M.O.R.E. - the (M)edia (O)ut (R)each (E)ffort - Bringing eco-critical information to all

Our effort is to create free screenings of the many powerful videos and films that are freely (and legally) available for 'fair use' viewing. These works are educational, enjoyable, and inspiring! They show people (in compelling ways) the entire range of ecological and environmental destruction we face. There are specific documentaries on such topics as climate change, overpopulation, consumerism, ocean depletion, deforestation, and the rest of the vast, sad list. Then there are documentaries that are more general in nature, that try to tie together not only the effects of our collective actions, but also look at the causes. If a logging company clear-cuts a forest, why are they not required by law to restore the land to at least a fraction of its un-logged state? Why are large corporations allowed to massively pollute, yet bear little or none of the cost involved in cleaning up that pollution? These are hard questions to get truthful answers for - because the same vested interests that control Big Oil, Big Coal, and Big Gas also control Big Media. So the truth about who is responsible is seldom or never seen. But it exists, and does so in an eminently viewable form.

"We have the following equipment: *Laptop computers with DVD drives to play media *Small speaker system - good for a room with 20-30 people *Presentable media on DVDs and as downloaded files *We need the loan of a projector that can accept the VGA (video) output of our computers. Or, money to buy one - it could be returned to Ioby for other projects if we ever stop using it. *We could also present anywhere there's a pre-existing facility - like a school auditorium. *Our plan is to present a series of 4-6 shows, with long enough discussions after the shows to help the audience integrate the information, and look for ways to take positive focused action.

Most people are (as George Carlin said) "Willfully ignorant." They don't know, and they don't want to know. If they knew, they might be compelled to do something! That is our goal; to show media that wakes people up, that shakes them out of their comfortable ruts, and makes them aware of how late the hour is, how vast an effort must be made. And how different that response must be from what we have done for the past 200 years. Al Gore said that, "Political will is a renewable resource." But that is only true if we make it so...