So many environmental documentaries have an Old Testament tone to them: They speaketh doom, they shaketh fists, all arranged to ominous music.
The makers of “Carbon Nation” appear to have deliberately aimed at a different mood. This film has chirpy music, a cascade of lively graphics and a narrator, Bill Kurtis, whose familiar TV voice is authoritative but cheerful.
This isn’t zip-a-dee-doo-dah delusion, just a sensible calculation that you catch more flies with honey than with other condiments.
Director Peter Byck traveled around gathering stories of how people are dealing with global warming, geared to proving that things can be done on the ground level, without waiting for some kind of official go-ahead.
Some of the ideas bandied about by green entrepreneurs may be familiar to viewers of such documentaries, but could stand a re-stating. They range from solutions for corporations to stuff you can do in your back yard.
We visit Indiana coal plants, where somebody has come up with an idea to reuse the energy that burns off during the processing of coal, which will not only be better for the environment, but will save the coal company money.
One observer says, “If you don’t give a damn about the environment, do it because you’re a greedy bastard.” This summarizes one of the film’s recurrent points: that the ideas presented here should please both tree-huggers and money-grubbers.
An inventor in Alaska talks about how to use thermal energy to drive refrigeration, a Texas cotton farmer sings the praises of his new wind machines and a former rock ‘n’ roll promoter talks about how many environmental positives can come from the proper treatment of old refrigerators.
Byck also reminds us that twice as much carbon dioxide damage is caused by buildings as transportation. And how creating green roofs — planting simple gardens atop buildings — can reduce heat in a significant way.
The film delivers bad news, too, but even the negative stuff tends to be accompanied by cute cartoons and zippy graphics.
This breezy approach seems designed to give the film a long life in schools and meeting rooms, which it will probably have. Best powered by solar panels, of course.
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