Focus the Nation | Books & Movies

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Our Recommended Reading List

Save a tree by checking a copy out at your local library or school.

Ignition: What you can do to fight global warming and spark a movement
Jonathan Isham and Sissel Waage

Blessed Unrest
Paul Hawken

Hope in the Dark
Rebecca Solnot

The Weather Makers: how man is changing the climate and what it means for life on earth
Tim Flannery

The Change in the Weather: people, weather, and the science of climate
William K. Stevens

Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum
William Ruddiman

Field Notes from a Catastrophe
Elizabeth Kolbert

The Heat Is on: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-up, the Prescription
Ross Gelbaspan

The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists
Michael Brower

Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change
Guy Dauncey with Patrick Mazza

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Al Gore

Beating the Heat: Why and How We Must Combat Global Warming
John J. Berger

Climate Change: Debating America’s Policy Options
David Victor

Have a Movie Night

Our Recommended Movie List

Many of these are available through our public library system.

The Next Industrial Revolution. William McDonough, Michael Braungart
This film is about rethinking our global economic system. Rethinking the way goods and services are provided in open loop cycles that end up with a lot of waste in our land fills. The film looks towards technology to create closed loop cycles where things are reused and recycled through natural processes. i.e. Plastics would be made of plant products that could be composted back into creating food. http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/next.html

An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore
“With wit, smarts and hope, An Inconvenient Truth ultimately brings home Gore’s persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issues- rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.” http://www.climatecrisis.net/

The Disappearing of Tuvalu: Trouble in Paradise. Christopher Horner
This is a documentary about the smallest nation in the world being devastatingly affected by climate change. It is a small archipelago nation in the Pacific Ocean that is facing drastic changes in their way of life. These are some of the first refugees of global warming. http://www.der.org/films/the-disappearing-of-tuvalu.html  (50 minutes or 75 minutes)

Hot Politics. PBS Frontline
This film covers the politics around global warming from Bush Senior’s administration, through the Clinton administration and today. The failure and the false promises of our politicians to take a committed stance.

The Great Warming
"...a beautiful and empowering documentary that reveals how climate change is affecting the lives of people everywhere. The film is neither political nor negative in tone, rather, it is uplifting and unique in suggesting that climate change is a moral, ethical and spiritual issue.” -Northwest Earth Institute www.thegreatwarming.com

Too Hot Not to Handle
“Over the past 100 years, the mass consumption of fossil fuels, especially in America, has contributed to a dangerous warming of the earth that has adversely impacted the way we live. The cautionary documentary Too Hot Not TO Handle offers a guide to the effects of global warming in the United States.”  http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/toohot/ (53 minutes)

Who Killed the Electric Car?
“A documentary about electric cars, hybrids, hydrogen and the future of transportation...” http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com (1 hour 42 minutes)

National Geographic’s Strange Days on Planet Earth
“Join host Edward Norton delve into four global mysteries, find compelling interviews, timely research, and engaging interactives.” A four part series: Invaders, The One Degree Factor, Predators, and Troubled Waters. http://www.pbs.org/strangedays/index_flash.html

Kilowatt Ours
“Filmmaker Jeff Barrie takes viewers on a journey from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida, as he discovers solutions to America’s energy related problems.” www.KilowattOurs.org (38 minutes or 64 minutes)

The New Heroes
“The New Heroes tells the dramatic stories of 14 daring people from all corners of the globe who, against all odds, are successfully alleviating poverty and illness, combating unemployment and violence, and bringing education, light, opportunity and freedom to poor and marginalized people around the world.” Inspiring stories of the impact a few people can make.  www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes (4 part series)

Melt
“A teenager’s view of global warming.” video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5617318652349295608 (16 minutes 26 seconds)

Dimming the Sun
“New Evidence that air pollution has masked the full impact of global warming suggests the world may soon face a heightened climate crisis.” www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun (56 minutes)