grimshaw (1959, 16 min.).
- Subdivide and Conquer: A Modern Western.
- In the West urban sprawl is gobbling up the land. What makes it more shocking in the West is that it assaults our national myths about the frontier, its wide-open spaces and unique landscapes. After examining the causes of sprawl and its effects on the sense of community and the environment, the film suggests remedies, and shows examples of sound public policy and good land use planning. 1999. 57 min. Video/C 6409
- Too Close for Comfort: The New American Sprawl
- This documentary examines how quadrupled immigration numbers are driving urban sprawl, traffic congestion, school overcrowding, wage stagnation and widening inequality in the United States. Interspersed are five presentations by author Roy Beck on why the American quality of life is threatened including the infamous "gumballs" demonstration that illustrates the global moral issues. involved. 1998. 27 min. Video/C MM33
- Understanding Urban Sprawl.
- In this program, scientist and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki examines the social, economic, and environmental implications of 'sprawl,' the low-density development that spreads out from the edges of cities and towns. 1998. 47 min. Video/C 6796
- The Urban Explosion
- Four mega-cities are investigated to see how they are meeting a major challenge of the 21st century: how to shelter and sustain the world's exploding urban population without destroying the delicate balance of the environment. Visits Mexico City, Istanbul, Shanghai, and New York City. Originally broadcast as a segment of: Journey to planet earth. c1999. 57 min. Video/C 9736
- Water Supply / Oceans, Rivers, Lakes / Water Management
- Are You Swimming in a Sewer? (Nova series).
- Concerns about public health and ecological damage are leading scientists to take a second look at age-old assumptions about the ocean's ability to dilute waste. Americans must decide whether the cost of switching to nonpolluting methods of waste disposal is a worthy investment in the future of their coastal waters. c1986. 58 min. Video/C 1360
- Asia's Water Crisis
- Explores the conflict of burgeoning populations and economies in three Asian countries -- Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the People's Republic of China -- and looks toward solutions to Asia's growing water crisis and the diminishing supply of safe, potable water. 1997. 19 min. Video/C MM124
- Baikal, Blue Eye of Siberia (Fragile Earth series).
- A comprehensive look at the Baikal Lake Region in Siberia. Description of Lake Baikal and the pollution of some of its tributary rivers and of the lake itself. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1991. 105 min. Video/C 2482:1-2
- The Battle of Westlands
- This program provides a look at the future of American farming, especially the central valley of California. 1980. 59 min. Video/C 288 NRLF #: B 4 175 154
- Blue Danube? (Life; 4)
- The Danube, the world's most international river connecting 18 countries, is at the heart of a very modern dilemma -- how to create prosperity through trade and development without destroying the environment? This program examines the consequences when more than one country shares what a river has to offer, investigating how the Danube has become a new battleground in the conflict between the European Union's transport and agriculture lobbies, and environmentalists fighting to preserve the river's unique ecology. Directed by Ron Orders. 2005. 27 min. DVD 3970
- Boiling Point
- This program spotlights three troubled areas that epitomize the intensifying competition for freshwater and efforts being made to manage it: the Okavango River which flows through Angola, Namibia and Botswana, the Rio Grande, a source of agricultural irrigation for both the U.S. and Mexico and rainwater reservoirs in the West Bank. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2004. 27 min. DVD 2506
- Brazilian Dreams: Visiting Points of Resistance
- Explores cultures of opposition in Brazil as documented by two US travelers in 1988-1989. Woven together in a hybrid narration that combines travelogue, political reportage and personal reflection, the documentary features testimonies of Brazilian activists involved in a wide range of social movements: the modernist graffiti counterculture of cosmopolitan Sao Paulo, working-class feminists in the parishes of Sao Paulo's slums, the Black Consciousness movement of Bahia, a first-ever meeting of Indian tribes in the Amazon to protest dam construction on their lands, and the Amazonia rubbertappers' struggle to preserve their sustainable way of life in the rainforest. c1991. 54 min. DVD 6889
- Cadillac Desert.
- Cadillac Desert relates the story of the epic quest for water and the role it has played in the transformation of the American West. 1997.
Mulholland's Dream. Tells of William Mulholland's search for water for the people of Los Angeles. Superintendent of the L.A. water system in 1913, he found a solution to the problem in a remote valley 250 miles to the north. After the city secured water rights to the valley's Owens River, he spent 6 years building an aqueduct across the Mojave Desert. The program also recalls the shady land speculations behind the deal, how northern ranchers fought back, and the great disaster that destroyed his dream. 1997. 85 min. DVD 8700 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 5053
An American Nile. Charts the dramatic transformation of the Colorado River from a wild desert waterway into the most controlled, litigated, regulated and over-allocated river in history. From the heroic construction of the Hoover Dam during the Great Depression to the bitter political and environmental battles over the potential damming of the Grand Canyon, this program illustrates how the Colorado became so impounded and diverted that by 1969 it no longer reached the ocean. 1997. 55 min. DVD 8701 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 5054
The Mercy of nature Traces the fierce political and environmental battles that raged around the transformation of California's Central Valley from semiarid desert into the most productive and environmentally altered agricultural region in global history. It illustrates the role that presidents, governor, and giant agri-business companies have played in the ebb and flow of water. The program then follows the recent trend in which water is diverted away from agriculture and toward cities and wildlife. 55 min. DVD 8702 [preservation copy]; Video/C 5055
Last Oasis. Opens with the story of how America's large dams became examples for water projects abroad, particularly in developing countries. The film goes to India and China, where big dam building continues in full force, and to Mexico, the Middle East, and back to the American West to explore how, in the face of rising water needs conservation may be humanity's last oasis. 55 min. DVD 8703 [preservation copy]; Video/C 5056
- California's Coastline (California Journal Report; 2).
- This program takes a look at the on going battle between environmentalists and developers in California. The issues of public access to wetlands are reviewed in detail. 1981. 29 min. Video/C 2099
- Can I Drink the Water?
- Focuses on three California communities with different sources of water and different water problems, and shows how and why water is treated and tested for various kinds of contamination. c1986. 27 min. Video/C MM876
- Canary of the Ocean
- Stretching for miles off the Florida Keys is the largest coral reef in the continental U.S. and one of the longest in the world. But America's primary reef is dying, and like the proverbial canary in a coal mine, its decline is a warning that something is very wrong in our oceans. Portrays the stunning beauty of America's fragile undersea kingdom, investigates the serious threats to its health, and profiles some of the concerned people working to preserve it for future generations. 1997. 56 min. Video/C 7904
- Crops Protected, Water Threatened.
- Addresses a problem on Long Island, N.Y., where an agricultural pesticide entered the aquifer system. Explains the geology of groundwater and covers the history of pesticide development and how to judge how persistent a pesticide really is. Highlights thecooperative approach by industry, government, farmers, and consumers to solving groundwater contamination problems. 1987. 21 min. 3/4" UMATIC Video/C 491
- Dead in the Water
- Examines the growing trend to privatize water resources in response to water shortages throughout the world. Looks at three multinational companies that want to solve the world's water problems by taking over supply and delivery from government bodies. In some places, "private water" seems to be working, but in others, the result has been nothing short of disastrous. Directed by Neil Docherty. Dist: National Film Board of Canada. 2006. 52 min. DVD X276
- Do We Really Want to Live this Way? (Race to Save the Planet ; 3).
- Two dramatic examples of air and water pollution: the city of Los Angeles and Europe's Rhine River illustrate the price we pay for progress. Ways to sustain the environment in Western industrial life are also explored. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1790
- Does the End Justify the Means?(Examined Life.; Part 19)
- Looks at utilitarianism against the backdrop of a Malaysian dam construction project with environmental import and asks what is instrinsically valuable. Video/C MM955
- Drought and Flood: Two Faces of One Coin (Fragile Planet).
- Reviews the environmental effects of global warming Predicts that hotter air will strip the soil of moisture, causing soil erosion, drought and famine. Predicts that as the temperature of the oceans increases, rising air reaching the colder air above will cause massive storms and world-wide flooding. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 8 min. Video/C 2409
- Drought Survival Guide.
- Shows practical ways you can save water in your home and garden now, and also plan ahead for a more water-sensible future. 1991. 30 min. Video/C 2451
- Drowned Out (1997)
- The people of Jalsindhi in central India must make a decision fast. In the next few weeks, their village will disappear underwater as the giant Narmada Dam fills. Author Arundhati Roy joins the fight against the dam and asks the difficult questions. Will the water go to poor farmers or to rich industrialists? The film follows the Jalsindhi villagers through hunger strikes, rallies, police brutality, a six year Supreme Court case and stays with them as the dam fills and the river starts to rise. c2002. 75 min. Video/C 9831
- Entrega De Agua Potable A Domicilio V. Mexico
- Film examines the problem of polluted water and the need to develop pure water for domestic use in rural Mexico. 198-?. 25 min. Video/C 3692
- Fish Eye View.
- This program looks at water pollution through the eyes of creatures which must inhabit polluted waters. 1991. 25 min. Video/C 2480
- Fishing in the Sea of Greed
- As export governments hand over territorial waters to transnational corporations, they actively promote abuse of the seas. This film documents the response of traditional fishing communities in India to the threat of displacement by overfishing and pollution resulting from industrial fishing practices such as use of gigantic factory ships, and the protests of Bangladesh rice growers to the flooding of large stretches of fertile land with salt water. 1998. 45 min. Video/C 7901
- Flow: For Love of Water
- Contents: Water crisis -- United States : pollutants in water supply -- Agricultural water use -- Atrazine -- Bolivia : Water privatization -- South Africa : pay per use -- South Africa : reconnecting the pipes -- We are the operators -- India : UV infiltration -- Water shortage becomes corporate opportunity -- Bottled water -- The water barons -- Dams : altering ecosystems -- Katse Dam, Lesotho -- World Bank dam projects -- India's water harvesting -- Michigan citizens take Nestlé to court -- Chief Seattle, 1854 -- Plachimada, India : protest against Coca-Cola -- Fighting privatization -- People unite -- Epilogue. Summary Builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis... begging the question: Can anyone really own water? Special features: Optional audio commentary by Salina & Dixon; 3 deleted scenes; 5 expanded interviews (with Maude Barlow, Jean Luc Touly, Vandana Shiva, Oscar Olivera, Basil Bold); 2 activism featurettes; excerpt from "City water supply" (1941); excerpt from "Water" (1953); trailer. Directed by Irena Salina. 2008. 83 min. DVD X719
- Getting in Step: A Video Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns
- Designed to teach effective outreach techniques as part of a state or local water quality improvement project. This documentary presents how four groups in diverse American communities conducted successful outreach campaigns for local water quality improvement projects. Washington, DC : U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, c2003. 35 min. Video/C MM26
- The Giver of Life (Water Wars ; 3).
- Discusses water rights in the Soviet Union, including spas in the Caucasus, the ecological cleanliness of water in the Volga River, and the attitudes of Soviet citizens regarding the health-giving properties of water. 1991. 49 min. DVD X1236 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 2935
- Good as Gold (Water Wars; 1).
- Focuses on the dispute over water rights between the city of Los Angeles and Arizona Indians. Water rights is one of the most powerful resources in the West. 1991. 49 min. DVD X1234 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 2933
- Great Wall Across the Yangtze (Yangtze Jiang shang de chang cheng)
- In 1994, the People's Republic of China ordered the damming of the Yangtze River, a 15-year project creating the world's largest dam and hydroelectric power-plant. To China's leaders, the Three Gorges dam will propel the nation's economy into the 21st century. To critics worldwide it is a social and environmental disaster. This film investigates the profound changes the Three Gorges dam will bring to China's people, environment, and history. c2000. 60 min. Video/C 8148
- Harvest of Rain (Wealth of Nations. People and the Environment)
- One of the basic principles of water management is to conserve water where it falls. But India is chasing hydraulic nightmares: big dams and canals while an age-old wisdom lies forgotten. This video examines India's traditional water harvesting systems, wandering though Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, to illuminate a profound science of the people. The film analyses a wide variety of water management systems as a function of differing ecological terrains. 1995. PAL format 48 min. Video/C 5660
- In the Cradle of Storms
- A thoughtful program which explores one of the major mysteries confronting marine and environmental scientists today-- the decline of many marine mammals and birds in the Bering Sea in the wake of development of large-scale fisheries in the area. 1991. 59 min. Video/C MM686
- Large Dams, False Promises
- Explores the dramatic history of the 15-year battle to save the ancient coastal redwoods of the Headwaters Forest, examining the interrelated questions of global economics and bio-diversity, of private property rights and the public good, of species extinction and resource management. c2000. 57 min. Video/C 9314
- Living on the Edge: California's Coastal Erosion Dilemma
- Presents footage and interviews with scientists and coastal homeowners examining the problems and possible solutions to storm damage and erosion on California's coast. Explores the importance of beaches to the California public, the natural ecosystem including the influence of El Nino, the state's tourist economy, and examines the practice of coastal "armoring" and seawall constuction. c1999. 32 min. Video/C MM623
- Lesotho: Water, Water Everywhere.(Africa: Search for Common Ground; 8)
- Focuses on the Lesotho Highlands Dam Project which seeks economic development for this poor nation. Here community and government leaders meet to discuss how all those concerned can benefit from the endeavor. c1997. 26 min. Video/C 5351
- A Narmada Diary.
- Documents five years of activities by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (the Save Narmada Movement) which has spearheaded the agitation against the construction of the Sardar Sarover Dam in India. The people of the Narmada Valley, with their insistence on non-violence and their determination to drown rather than be shifted off their land, have become a symbol of global struggle against unjust and unsustainable development. 1995. 60 min. Video/C 7894
- The Ocean Planet: The Death of the Mississippi (Blue Revolution; 15).
- Contrasts advances in seafood cultivation with the destruction caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, as backdrop to the problems of increasing contamination of the Mississippi River and the effect of pollution on riparian ecology and on fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. c1990. 23 min. Video/C 2483
- The Ocean Sink (Blue Revolution; 16).
- Governments have been slow to protect their own environments wanting proof of damage before acting. This program visits sites around the world to show what happens when the sea is used as a dumping ground and how difficult are the problems of disposing of waste even when the problems are recognized. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 27 min. Video/C 2484
- One Hundred Years of Drought
- Examines the causes of recurrent drought in Maharashtra. Demonstrates the extent to which drought is a man-made phenomenon, including a review of the impact of colonial rule and the famine policy, as well as the post-independence path of development which has resulted in deforestation, soil erosion and depletion of ground water reserves. Examines alternative approaches involving people's participation in integrated watershed management based on the principles of sustainable development. 1993. 21 min. PAL formatVideo/C 475
- Rebel with a Real Cause: The Story of the Fight for Truth over the Controversy of Pak Mun Dam.
- A documentary about the construction of the Pak Mun Dam in Thailand and its social, economic and environmental impact on the local Thai communities and cultures. [1998?] 28 min. PAL format. Video/C 7929
- The Rising Wave
- In India water has a deep spiritual and functional significance. The Rising Wave eloquently presents a culture built on water being shared, used and managed in ways unchanged for centuries. Richly filmed in three different states of India, The Rising Wave uncovers groups that have been dependent on their local natural water resource for generations as they fish and farm for their livelihook. In the rapid transforming economy of India, corporations now lay claim to control and determine access to this natural resource. A contrasting picture emerges; a contrast between the two divergent views of water; water as a billion dollar industry against water as a sacred natural gift for all humankind. This spells conflict for the future. Directed by Yask Desai and Shweta Kishore. c2008. 65 min. DVD X1094
- The River: a U.S. Documentary Film (1939)
- Presented by the Farm Security Administration with the cooperation of the Public Works Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps and the Army Engineers. Recorded at General Services Studios. A documentary story of the Mississippi River. Traces the history of the Mississippi and its tributaries; shows that the destruction of forests had led to erosion and the loss of soil, floods and the loss of lives and property. Emphasizes the need for conservation and rehabilitation. A film by Pare Lorentz. 32 min. DVD 7298; DVD 691; vhs Video/C 5060
Information about this film from the Internet Movie Database
- The Sand Dams of Kitui: Where There is No Water
- This documentary highlights the successful efforts of providing water "where there is no water." Through the intervention and technical assistance of an NGO called SASOL (Sahelian Solutions) many communities of men and women of the Kitui District of Kenya began the construction of sand dams as far back as 1990. Presently they have completed 158 sand dams in the last five years alone. Now, because of the availability of water, both their health and economic situations have vastly improved. This video introduces the construction technique of a sand dam which is fairly easy and effective. The technology can be adopted to benefit other communities living in arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya and beyond. Nairobi: SASOL Foundation, c2000. 30 min. Video/C MM1143
- Sea Change
- Documents the increasing acidification of the oceans and the changes in the chemistry of oceans. The film broadens the discussion about these dramatic changes attributed to the burning of fossil fuels and conveys the urgent threat those changes pose to our survival, while surveying positive examples of new technologies and effective changes in human behavior that must be taken to save the oceans and marine life. Directed by Barbara Ettinger. 2009. 85 min. DVD X2144
- The Shoreline Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.
- Looks at the eroding power of shorelines, how much of it is part of a natural process and how much is human-induced. Examines Folly Beach, South Carolina where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unsuccessfully attempted to dredge and move sand to a beach whose erosion was caused by jetties built just north of the site. 1994. 46 min. Video/C 3784
- A Silent Disaster.
