What does our energy future look like?
Is fracking polluting our water? How dangerous is nuclear? Will gasoline prices continue to rise? Can we clean up coal? Can renewables really power our future? A multi-platform campaign to educate the public about these critical energy issues and to stimulate a national dialogue about our energy future is under way with help from The Geological Society of America (GSA).
The partnership aligns GSA's mission to "advance geoscience in service to society" with the goal of the Switch Energy Project to "build a balanced national understanding of energy and promote efficiency."
The Switch Energy Project is anchored by the new feature documentary Switch. As no documentary before it, Switch has been embraced across the energy spectrum: environmentalists and academics, fossil and renewable energy experts, scientists and economists. The Washington Post recently called Switch "smart and refreshingly free of hot air," while DC Film Review called it "must-see entertainment for every person in America."
Switch screens in major U.S. markets this fall and internationally next spring. The Switch Energy Project also includes a huge video-driven website with more than five hours of short clips organized by topic; a video-driven primary education program developed with the American Geosciences Institute, coming in 2013; and the GSA Switch Energy Awareness & Efficiency Program, a university program to help a new generation shape our energy future.
The GSA Switch Energy Awareness & Efficiency Program operates through GSA's extensive network of Campus Representatives, who helped launch the pilot program at 50 universities this fall. The program includes film screenings, organized follow-up energy discussions, and campus energy-efficiency drives. The program will go to more than 200 additional schools in spring 2013. For more information, visit www.geosociety.org/switch/. The GSA Foundation administers grant funding obtained for the program through the Verizon Foundation.
On a related note, GSA sponsored and helped arrange Switch screenings on Capitol Hill, including a briefing for the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, and a public screening at the AAAS headquarters for the Washington, D.C., science policy community.
More information:
Switch will be screened for GSA members at the 2012 GSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Charlotte (North Carolina, USA), 4-7 November.
Provided by Geological Society of America
