It’s Not Just the Climate That’s Changing; Time for Plan B
Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization is the latest installment in the PBS series Journey to Planet Earth, and will be broadcast on March 30, 2011, at 10:00 p.m. (check local listings). Narrated by Matt Damon, it is based on the book, Plan B 4.0 by “environmental visionary” Lester Brown. Filmmakers Marilyn and Hal Weiner provide Brown with a platform to explain how environmental change threatens civilization, and what needs to be done to prevent such damage.
Focusing on the concept of “failed states” (areas that cannot sustain their populations, such as Haiti), Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization introduces “a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable sources plus realistic strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming.” It’s a study of cause and effect, and interacting systems. Should global warming be as calamitous as predicted, it will threaten the world’s food supply. When food is scarce, lawlessness and violence prevail as people take desperate measures to survive.
A number of scientists and scholars appear in Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, including Bruce Babbitt, Thomas Friedman, and Paul Krugman. Locations visited include Bangladesh, China, Haiti, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Turkey, the United States, and Zambia.
One of the more interesting topics covered in Plan B is analysis of the fall of ancient civilizations that collapsed under the weight of food shortages. Hopeful solutions are suggested, as are examples of countries where alternative energy has been seriously harnessed.
There are four components to Plan B: cut carbon emissions 80% by 2020; stabilize population at no more than 8 billion, eradicate poverty, restore the earth’s natural systems. All four components are necessary and everyone has a bigger part to play than recycling newspapers and soda cans. These goals present a daunting task, but Brown offers historical evidence of how huge measures can be accomplished and scores of suggestions on what needs to be done.
Plan B is an interesting look at what many consider to be a global crisis. By highlighting social issues, it expands the way we look at the possible consequences of business- and politics-as-usual (some of which are scary).
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