Energy doc illuminating
“Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution” is a documentary. It’s subtitled “Following One Man’s Journey To Discover the Leading Edge of Energy Solutions.” It’s on HBO on Monday.
Writer, producer, director, chair of an environmental center, New York-educated, Utah-conditioned, he’s traveled America pioneering clean energy. He knows Al Gore, stems from “environmental parents,” and his father’s another guy named Redford, of whom you may have heard.
James: “Once it was horses and buggies. Recently it was 2,000 electric cars. Now 1.3 million. I drive one. In 10 years, we’ll have another million.
“And how electricity’s made will change. We pay to light our homes. We touch a lightbulb and burn a finger. No more. Utility companies are perfecting wind turbines, and solar power which in future will turn on our lights. We’ll move around cleaner, safer, cheaper and foster a new economy by creating new jobs.
“No more burning coal, fossil fuel or using poisonous stuff to make electricity. Batteries will store wind power. Windmill power is being built offshore. Niagara will furnish hydropower. A grid’s crisscrossed opposing wires will generate electricity, and one Brooklyn housing project already OK’d a roof compound to store that in batteries.”
While this futurama unfolded, I could barely hear his phone call. The background was deafening. People laughing, shouting. He was on the street. “Sorry,” he said, “but I’m on a very tight schedule.”
So, if I’m not catching everything or understanding everything or knowing anything, and if I don’t get everything, don’t blame me.