- A documentary on the impact of riverline and oceanic erosion in the delta lands of Bangladesh. PAL format. In Bengali and English. 1997. 20 min. Video/C 6174
- Thin Edge of the Bay
- / producer and director, Ruth Landy. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Extension Media Center distributor, 1980. Uses San Francisco Bay as a focus to study the economic and political conflicts over shrinking environmental resources in urban areas. 1980. 22 min. Video/C 310
- Thirst
- The survival of communities is threatened when big business buys the water supply. This documentary tells the stories of communities in Japan, Bolivia, India and the United States where global corporations are buying up local water supplies, investigating such questions as: Is water part of a shared "commons," a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold and traded in a global marketplace? c2004. 62 min. DVD 2469
© noticeView this video online
UC Berkeley users only - Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac - Thirsty Planet
- Dist.: Films Media Group. 2003. 27 min. each installment
Water for the Fields. Looks at the use of water for agriculture from locations around the world, surveying both disasters of agricultural irrigation, such as cotton farming in Uzbekistan, and innovative successes in water-efficient techniques and crops, such as in California and India. Also looks at the destructive effects of deforestation and overgrazing, the difficulty of fighting erosion and reclaiming arable soil, and the urgency of the motto: more crop per drop. DVD 2507
Water for the Cities. Takes a hard look at the mounting challenge of providing millions of people in urban areas with potable water and adequate disposal of waste water. To highlight the difficulties, segments focus on the water problems of the magalopolis, cities with populations over 10 million people such as Lagos, Jakarta and Mexico City. The massive logistics that enable Las Vegas, Nevada to prosper in the middle of a desert are also explored. DVD 2508
Testing the Limits of Possibility.Looks at the construction of dams examining the positive and negative impact as well as the politics and economics of several ongoing or proposed projects: China' Three Gorges Dam, Egypt's Mubarak pumping station, pit-mine reclamation in Germany's Lausitz Region, and Spain's controversial national hydrological plan for the Ebro River. DVD 2509
Water for Profit. When demand outpaces supply, water becomes a commodity to be traded on the global market. But who owns water and how can a price be set on water? In this program the pros and cons of privatization are assessed in a number of water management situations around the world: Aguas Argentinas in Buenos Aires; the Bechtel Corporation in Cochabamba, Bolivia; Thames Water Company in Jakarta and a public/private test partnership in Albania. DVD 2510
Waters of Discord. Almost half the world gets its drinking water from rivers that cross national boundaries. Analysts predict that more wars will be fought over water than oil. This program surveys a number of active or potential hot spots: Israel and the river Jordan; the Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey and its effects on Syria and Iraq; Egypt's Toshka Canal and the Nile Basin Initiative; and the Tehri dam in India. The program also looks at the effects of the Hoover dam on the Colorado River delta in Mexico and the success of Lesotho's Katse dam. DVD 2511
Watery Visions. In a dramatic reversal of policy since apartheid, South Africa has become a model of water fulfillment. Despite being one of the driest regions on Earth, India's Rajasthan is an oasis due to the revival of a system of ancient rain basins. This program looks at these encouraging examples to show how sustainable solutions to long-term water management can be achieved, while a visit to Sertao in Brazil illustrates the appalling alternative -- two very different futures. DVD 2512
- To the Last Drop (Water Wars; 2).
- There is great competition for water among nations of the Middle East. Water is scarce in this region and most countries get their water supply from aquafers. 1991. 49 min. DVD X1235 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 2934
- Troubled Waters: The Dilemma of Dams
- A documentary on dams in the United States and their effect on the environment. Blending still photos with archival and new footage, the film considers cultural, economic, spiritual, and environmental arguments for and against decommissioning dams, arguing that dams remove a river for its eco-system, thereby destroying biodiversity and the river's habitat. Dist.: The Video Project. 2002. 55 min. Video/C 9789
- Troubled Waters.
- Shows how increased land development, offshore oil drilling, and the search for fresh water sources is threatening California's coastal wildlife. Focuses on brown pelicans, great egrets, elephant seals, sea lions. 1984. 28 min. Video/C 780
- Turbulent River in Tibet and Southwest China
- First in a series of programs exploring the lifestyles of the people who live near the Mekong's banks. This program examines the lives of people who live at the source of the Mekong: shepherds, fisherman, farmers and traders in Tibet and southwestern China. The Bai people and the Dai people discuss their concerns about the overcutting of timber, water pollution and proposed dams. The role of the Mekong in their local economies is explored along with their history, customs and religion. 1999. 52 min. Video/C 7341
- Up the Yangtze
- A "farewell cruise" takes a luxury ship up the vast Yangtze River shortly before completion of the massive Three Gorges Dam. The passengers glimpse a rapidly changing countryside, while the local people struggle to adapt as their lives are irrevocably altered. Presents a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing an increasingly globalized China. Special features: Time-lapse flood footage of the Yangtze River (3 min.); "Research Demo" footage (9 min.); deleted scenes (25 min.); theatrical trailer (2 min.). Directed by Yung Chang. 2007. 93 min. DVD X709
- Water.
- Experts and State officials debating the question of building more dams, reservoirs and canals now, in order to meet California's water needs in the future. 1983. Video/C 673
- Water, A Clear and Present Danger.
- Looks at the magnitude and spread of water contamination at a number of sites around the United States. Also considers what the Environmental Protection Agency is, or is not, doing. 1983. 27 min. Video/C 714
- The Water Crisis.
- Describes water problems currently being experienced by communities from the Adirondack Mountains to the American West Coast and explains that water scarcity will be the next ecology issue.1981. 57 min. Video/C 426 NRLF #: B 4 175 239
- Water For All Series.
- Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, c2003.
Breaking Barriers (Clean Water for Dhaka's Slums).Documentary on a local nongovernmental organization that has pioneered an effective scheme to bring water to poor communities in the squalid slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 23 min. Video/C MM446
Waibulabula: Living Waters. A documentary on coastal communities, a local nongovernmental organization, and a tourist resort working together to save coral reefs and protect water resources in the Fiji Islands. 23 min. Video/C MM447
Hidden Paradise.A documentary on a community of former squatters with tidy homes and clean, dry streets, a safe drinking water supply, and healthy children in the city of
Bacolod, Philippines. Community leaders reveal how they solved water problems and transformed a slum into a thriving community. 23 min. Video/C MM448
- Water More Precious Than Oil.
- Examines the use and abuse of water around the world. Shows how water resources must be managed on small, as well as large, scales and shows the consequences for those who are unwilling or unable to manage their water resources. 1981. 60 min. Video/C 537
- Water of Ayole: Togo West Africa.
- Shows how a poor community in Togo is making its water system work and providing safe water to about 600,000 people in 864 villages. Producer, Sandra Nichols. 1988. 28 min. DVD 9278 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 1784
- Water Wars.
- This three part series takes a look at the possession of water and casts a light on many of the world's conflicts. 1991. 49 min. ea Video/C 2933 - 2935
- Water Wars, the Battle for Mono Lake.
- Program about Mono Lake, its beauty and importance as refuge of migratory birds and breeding ground for the California gull. The existance of the lake is threatened by the California state water right system which encourages massive diversions of water from one area to benefit another. University of California, School of Journalism, 1983. DVD 9867 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 523
- Water, Water, Everwhere? (California Journal Report; 106).
- Investigates California's water policy in relation to agriculture which uses 85% of the state's water supply. The program goes to Kern County and examines contrasting views of those who support and oppose the Peripheral Canal. 1982. 30 min. Video/C 2096
- Water is for Fighting Over(Human Geography, People Places and Change).
- Along the parched California Nevada border, groups with compelling yet competing interests claim the water of the Truckee River Basin. Film examines the lives and livelihood of these people for whom the Truckee River water is so important. 1996. 27 min. Video/C 4247
- When the Rivers Run Dry
- This program discusses the long term problems associated with intensive water use in the Southwestern United States. The tremendous amount of water needed for irrigation and housing as well as other uses is examined. Since the water supply is not unlimited and a critical shortage is foreseen in 15 years, what happens when the rivers run dry? A film by Mary Louise Grossman and Fred Aronow. 1979. 30 min. Video/C MM567
- Whose Water?
- Documentary television program on water policy in India and how people's initiatives are changing the water management in this country. 2002. 26 min. Video/C MM859
- Words on Water
- Documentary looking at the effects of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (the largest one in the Narmada Project involving the construction of 30 large, 135 medium-sized and 3000 small dams in Gujarat and other parts of Central India) and the millions of people who will be adversely affected by this project sponsored by the World Bank and the Central Government of India. 2002. 85 min. Video/C 9874
- Forests
- Amazonia, Voices From the Rain Forest.
- Reviews the ecology of the rainforest, the indigenous indians attitudes towards the forest and their increasing concern for its protection as the fragile ecosystem is threatened with destruction by outside commercial developers. 1991. 69 min. Video/C 2564
- America's Forests: A History of Resiliency and Recovery.
- Using film footage and still photographs from turn-of-the-century, this video graphically depicts the forest, watershed and wildlife conditions that led to our first national conservation movement. Portrays how much of our natural world was altered, first by Native Americans and later by pioneers. Film reviews lessons learned from the past and tries to create public awareness for the need for constructive environmental and community action to manage and preserve the natural environment. 1993. 23 min. Video/C 3085
- Ancient Forests
- An environmentalist film which presents two photographic journeys through ancient forest ecosystems which are being destroyed by man; shows harvested forest areas, demonstrating man's influence on and destruction of nature. The second episode focuses on the old growth, temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest, Washington's Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park. Consequences of the disappearance of forest ecosystems and the diversity of life found there are discussed. 1998. 21 min. Video/C MM781
- Banking on Disaster.
- A three part documentary filmed over a ten year period exposes the detrimental effects of deforestation interliked with roadbuilding and colonization in Rondonia, Brazil. 1989. 78 min. Video/C 1559
- 20% Renewable Energy by 2020
- The European Union has set itself the goal of raising the share of renewable energy sources in the final overall energy consumption of the Union from 8.5% in 2005 to 20% in 2020. This is an ambitious objective, but it is also a necessary contribution to the global fight against climate change and towards better control over energy dependence. The various uses for renewable energy sources are examined: electricity for wind and hydraulic energies; electricity or heat for geothermal and solar energies; multiple applications: electricity, heat, and biofuel for biomass, the "Sleeping Giant". Brussels : European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, c2008. 4 min. DVD X1273
- Between Midnight and the Rooster's Crow
- Multinationals are working to extract billions of dollars of oil reserves from beneath Ecuador's rainforest. This film documents the environmental and social impact the EnCana Corporation is having on Ecuador as they build a heavy crude pipeline from the Amazon, across the Andes, to the Pacific coast. Also looks at the relationship between EnCana and the government of Eduador. Directed, produced and written by Nadja Drost. 2005. 66 min. DVD 5255
- Brazilian Dreams: Visiting Points of Resistance
- Explores cultures of opposition in Brazil as documented by two US travelers in 1988-1989. Woven together in a hybrid narration that combines travelogue, political reportage and personal reflection, the documentary features testimonies of Brazilian activists involved in a wide range of social movements: the modernist graffiti counterculture of cosmopolitan Sao Paulo, working-class feminists in the parishes of Sao Paulo's slums, the Black Consciousness movement of Bahia, a first-ever meeting of Indian tribes in the Amazon to protest dam construction on their lands, and the Amazonia rubbertappers' struggle to preserve their sustainable way of life in the rainforest. c1991. 54 min. DVD 6889
- Building from Below
- Documentary on the impact of agroforestry on rural villages of India, showing several successful land and forest reclamation projects. PAL format. 1999. 30 min. Video/C 7942
- Creeks of Conflict
- Documentary television program on the destruction of the mangrove forests in India due to aquaculture and other development activities. The film also documents the breeding of Oliver Ridley Turtles. A film by Krishnendu Bose. 1996. 30 min. Video/C MM857
- The Death of a Tree.
- Reviews the life cycle of a tree as a mini-ecosystem and the impact of its life and death on the ecology of the surrounding forest. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 2234
- The Decade of Destruction
- Chronicles the destruction of the Amazon rainforest - perhaps the 20th century's worst environmental disaster. c1987.
In the Ashes of the Forest A Brazilian settler's two sons are murdered and another is kidnapped by Indians. While a government expedition searches for the child, the colonists' expansion continues to encroach on the Indians. Landless peasants are lured to the forest with promises of free land and big harvests. By the decade's end, the fate of the kidnapped boy is learned; an epidemic kills many of the Indians; the settler's farms have failed; and more than 15% of the rainforest has been destroyed. 112 min. DVD X1324; vhs Video/C 1834
Killing for Land This program follows the land wars that have broken out as millions of poor farmers migrate to massive ranches carved out of the rainforest by rich speculators with the aid of tax exemptions and government loans. As squatters they begin to work the land until the absentee landlords hire gunmen to frighten them off. The squatters take up arms themselves, and the result is a lawless gun battle. 50 min. DVD X1325; vhs Video/C 1834
Mountains of Gold This episode focuses on Jova, who is famous among his colleagues for his illegal gold strikes, as he plays hide and seek with the security forces of Brazil's largest mining multi-national. Mining's long range impact on the rainforest is likely to be the center of future controversy in the Amazon. 54 min. DVD X1326; vhs Video/C 1834
The Killing of Chico Mendes This episode focuses on Chico Mendes, leader of the rubber-tappers, who sacrificed his life in his fight to preserve the forest. Since his murder Mendes has become a symbol of the struggle between the rubber-tappers and the landowners. As a result of Chico's activism twelve "extraction reserves" with more than 5 million acres are being created in the most promising development to have come out of Amazonia in the 1980s. 55 min. DVD X1327; vhs Video/C 1834
- The Ecology of the Forest.
- Reviews the life of both temperate forests and rain forests. Included are the processes of composition and decomposition, increment and excrement, measuring phytomass, biomass, adaptation, water storage, propagation and germination of seeds, and the role of insects and bacteria in the forest's underground economy. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1989. 28 min. Video/C 2235
- The Fate of the Forests (Only One Earth; 3).
- First documents the devastating effects of acid rain on the trees and forests of Europe, then explores the pressures causing tropical deforestation in the southern hemisphere. c1987. 58 min. Video/C 1666
- Fire in the Eyes
- Taped at various locations where anti-logging protesters were attempting to demonstrate in the Headwaters Forest Wilderness, this program shows police officers swabbing & spraying pepper spray on the eyelids of non-violent protestors as a "pain compliance tool" as they demonstrated at Pacific Lumber, at Bear Creek logging camp and in the Eureka office of Republican Representative Frank Riggs. It also includes the story of David "Gypsy" Chain's death in Grizzly Creek. c1999. 32 min. Video/C 7905
- The Fires of the Amazon
- More than a decade after his series "The Decade of Destruction", Adrian Cowell returns to Amazonia and finds that many friends and collegues of Chico Mendes are in power. There have been some notable gains for the rubber-tappers, including the establishment of the forest preserves, literacy for their children, and higher prices for their certified lumber. But year after year, the deforestation by fire continues. Less than 1/3 of Amazonia is protected in a park or preserve. Roads are being built, and agriculture is moving into southern Amazonia. Directed by Adrian Cowell. 44 min. 2002? Video/C MM500
- Flames in the Forest.
- Since the 1950's, the Amazon Indians of eastern Ecuador have bitterly resisted the invasion of international oil companies which, with the encouragement of the Ecuadorian government, seek to use the resource-rich region for intensive oil production. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1991. 52 min. Video/C 5500
- Free-for-All in Sarare.
- More than six thousand gold and mineral prospectors have invaded the reserve of the Nambiquara of Sarare, Brazil and loggers in the regions raid their mahogany-rich forests, stealing wood which is becoming extinct in Amazonia. Only pressure on the World Bank, with whom the Government of Mato Grosso is negotiating a loan, could bring prospecting to a close. But the pillage of the forest continues. 27 min. Video/C 4421
- The Gabonese Forest: Sustainability of the African Forest: The Way Forward.
- An overview of the forestry industry, ecology and conservation efforts in the forests of Gabon. 1994. 33 min. PAL Format. Video/C 4982 (NRLF #: B 3 198 298 )
- Green Means: Borneo
- This short program looks at the work of the Berkeley-based group The Borneo Project and its efforts to protect the rainforests of Borneo by working with indigenous groups to promote ecological justice. Originally broadcast on the PBS television program Green Means. 2000. 5 min. Video/C 9711
- Jardhar Diary
- Documentary television program on the protests by people in India against the destruction of thousands of acres of forests in the mountains of the Himalayas. These villagers are willing to give up their lives to save their homes. In addition the film talks about the role the women are taking in these activities and how they have become the backbone of the economy of the region. Written & directed by Krishnendu Bose. 2002. 29 min. Video/C MM860
- The Last Stand: Ancient Redwoods and the Bottom Line
- Explores the dramatic history of the 15-year battle to save the ancient coastal redwoods of the Headwaters Forest, examining the interrelated questions of global economics and bio-diversity, of private property rights and the public good, of species extinction and resource management. c2000. 57 min. Video/C 9314
- Mad River: Hard Times in Humboldt County.
- Portrays a community in the redwood region of Northern California. Deals with unemployment, plant closures in the lumber industry and the impact of environmental questions. 1982. 54 min. Video/C 367
- Microchip Al Chip.
- Examines the destruction of Chilean forests in order to sustain its paper exports to other nations, notably Japan. Disturbing statements from a Chilean forest manager and a Japanese economic minister build into an invective against the loss of an irreplaceable natural resource. c1991. 18 min. Video/C 3037
- National Forest Management: Great Issues and Great Diversions
- Dale Bosworth, chief of the USDA Forest Service, delivers an address covering policies on forest management, wildfires, logging, invasive species, public land use, habitat fragmentation and new road construction in national forests. A Berkeley Webcast event ; sponsored by the College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley. 4/23/2003. 87 min. Video/C 9558
View it with RealPlayer
- A Naturalist in the Rainforest.
- Tells the story of Alexander Skutch and reveals the splendors of tropical nature that have captivated him for over half a century. One of the great naturalists of our time, Skutch travelled around Central America for years uncovering the secrets of tropical birdlife. His later efforts to live and farm in harmony with the rainforest in Costa Rica, make Skutch's remarkable story especially relevant today. 54 min. Video/C 4114
- On the Edge: Nature's Last Stand for Coast Redwoods
- Explores the history of the California coastal redwood trees from the Gold Rush to the present day and efforts by conservationists over the last century to protect and preserve the redwood groves. 1989. 33 min. Video/C MM759
- Renewable Tree (Nova series).
- Explores solutions to the problems of conserving trees while meeting the economic and social demands for paper. 1976. 59 min. Video/C 249
- Runa, Guardians of the Forest (Sachata hulhuac runa)
- Describes the Amazon rain forest area of Ecuador where the Runa people live, the deforestation of their country, and how it affects their lives. 28 min. c1989. Video/C MM904
- Second Nature
- More people means more trees -- this is the unexpected finding of an Oxford University research project in this West African country. The researchers found that the most thickly forested parts of the savannah regions are inevitably to be found surrounding human settlements. When villages are deserted the trees disappear and the savannah shrubland takes over. The evidence from photos taken in tthe 1950s backs their findings. Originally presented as a segment on the television program Earth Report. 1998. 26 min. DVD 5944
- The Stump Makers.
- Delivers an indictment of the wasteful forestry practices and ecological devastation caused by the major logging companies operating in California and Oregon in the 1950's and 1960's. Looks at the impact of clear cutting on the environment and the logging communities reliant upon the industry. A film by Harvey Richards. Dist.: Estuary Press. 1963. 22 min. DVD 4227
- Sudesha.
- The "Chipko" movement was founded in India by peasant women who recognized the economic consequences of deforestation of their regions and was one of the first environmental movements in the Third World. This is an account of "Sudesha," a woman who lives in the foothills of the Himalayas, who organized the women of her village to save the forests, thereby challenging the rules of Indian society and women's traditional roles. 1983. 30 min. Video/C 4170
- Threatened Forests
- . Documents the deleterious effects of pollution and acid rain on trees and forests. 1988. 19 min. Video/C 1463
- Timber Tigers.
