'Carbon Nation': Exclusive Preview Featuring Van Jones (VIDEO)

Environmental documentaries are beginning to flood theaters, but viewers frequently walk away with one question on their minds - what is the solution?

Enter "Carbon Nation," a new documentary focused less on climate change problems, and more on solutions to fix our warming world.

Director Peter Byck explains in a Georgia Straight interview, "One of our goals was to make a film that wasn't blaming and shaming, because we found that, just in our lives as people, that didn't really inspire us to do the right thing... We wanted to make a film that was forward-looking, find out who was doing good things."

In this exclusive sneak preview, popular activist Van Jones visits a low-income home where solar panels are being installed by workers on parole, in keeping with Jones's motto, "green jobs, not jails." According to Jones, "If you want to have a green economy, it's got to be about... reclaiming people, reclaiming neighborhoods. That's the green economy."

"Carbon Nation" offers a variety of climate change solutions, linking opportunities to issues of economics and national security. The film opens this month in select cities.

WATCH the sneak preview of "Carbon Nation":

Comments

[joevecchio]

04:50 PM on 03/25/2011

How did Exxon and the established corporations get my liberal neighbors to buy their 17mpg Jeep, Honda Element and Rav4? My African American neighbop bought a H2 and not a 40 mpg Ford, Honda Fit ot a used 45mpg Geo Metro by GM. Got iton film for our next energy documentary. Why don't liberals buy and support smaller cars years ago. They existed... Not cool enough? GM made the 45mpg Geo Metro and no liberals bought one. But Rachel Maddow buys a 17mpg Truck, Obama his 4th SUV, Senator Kerry drives his 17mpg Escalade, Rangel his 15mpg DTS Cadillac. Remember, cars have a ten year life cycle. So a Jeep bought today will need gas and oil in 2020. Where do these liberals plan on buying their gasoline from in 2018? Angola? Nigeria. And youdon't waqnt to drill in Anwr/ My liberal friends need the gas to be cool and to drive 34miles to work..

Joe Vecchio, liberal fireman, auto engineer, botrodinobullett.com. Vigilanti Films

Again, why did my liberal neighbors buy a UAW, ( the uaw doesn't want to drill ON land in ANWR, but sell 17mpg cars. Don't some of the writers of the Post drive 17mpg BMWs?

What does Mr Jones, who I like, think of this?

[Brazosmud]

12:44 PM on 02/22/2011

Wasn't he a co-inventor of the internet?

[rebel9999]

09:55 AM on 02/22/2011

We need jails also. People who murder don't need a green job. They need misery, steel, and concrete walls.

[Onertwo19]

01:15 PM on 02/20/2011

Obama should really hire this man back.

[jimstaro]

08:50 AM on 02/20/2011

Van Jones has the Right idea! Those using the failed meme's of not the reality 'global warming', i.e. the melting of the polar caps, which leads to global climate change, are just being the detractors of today, led by the special interests of the established corporations, trying to lock the brakes on what once made this country the envy of the planet, innovation and innovative workers! Detractors have always been around, trying to block advancing societies and advancing innovative idea's and dreams, now though they are flush with huge amounts of wealth garnered from failed capitalist ideology practiced the past some thirty years and parroted by supporters arguing against their own better good!

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

12:06 AM on 02/20/2011

He is so damn sexy, my goodness!!

[nsewing]

03:23 PM on 02/20/2011

Yes, indeed!

[barrada nicto]

08:17 PM on 02/19/2011

We need more folks like Van Jones!

[mackbolan]

05:53 PM on 02/19/2011

if the white house wants to lead by example they should go off the grid completely and publish exactly how much it cost to do so and how long it will take to recoup the expense...if the white house can go totally off the grid in d.c. you should have no problem convincing congress to go along with green energy especially if the public knows that they can live without the electric company and the oil company...

[Derek Lantin]

09:26 AM on 02/19/2011

Sir

I enjoyed Ms. Zelman’s article and I am looking forward to seeing “Carbon Nation” when it is available.

I think that we must understand that all “ages’ come to an end. This may seem a fatuous comment, but we must appreciate that the Stone Age did not come to an end because ancient man ran out of stone; the same applies to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. These ages came to an end because mankind found better alternatives.

The carbon age has been with us only since about 1800. The prevalence of coal uses declined from the middle of the 1900s. At that point liquid carbon (oil) took over.

The carbon age will not end because we run out of oil and coal; it will end because we will invent better technologies.

I am hoping that the film “Carbon Nation” will focus on looking forward into new technologies and give us hope that the polluting carbon age will soon draw to a close.

Sincerely, Derek Lantin. http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com

[StephenBP]

08:05 AM on 02/19/2011

Someone made an earlier statement with a lot of typos. I fixed them and will repost now. Here you go.

Van Jones resurfaces. Just a few points:

I DO NOT want parolees working in my house, thank you so do not, repeat, do not let Tom Delay work in the house of representatives when he gets out of the really big house.

Green jobs, not jails? Great idea! Too bad there can’t be jail time for the slave owners who stole entire communities and ravaged the entire continent of Africa. The descendants of slave owners are complaining about the cultural results of their forefathers’ short sighted behaviors, and yet they still worship them! Go figure. Homosapiens myopialis or something I guess.

BO's weather-proofing of homes is a huge failure for fossil fuel interests like the Koch brothers, because they want us to burn as much fuel as they can before the inevitable economic and regulatory restrictions that will cause petroleum to be used for what it should be used for… chemical feedstock instead of fuel.

The Koch brothers and their blog supporters are and remain, evil snake-oil salesman.

Have a wonderful day.

[Kenz300]

07:33 AM on 02/19/2011

Despite what the oil and coal companies want you to believe, wind,
solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels are the future.

The price of oil and coal is going up.

The price of wind and solar are coming down.

Our economic security and national security will depend on our transition
to safe. clean alternative energy.

[barrada nicto]

05:04 AM on 02/19/2011

Cool!

[1donewrong]

06:13 PM on 02/18/2011

Yea that's a real expert, next we'll have Captain Kangroo talk about nuclear power

[krz2]

06:08 PM on 02/22/2011

didn't he die a few years ago

[1donewrong]

07:15 PM on 02/22/2011

too bad van jones didn't

[ander35]

05:54 PM on 02/18/2011

There will be no green jobs it will all be made in China.

[hogtown]

05:31 PM on 02/18/2011

These local, small-scale projects really add up...both in terms of 'dollars and sense'. You just have to look at the local food movement gaining momentum across the continent to see that small-scale sustainable has the power to make a big impact.