It’s time to look back and celebrate all the things we’ve accomplished together this year. Here’s 2021 by the numbers.
4,046 attendees at 26 film watch parties
At each of the virtual events during the main Fest Season in March and during Earth Week in April, we learned about the climate crisis, were presented with more than 250 action ideas, and pledged to take action.
Lake Michigan, one of Chicagoland’s great treasures, is connected to the Mississippi River by a series of waterways, including the Little Calumet River, which flows through several south-side Chicago neighborhoods, carrying nearly two centuries of African American history. The African American Heritage Water Trail honors this history and the remarkable stories of African American freedom seekers and trailblazers who traveled, lived, worked, and overcame enormous obstacles around this river and its banks. Please stop right now and visit this beautiful website, where you’ll find everything you need to understand the trail and the stops along its way.
While on staff with the Illinois Sierra Club, Kyra Woods established and facilitated The Ready for 100 Collective, a coalition of local environmental and community organizations working to ensure Chicago’s equitable transition to renewable energy. She is now a member of the Policy Team in the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor.
Q: What’s on the top of your mind these days?
A: A serious matter. I’m reflecting on the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. The issues it highlights are not new, but it underscores the need for ambitious and coordinated action. I’m grateful to have a team to work with, committed members across this department, with partners at the county level and—so essential—also at the community level. Together, we’re focused on addressing a range of environmental issues such as waste management, carbon reduction, and air and water quality.
The very first finding in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNIPCC, or simply, IPCC) August 9 report is this:
“It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.”
I strongly suspect that this is the first time the word “unequivocal” has appeared in an IPCC report, given the IPPC’s “calibrated language” and the fact that these reports require both scientific and political consensus. Artist Alisa Singer illustrated one thread of the evidence for human-caused climate change.
Most people who get married and decide to have children build a nest and settle in. Clement and Sophie Guerra did the opposite: they cashed in their savings and flew to South America. The result of their deep commitment to listening and learning is the revealing documentary “The Condor and the Eagle,” a film that profiles women leaders of communities most impacted by the fossil fuel industry. It will be screening on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:30 p.m. CDT.
Julie Howe interviewed Clement Guerra to learn more about why they made the film and what they learned.
See an environmental superhero fly through the sky, a time-traveling climate change reporter, and animals saved from Western wildfires.
As part of the Earth Day Mini Film Fest 2021, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest will feature 14 Honorable Mention short films in two one-hour events on Saturday, April 24, at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Online discussion with young filmmakers from California to Texas to New York will be facilitated by Young Filmmakers Contest Founding Director Sue Crothers.