- Surveys the lumber industry in the United States from its beginnings to the early 1970s. Discusses profits obtained by the lumber and paper industries at the expense of the ecological devastation of natural resources. A film by Harvey Richards. Dist.: Estuary Press. 1971. 23 min. DVD 4250
- Timber to Tibet: Trees from Nepal for Food from Tibet
- Documentary deals with the pro-conservation tradition of the Nepalese people and their compulsion to cut down a priceless Himalayan forest which will not regenerate once it is gone. 2002. 28 min. DVD 7381
- Vanishing Redwoods
- Shows destructive forestry practices used on the West Coast during the 1950's and 1960's. Focusing on clear cutting and the immense machinery that cut and processed the giant redwoods, the film reveals the rapid deterioration of the forest ecology and the disappearance of towns and businesses, along with the forests, in large areas of the West Coast. A film by Harvey Richards. 1975. Dist.: Estuary Press. 28 min. DVD 4228
- Wasted Woods.
- Shows destructive forestry practices used on the West Coast during the 1950's and 1960's. Focusing on clear cutting and the immense machinery that cut and processed the giant redwoods, the film reveals the rapid deterioration of the forest ecology and the disappearance of towns and businesses, along with the forests, in large areas of the West Coast. A film by Harvey Richards. Dist.: Estuary Press. 1964. 20 min. DVD 4226
- Nuclear and Electrical Energy Controversies and Disasters
- Arlit, The Second Paris (Arlit, deuxi`eme Paris)
- A case study in migration and environmental racism set in an uranium mining town in the Sahara desert of Niger. Here European corporations extracted nuclear power and profits, leaving behind illness due to radiation, contamination and unemployment. Arlit flourished during the oil crunch of the early 70s when its uranium mines employed 25, 000 workers from around the world in high paying jobs. It has now become a ghost town, a place of transit. A film by Idrissou Mora Kpai. 2005.
78 min. DVD 5274
- The Atom and Eve
- This vintage piece of pro-nuclear propaganda was designed as a marketing tool to sell nuclear energy to the American public. The viewer is introduced to Eve as a baby and a growing girl and finally as a woman (who dances through the film) in parallel to growing needs of millions of eves for more and more electricity. Also makes a case for building an investor-owned nuclear power plant in Connecticut to meet the region's power needs. 1966. 15 min. Video/C 8024
- Bhopal: The Second Tragedy.
- More than ten years after "the world's biggest chemical disaster," there remain unresolved serious issues of unpaid damages, legal accountability, environmental reform and institutional failure on the part of Union Carbide, the chemical industry, and the US and Indian governments. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1995. 54 min. Video/C 4587
- Bound by the Wind
- Discusses the effects of nuclear weapons testing, especially the effects on the human population. Features victims of radioactive fallout from these tests. Includes interviews with victims who live near the test sites as well as those who live downwind of the sites, the "downwinders." Produced by David L. Brown. 1993. 59 min. DVD 8976
- Chernobyl: Chronicle of Difficult Weeks (Glasnost Film Festival).
- This film crew was the first in the disaster zone following the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in1986. They shot continuously for more than three months. Portions of the film are exposed with white blotches--a radiation leakage. 1987. 53 min. Video/C 1593
- Chernobyl: The Taste of Wormwood.
- A Japanese documentary about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which includes on-site photography of the blast site and of people and areas affected. Also included are interviews with victims, bystanders, medical personnel who treated burn victims, physicists, and politicians. 1987. 52 min. DVD X1232 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 1048
- Clouds of Doubt
- Explores the issue of the safety of atomic bomb test conducted by the United States in Nevada in the 1950's. Official denials of health hazards are contradicted by the comments of scientists such as Linus Pauling, John Gofman, and Richard Mancuso who insist the Atomic Energy Commission knew the risks involved. Dist.: Electronic Arts Intermix. 1979. 50 min. Video/C 213; in storage NRLF: B 4 175 117
- Deadly Deception.
- Expose of the human and environmental effects of General Electric Company's nuclear weapons facilities. Plant workers have been poisoned by radiation and asbestos; neighboring homes have experienced cancers and birth defects. Shows the activists who are working to inform the public and stop the company's dangerous activities. Producer/director, Debra Chasnoff Academy Award for Best Documentary. c1991. 29 min. Video/C 2461
- Ames, Katrine. "The Deadly Deception." (television program reviews) Newsweek v121, n5 (Feb 1, 1993):66.
Hitchens, Gordon. "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment." (video recording reviews) Cineaste v19, n1 (Wntr, 1992):67.
Dover, Debbie. "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment." (movie reviews) Dollars & Sense, n177 (June, 1992):9 (3 pages).
- Electric Valley
- Presents the fifty-year controversial history of the Tennessee Valley Authority, focusing on the officials who led it and the people whose lives were touched by it. 1983. 89 min. Video/C 2326
- Living Under the Cloud: Chernobyl.
- Dr. Vladimir Chernousenko, scientific directory of the cleanup of Chernobyl, discusses the devastating impact of the accident in terms of the environment and humanity. Eight years later the death toll is still rising and the land and its life forms are still suffering. c1993. 69 min. Video/C 3875
- Meltdown at Three Mile Island
- Discusses the events of March 28, 1979, when a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, overheated. Employs news footage and first-person interviews in relating the 1999. 60 min. Video/C 6648
- A Question of Power
- Documentary on the history of the nuclear power controversy and the antinuclear movement focusing on the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power plant in California and anti-nuclear demonstrators such as the Sierra Club and Mothers for Peace and their views and suggestions for alternative sources of energy. Produced by David L. Brown, Jane Kinzler and Tom Anderson. 1986. 58 min. DVD 8975
- Take It and Like It: Why Would a Town Accept 70,000 Tons of Nuclear Waste in Its Own Backyard?
- A film that examines what happens when one town's quest for stability encounters the nation's search for a place to bury high level radioactive waste. Most Nevadans and their legislators strongly oppose nuclear storage in their state, but in Tonopah many feel differently prefering to think of it as a nuclear resource, which they hope will help Tonopah climb out of its latest economic slump. Now the town's search for survival and the nation's search for a nuclear waste dump are meeting in the Yucca Mountain Project ... in a hollowed out mountain in Tonopah's backyard. Produced, directed and edited by Kate Davidson and Bret Sigler. Produced as a masters thesis for the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley. 2003. 26 min. Video/C 9628
- Toxic Bust
- A healthy woman finds a lump in her breast which launches this documentary that uncovers mounting evidence that links cancer to chemical exposure. Most breast cancer funding and research has gone toward treatment, and finding the elusive cure. Far less emphasis has been given to prevention and discovering the causes of breast cancer. This film focuses on three cancer "hotspots" (Cape Cod MA, SF Bay Area, and hi-tech manufacturing workers) to more fully explore the connection between breast cancer and chemical exposure in the home, community and workplace. Produced and directed by Megan Siler. 2006. 41 min. DVD 9236
- Oil/Petrochemicals/Alternative Energy Sources
- Between Midnight and the Rooster's Crow
- Multinationals are working to extract billions of dollars of oil reserves from beneath Ecuador's rainforest. This film documents the environmental and social impact the EnCana Corporation is having on Ecuador as they build a heavy crude pipeline from the Amazon, across the Andes, to the Pacific coast. Also looks at the relationship between EnCana and the government of Eduador. Directed, produced and written by Nadja Drost. 2005. 66 min. DVD 5255
- The Big Spill (Nova series).
- Examines the oil spill of Exxon Valdez and what research is being done in the area of clean up technology. 1990. 52 min. Video/C 2138
- Black Sea Files
- Black Sea Files is a territorial research on the Caspian oil geography: the world's oldest oil extraction zone. A giant new subterranean pipeline traversing the Caucasus will soon pump Caspian crude to the West. Circumventing the main players in the region, the film sheds light on a multitude of secondary sceneries. Oil workders, farmers, refugees and prostitutes who live along the pipeline come into profile and contribute to a wider human geography that displaces the singular and powerful signifying practices of oil corporations and oil politicians. A video by Ursula Biemann. Dist.: Video Databank. 2005. 43 min. DVD X1260
- Blind Spot: Peak Oil & the Coming Global Crisis
- A documentary about the current oil and energy crisis exploring the energy depletion scenerio of "Peak Oil" and its implications for the future of civilization. Includes interviews with sociologist William R. Catton, evolutionary biologist Jason Bradford, environmental analyst Lester Brown, NASA's James Hansen, author Bill McKibben, and others. Directed, photographed and edited by Adolfo Doring. 2009. 54 min. DVD X2119
- Blood and Oil
- This film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years -- rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. Based on the book Blood and oil by Michael T. Klare. Directed by Jeremy Earp. c2008. 52 min. DVD X147
- A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
- A documentary film that debunks the conventional wisdom that oil production will continue to climb, and instead stares bleakly at a planet facing economic meltdown and conflict over its most valuable resource. "Our civilization's addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with disaster .. the film visits with the world's top experts and comes to a startling but logical conclusion--our industrial society, built of cheap and readily available oil, must be competely re-imagined and overhauled. The world's oil supplies are peaking and the crisis of global shortage looms, we are running out of oil and we don't have a plan." Contents: Precious and non-renewable -- We use it for everything! -- From boom to bust -- A magnet for war -- The numbers don't add up -- Peaking out -- An insatiable demand -- The end of the American Dream -- Technology to the rescue? -- Life after the peak. Special features (93 min.): "Petrostates" bonus chapter (4 min.); theatrical trailer (2 min.); additional interviews with Colin Campbell (20 min.), Matthew Simmons (25 min.), Fadhil Chalabi (24 min.), David L. Goodstein (18 min.). Produced and directed by Basil Gelpke & Ray McCormack. 2006. 83 min. DVD 9084
- Deliverance From Oil: 10 Years in the Wake of Exxon Valdez
- Biologists, commercial fishers, company officials and community leaders describe the residual effects of the Mar. 24, 1989 spill of 11 million gallons of oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez on Prince William Sound, Alaska, and on the surrounding ecosystems and human communities. Written and produced by Kevin Hartwell. Originally presented as a program on KTOO-TV, Juneau. 1999. 56 min. Video/C MM654
- Delta Force.
- A documentary of the environmental and social effects that the oil drilling by Shell International has had in the 1990's, on the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta. Also includes commentary and interviews with the political activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa. 1995. 50 min. Video/C 5061
- Ecuador: Divided Over Oil(What in the World? People of the Developing Nations)
- The Ecuadoran government granted Burlington Oil a contract to explore and exploit oil in the Achuar Indian territory without consulting with the Achuar. The Achuar are opposed to the oil company's presence in their land. President Lucio Gutierrez is threatening to control the area militarily if the Achuar do not cooperate. The Achuar are attempting to evict the oil company by suing them for environmental damage to their land, which has contaminated drinking water, killed crops and game, and caused health problems among the Achuar. c2004. 26 min. DVD 5448
- The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
- Through interviews with scientists and policy makers this documentary explores the premise that American suburbs, built on the easy availability of fossil fuels, may become untenable. As oil reserves are exhausted and energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? 2004. 78 min. DVD 3193
- Extreme Oil.
- Dist.: Films Media Group. 2004. 57 min. each installment,
Pipeline. Follows the circuitous route of the 1,100-mile BTC oil pipeline, that links the cites of Baku, in Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, in Georgia; and Ceyhan, in Turkey. The pipeline will transport the previously untapped energy reserves of the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, but its route makes many detours around areas of regional conflict and territorial dispute. DVD 6055
The Oil Curse. Contrasts the cases of Ecuador and western Africa looking at how the discovery of oil has affected the local populations. In Ecuador, the toxic environmental legacy has sparked a lawsuit over international corporate accountability, while in Angola, the oil industry is creating health and education projects to ensure that some of the profits from oil will benefit the local population. DVD 6056
The Wilderness.. As the industrialized world's desire for oil grows larger, so does the opposition from environmental groups intent on protecting the land. As demand increases, what restraints should be put on where oil companies drill? This documentary journey heads to Alaska and Canada, with a side trip to Washington, D.C. exploring these tensions. As the pressure for oil increases, fragile wiilderness areas across the globe are being opened up to oil exploration and furious debate. DVD 6057
- Fat of the Land.
- This video shows how internal-combustion vehicles can be converted to run on vegetable oil or on grease. Covers the 2,300 mile cross-county demonstration run by five women in their "lard car", a van powered by vegetable oil or grease (mainly grease) and the problems and difficulties encountered in obtaining vegetable oil or grease for fueling this van, and in promoting vehicles powered by vegetable oil or grease in general. Includes interviews with scientists in Colorado who are doing extensive research with vegetable oil as a replacement fuel. 1995. 56 min. Video/C 4648
- Heat
- Under pressure from governments, green groups, and investors, big businesses, such as the oil and coal companies, electric utilities, and automobile manufacturers, are promising to reshape their approach to the environment, climate change, and carbon emissions. Shows how some corporations around the world are fighting to fend off new regulations while others are repositioning themselves to meet these challenges. Visits the melting glaciers of the Himalayas, Chinese coal companies, Indian SUV makers, and American oil giants, among other locations. Contents: Watching the world change -- Fossil fuels : the engine of our lives -- Ten years to reverse course -- America's addiction to coal -- Cars : 2nd largest source of carbon emissions -- Big Oil -- Two instructive lessons from the past -- Carbon-free power -- Will America summon the political will? Originally broadcast as an episode of the television program Frontline on Oct. 21, 2008. 120 min. DVD X821
- Oil. Each installment 58 minutes. 1986.
- Oil: God Bless Standard Oil. Opens with the story of John D. Rockefeller, the father of the modern oil industry. DVD 7951 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1720
Oil: Floating to Victory. Charts the growth of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and British Petroleum, Europe's leading oil companies, against the backdrop of the two world wars. DVD 7952 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1721 Oil: Sisters Under Siege. Focuses on the trials and tribulations of the seven major oil corporations known as the "seven sisters"--Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, Gulf, British Petroleum and Royal Dutch/Shell. DVD 7953 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1722
Oil: The Rise of OPEC.Focuses on Saudi Arabian Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani and his role in OPEC, the oil-producing cartel established to counter the power of the oil companies. DVD 7954 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1723 Oil: The Devil Gave us Oil.Looks at the plight of heavily indebted Mexico, where the expectation of a continued rise in oil prices encouraged that government to borrow too heavily. DVD 7955 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1724 Oil: The Independents.Examines the tough, rugged individuals such as H.L. Hunt, John Paul Getty and T. Boone Pickens who have gambled millions in the oil game. DVD 7956 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1725 Oil: Oil and Water. Looks at the challenges of obtaining oil from the North Sea. DVD 7957 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1726 Oil: The Global Gamble. Looks at the future of oil, with exploration taking place in far-flung areas of the world from the Arctic to the African desert. DVD 7958 [preservation copy]; Video/C 1727
- Power Struggle
- Explores the struggle over ways to produce the energy needed to supply power for the United States. Shows ways energy is currently being produced and describes new technologies, including solar, wind, and water power, geothermal energy, biomass, and co-generation. Tells advantages and disadvantages of each type of energy production, including possible effects on the environment. Shows nuclear power plants, experimental solar and wind farms, a geothermal steam complex, and other examples of energy production. Describes ways in which cars, appliances, and buildings can be made more energy-efficient. 1986. 58 min. Video/C 1133
- The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power
- This PBS miniseries tells the epic history of oil... how it has dominated global politics, shaken the world economy, and transformed our century. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Daniel Yergin. Each program approximately 60 minutes. Contents: Tape 1. Program 1. Our plan. Program 2. Empires of oil -- Tape 2. Program 3. The black giant. Program 4. War and oil -- Tape 3. Program 5. Crude diplomacy. Program 6. Power to the producers -- Tape 4. Program 7. The tinderbox. Program 8. The New order of oil. 1992. 480 min. Video/C 2806 Pt. 1-4
- Running on Empty (Fueling the Future Series; 1).
- This program traces how the automobile became the mainstay of our transportation system and the perils posed to our environment by reliance upon petroleum based fuels. Also examined are the viability of gasahol and other alternative fuels and the feasibility of resurrecting public transportation on a large scale. c1988. 60 min. Video/C 2552
- Taken for a Ride
- Through archival film footage, animation and interviews follows the history of the automobile and the highway system in America. Presenting a long buried trail of auto/oil industry schemes, this documentary exposes the dummy companies, secret stock transactions and propaganda compaigns that removed one third of the nation's streetcars. Tracks were torn up overnight and bone jarring buses took the trolley's place. Scores of American cities lost their streetcars, including five of the nation's ten largest. The same players, organized as "the highway lobby," then campaigned for a network of urban freeways that would destroy America's downtowns. c1996. 55 min. Video/C 9243
- What if the Oil Runs Out
- Transporting viewers to the year 2016, this program paints a disturbing picture of an oil-starved America and the socioeconomic upheaval that may accompany the death of the Oil Age. This docudrama follows a middle-aged, Midwestern couple through violence at gas stations, conflicts with neighbors, and the loss of their livelihood; it also focuses on their daughter, an oil prospector determined to find new crude oil fields in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. The film is interspersed with interviews with experts and notable statistics on oil production and consumption. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2006. 44 min. DVD 8881
- Who Killed the Electric Car?
- In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened? Why should we be haunted by the ghost of the electric car? This documentary investigates the reasons behind the birth and death of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in the future. Written and directed by Chris Paine. Special features: "Jump-starting the future": a mini-documentary; Deleted scenes. 2006. 91 min. DVD 6705
- The Arctic Refuge: A Wilderness in Peril.
- A look at the wildlife of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a plea that the coastal plains of Alaska should not be opened to offshore oil exploration. [1987?] 16 min. Video/C 2781
- Big Fish, Little Fish (Only One Earth; 6).
