Green Night at the Movies to feature 'The Wisdom to Survive'

Posted March 05, 2017 10:00 pm

Submitted by Batavia Environmental Commission

Reed Scherer, research professor at Northern Illinois University who studies the ongoing changes in the ice sheets, will be one of the panelists during a discussion at the ninth annual "A Green Night Out at the Movies." Courtesy of Northern Illinois University

The Batavia Environmental Commission and Confident Aire invite the public to attend Batavia's ninth annual "A Green Night Out at the Movies." This free event will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11, in the council chambers at Batavia City Hall, 100 N. Island Ave. It will feature the 2013 documentary film, "The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community," free popcorn and drinks, an expo of local eco groups and businesses and a lively discussion about the climate change afterward.

The Eco Expo opens at 6 p.m.

"The Wisdom to Survive" accepts the consensus of scientists that climate change has already arrived and asks, "What is keeping us from action?" The film explores how unlimited growth and greed are destroying the life-support system of the planet, the social fabric of society and the lives of billions of people. It features thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality discussing how we can evolve and take action in the face of climate disruption. They urge us to open ourselves to the beauty that surrounds us and get to work ensuring it thrives. "In the current contentious political atmosphere surrounding climate change, we felt it was important to find a movie this year that tackles this topic and, crucially, also discusses what we need to do about it," said event organizer Carolyn Burnham.

After the movie, Emma Cole of the Batavia Environmental Commission will moderate a panel discussion. "We are especially excited about our panel discussion this year," said Burnham.

The panel includes: Ross Powell, Reed Scherer, Earl Silbar and Deni Mathews.

• Powell is a board of trustees professor and distinguished research professor in the department of geology and environmental geosciences at Northern Illinois University, where he has been teaching and researching since 1980. He was born and raised in New Zealand and then earned his Ph.D. through the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center at The Ohio State University. His main research interests focus on processes and dynamics of glacial, ice sheet, sediment and ocean interactions, and in unraveling past ice sheet and climate cycles to better understand future trends.

• Scherer is a board of trustees professor and distinguished research professor of micropaleontology and biostratigraphy at Northern Illinois University. A native of New York City, Scherer earned his Ph.D. at Ohio State in Polar Studies. Scherer is an internationally respected geologist whose research has taken him around the globe and beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. He was a key member of a research team that tackled the ongoing changes in the ice sheets and other studies of climate change, and he has published numerous studies in top-tier journals, such as Nature and Science. He is also associate director at the Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability & Energy at NIU.

• Silbar is a retired GED teacher and has been an activist and organizer since the mid-1960s, beginning with civil rights and anti-Vietnam War campus activism and including anti-fascist, international solidarity and union organizing and working-class solidarity. Recently, he led a discussion on "Climate change and the need for revolution" at a weeklong retreat and is currently active with Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice, where he works on a campaign to raise the minimum wage and establish paid sick time for workers in Elgin.

• Mathews is a climate activist and Climate Reality Project presenter. She is Citizens' Climate Lobby Fox Valley chapter co-chair. It lobbies Congress to put a price on carbon and return revenues to American households. She is the Save Our Illinois Land chair. SOIL is working to oppose fossil fuel infrastructure and is currently informing landowners and community members about the proposed "twin" pipeline which will run through Boone, DeKalb, LaSalle and Livingston Counties in Illinois.

The public is invited to ask questions at the panel discussion. "If you have questions or concerns about climate change, this is an event you don't want to miss," Burnham said.

For more information about this event and local "green" happenings anytime, check out www.facebook.com/BataviaEnvironmentalCommission and www.cityofbatavia.net/environmental.

Ross Powell, a research professor at Northern Illinois University whose research focuses on processes and dynamics of the ice sheet and climate cycles to better understand future trends, will be a panelist at the annual "A Green Night Out at the Movies." Courtesy of Northern Illinois University

Buddhist author and activist Joanna Macy is interviewed in the 2013 documentary film, "The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community," to be shown during the annual "A Green Night Out at the Movies" on Saturday, March 11. Courtesy of The Wisdom to Survive

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