- Examines the Solomon Island's attempts to help their economy by developing their tuna fishing industry. Discusses their conservation efforts, effects on the Islanders and problems with poachers from other nations. 1987. 30 min. Video/C 1669
- Chimps R Us
- A five part program focusing on chimpanzees. It opens with an interview with zoologist Jane Goodall about her remarkable life among the chimps and then visits a chimpanzee sanctuary where psychologist David Bjorklund is investigating how young chimps learn. Primate behaviourist Frans de Waal observes the social behavior of a group of chimps living at the Yerkes Regional Primate Center in Atlanta. In the next segment David Bjorklund tests two young chimps for the ability to think abstractly while at Ohio State University, Sally Boysen demonstrates these skills in chimps. Closes with a segment photographed by Karl Ammann about the illegal bushmeat trade in chimpanzees and other animals in Africa, as he follows poachers deep into the forest to document the commercial trade. 2001. 57 min. Video/C 8199
- The Harris' Hawk
- A documentary tracing the reintroduction to the California wilderness of the Harris' hawk, a species which became extinct in the state in the 1950s. It examines habitat restoration and documents all aspects of the reintroduction project, from raising chicks to releasing the birds into the wild. c1987. 20 min. Video/C MM837
- Killing Coyote
- This documentary looks at how the coyote is viewed as a predator by ranchers and hunters while conservationists are trying to responsibly monitor the coyote population. Interviews are conducted with wildlife conservationists, ranchers, hunters, and others who give opposing viewpoints regarding the value of the coyote. The contemporary sport of coyote hunting is presented along with local government hearings on this issue. 2000. 83 min. Video/C 7544
- Oil on Ice
- A documentary connecting the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to decisions America makes about energy policy, transportation choices, and other seemingly unrelated matters. Caught in the balance are the culture and livelihood of the Gwich'in people and the migratory wildlife in this fragile ecosystem. Discusses the conflict between the oil industry and environmentalists over the future of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Produced and directed by Dale Djerassi and Bo Boudart. 2004. 90 min. DVD 4608
- A Sea of Trouble
- This is a dramatic and fascinating documentary on the rise and fall of the West Coast tuna fishing industry and the untold story of the efforts by tuna fishermen to save dolphins and minimize their entrapment in tuna nets. Also looks at contemporary methods used by tuna fishermen to save dolphins. 1995. 33 min. Video/C MM818
- Sealing Fate.
- This is a provocative investigative documentary, showing how commercial fishing interests and government bodies in Canada have tried to blame marine mammals such as seals for the dramatic decline of fisheries in recent years. The film claims that government mismanagement of resources combined with commercial manipulation of 'scientific' data has led to decades of unsustainable practices in the Canadian fishing industry. c1993. 54 min. Video/C 3898
- The Sinking Ark (Only One Earth; 2)
- Takes viewers from the Amazon to Indonesia illustrating the variety of plants and animals which provide life-saving vaccines and medicines. Also examines the crisis faced by individuals trying to maintain species in danger of extinction. c1987. 58 min. Video/C 1665
- Tchuma Tchato
- On the South bank of the Zambezi river, where the borders of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia meet, the first Mozambican experience in community management of natural resources has transformed furtive native hunters into game wardens. A film by Licinio Azevedo. 56 min. 1997. DVD 9930 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 4910 (a second copy in PAL format Video/C 6683)
- Troubled Waters.
- Shows how increased land development, offshore oil drilling, and the search for fresh water sources is threatening California's coastal wildlife. Focuses on brown pelicans, great egrets, elephant seals, sea lions. 1984. 28 min. Video/C 780
- Turtle Excluder Devises: Responsible Fishing Technology for the '90s
- As a result of shrimp fishing operations, it is estimated that more than 155,000 sea turtles drown every year in the nets of commercial shrimp trawling vessels of over 80 nations. To protect the dwindling population the use of turtle excluser devises, which have been proven to be 97 percent effective without significantly reducing shrimp catch, should be installed to avoid costly shrimp boycotts and trade restrictions. 1993. 17 min. Video/C MM415291
- Wildlife for Sale: Dead or Alive.
- Because of the multi-billion dollar trade in wildlife worldwide, thousands of animal species are poised on the brink of extinction. The demand for exotic pets, the whims of fashion and the quest for rare animal parts used in folk medicines, are all taking a toll on animals. This program investigates the politics and problems behind the wildlife trade, taking a look at both the legal and illegal aspects and investigates some success by the Wildlife Forensics Lab in Oregon, where illegal animal trade issues are being approached in a new way. c1998. 46 min. Video/C 7205
- Wolves and Man
- Describes a twenty-year effort to save the Mexican gray wolf from extinction and to reintroduce it into its native habitat in the southwestern United States. Examines the struggle between environmentalists working to reestablish the wolf and ranchers who oppose reintroduction of wolves in the modern Southwest. 2000. 33 min. Video/C MM756
- Population Issues
- China, One Child
- Twenty-five years after its institution, assesses the success of China's controversial "one child" policy and the impact it has had on ordinary families through interviews with middle-class Beijing families to those in poor rural areas. Population growth has been slowed, but at an enormous social cost: A generation without siblings; abortion of female foetuses; imbalance between the sexes and a real concern that the policy has created a generation of spoilt children, so-called "Little emperors and empresses." 2005. 22 min. DVD 6977
- China's Only Child.
-
Part of a NOVA series which discusses the crash program to limit population growth in China. 1984. 55 min. Video/C 650
- The Legacy of Malthus
- Discusses Malthus's theories of population and the causes of poverty. As film contrasts the 19th century poor in Scotland with today's poor in India, it takes on the international population "establishment", challenging the entrenched view that overpopulation alone is responsible for poverty and environmental destruction. 1994. 50 min. Video/C 3874
- Paul Ehrlich and the Population Bomb.
- Based on Erlich's best-selling book, The Population Bomb, the program features compelling archival footage from around the world, as well as interviews with Ehrlich, his colleagues, and his critics. 1996. 60 min. Video/C 4518
- Paul Ehrlich Lecture.
- Noted environmentalist and social critic speaks on his work The Population bomb. Lecture held at the University of California, Berkeley, Nov. 9, 1983. Approx. 1 hr. 10 min. DVD X698; vhs Video/C 2221
View this video online
Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac - People and the Planet: A Teleconference on Population, Consumption and the Environment.
- Taped on April 14, 1994. Video/C 2711
- Population 6 Billion.
- Discusses problems creating by the growing human population, which surpassed the 6 billion mark in 1999. Covers topics such as poverty, illiteracy, the toll on the environment, and water, food and other resource shortages. Addresses the grim realities of life in third-world nations while discussing population control initiatives in Vietnam, Uganda, and Mexico that include family planning, HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, sex education, and efforts to improve the economic status of women. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1999. 58 min. DVD 4719
- Six Billion and Beyond.
- Explores the interconnected issues of population growth, economic development, and environmental protection around the world. The film interweaves portraits of young people in six diverse countries: Mexico, Italy, Kenya, India, China and the U.S. to illustrate how young people are making decisions about their lives that will have an impact on the world's environment, and how in turn the condition of the environment will strongly affect the quality of people's lives everywhere. 1999. 56 min. Video/C 7175
- World in the Balance: The Population Paradox
- In this 2 part program, "The People Paradox" opens with an investigation of humanity's future through worldwide demographic trends. In Japan, Europe and Russia, birth rates are shrinking and the population is aging. But in parts of India and Africa, more than half of the still growing population is under 25. The conclusion: world population is now careening in two dramatically different directions. The second segment "China revs up," looks at China's booming economy and its growing impact on the environment. What will happen as China follows America's affluent lifestyle and begins to rival the U.S. as the world's biggest polluter? c2004. 114 min. Video/C MM973
- Waste and Recycling
- Addicted to Plastic
- A lively, engrossing look at everything plastic: the many forms it takes; its history and evolution as a 20th Century mainstay; and, above all, its massive environmental impact. Filmed in 12 countries over three years, the film reveals the worldwide scope of plastics pollution, examines its toxicity and explores practical and cutting-edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. Produced & directed by Ian Connacher. 2007. 85 min. (also includes 53 min. version) DVD X809
- Garbage Stories.
- These 5 features look at various creative ways garbage can be recycled and otherwise diverted from landfills. Examples of innovative recycling are the creation of art objects from garbage, a wildlife sanctuary developed from recycled wastewater, a farmer who feeds his pigs and goats entirely on refuse and a sculpture garden created from the solid wastes of the city of San Francisco. 1993. 27 min. Video/C 3897
- Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage
- Explores the history and politics of garbage and recycling, from the 1800s to the post-World War II era of consumption and up through the contradictions of modern day recycling. Using interviews, scenes from massive dumps, and archival footage, the film discusses the links between modern industrial production, consumer culture, and our disposable lifestyle. Produced and directed by Heather Rogers. 2002. 19 min. DVD 7329
- Loja: ciudad ecologica y saludable
- In the last decade the city of Loja, Ecuador has transformed itself into an "ecologically healthy" city. A surprising 95% of the population meets the goals of the recycling program. Loja now reuses all organic waste and over 50% of inorganic waste. In Spanish without subtitles. 2003. 17 min. Video/C MM1204
- No Deposit-No Return (Fueling the Future; 4).
- Surveys a recycling renaissance that is taking place, from Oregon 's pioneering statewide effort, to a Philadelphia project which provides income for poor urban residents. The program illuminates the obstacles that remain to more widespread recycling. c1988. 60 min. Video/C 2555
- Trashed.
- Analyzes the causes and effects of the seemingly innocuous act of 'taking out the garbage', while showcasing the individuals, activists, corporate and advocacy groups working to affect change and reform the current model. Directed and produced by Bill Kirkos. 2006. 60 min. DVD X1412
- Waste.
- Focusing on Buffalo, N.Y., looks at various sources of waste material, from fast-food wrappers to sewage sludge, and the problems of waste disposal. Illustrates what is currently being done with waste products, as experts discuss the processes involved. 1984. 29 min. Video/C 1091
- Waste Not, Want Not.
- Demonstrations of how to generate less waste, as seen in Peru, Japan, Denmark, and California, take advantage of recycling and waste treatment. Part of the Race to Save the Planet series. 1990. 60 min. Video/C 1795
- Environmental Activism
- [Bari, Judy] The Forest for the Trees.
- On May 29, 1990, Earth First! organizer Judi Bari's car was bombed in Oakland, California. Within three hours of the bombing, Bari was accused of transporting the explosives that had nearly killed her. Still in the hospital, she was arrested, and soon labeled a terrorist in the national media. The charges were later dropped. For the next twelve years, Bari and civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham would pursue a federal civil rights suit against the FBI and the Oakland police department. This documentary, directed by Cunningham's daughter, is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at Bari's fight, an important instance of the false and damaging association of dissent with crime and terrorism. At the heart of the film is Bari, a folk hero with an electrifying onscreen presence, and the legal battle that few believed she could win. Director, Bernadine Mellis. 2005. 60 min. DVD 5893
- [Brower, David] David Brower: A Conversation with Scott Simon
- Opens with a short biographical retrospective and then moves on to an interview with David Brower, environmental activist, author, and filmmaker in which he talks about his career and the need to give CPR (conservation, preservation, restoration) to the Earth. 1995. Video/C 9694
- [Brower, David] For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower
- Portrait of David Brower, lifelong environmentalist, who led the Sierra Club into an era of activism, founded Friends of the Earth, and has worked to save rivers from being dammed, helped create national parks and seashores and always worked to reduce the negative influence of humankind's presence on the earth. 58 min. Video/C 9695
- [Brower, David] Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America
- Tells the story of conservationist David Brower, first executive director of the Sierra Club and founder of Friends of the Earth and the Earth Island Institute, who worked to save the natural environment and to protect and establish some of America's national parks. Includes archival footage (much shot by Brower himself), photographic images from well-known artists, and interviews with leading conservationists, photographers, historians, curators, and politicians, as well as Brower's family, friends, and colleagues. 2004. 74 min. DVD 3222
- Endangered Planet, 1959(People's Century)
- Throughout the 20th century the natural world has been assaulted as never before by advancing technology. This film chronicles the rise of the environmental movement which began in the late 1950's when it was first uncovered that unbridled industrial and economic growth can have a devastating impact on the quality of life on earth. c1998. 56 min. Video/C 6435
- Fire in the Eyes
- Taped at various locations where anti-logging protesters were attempting to demonstrate in the Headwaters Forest Wilderness, this program shows police officers swabbing & spraying pepper spray on the eyelids of non-violent protestors as a "pain compliance tool" as they demonstrated at Pacific Lumber, at Bear Creek logging camp and in the Eureka office of Republican Representative Frank Riggs. It also includes the story of David "Gypsy" Chain's death in Grizzly Creek. c1999. 32 min. Video/C 7905
- Greenpeace: Making a Stand
Filmwest Associates. 2006. 41 min. DVD 8760 - We Aren't Blocking Traffic, We are Traffic!
- This documentary chronicles the history and development of the "critical mass" bicycle movement, which reclaims city streets by bicycle activists riding en masse. The program tracks this leaderless, grassroots movement from its beginnings in San Francisco in 1992 to its spread across the globe to over 100 cities in 14 countries. Features shots of critical mass in action in Texas, Oregon, New York, London and Sydney, Australia. 1999 50 min. DVD 5457 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 7903
- Rebels: A Journey Underground. Earth Trauma
- Born from the political activist movement of the 1960's, groups like Greenpeace, EarthFirst and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society scoffed at the mainstream tactics of institutionalized environmentalism and instead took direct action to protect Mother Earth. Witness here the story of grass-roots rebellion with an ecological cause; the story of radical environmentalists as their 'green rebellion' spread around the world. 1998. 47 min. Video/C 7448
- Redwood Summer
- Documents a season of public demonstrations and civil disobedience actions against Northern California timber corporations by the environmental action group, Earth First. It covers the geography of summer-long protests and chronicles events from the tragic bombing of two Earth First organizers in May 1990 to a raucous Labor Day parade. c1993. 30 min. DVD 9879
- Green Business, Green Building, Alternative Agriculture
- Build Green
- A program that demonstrates the personal, cultural, and economic benefits to be had by utilizing a variety of modern techniques and technologies to plan and build environmentally friendly, safe, comfortable, and attractive homes. Features various houses and communities that have been designed and constructed using an assortment of building materials and energy sources deemed sustainable and ecologically conscientious. Contents: Introduction -- Rammed earth -- House of straw -- Clean energy -- Doing what comes naturally -- Living small -- Garden apartments in the sky -- Greening suburbia -- Urban retrofit -- Future green. Directed, produced and written by Paula Salvador. 44 min. DVD X1328
- City Farmers.
- A journey down New York City's meanest streets where inner-city residents have transformed the rubble and rats of abandoned land into burgeoning vegetable and flower gardens. The gardeners vividly narrate stories about life on both sides of the garden fence: from their fight against drug dealers and gangs to the successes of the gardens as food for needy families and senior citizens. 1997. 31 min. Video/C 8057
- The Eco House: Ideas for a Healthier Home. Volume 1
- Indoor air quality and building materials: Eco addition / George Ostrow, presenter -- Healthy home check up / Dan Morris, demonstrator -- Breath of fresh air / Tim Taylor, demonstrator -- Re-sourceful remodeling / Jim Jensen, demonstrator. The Eco House series explores practical ideas for a healther home and a healthier environment. Volume one shows ways to improve indoor air quality, reduce building material waste and improve the thermal efficiency of your home. All presenters in this video are members of the Northwest Eco Building Guild, an organization which functions as an educational forum to facilitate building practices that protect human health, encourage sustainable resources and foster long-term economic vitality. c2004. 34 min. DVD 5377
- Ecological Design: Inventing the Future
- Beginning in the 1920's with the work of R. Buckminster Fuller, moving through the 1960's and the Counter Culture and ending on the doorstep of the 21st century, the film follows the evolution of ecological design from the visions of a few independent thinkers to the powerful movement it is now becoming. Each designer explores their design process including such artifacts as solar architecture, arcologies, bioshelters, living machines, pillow domes, engineered biospheres, solar aquatics, city farming, domed cities, gossamer vehicles, solar transport, electric vehicles, soft energy systems, solar communities and ecological cities. Featuring: R. Buckminster Fuller, Paul MacCready, Paolo Soleri, Peter Calthorpe, Pliny Fisk, James Wines, William McDonough, Ian McHarg, Andropogon, Edmund Bacon, Jay Baldwin, Mary Catherine Bateson, Hazel Henderson, Jaime Lerner, Michael Corbett, Hunter and Amory Lovins, John Todd, Stewart Brand. c1994. 64 min. Video/C 4549
- Energy And Resource Efficiencies.
- Climate-accepting vs. Climate-rejecting buildings -- Designing it right to begin with -- Case studies: Rocky Mountain Institute, NMB Bank -- Panel 1: Design process and design synergies -- Demand side management -- Panel 2: Economic incentives for Green Market -- Case study: Way station -- Panel 3: Trends in codes, standards and regulations. 1993. 78 min. Video/C 3740
- Environmental Architecture
- With proper research and a little ingenuity it is possible to build or renovate houses which improve our social environment without destroying the physical environment. This program shows how architects are now designing 'environmentally friendly' buildings that are energy efficient and in harmony with nature. 1990. 30 min. Video/C 9635
- Gokak Goes Green
- Documentary on the establishment of an industrial greenbelt through afforestation by the firm Gokak Mills in the Belgaum District of India. PAL format. 1999. 12 min. Video/C 7943
- Going to the Source: A Video About Waste Prevention
- Creating a sustainable environment for future generations depends not only on recycling, but on our ability to prevent waste from occuring in the first place." Looks at "Alameda County's Source Reduction and Recycling Plan, which places renewed focus on source reduction and waste prevention" with visits to firms which have successfully implemented waste reduction programs. Oakland, CA: Alameda County Waste Management Authority, Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, c2003. 28 min. Video/C 9508
- Green Dreams.
- Describes activities of the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) as they organize and supervise gardening projects in troubled urban neighborhoods. Film documents how these gardening projects are offering real job skills and a sense of accomplishment to low-income youth, ex-convicts and people recovering from drugs. Looks at a variety of gardening projects including the Alemany housing project where a former trash-filled back lot is transformed into a small farm providing organic vegetables for residents and Hunter's Point where teens turn their lives around in an after school gardening program. c1995. 29 min. Video/C 4433
- Green Means 1.
- The first in a two part series of short video programs about ordinary people who are making positive contributions to the health of the planet. Includes segments on environmental activism in relation to grasslands preservation, eco-architecture and energy conservation, eco-agriculture, waste disposal, community gardens, marsh, stream and forest ecology, marine pollution, endangered species, the reintroduction of species and recycling. Contents: Green cowboy (6 min.)--Colored cotton (5 min)--Green architecture of Greg Franta (5 min.)--Sewage sanctuary (6 min.)--Urban jungle gets new spin (5 min.)-- Neighborhood cleanup (5 min.)--Surfers ride the eco-wave (5 min.)--Creek kids (4 min.)--Big city greens (5 min.)--Barnyard biodiversity (5 min.)-- Prairie prophet (5 min.)--Seeds of life (5 min.)--Long Island Sound keeper (5 min.)--Habitat-forming (5 min.)--Salmon habitat (5 min.)--Less is more (5 min.)--Guru of old growth (5 min.)--Here today (6 min.). 93 min. total 1994. Video/C 4688
- Green Means 2.
- The second in a two part series of short video programs about ordinary people who are making positive contributions to the health of the planet. Includes segments on environmental activism in relation to the protection of endangered species, environmental racism in Texas, medicinal plants from rainforests, alternate automobile fuels, reef ecology in Florida, the reintroduction of endanged plants in New Mexico, commuting by bicycle, organic milk, environmental sculpture, cottage industries from recycled products, Cree Indians fighting a hydroelectric dam, the reintroduction of the American bison, solar ovens in Kenya, and rainforest ecology by Lacandon Indians. Contents: Crimes against nature (5 min.)--Tackling texas toxics (6 min)--Shamans and scientists (4 min.)--Clean air cabs (5 min.)--Reef relief (5 min.)--Seeds of change (5 min.)--Seattle spokes (4 min.)--Organic milk (5 min.)-- Nature's collaborator (5 min.)--Recyclers of Cairo (5 min.)--Man vs. dam (6 min.)--The Buffalo return (6 min.)--Solar ovens (6 min.)--Learning from the Lacandones (5 min.) 72 min. total 1994. Video/C 4689
- Green Plans.
- A look at the comprehensive national environmental policies, or green plans, that The Netherlands and New Zealand have developed. 1995. 56 min. Video/C 4432
- Greening Business
- Looks at what some Canadian businesses are doing to green' their operations, from recyling wastes to rethinking how products are made. Examines three case studies: Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts, Bell Canada and Anita Roddick's The Body Shop. 1994. 46 min. Video/C 3789
- The Greening of Cuba.
- Profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture, based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported agricultural inputs. In their quest for self-sufficiency, Cubans combine time-tested traditional methods with cutting-edge biotechnology. In Spanish with English subtitles. c1996. 38 min. Video/C 6392
- The Greening of Southie
- The story of The Macallen Building, Boston's first LEED certified residential 'green' building, and the people who made it possible. From wheatboard cabinetry to recycled steel, bamboo flooring to dual-flush toilets, the Macallen building is something different: a leader in the emerging field of environmentally friendly design. But Boston's steel-toed union workers aren't sure they like it. And when things on the building start to go wrong, the young developer has to keep the project from unraveling. Directed by Ian Cheney. 2007. 72 min. (also includes 46 min. version of the film) DVD X811
- Growing Pains.
- There is hunger in a world that grows more than enough to feed everyone. The trouble is that it is grown in the wrong place, in the wrong way and sold at the wrong price to guarantee that everyone has enough to eat. In many third world countries crops are grown to service internatinal debts while those who grow the crops are left hungry. 26 min. 1987. Video/C 4206
- Hot Wiring America's Farms (Fueling the Future; 3).
- Looks at the future of America's energy-intensive food production system. Also examines the impact of energy-intensive farming, and the possibility of feeding the nation on less fuel. c1988. 60 min. Video/C 2554
- Industrial Greenbelt: A War on Pollution
- Profiles a successful industrial greenbelt reforestation project, a joint effort of BAIF Development Research Foundation and National Organic Chemical Industries Limited (NOCIL) of India. PAL format. 1999. 17 min. Video/C 7944
- Insect Alternative.
- Explores non-chemical pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides. 1978. 57 min. Video/C 253
- My Father's Garden.
- In less than fifty years agriculture has been transformed by synthetic chemicals which have had a serious impact on the environment and on the health of farm families. This film tells the story of two farmers. Herbert Smith, championed the new miracle sprays of the 50's in his orange grove in Florida, while Fred Kirschenmann of North Dakota, steered his land through the transition to organic farming to prove, 20 years later, that sustainable organic agriculture is a viable economic alternative for any size farm. 1995. 58 min. Video/C 4112
- The Nature of Business.
- As corporations continue to think globally, the rapidly deteriorating state of the environment is demanding that they act locally-- now. This program brings together the president of the World Bank and visionary corporate leaders to map out a plan for a sustainable future that everyone can live with. Also looks at three corporations dedicated to sustainable development and environmental protection. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2003. 28 min. DVD 1963
- Planet Neighborhood.
Community. Communities across the U.S. are facing complex challenges in their attempt to balance growth with the preservation of natural resources. How can citizens effect change in their own communities? This program explores a variety of new approaches and grassroots efforts--transforming a toxic waste threat into a revenue generating eco-enterprise; creation of a "living machine," an ingenious system that uses fish, bacteria, and plants to clean waste water; and, experiments in sustainable technology where one industry's waste becomes another's resources. 56 min. 1997. Video/C 4962
Work. Environmental challenges surround the places in which we work and the cars we drive. Featured are a look at "sick building syndrome" and the design of new office buildings; a visit with a chemical plant that has found solutions for controlling waste emissions; a skyscraper designed to supply its own fresh air and new trends in automobiles, electric automobiles and auto-recycling. 1997. 56 min. Video/C 4963
Home. Homeowners, architects, builders and inventors utilize green technologies and innovative design in the construction of new homes and the retrofitting of the old. We also journey to visit with "superwindow" creator Roy Gordon and take a tour of Bellport, Long Island, whose citizens have become fanatical composters in an attempt to resolve a mounting garbage crisis. 1997. 60 min. Video/C 4964- Planet Neighborhood Modules.
- Contents: The home (10 min.) -- The car (10 min.) -- Wetlands technology (10 min.). The Home takes the viewer to Bellport, Long Island, where citizens have become fanatical composters in an attempt to resolve a mounting garbage crisis. The Car examines the recycling of used automobiles and auto-parts. Wetlands Technology visits Orlando, Florida where city wastes are treated in a man-made marsh and examines the creation of a "living machine," an ingenious system that uses fish, bacteria, and plants to clean waste water. 1997. 60 min. Video/C 5016
- The Unforeseen
- A documentary examining the impact of a suburban development project on Barton Springs, a much loved natural swimming pool in Austin, Texas, and how the local community fought back in one of the nation's earliest and most important environmental movements. Directed by Laura Dunn. Executive producers, Terence Malick/Robert Redford. Dist. Cinema Guild. 2008. 93 min. DVD X358
- National Parks
- National Parks: America's Best Idea
- Produced by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns. Originally broadcast as episodes of the television documentary on PBS in 2009. DVD X2127
Episode One, The Scripture of Nature (1851-1890) In 1851, word spreads across the country of a beautiful area of California' Yosemite Valley, attracting visitors who wish to exploit the land's scenery for commercial gain and those who wish to keep it pristine. Among the latter is a Scottish-born wanderer named John Muir, for whom protecting the land becomes a spiritual calling. In 1864, Congress passes an act that protects Yosemite from commercial development for "public use, resort and recreation" the first time in world history that any government has put forth this idea and hands control of the land to California. Meanwhile, a "wonderland" in the northwest corner of the Wyoming territory attracts visitors to its bizarre landscape of geysers, mud pots and sulfur pits. In 1872, Congress passes an act to protect this land as well. Since it is located in a territory, rather than a state, it becomes America' first national park: Yellowstone. Special feature: The making of the National Parks. Filmmaker Ken Burns and his longtime colleague Dayton Duncan take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their series the National Parks: America's Best Ideas. Includes Spanish audio and subtitles. 116 min. DVD X2127
Episode Two, The Last Refuge (1890-1915) By the end of the 19th century, widespread industrialization has left many Americans worried about whether the country will have any pristine land left. At the same time, poachers in the parks are rampant, and visitors think nothing of littering or carving their names near iconic sites like Old Faithful. Congress has yet to establish clear judicial authority or appropriations for the protection of the parks. This sparks a conservation movement by organizations such as the Sierra Club, led by John Muir; the Audubon Society, led by George Bird Grinnell; and the Boone and Crockett Club, led by Theodore Roosevelt. The movement fails, however, to stop San Francisco from building the Hetch Hetchy dam at Yosemite, flooding Muir's "mountain temple" and leaving him broken-hearted before he dies. Special feature: Capturing the parks: a behind-the-scenes look. Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan and their crew on location at Denali, the Grand Canyon and other national parks. 131 min. DVD X2127
Episode three, The Empire of Grandeur (1915-1919) In the early 20th century, America has a dozen national parks, but they are a haphazard patchwork of special places under the supervision of different federal agencies. The conservation movement, after failing to stop the Hetch Hetchy dam, pushes the government to establish one unified agency to oversee all the parks, leading to the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916. Its first director, Stephen Mather, a wealthy businessman and passionate park advocate who fought vigorously to establish the NPS, launches an energetic campaign to expand the national park system and bring more visitors to the parks. Among his efforts is to protect the Grand Canyon from encroaching commercial interests and establish it as a national park, rather than a national monument. Special feature: Musical journeys through the National Parks. National parks timeline, "Peace a last/Across the ocean", "Horizons", "Green groves of Erin", "The shores of Ogygia", "Teddy Bears' picnic". 114 min. DVD X2127
Episode Four, Going Home (1920-1933) While visiting the parks was once predominantly the domain of Americans wealthy enough to afford the high-priced train tours, the advent of the automobile allows more people than ever before to visit the parks. Mather embraces this opportunity and works to build more roads in the parks. In North Carolina, Horace Kephart, a reclusive writer, and George Masa, a Japanese immigrant, launch a campaign to protect the last strands of virgin forest in the Smoky Mountains by establishing it as a park. In Wyoming, John D. Rockefeller Jr. begins quietly buying up land in the Teton Mountain Range and valley in a secret plan to donate it to the government as a park. Special feature: Outtakes: an interview with Nevada Barr, author and former National Park Service ranger. "The Boss", the story of Frank Pinley and Casa Grande. 117 min. DVD X2127
Episode Five, Great Nature (1933-1945) To battle unemployment in the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the Civilian Conservation Corps, which spawns a "golden age" for the parks through major renovation projects. In a groundbreaking study, a young NPS biologist named George Melendez Wright discovers widespread abuses of animal habitats and pushes the service to reform its wildlife policies. Congress narrowly passes a bill to protect the Everglades in Florida as a national park the first time a park has been created solely to preserve an ecosystem, as opposed to scenic beauty. As America becomes entrenched in World War II, Roosevelt is pressured to open the parks to mining, grazing and lumbering. The president also is subjected to a storm of criticism for expanding the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming by accepting a gift of land secretly purchased by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Special features: The National Parks: This is America. Mini-documentary. This short film celebrates the diverse history of the national parks, bringing together stories of extraordinary people from a variety of backgrounds who devoted their lives to the national park ideal--to preserve and protect these special places for everyone. Narrated by Ken Burns. 116 min. DVD X2127
Episode Six, The Morning of Creation (1946-1980) Following World War II, the parks are overwhelmed as visitation reaches 62 million people a year. A new billion-dollar campaign: Mission 66 is created to build facilities and infrastructure that can accommodate the flood of visitors. A biologist named Adolph Murie introduces the revolutionary notion that predatory animals, which are still hunted, deserve the same protection as other wildlife. In Florida, Lancelot Jones, the grandson of a slave, refuses to sell to developers his family's property on a string of unspoiled islands in Biscayne Bay and instead sells it to the federal government to be protected as a national monument. In the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter creates an uproar in Alaska when he sets aside 56 million acres of land for preservation, the largest expansion of protected land in history. In 1995, wolves are re-established in Yellowstone, making the world's first national park a little more like what it once was. Special features: Contemporary stories from America's national parks: series of five short films. San Antonio Missions: Keeping history alive. A look at this thriving hub for Latino culture. Yosemite's Buffalo Soldiers. Ranger Shelton Johnson and the story of the African American soldiers who patrolled the High Sierras. Mount Rushmore: Telling America's stories. Superintendent Gerard Baker establishes a new interpretive program at an American shrine. Manzanar: "Never Again." A former Japanese American internment camp from World War II becomes a national historic site. City kids in National Parks. National Park Service efforts to bring inner city kids into parks, often for their first encounter with wilderness. 116 min. DVD X2127
- Mount Rushmore & the Black Hills
- Presents the story behind the carving of Mt. Rushmore National Memorial by Gutzon Borglum, along with scenic areas of South Dakota and historical old West settlements. Here can be seen in the Black Hills of South Dakota thriving herds of buffalo, deer, antelope, burro, and even priairie dog. Explores Custer State Park, the gem-like formations of Wind Cave National Park, the colorful buttes of Badlands National Monument, Devil's Tower, Jewel Cave National Monument and more! c1985. 30 min. Video/C 8847
- The National Park Service: History and Mission, An Introduction
- Through historic film footage and interviews with present and former directors of the National Park Service, presents the history, founding and mission of the NPS: To protect America's natural resources and historic places, to make them available to the public while also preserving them unimpaired for future generations. 1987. 35 min. Video/C 8851
- William Penn Mott, Jr. A Man For All Parks
- Presents a biography of William Mott, director of the U.S. National Park Service from 1985 through 1989, highlighting his accomplishments in overseeing and preserving America's national parks. Directed by Arthur Marchetti. 200? 35 min. Video/C 9283
- Yellowstone
- Celebrates "the best of nature," in this visual tour of the animals and natural wonders of Yellowstone. 1987. 23 min. Video/C 8850
- Yosemite
- Presents a beautifully photographed award winning film of Yosemite National Park, one of America's most popular national parks. Informative narration introduces the history, geology and geography of Yosemite while the camera captures its spectacular scenic highlights. 1985. 24 min. Video/C 9922
- Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven.
- Traces the conquest of the Yosemite wilderness in 1851 and examines the sharp contrast to the Yosemite of today, a national park attracting more than 3 million visitors yearly and producing 25,000 pounds of garbage daily. Emphasis is on the impact of man on Yosemite and the conflict between preserving the area and providing access to the public. 1989. 58 min. Video/C 4694
- Description from Bullfrog Films catalog
- General and Miscellaneous
- Across the Sea of Grass (Land of the Eagles; 4).
- Traces the journey of Lewis and Clark and other early pioneers of the land beyond the Mississippi who made their way across the plains that were home to buffalo, grizzly bear, pocket gophers, pronghorn antelope, and tribes of Mandan, Sioux and Pawnie. Shows how thousands of these determined settlers turned these wild lands into wheat fields. And understand why the destruction of the vast buffalo herds had such an impact on the Indian population who depended on them. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2364
- An I for An I.
- Creates, through juxtaposed images and sound overlays, an impressionistic message about the harmful consequences of environmental pollution. [1987?] Video/C 2003
- The Ash Barge Odyssey
- Documents the 16-year saga of a barge loaded with incinerated toxic waste in Philadelphia as it traveled around the world in search of a dumping ground. When the ship ultimately illegally dumped 4,000 tons of the waste, described as "fertilizer," on a small town port in Haiti, Greenpeace and other environmental groups protested, but it took ten long years before the ash was finally removed and as a result, the people of Haiti are still suffering from the devastating effects of toxic ash. Players in the drama included the U.S. State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, Florida's Dept. of Environmental Protection, and a New York City commission charged with rooting organized crime from the commercial trash-hauling industry. 2002. 57 min. Video/C MM693
- Asian Longhorned Beetle: The First Line of Defense
- Discusses the ecological impact of and eradication methods for the Asian longhorned beetle, a nonindigenous pest which is destroying trees in the United States. 2001. 14 min. Video/C 8808
- Baraka
- A world wide tour of the globe focusing on the interconnectedness humans share with the earth presenting both the harmony and the calamity that humans and nature have visited upon this planet. Directed and photographed by Ron Fricke c1992. 96 min. Video/C 8178
Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Batak: Ancient Spirits, Modern World
- Sociocultural anthropologist James Eder documents the Batak tribes' eco-friendly hunter/gatherer way of life on the Philippine island of Palawan. Increasingly driven to take part in the island's growing cash economy, the tenacious Batak struggle to maintain their cultural and spiritual identity. Can conservationists, who approve of their sustainable methods of harvesting, help to secure the tribe's ancestral forest before it is lost?. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2000. 50 min. Video/C 8595
- Before the Mountain Was Moved.
- Film explores how the local residents of Raleigh County,West Virginia fought to save their mountains from strip mining and succeeded in obtaining strong state legislation in the name of environmental conservation. 1971. 61 min. Video/C 4111
- Beyond Measure: Appalachian Culture and Economy.
- Discusses the effect of coal and natural gas mining on the traditional Appalachian way of life and the environment. Directed by: Herb E. Smith. Dist.: Appalshop. 1995. 58 min. Video/C 5289
- Borrowed From Our Future
- Presents an overview of basic environmental issues including rapid population growth, food security, biodiversity, energy, changing climate, urban growth and industrial development. It then shows how the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working with governments to promote sustainable development in Ethiopia, India, Morocco and Bolivia. Produced and directed by Sian Evans. 1989. 20 min. Video/C MM822
- Building America: Land Development Issues in the 21st Century.
- Three-part series highlighting the conflicts arising from the right to buy and sell property and the interests in greener building practices, better resource management and biodiversity. 2000. 60 min. each installment
Private Property vs. the Public Trust. In this program a panel discussion explores the complexities that arise when a family's freedom to sell its property for development of a subdivision clashes with their neighbors' and local government's idea of land management. DVD 1643
Endangered: Biodiversity and Economic Development. In this program a panel discussion focuses on choices that must be made between development and maintenance of biodiversity. DVD 1644
Sprawl: Inner Cities and Outer Suburbs. In this program a panel explores the contemporary American housing situation in a nation that creates more than 1.5 million new households per year. DVD 1645
Recycling City Space Examines how sites in the inner city are being reclaimed and recycled for housing. Features a loft in London, reclaimed space in Montreal, and a Vancouver industrial site that has been re-designed for living space. DVD 1646
- The Charcoal People of Brazil (1999)
- Directed by Nigel Noble. This deeply human documentary examines the subject of environmental destruction through the plight of impoverished migrants in Brazil who produce charcoal for use in the production of pig iron by chopping down the Amazon rainforest. The film examines their daily lives and work as they burn timber in huts, children and elders alike, struggling to feed their families. Dist. Cinema Guild. 2001. 70 min. DVD 1128
- Holden, Stephen. "Charcoal People." (review)
The New York Times April 20, 2001 pB16(N) pE16(L) col 5 (5 col in)
Leydon, Joe. "Charcoal People." (review)
Variety March 13, 2000 v378 i4 p26
- Conquering the Swamps (Land of the Eagle; 3).
- Discusses the earliest explorations of what constitutes modern day Florida. Learn how Spanish conquistadors gold and slaves and other men huntingalligators eventually led to the destruction of the subtropical wilderness. Discover how native inhabitants of this region, such as Calusa and Tamucua Indians, lived and prospered on the land. See how man's exploitation of Florida, from the expeditions of Hernando de Soto to today's tourist and retirement meccas, have forever altererd this fragile environment. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2363
- Confronting the Wilderness (Land of the Eagle; 2).
- Examines the harsh, rocky land around Hudson Bay and traces the history of French and British entrepreneurs who ventured there to hunt and trap. Traces the settlement of the St. Lawrence River and discusses how French fur traders and Ojibway, Algonquin, Huron, Ottawa and other Indians collaborated in a prosperous business partnership until an outbreak of smallpox decimated thousands of Native Americans. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2362
- The Cost of Cool: Youth, Consumption & the Environment.
- The cost of cool shows teenagers grappling with what it takes to be "cool" and the environmental price we pay to have the latest, "coolest" stuff." Looks at everyday items, from T-shirts to sneakers and tracks the effect of their manufacture on the world's resources. Teenagers examine their learned buying patterns. Also provides insight into ways people can enjoy a sustainable, high quality life while being less focused on personal possessions and a life style of consumption. Dist.: Video Project. 2001. 26 min. Video/C MM91
- The Cost of Cotton.
- Program focusing on Guatemala the second best producer of raw cotton in the world. Excessive use of pesticides and the possibility of introducing an integrated pest management technique are discussed. Dist.: Direct Cinema. 1978. 28 min. Video/C 492
- A Cowhand's Song: Crisis on the Range
- A documentary on the lives of cattle ranchers in California and Nevada who graze cattle on publicly owned lands. Also details the threat posed by government agencies and environmental and recreational groups to the ranchers' continuing use of the land. 1983. 29 min. Video/C 420 NRLF #: B 3 969 300
- Dale una Mano a tu Ciudad: Experiencias de Gestion AmbientalDale una Mano a tu Ciudad
- Through interviews with participants this documentary investigates four successful experiences of environmental management in Ecuador in the cities of Portoviejo, Shushufindi, Cuenca and Esmeraldas. In Spanish. 2001. 24 min. Video/C 9567
- Darwin's Nightmare
- Documentary film that exposes the poverty and misery of people living on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania who are dependent upon fishing the Nile perch from the lake for their meager earnings. The fish are exported by air to Europe to be sold cheaply and the planes that arrive to transport the fish at first seem to arrive empty, but turn out to carry weapons to Africa and fish away.
"Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world. Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo? Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent. This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world?s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots." [from Darwin's Nightmare web site] Director, scriptwriter and cinematographer, Hubert Sauper. 2004. 107 min. DVD 4550; also DVD 7730
- Dirty Business: Food Exports to the United States.
- Discusses the move of multinational agribusiness to Mexico and the problems they are creating due to environmental pollution and low wages for workers. c1990. 15 min. Video/C 1823
- Do We Really Need the Rockies?
- A documentary about the dilemma of using the rich oil shale in the Rockies. It presents a geographical view of the formation of oil shale and a historical view of its usage. Also presents some of the problems such as cost, the uncertainty of the technology, etc. [1981] 60 min. (3/4 inch format) Video/C 386
- Dream People of the Amazon: The Achuar
- The Achuar people in southeast Ecuador live in a part of the Amazon rain forest as pristine today as it was a thousand years ago. In order to protect their rainforest from exploitation and avoid the environmental and cultural devastation suffered by their indigenous neighbors only a few hundred miles away, they have formed alliances with environmental protection agencies in the outside world seeking to gain official recognition as a bioreserve, closed to exploitation. Written, produced and directed by Lawrence M. Lansburgh. 2005. 32 min. DVD 6115
- Drumbeat for Mother Earth: How Persistent Organic Pollutants Threaten the Natural Environment and the Future of Indigenous Peoples
- Looks at how persistent organic pollutants from transnational corporations enter into the natural environment and the food chain threatening the future of indigenous peoples in America. "These chemicals threaten our clan relationships, our treaty rights, our health, and our future generations". Greenpeace & Indigenous Environmental Network, 1999. 55 min. Video/C 7323
- Dzumsa: Traditional Natural Resources Management in Sikkim, India
- Lachung and Lachen are two unique villages in the remote alpine region of North Sikkim. Due to their relative isolation, they have, over the centuries, developed a highly effective form of self-governance. It not only regulates the realm of social life, but is also instrumental in maintaining a balance with nature. It is clear that survival in the mountains is intricately linked with nature, and the prudent realization that, unless strictly regulated, the bounty of nature would deplete, makes the villagers implement the rules rigorously. 2002. 26 min. DVD 7323
- Earth Trauma. (The Rebels)
- Born from the political activist movement of the 1960's, groups like Greenpeace, EarthFirst and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society scoffed at the mainstream tactics of institutionalized environmentalism and instead took direct action to protect Mother Earth. Witness here the story of grass-roots rebellion with an ecological cause; the story of radical environmentalists as their 'green rebellion' spread around the world. 1998. 47 min. Video/C 7448
- Earth, the Changing Environment.
- Problems faced by impoverished developing countries in balancing economic development with environmental damage are addressed. 1987. 28 min. Video/C MM599
- Eco-architecture
- A look at two homes built with the latest environment-friendly technologies. Features a home in Kanata, Ontario which is a state-of-the-art energy self-sufficient technological home and one in Naturno, Italy which is built of natural, local materials and provides for a healthy lifestyle. Originally broadcast as an episode of the television program Homes by design. c1997. 24 min. Video/C 9691
- Ecocide: A Strategy of War.
- Narrated by Dr. E.W. Pfeiffer, talks about the effects of war on the environment in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indochina. (3/4 inch format) Running time not available. c1981. Video/C 329
- Ecology - Pulse of the Planet
- Examines how all life on earth is interconnected and the impact of human beings on the ecology of the earth. Highlights examples of habit restoration. Produced and written by David O'Dell. Supplementary feature accompanying: Young Indiana Jones. 24 min. DVD X233
- The 11th Hour
- Explores the indelible footprint that humans have left on this planet, and the catastrophic effects of environmental neglect and abuse, and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity. Contents: Infected organism -- Out of balance -- Alternatives to sunlight -- Resource extraction -- Climate change -- Scientific evidence -- Dumping grounds -- Soil degradation -- Economic interests -- Consumer commodities -- Extinction crisis -- Sustainable design -- Waste free -- Energy is the key -- Passion for place -- Task of our generation. Directed by Leila Conners Petersen, Nadia Conners. 2007. 132 min. DVD X107
- Enviroethics
- Do we have duties and obligations to future generations who do not yet exist? Do they have rights? Philosopher Ken Knisely and guests discuss these and other questions about our obligations to protect the environment for generations yet to come. Originally broadcast on the television program "No Dogs or Philosophers Allowed" on Sept. 12, 1993. 60 min. Video/C 6642
- Environment.
- From the first agricultural settlements to the industrial revolution, to agribusiness and urbanization, humans have been transforming the environment for thousands of years. But now, with rain forests disappearing, pollution on the rise, and the world's population steadily increasing, how will the Earth survive? In this program experts who study the environmental impact humans have had on the planet present their perspectives on ecological stewardship for the 21st century. 1999. 53 min. Video/C 7209
- Environment.(Inside the Global Economy)
- This program looks at the international dimension of environmental problems, focusing on transnational pollution, international property rights, and perceived differences between trade and environmental protection. The U.S.-Mexico agreement on dolphin-safe tuna fishing is explored, as is the transnational implications of pollution along the Rhine River border. Video/C 4864
- The Environment (ITN/Reuters Stock Footage Library)
- In these newsreels pollution and reclamation both share the spotlight. Compelling footage of ecological damage includes smoking factories and power stations, automobile emissions, a slag heap, a chemical dump, barrels of radioactive waste, acid rain damage, hillside erosion, a forest fire, burning oil wells in Kuwait, black rain, oil-coated wildfowl, melting ice floes, the impact of drought and dead landscapes. Images of hope, such as paper, cans and bottles being recycled, trash being sorted, and scientists testing water samples are also included. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2000. 57 min. Video/C 7733
- Environment, Health and Democracy
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and president of Waterkeeper Alliance, addresses the need to maintain ownership of environmental resources for the public trust rather than large corporate aggregations of wealth and power. "Environmental issues are always human rights issues." Recorded by Educational Technology Services, University of California, Berkeley on March 3, 2005. 84 min. Video/C MM490
View it with RealPlayer
- The Environment: Green Pacts and Greenbacks (Environment: When Politics and Industry Intersect.)
- Environmental protection laws have spawned a whole new form of business: firms that specialize in handling ecological regulatory issues for industry. To what extent are environmental standards achieving the goal of purifying America's air, land, and water? And to what extent are those selfsame standards contributing to the growth of a market geared toward simply meeting the legal minimums? This program explores the business behind doing business. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2000. 29 min. Video/C 7814
- The Environment: Scientific Spin Doctors (Environment: When Politics and Industry Intersect.)
- For centuries, people have counted on science to provide them with objective answers to questions about the world of nature. But on pressing environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion, some special interest groups are striving to bend science to their agendas. Spinning data into webs of rhetoric, such groups run the risk of creating more confusion than clarity, fostering a paralysis of public opinion and environmental policy. This program considers the consequences of exploiting science to shape public policy. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2000. 29 min. Video/C 7813
- Environment Under Fire: Ecology and Politics in Central America.
- Examines the way export crops, pesticides and war contribute to mass poverty and ecological destruction in Central America. policies in that destruction, and Nicaragua's attempts to preserve the natural environment. 1988. 27 min. Video/C 1548
- The Environmental Revolution (Race to Save the Planet; 1).
- The historical relationship of humans to their environment is examined - how we once existed with nature, what changed, and how we are now literally transforming the face of the Earth. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1788
- Escaping from History. (Human Race; 4)
- Mexico City, the most polluted and fastest growing city on the planet, is a sobering foretaste of what may await us all. Looking at the effects of industrialization on Mexico, and the impact of its development on the rest of the world, this program finds reasons for optimism. But it's a tough equation: for the Third World to have more, the First World will have to get used to having less. c1994. 53 min. Video/C 7204
- Farmland Forever
- A discussion with American farmers about a land protection tool called "purchase of development rights." PDR involves the purchase of a deed restriction on qualified farmland that restricts future use of that land to agricultural or open space uses, either permanently or for a specified period of time. The farmers still own and use the land and can sell or transfer it to others; however, the deed restriction remains for the length of time determined. 1991. 18 min. Video/C 5662
- The Fire Next Time
- This documentary presents a portrait of Kalispell, Montana and the community in the Flathead Valley which is trying to deal with deep-seated conflicts in the face of rapid change and growth. Locals must choose sides in a series of conficts over the environment, jobs, and the future of the community. A film by Patrice O'Neill. 2005. 86 min. DVD 5981
- The First and Last Frontier (Land of the Eagle; 7).
- Tour the natural splendors of Alaska, a land settled by indigenous people thousands of years before Russians and Europeans arrived in pursuit of sea otter, walrus and bowhead whales. Explore the worlds of the Inuit and Tlingit tribes that lived with the vast populations of cariou, brown bear, and seals. And understand why Akaska may be the final opportunity to strike a balance between the development of natural resources and the preservation of our natural heritage. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2367
- The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area?
- Program focuses on the Colorado Plateau, its natural beauty and its importance as a resource of shale oil, coal and uranium. Local people, scientists, and various interest groups express concern about the preservation of this area. 1983. 59 min. Video/C 507
- The Fragile Mountain (Nova series).
- Discusses the effects on the ecology of the Himalayas caused by centuries of hill farming and deforestation. 1982. 60 min. Video/C 510
- The Future of Energy Gases.
- Using historical and contemporary film and video images, narrative explanations of scientific concepts, and animation, explains the origin and occurrence of oil and natural gas, the environmental benefits and consequences of burning natural gas, and economic implications of its use. 1995. 30 min. Video/C MM697
- Garifunas Holding Ground .
- Looks at the struggle by the Afro-indigenous Garifuna in Honduras to protect their ancestral lands from environmental destruction as they fight to shut down an illegal highway that is destroying crops, old growth forest and water supplies. A production of the Witness Project which uses video technology to investigate human rights abuses. 2002. 11 min. DVD 3255
Witness web site
- Generation Earth: A Look at Environmental Education.
- I. On campus, the school environment: Auditing your school--Trash bag project--Recycling at your school-- Gardening and composting--Outdoor classrooms.--II. Off campus, the local environment: Business audit-- Studying your local environment--Water quality monitoring--Performing arts and EE.-- III. Educating others, spreading the word: Making an documentary--Environmental newspapers/newsletters-- Environmental slide show--Adopt-a-school (Peer partners in EE)--Youth environmental summits and EE Workshops. Film takes an inspiring look at a wide variety of hands-on student environmental education and action programs at America's high schools and outlines how similar projects can be incorporated into any school curriculum. 1996. 40 min. Video/C 4344
- The Global Banquet: By Invitation Only
- A two part discussion of corporate farming and its global effects. Part 1 examines how corporate globalization of food threatens the livelihoods of small farmers in the U.S. and developing countries and how free trade is the route to mounting hunger worldwide, despite an overabundance of food. Part 2 looks at mass produced, low-cost food imports to developing countries and cash crop exports that deplete natural resources and render developing countries unable to feed themselves. Examines the work of activists who are striving to rewrite unjust free trade policies. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Maryknoll World Productions, c2001. 50 min. Video/C 9594
- Goddess of the Earth.
- James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis discuss the Gaia hypothesis--that living organisms create and sustain conditions advantageous to their survival. [1985] 58 min. Video/C 1028
- The Good Earth: An Insight into Sustainable Agriculture
- Documentary on the small and big farms in India that are using natural farming methods to create a sustainable agricultural system. The farmers themselves talk about their methods of natural farming. Director, producer, Krishnendu Bose. 1993. 41 min. Video/C MM861
- The Great Encounter (Land of the Eagle; 1).
- Describes the struggles of the early English colonists of Roanoke Island, the Chesapeake Bay area, and the Pilgrim settlements of Massachusetts as they fought to establish dominion over the land. Contrasts the European wilderness encounters with the spiritual beliefs of the Cherokee and Powhatan Indians who recognized seasonal rhythms and respected wildlife. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2361
- Green Blood, Red Tears: A Documentary
- Joel Terrence Gray interviews wife and neighbors of his nephew, Kentucky farmer James Gray Goodman, seeking to understand the man's suicide. Discusses the growing number of suicides of farmers internationally in the context of continuing and increasing use of technology and pesticides. 1999. 86 min. Video/C 7827
- Harvesting Hunger
- Documentary television program on the crisis in Indian agriculture. Specifically looks at the Kalahandi region and Punjab which rely heavily on the forest and the land for their livelihood. Discusses the return of many farmers to traditional methods of farming which require no pesticides and do not rely on overpriced seeds from seed companies that form monopolies and overcharge for inferior products. Also looks at the plight of the farmers who end up in deep debt and in despair drink pesticides to end their lives. Written and directed by Krishnendu Bose. 2000. 53 min. Video/C MM864
- The Hemp Revolution.
- This documentary explores the hemp plant's fascinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition, and its modern potential to solve major environmental problems. c1996. 73 min. Video/C 4564
- Humboldt Bay.
- Environmental film focusing on ecology of the Pacific estuary at Humboldt Bay, about 300 miles north of San Francisco.c1980. 22 min. Video/C 309
- Hungry for Profit
- This documentary, filmed in 8 countries, shows how agribusiness has created large, mechanized plantations out of small, peasant farms which grow profitable export crops despite local food needs. Tells how this situation actually increases the amount of hunger for some residents of Third World countries. 1984. 87 min. Video/C 2928
- Impact of War on Afghanistan's Environment: 23 Years of War Has Created an Environmental Nightmare
- Documentary on the environmental disaster in Afghanistan after two and half decades of communist revolution, Soviet occupation and civil war. Directed by Kabir Khan. 2002. 25 min. DVD 7380
- In the Name of Progress (Race to Save the Planet; 4).
- Are environmental protection and economic development inherently in conflict? Viewers in Brazil and India to see how some environmental disasters began as well-intentioned development projects and to learn how development could proceed while protecting the environment. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1791
- Incident at Brown's Ferry.(NOVA)
- Focuses on the details surrounding a 1975 fire at the world's largest nuclear power plant in Brown's Ferry, Ala. Considers the general question of reactor safety in America's nuclear energy program. 1977. 3/4" UMATIC. 58 min. Video/C 86
- India, Environment & Industry. (Geographical Eye Over Asia)
-
India's fast economic growth is creating pressures on the environment that are hard to resist. This program looks at the Dehra Dun Valley, where the mining of limestone for steel production has led to hazardous environmental pollution. Will the development in Dehra Dun be a model for the future? Can India afford to protect the quality of its environment? Can it afford not to? Dist.: Films Media Group. 1996. 20 min. Video/C 4585
- International Ecocity Conference (4th: 2000: Curitiba, Brazil).
- Features highlights from the April, 2000 conference in Curitiba, Brazil and includes many of the presentations as well as interviews with conference participants. International experts share their thoughts on the future of cities, people and the environment. Commentary: Jaime Lerner, Richard Register, Jeff Kenworthy, Dietmar Hahweg, Joan Bokaer, Paul Downton, Peter Berg, Mauricio Andres Ribeiro, Cleon Ricardo dos Santos. 2000. 42 min. Video/C 8404
- Into the Shining Mountains (Land of the Eagle; 5).
- Climb into the stunning high country of the Rocky Mountains to view the great treasures of plants and wildlife and understand how the quest for gold and silver drove the early pioneers to this area. See mountain lions, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats in their native habitats. Understand how the Shoshone, Blackfoot and Utes viewed their sacred lands. And learn how new Americans began to understand the need for conservation and established Yellowstone National Park. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2365
- It Needs Political Decisions.
- This segment examines the power of politics in protecting the environment. Three nations in varying stages of economic development-Zimbabwe, Thailand, and Sweden-offer three different strategies for conserving the environmental future. Part of the Race to Save the Planet series. Series concept based on the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World reports. 1990. 60 min. Video/C 1796
- The Jungle Pharmacy
- Documents the development of certain pharmaceutical cures from natural compounds which are obtained from the trees of the tropical rainforests, and looks at the increasing ravaging of these forests and efforts to conserve them. Dist.: Cinema Guild. 1989. 53 min. DVD 8243
- Kenya Our Environment, Our Treasure
- Travel along on an ecotour of Kenya with focus on Kenya's environmental conservation efforts of wildlife and the natural environment. 2003. 19 min. DVD 9469
- Kirstin Miller in Conversation with Jaime Lerner, Governor of Parana, Brazil
- An interview with the innovative mayor who made Curitiba, Brazil one of the world's most ecological cities. Lerner, now Governor of the state of Parana, Brazil, talks to journalist Kirsin Miller about the past, present and future of healthy urban environments. "Taped on April 3, 2000 at the Fourth International Ecocity Conference, Curitiba, Brazil." 6 min. Video/C 8403
- Kutambura, Struggling People (Only One Earth; 4).
- In Zimbabwe, the Kubatsirana Project is a trial program to teach literacy and financial independence as well as family planning via community-based teachers. The goal is to reduce population growth by encouraging women to take control over their lives. c1987. 30 min. Video/C 1667
- Laid to Waste: a Chester Neighborhood Fights for its Future
- "Simply put, this acclaimed documentary is the best case study of environmental injustice and racism available on video. In the economically depressed, largely African-American "West End" of Chester, Pennsylvania, Zulene Mayfield lives next door to the fourth-largest trash-to-steam incinerator in the nation and a few doors away from a large processing facility for infectious and hazardous medical waste. The county's sewage treatment plant sits adjacent to her neighbors' homes a block away, and additional waste-processing facilities have been proposed for the community." 1996. 53 min. DVD 4597
- A Lake View.
- Examines the environmental problems resulting from the deposition of wastes from nearby residential houses into the Dhanmondi Lake which was excavated in the 60's as part of the Dhaka Urban Development Program. 1997. PAL format. In Bengali. 16 min. Video/C 6176
- Land Resources and the Urban Environment.
- Architects and designers comment upon various ways to improve the design of buildings to create environmentally sensitive, livable and sustainable communities. Issues addressed include appropriate land use, resource efficiencies, renewable sources of energy and water and waste management strategies. Notes: "Adapted from a videoconference that aired April 22,1993, the third program in a three-part series" c2000 85 min. Video/C 3742
- A Legacy for the Future: Conserving Philippine Biodiversity, the Banahaw, Palapag and Malindang.
- Ecology students visit three areas in the Philippines to document the nation's rich biodiversity and to discover some of the reasons why these ecosystems are imperiled. 1997. 32 min. Video/C 7092
- Lessons of Darkness.
- A stirring documentary of 1992 post-Gulf War Kuwait, focusing on the oil well fires ignited by retreating Iraqi soldiers. What resulted is less a simple documentary about an environmental catastrophe than an apocalyptic vision of hell, a strangely beautiful portrait of a world on fire. Director, Werner Herzog. 1992. 50 min. DVD 4278; also DVD 993
- Let the Mountains Talk: A Call to Those Who Would Save the Earth.
- David Brower, former executive director of the Sierra Club and founder of Earth Island Institute, shares his experiences about the magic of our wild places and why we should respect, protect and enjoy our planet. Philip Hyde shares a stunning collection of his photographs and unique film sequences feature the keen eye of award-winning cinematographer David Fortney. 1997. 30 min. Video/C MM38
- Living On The Edge.
- Beginning with the first Spanish explorers searching for gold, journey through the harsh terrain of the American Southwest and learn how plants, animals and early pioneers, from priests to miners, adapted to the desert. Understand the relationships that Native American Papago and Pima tribes had with the arid land and see how irrigation brought water to the region and forever changed its natural history. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2366
- Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth.
- 12 videocassette series. c1988. Contents:
1. Building of the Earth: Host David Attenborough reveals how huge forces formed the earth, how continents move, and how the planet earth has become so amazingly varied. He visits an erupting volcano in Iceland, finds giant plants on Mount Kenya, and investigates the recolonization of Krakatoa and Mount St. Helens by wildlife. 55 min. Video/C 6050
2. Frozen World: Host David Attenborough visits icy mountain slopes in the Andes and travels to the remote Artic and Antarctic to explore how various plants and animals have adapted to these frigid, forbidding conditions. 55 min. Video/C 6051
3. Northern Forests: Host David Attenborough explains the adaptations that trees make to enable them to survive long, cold winters. He shows how animals depend upon the trees for leaves, cones, and bark. Further south the deciduous woodland forms the scene as bears, skunks, raccoons, squirrels and opossums put on fat for the winter. 55 min. Video/C 6052
4. Jungle: Host David Attenborough makes a vertical journey down a kapok tree, whose crown emerges above the jungle canopy. He descends by ropes through various layers to the forest floor below, finding en route some of the most colorful and extraordinary plants and animals on earth. 55 min. Video/C 6053
5. Seas of Grass: Host David Attenborough visits the African grasslands and examines the host of creatures, such as the antelope, zebra, wildebeest, lion, and cheetah, that inhabit the savannahs. 55 min. Video/C 6054
6. Baking Deserts: Host David Attenborough describes how desert animals survive heat and drought in a variety of ingenious ways. Beetles in the Namib Desert collect fog while the spadefoot toad tadpoles turn cannibal in order to complete their life cycle before the pools of water dry up. 55 min. Video/C 6055
7.Sky Above: Host David Attenborough describes the atmosphere as a covering to the earth that is constantly on the move with currents of air manufacturing the world's weather. He shows that in order to drift and fly, plants and animals must overcome gravity, but at the same time, the world would be a chaotic, weightless place without gravity. 55 min. Video/C 6056
8. Sweet Fresh Water: Host David Attenborough follows the Amazon River, the world's largest river system, from its source in the Peruvian Andes to its hugh coastal delta in Brazil. Great waterfalls such as the Angel Falls in Venezuela and Iguassu in Brazil demonstrate the power of rivers to shape the landscape. 55 min. Video/C 6057
9. Margins of the Land: Host David Attenborough talks about the animals and plants that make their homes in the shifting world of mud and sand in tidal areas. He visits a mangrove swamp in Bangladesh where the tree roots help to expand the coastline and he discusses the varied community of animals that inhabit the swamp. 55 min. Video/C 6058
10. Worlds Apart: Host David Attenborough talks about how plants and animals arrive at remote, isolated islands and how they survive when they get there. He visits Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean and observes giant tortoises that have flourished in a hostile landscape of jagged, coral rock. 55 min. Video/C 6059
11. Open Ocean: Host David Attenborough looks at the vast amount of space covered by the earth's oceans, underwater topography, the minute, drifting plankton and forests of kelp, food chains, and the evolution of fish and mammals. 55 min. Video/C 6060
12. New Worlds: Host David Attenborough looks at the mixed fortunes of a wide variety of animals that have been affected by man's damage or changes to the environment. He also examines the fortunes of man himself and his impact through time on the earth. Also provides a glimpse into the possible future of the earth. 55 min. Video/C 6061
- Living with Earth (Earth Revealed; 25-26).
- Summary: Pt. 25 - Expresses human responses to the destructive forces of natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and landslides.-- Pt. 26 - Explores the impact of human activity on Earth and discusses ways in which people can shape their actions to benefit Earth. 1992. 60 min. Video/C 2447
- Man in His Environment.
- A film essay on the checks and balances of the natural cycle, showing how the processes that regulate other forms of life ultimately regulate humans as well. Explores ramifications of human overpopulation, wastefulness of modern industrial society, and disruption caused by many agricultural methods. 1976. 29 min. Video/C 64
- Manu Reserva Nacional
- An extensive exploration of the biosphere reserve of the Manu, an ecological paradise situated in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon Jungle and home to species of flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth. Wildlife biologists and others travel the region emphasizing efforts to preserve the flaura and fauna of the environment. 1993. 107 min. Video/C 7227
- The Monk, the Village and the Bo Tree (Only One Earth; 11).
- In the remote village of Galahitiya, Sri Lanka, a Buddhist monkhas launched a crusade against misuse of the land caused by unsafe farming practices. c1987. 28 min. Video/C 1674
- More for Less (Race to Save the Planet; 6).
- This program tracks the efforts of citizens in Iowa, Brazil, Denmark, and India as they search for new ways to use energy more efficiently. It also looks at how we can lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, which contribute to the greenhouse effect. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1793
- The Muck and Mystery Men (Only One Earth; 10).
- Follows the trials of English farmers who are switching to organic farming by giving up synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in favor of natural compost and pest management. 1987. 28 min. Video/C 1673
- Mukuru.
- A documentary looking at the Dandora dumpsite in Nairobi, Kenya, its effect on the residents and environmental impact on the area. PAL format. 2004. 17 min. Video/C MM384
- Natural Connections.
- Uses interviews with scientists, photography, and
original music to introduce the basic concepts of biodiversity, underline the importance of maintaining biodiversity, explore how nature and human nature are intertwined and how everyday decisions affect biodiversity. Takes a close-up look at salmon, rainforests, and marine ecosystems as examples. c1999. 46 min. Video/C MM21
- The National Park Service: History and Mission, an Introduction
- Through historic film footage and interviews with present and former directors of the National Park Service, presents the history, founding and mission of the NPS: To protect America's natural resources and historic places, to make them available to the public while also preserving them unimpaired for future generations. 1987. 35 min. Video/C 8851
- Natural Connections.
- Uses interviews with scientists, photography, and original music to introduce the basic concepts of biodiversity, underline the importance of maintaining biodiversity, explore how nature and human nature are intertwined and how everyday decisions affect biodiversity. Takes a close-up look at salmon, rainforests, and marine ecosystems as examples. c1999. 46 min. Video/C MM21
- Natural Disaster Films, 1905-1973.
- Features film footage and newsreels detailing damage by earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes, mostly within the United States in the 20th century. 1936 Pittsburgh flood (Part II - Part 1 missing) (1936, 2:49, silent) -- Trip down Market Street before the fire (1906, 13:52, silent): A car ride down San Francisco's main street before the great earthquake destroyed it -- Cataclysm: volcano, tidal waves devastate Pacific Area (1960, 1:44): Tidal waves hitting Hawaii and California. -- Earthquake (1973, 26:45): Aftermath of 1971 San Fernando Valley earthquake. -- San Francisco earthquake aftermath / Edison Newsreels, 1906, 4:55) -- Flood relief: President inspects area and speeds aid (1955, 1:23): Aftermath of Hurricane Connie -- Man against the river (1937, 9:54): Refugees of flood of the Ohio River -- Mississippi River flood of 1927 (1936, 17:42, silent) -- News Magazine of the Screen (May 1952, 1:54): Nine states ravaged by flooding of the Missouri River -- Hurricane in two hemispheres (November 1956, 3:56): Hurricane Flossy hits Louisiana while Typhoons 9 & 12 hit Japan -- A mattress for the Mississippi (December 1956, 0:53): Mississippi River is reinforced from the river bottom right up to the levees -- Northeast devastated by floods! (August 1955, 2:22): Hurricane Connie -- Disaster: Floods ruin Ohio Valley (1937, 0:25, silent) -- Reno flood (1927, 2:35, silent) -- San Francisco after the fire, 1906 (1906, 23:25, silent) -- San Francisco earthquake aftermath: Riding down Market Street (1906, 3:17, silent) -- San Francisco aftermath (1906, 7:43, silent) -- San Francisco earthquake aftermath (1906, 1:39, silent) -- Shock troops of disaster: Story of the New England hurricane (1938, 10:53) -- Storm havoc: Hurricane kills 43, Damage 15 millions (August 1955, 1:31): Hurricane Connie hits the east coast from the Carolinas to New York -- Tornado (1950s, 14:26): The dos and dont's of what to do in case of a tornado. -- Scores die as twisters rip Midwest (April 1956, 0:55): Hudsonville Michigan is devastated, 14 states severely damaged. DVD 8768
- The Naturalist.
- Kent Bonar, who has been called the John Muir of the Ozarks, is one of America's great naturalists. Living without modern amentities in the tradition of Thoreau and Muir, Bonar has spent his life observing and recording the natural history of the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. This program documents the work and philosophies of this extraordinary modern day woodsman. 2001. 33 min. Video/C MM748
- The Next Industrial Revolution: William McDonough, Michael Braungart and the Birth of the Sustainable Economy
- Tells the story of the movement led by architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart to bring together ecology and human design. Explores how businesses are transforming themselves to work with nature and profitability. 2001. 55 min. DVD 1190
- Now Or Never.(Race to Save the Planet)
- The final program focuses on individuals who are working now to effect critical changes that will determine the environmental quality of life in the 21st century. It encourages everyone from the average citizen to world leaders to play an active role in sustaining the earth. Part of the Race to Save the Planet series. Series concept based on the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World reports. 1990. 60 min. Video/C 1797
- Nuclear Winter: Changing Our Way of Thinking.
- Carl Sagan explains the theory of nuclear winter and describes the catastrophic consequences of nuclear winter for the entire earth. Discusses the insanity of American and Soviet military policies and strategies which, if carried through, would result in nuclear winter. c1985. 58 min. Video/C 1557
- On Our Own Land.
- Through interviews and documentary, presents the controversy surrounding strip mining and the so-called "broad form deed" in Kentucky, its legal effect on the conflicting rights of land surface owners and mineral rights owners, and the emotional and economic effect on small land owners. Includes background music of folk songs written to protest strip mining. Dist.: Appalshop. 1988. 29 min. Video/C 3848
- On the Cowboy Trail.
- Contrasts modern cattle ranching in Montana with the time-honored traditions of ranching. Discusses problems of land conservation, strip mining, and new farming and ranching techniques. Depicts lifestyles. 1981. 60 min. 3/4 in. Video/C 401
- Our Threatened Heritage.
- An in-depth look at endangered tropical forests and strategies for slowing destruction. 1988. 19 min. Video/C 1551
- Our Vanishing Wilderness
- 40 years ago, a small crew of filmmakers set out to document some of the more pressing issues involving wildlife in America. They made eight half-hour films around the country--it ended up being the first environmental tv series in the US. Shot in 1969, the issues weren't new, but hadn't been handled much yet on television--the medium had yet to embrace the environmental movement. Our Vanishing Wilderness was a landmark program for National Educational Television and public broadcasting (pre-PBS). The material in it pre-dates the first Earth Day, but definitely reflects the nation's growing interest at the time in pollution and environmental issues. Some of the material is dated, and often speculative. The series has an obvious bias, but it's simultaneously quaint and incisive, and particularly of its era. The footage of animals in the wild is spectacular; the tone of the program unflinching. It was a necessary step in the development of environmental media, and it took another few decades for the next tv series on the issues to arrive.
Our Vanishing Wilderness started as a book. Created by husband and wife team Shelly Grossman, nature photographer, and Mary Louise Grossman, nature writer, it was a kind of hybrid: part environmental report, part natural history, and part nature photography coffee table book. OVW was noted as a most ‘worthwhile expose on the environment’ in Time Magazine in 1971.
View it online (via THIRTEEN [NY PBS])
- Our Water, Our Lives.
- Covers a variety of water sanitation efforts in the developing and industrialized countries of Nepal, Indonesia, Mali, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and France. The success stories, as well as the barriers to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, are also discussed. 1987. 30 min. Video/C MM616
- Pastoral Politics: A Film on the Gaddi Herders of Himachal Pradesh
- This profile of the life and customs of the Gaddi goat and sheep herders of Himachal Pradesh, India also takes a critical look at the proposal by the Dept. of Agriculture's Forestry Division of the Government of India to plant forests on the traditional grazing areas of the Gaddi herders, and the consequent changes (with mixed results) in the Gaddi herders' lifestyle. c1998. 29 min. Video/C 8153
- People of the Desert (Only One Earth; 9).
- Human-induced ecological changes are threatening the survival of nomadic people and causing once life-supporting deserts to become uninhabitable. New policies to reduce pollution pressure and livestock over-grazing are renewing desert life. c1987. 30 min. Video/C 1672
- Planet Earth.
- An extraordinary BBC 11-part nature series. 40 camera teams were shooting at over 200 different locations all over the world for more than 5 years to get the pictures seen in the series. Each segment is followed by a sequence investigating the techniques and challenges of wildlife photography within that segment. Narrator, David Attenborough. c2007. For Description of individual programs, SEE Life Sciences videography DVD 7435
- Planet Earth.
- 58 min. each installment. 1986?View this series online (via Annenberg/CPB)
The Living Machine. Plate tectonics, one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, is explored by world-renowned scientists. They explain current theories about the formation of the earth's continents, oceans and climate, and examine the earth's relationship to the sun and other planets. Video/C 5720
The Blue Planet. The oceans may still be the last great unexplored frontier on earth. Major revelations about the sea include a scientist aboard the space shuttle exploring a new chapter in oceanography and startling findings about the El Nino current that has caused worldwide devastation. A dive takes the viewer to the site of sea floor spreading and visits the depths of the "middle ocean" to see new species for the first time. Video/C 5721
The Climate Puzzle. Scientists tell us that no human beings have ever experienced the earth's "normal climate." Civilization has flourished in a narrow window between vast ice ages. This film explores the question: When will the climate change and why? Video/C 5722
Tales From Other Worlds. An explanation of the origins of the planet and solar system. Through the use of footage shot on location in space and special effects, viewers visit the great failed star of Jupiter, probe the raging volcano of Io, and peer through acid rain clouds to see the full surface of Venus. Also tells why the earth is unique in relation to other planets. Video/C 5723
Gifts From the Earth.In the past decade, mankind has been made increasingly aware that earth is a closed system and its resources are finite. What treasures lay hidden beneath the Red Sea and the Antarctic ice cap? How has the theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the search for minerals and energy? How are the bottom of the sea and outer space our next frontiers for recovering riches from the earth. Are we running out of water? Video/C 5724
The Solar Sea. Our sun is a star that powers the earth. It gives life, creates weather, warms the oceans, the land, and even the ice. How does the solar wind ranging through space affect our earth? Video/C 572
Fate of the Earth. Explores the role of life in shaping the earth and in shaping the future. Probes the question: Is man a threat to earth's future or is he emerging as the brain or nervous system of this living organism called earth? Reveals new theories about global consequences of nuclear winter and an ultraviolent spring. Video/C 5726
- Plants for the Environment.
- In overpopulated Bangladesh people are threatening the environment by destroying trees to meet daily needs. This film examines the consequences of deforestation. 1997. PAL format. 9 min. Video/C 6173
- The Plow That Broke the Plains. (1936)
- The plow that broke the plains" depicts the social and economic history of the Great Plains from the settlement of the prairies by cattlemen and farmers through the World War I boom to drought and depression. A film by Pare Lorentz. Sponsored by the United States Resettlement Administration. 27 min. DVD 7298 (contains the original beginning and ending of The Plow that Broke the Plains); DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C t60
Information about this film from the Intenet Movie Database
- Plutonium: Element of Risk.
- (3/4 inch format) c1977. 60 min. Video/C 30
- Pollution: How Much is a Clean Environment Worth?(Economics U.S.A.: Lesson 21)>
- Gives a definition of the concept of external diseconomy by illustrating how polluting the environment can adversely affect economic efficiency. Examines water pollution caused by the Reserve Mining Company, air pollution in Los Angeles and the push to reduce the amount of lead in gasoline to eliminate air pollution from car exhaust. Video/C 1229: 21-22 Pt. 21
- Pollution Prevention the Bottom Line.
- Discusses the costly problem of industrial waste and speaks to industrial managers and workers in practical terms which are designed to motivate and inspire all employees to identify and implement the opportunities for pollution prevention available in their own workplace. 1990. 24 min. Video/C 2779
- Professionals & the Environment
- Features an interview with Dr. Lisa Newton, director of the Program in Applied Ethics at Fairfield University. Discusses ways that humans can reduce their negative effects on the environment. Originally aired on television, 1992. 29 min. Video/C 6643
- Quiet Places: A Look at Ecotourism in the Philippines.
- With the continuing destruction of the environment in the Philippines and the loss of the very resources that are being counted upon to draw visitors, it has become necessary to examine how tourism may be revised. This film examines the concepts behind ecotourism and shows how it is being implemented in the Philippine Islands. c1998. 32 min. Video/C 7109
- Radiation, Impact on Life.
- Three experts explain the most important physical and biological concepts concerning radiation. They detail the effects of high levels of radiation on the body and explore the controversy concerning low levels of radiation from sources such as X-rays and nuclear power plants. 1982. 3/4 in. 23 min. Video/C 516
- Regionalization; Solid Waste Management Success Stories
- With more than half of America's landfills already closed this program looks at the pooling of municipal resources across political boundaries, as a partial solution to solid waste disposal. Discusses such topics as creating economies of scale, gaining political buy-in, and developing partnerships between the public and private sectors. Concludes with examples of notable successes in diverting recyclables, greenwaste and special waste from the municipal solid waste stream. Originally produced in 1999 by the University of New Orleans, Urban Waste Management and Research Center. 52 min. Video/C 9088
- Remnants of Eden (Race to Save the Planet; 5).
- Protecting the diversity of living organisms while addressing the needs of growing human populations is the focus of projects in Thailand's and Costa Rica's tropical forests, Oman's deserts, Kenya's savannah game parks, and Florida's Everglades. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1792
- Resource at Risk: Philippine Coral Reefs.
- This documentary tackles the vital issue of coral reef destruction in the Philippines. With more than 50% of the Filipino people depending on the sea and healthy coral reefs for their main source of protein, the philippines are fast running out of healthy reefs. This film shows the damage done to the reefs by destructive fishing methods and examines ways by which the reefs can be saved. c1998. 32 min. Video/C 7112
- Restoring the Earth Conference,
- UC Berkeley. Proceedings of a 4 day conference at the University of California, Berkeley, 1988. First national gathering organized to foster the exchange of knowledge about environmental restoration. 1988. Video/C 2227
- Revolution and After
- Documentary on the changes that were brought about by the Green Revolution in India. From the commercialization of seed distribution to the increasing use of pesticides, this film shows how Indian farmers are going back to traditional, more natural farming methods to free themselves from the hostage of buying high cost fertilizers and pesticides. 1992. 33 min. Video/C MM862
- Richard Nelson
- Writer, anthropologist and environmental activist, Richard Nelson has spent 25 years studying the relationship between Native people in Alaska and their environment. Here Mr. Nelson reads from his works "The Island Within" and "Heart and Blood," followed by an interview with ethnobotanist and natural history writer Gary Nabhan. Recorded on April 14, 1998. 60 min. Video/C 9041
- The Road to Ruin (Only One Earth; 1).
- Since human life began, we've been kept alive on this planet only because its resources have fed us and clothed us. Great civilizations emerged, built around farming systems, but when they have overused the soils and forests, many of these ancient cultures collapsed. Could the same thing happen to us today if we, too, destroy our natural resources? c1987. 54 min. Video/C 1664
- Save the Earth, Feed the World (Race to Save the Planet; 7).
- Australia, Indonesia, West Africa, and the American Midwest are rediscovering traditional farming practices and using science and technology to work with nature, rather than conquer it. c1990. 60 min. Video/C 1794
- Saving Life on Earth
- Discusses the history, purpose and scope of the World Wildlife Fund. 1991. 10 min. Video/C 5066
- Science for Survival.(Woman's Place)
- Activist and ecologist Vandana Shiva is the leader of a people's movement in India that opposes "reductionist Western science". She argues that the failure of the Green Revolution was due to the fact that women's knowledge of traditional seed varieties was ignored. Shiva is devoting her scientific knowledge to proving that local farming methods, which recognize diversity and complexity in their polycultures, are vital to the survival of the Indian ecosystem. The film also looks at the work of Dr. Sharadini Dahanukar who has set out to prove that ayurvedic medicine, which relies heavily on women's knowledge of plants and herbs, has scientific validity. Also the film looks at silk technology from the ultra-modern biotech laboratories where the cocoons are bred, through the ancient process of silk reeling, to the bustling auction halls. 1995. 50 min. Video/C 4598
- Searching for Paradise (Land of the Eagle; 8).
- Discusses the history of California and its incredibly rich and diverse ecosystem that is isolated by desert and towering mountains. From its earliest settlers, the Chumash Indians, to the recent mass migration of population to the Pacific Rim of NorthAmerica, trace the rush to the "Golden State" and learn how the search for solutions to environmental problems in California exemplifies the progress and struggle of today's environmental movement. 1991. 60 min. Video/C 2368
- Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow.
- This documentary film shows the effects of the once-vaunted Green Revolution in India. Instead of massive harvests of wheat, pesticide poisoning and fertilizer shortages have turned the revolution's workers into a new serf class and created a bureaucratic nightmare. 1992. 50 min. Video/C 3867
- A Sense of Place.
- Through interviews with five individuals who work in the area of human ecology, film examines the connection and dependency which humans have with the environment and the process of discove ring and achieving a sense of place. Narrator: Susan Sarandon. With: Kirkpatrick Sale, John Todd, Nancy Jack Todd, Paul Winter, Jeff Bercuvitz. 1994. 28 min. Video/C 4695
- Shipbreakers
- Welcome to Alang, India, the site of a gargantuan scrap yard where ocean-going ships come to die. Forty thousand Indians live and work here, dismembering and scavenging the hulks of 400 vessels every year. This documentary chronicles the daily lives of the people who work here, the barefoot men who take apart giant mountains of steel by hand, piece by piece, as they spend months toiling sun-up to sun-down destroying ship after ship. It is the world's most unregulated industry. Ship owners rarely bother to abide by the UN Base Convention, which bans shipments of transboundary waste. One worker a day, on average, dies on the job, from gas explosions, falls or from tons of falling steel. Still one in four will contract cancers caused by asbestos, PCBs or other toxic substances. 2005. 46 min. DVD 5647
- The Sinking Ark (Only one Earth; 2).
- Takes viewers from the Amazon to Indonesia illustrating the variety of plants and animals which provide life-saving vaccines and medicines. Also examines the crisis faced by individuals trying to maintain species in danger of extinction. c1987. 58 min. Video/C 1665
- The Sky's the Limit.
- Investigation of the causes and consequences of urban air pollution, using the San Francisco Bay Area as a case study. c1978. 23 min. Video/C 318
- Slowly But Surely: The Story of the Women of Kotra
- Presents a tribal community's struggle for control and collective management of its natural resources in Kotra, India. 1995. 30 min. Video/C 8917
- Solar Energy.
- Series from 1974. 3/4" Umatic format. 30 minutes each. Stored at NRLF. (Video/C 50-55; Part 3 WITHDRAWN.)
Part 1: Phase Zero. An examination of where solar technology is now, and where it might be taking us. Speculations are made about the day when the full potential of the sun may be utilized. NRLF B 3 969 169
Part 2: The Theory is Tested. A look at the prospect of a home fully heated by solar energy, showing how the new systems work, when they will be available, and how much they will cost. NRLF B 3 969 170
Part 4: Power. A look at ways in which energy is made available by the sun and ways in which it might be exploited. New methods to convert the sun's radiation into electricity are explained. NRLF B 3 969 172
Part 5: The Solar Scenario. A look ahead to the time when sun-power may be the only energy source necessary to man. Solar power stations in orbit and other possibilities for utilization of solar energy are presented. NRLF B 3 969 173
Part 6: The Solar Decision. A look at the role of the U.S. government and the politics of solar energy. Speculations about the importance solar technology may have in the 21st century. NRLF B 3 969 174
- Subdivide and Conquer: A Modern Western.
- In the West urban sprawl is gobbling up the land. What makes it more shocking in the West is that it assaults our national myths about the frontier, its wide-open spaces and unique landscapes. After examining the causes of sprawl and its effects on the sense of community and the environment, the film suggests remedies, and shows examples of sound public policy and good land use planning. 1999. 57 min. Video/C 6409
- Sustainable Environments.
- A thorough and interesting exploration of sustainability which reveals how some of natures interdependencies work towards sustainability and examines how similar patterns can be followed in the built environment. Includes sections on transportation, buildings and landscapes, diet and agriculture, and lifestyles and work. c1994. 34 min. Video/C 6292
- Tahoe: Going Under
- The sensitive ecosystem in Lake Tahoe is being undermined by the increase in urban development, the stripping of vegetation by recreational vehicles, and sulfates from industries. As nutrient concentrations build up, the growth rate of algae in the Lake is increasing, resulting in a loss of clarity in the lake. 1982. 9 min. Video/C MM751
- Taking Back Our Trash II: Putting Waste to Work.
- The key word is sustainability; how can we improve and sustain our quality of life, the environment, and our economy several generations into the future? It's going to require dramatic reductions in the waste we make, and putting what we do waste to work for us. Oakland, CA : Alameda County Waste Management Authority. 2000. 28 min. Video/C 7576
- Taking Root
- Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy--a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration. Extra features: 1. Conditions on the land (2 min.) ; 2. Wangan in the indigenous Aberdare Forest (10 min.) ; 3. Culture and colonialism (8 min.) ; 4. Fig tree and the praying rain (1 min.) ; 5. Mau Mau (4 min.) ; 6. Years of fear (6 min.) ; 7. Green belt movement (7 segments, ca. 36 min.) ; 8. Kanura Forest protests (6 min.) ; 9. Wangari: the early years (6 min.) ; 10. Wagnari: a strong African woman (BBC interviews, 5 min.) ; 11. Wangari: the hummingbird story (3 min.) ; 12. Nobel Peace Prize (4 min.) A film by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater. Broadcast version broadcast by PBS television series 'Independent Lens'. 2008. 223 min. DVD X1112
- Tale of Two Systems
- Features photography of seldom seen U.S. strip mining operations and open pit mines with their immense machinery and gigantic holes in the earth. The film's title gave expression to the filmmaker's hopes for better environmental policies from socialist societies not ruled by profit motives. A film by Harvey Richards. Dist.: Estuary Press. 1978. 18 min. DVD 4231
- Tchuma Tchato.
- A film by Licinio Azevedo. On the South bank of the Zambezi river, where the borders of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia meet, the first Mozambican experience in community management of natural resources has transformed furtive native hunters into game wardens. 1997. 56 min. Video/C 4910
- Thar: Secrets of the Desert.
- Consider the Indira Gandhi Canal, cutting through the Thar Desert from Ganganagar to Jaisalmer. Isn't it the perfect symbol of development? Yes, but it has brought malaria to the region. This video highlights this contradiction by looking at the times, and practices, when a rich culture and trade flourished in Rajasthan, the world's most populous desert. It shows how humans, animals and nature fused into a lifeworld that took care of needs without damaging the environment. 1995. 52 min. Video/C 5659
- Toxic Sludge is Good For You: The Public Relations Industry Unspun.
- Tracks the development of the public relations industry from early efforts to win popular American support for World War I to the role of crisis management in controlling the damage to corporate image. With commentary by PR critics the film analyzes the tools public relations professionals use to shift public perceptions including a look at the coordinated PR campaign to slip genetically engineered food past public scrutiny. c2002. 45 min. Video/C 9174
- The Tragedy of the Commons
- Compares the failures of the commons with the mounting pressures of overpopulation to contrast ecological considerations with the self-interests of society. Directed by Hawert Kennedy and Paul Preuss. "The tragedy of the commons is a type of social trap, often economic, that involves a conflict over finite resources between individual interests and the common good. It states that free access and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately structurally dooms the resource through over-exploitation. The term derives originally from a comparison noticed by William Forster Lloyd with medieval village land holding in his 1833 book on population.[1] It was then popularized and extended by Garrett Hardin in his 1968 Science essay "The Tragedy of the Commons."[2] However, the theory itself is as old as Thucydides[3] and Aristotle. Such a notion is not merely an abstraction, but its consequences have manifested literally, in such common grounds as Boston Common, where overgrazing required the Common no longer be used as public grazing ground." [Wikipedia] See "The Tragedy of the Commons," Garrett Hardin, Science, 162(1968):1243-1248. 1971. 24 min. Video/C MM1199
- Treasures Of The Greenbelt.
- Within the nine counties surrounding San Francisco Bay lies some of the most beautiful and productive land in the United States. Nearly four million acres of parks and watersheds, farms and ranches, forests and vineyards form the greenbelt of the San Francisco Bay region. 1986. 28 min. Video/C 1140
- Trinkets & Beads
- Documents the lives of the Huaorani, a small tribe of Ecuadorian Indians who, after 20 years of pressure from foreign oil companies, agreed to allow oil-drilling on their land. Focuses on the introduction of massive environmental pollution and cultural change, and the tribe's subsequent efforts to regain control of their lives and lands. 1996. 53 min. Video/C 6565
- Two Green Thumbs Up.
- An overview of compost agricultural projects in Northern California designed to demonstrate the advantages of using compost instead of pesticides and commercial fertilizers to increase organic matter and crop yields. c1997. 22 min. Video/C 5291
- Understanding Urban Sprawl.
- In this program, scientist and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki examines the social, economic, and environmental implications of 'sprawl,' the low-density development that spreads out from the edges of cities and towns. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1998. 47 min. Video/C 6796
- The Unseen World of Chiricahua National Monument
- A naturalist's view of the wildlife and geological formations of Arizona's Chiricahua National Monument. Part mountain, part desert, Chiricahua is where two great deserts meet and two mountain ranges overlap. Here it is possible to travel through five of North America's seven life zones in a few hours. Shows how plants and animals have learned to adapt to this evolving landscape and depend upon each other to survive. 1988. 30 min. Video/C 8848
- Upstream Downstream.
- Documentary on resolving conflicts over water use between upstream and downstream communities on the Ping River in northern Thailand. The Ping River Basin Committee brings all stakeholders together to seek common ground on sharing and protecting this vital river system. 2003. 23 min. Video/C MM425
- Urban Ecology
- Examines the changing urban ecology of Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, in light of the problems caused by increased population and industrial and agricultural mechanization. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1991. 24 min. Video/C 4251
- Urban Permaculture with Dr. Bill Roley
- Dr. Bill Roley, founder of the Permaculture Institute of Southern California presents two urban landscapes, sharing low-cost strategies of how to turn a vacant lot into an edible jungle. Shows how permaculture can be applied to urban settings, from planting fruit trees along a street corridor to channeling rainwater onto perennials instead of into storm drains. 1999. 30 min. Video/C 8405
- Valley at the Crossroads
- The San Joaquin Valley and Central Valley of California is the nation's primary source of fruits and vegetables, but the soaring demand for housing in California threatens the existence of this important agricultural resource. This program details the impact of urban sprawl in central California and the need to maintain agricultural land as open space and as a source for food. c2002. 27 min. Video/C 9832
- Valley of Heart's Delight. (Only One Earth; 5)
- Santa Clara Valley, once the largest orchard in the world, became known as Silicon Valley when the computer chip industry began flourishing there. Residents are now working to eliminate the water pollution and consequent birth defects this "clean" industry brought with it. c1987. 30 min. Video/C 1668
- The Village Republic (Wealth of Nations. People and the Environment)
- Empowerment begins in the village; some small--and huge-- success stories from India make sustainable development a reality. Taken together, they constitute a powerful critique of "thinking big". This video puts these endeavours together: Sukhomajri in Haryana, seed in Rajastan, Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra, and Kesharpur village in Orissa. All those who "thought" small and put their heads, and resources, together to help each other. 1995. PAL format. 48 min. Video/C 5660
- Warming up in Mongolia.(Life; series 4)
- Today the Mongolian government is working with international development agencies in an attempt to ensure a sustainable transition for its nation into the modern world. This film looks at how Mongolia is powering itself. All electricity produced in Mongolia comes from fossil fuels. What can be done to repair environmental damage and introduce sustainable alternatives? The film also looks at the long-term environmental implications of exhausting Mongolia's natural resources and asks, what clean technological solutions are there to Mongolia's problems? Directed by John D. Liu. 2005. `25 min. DVD 3968
- Warning! Warning!
- Focuses on San Francisco Bay ecological conditions and threats to the Bay caused by the dumping of municipal, farming and industrial wastes into its tributary rivers and into the Bay itself. A film by Harvey Richards. 1970. 22 min. DVD 4229
- Waste.
- Focusing on Buffalo, N.Y., looks at various sources of waste material, from fast-food wrappers to sewage sludge, and the problems of waste disposal. Illustrates what is currently being done with waste products, as experts discuss the processes involved. 1984. 29 min. Video/C 1091
- Who Needs Nature?
- Planet for the taking series; Program explores man's need for contact with the animal kingdom, taking into account the exploitation of animals as victims, commodities, and entertainment. Also explores man's need to control vegetation, his desire to transform plants into "obedient pets." c1985. 52 min. Video/C 1473
- Wild by Law.
- The Wilderness Act of 1964 is the legacy of three men Wilderness Society Founder Bob Marshall, forester-philosopher Aldo Leopold, and activist Howard Zahniser. Looks at how these three men struggled against the current of American thought during industrialization of the 1920s, the war years of the 1940s, and the boom years of the 1950s. Eventually their actions caused a profound shift in American attitudes toward preservation of wild lands. Dist.: Direct Cinema. c1991. 60 min. Video/C 2883
- Wild California.
- An exploration of the major natural regions and habitats of California. 1988. 50 min. Video/C 1484
- Wilderness Idea.
- Explores the Hetch Hetchy controversy started in 1913 and that chapter in American environmental politics by tracing the paths of the leaders of the two factions: John Muir and Clifford Pinchot. Dist.: Direct Cinema. 1989. 58 min. Video/C 2882
- William Penn Mott, Jr.: A Man For All Parks
- Presents a biography of William Mott, director of the U.S. National Park Service from 1985 through 1989, highlighting his accomplishments in overseeing and preserving America's national parks. [200-?] 35 min. Video/C 9283
