Earth Day 2024: The Climate Crisis & Why We Fight

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Eighty years ago, Hollywood filmmakers exercised their expert storytelling skills to rally American draftees to the aid of war-ravaged Europe. More recently, filmmakers have been hammering away at the climate crisis. Much of that work has come and gone down the hole of forgetfulness. However, the iconic US entertainment and educational conglomerate Disney is determined to have another go at shaking the US public — and the rest of the world — into action during Earth Month 2024.

The Climate Crisis & Why We Fight

Disney kindly shared a preview of its April and Earth Day 2024 lineup with CleanTechnica and we’ll get to that in a moment. First let’s start with Why We Fight.

Why We Fight is a famous series of seven documentaries produced from 1942 to 1945 on the orders of US General George C. Marshall, after he realized that draftees were baffled, bewildered, or just plain bored by the lectures they received during basic training. Pulled from civilian life, they lacked a cohesive sense of purpose and discipline, a deadly difference when going up against the experienced, professional fighters of Nazi Germany.

Hollywood A-lister Frank Capra was tasked to assemble a team of well-known storymakers of the time, including the popular Ukrainian-American director Anatole Litvak along with editor William Hornbeck, writers Anthony Veiller and Eric Knight, composer Dimitri Tiomkin, and narrator Walter Huston.

As a series, Why We Fight is widely acknowledged as a compilation of the most compelling documentary films from World War II. Now permanently housed in the Library of Congress, Why We Fight is described as a “a meeting of the talent of a commercial film industry, a strong tradition of documentary film, and the needs of war.”

In terms of the climate crisis, the true nature of the danger is finally breaking through the public awareness barrier after decades of organized denial and obfuscation promoted by fossil energy stakeholders, only to be met with the demoralizing influence of misplaced doomerism. The needs of war are upon the entire population of the Earth, and a sense of purpose is needed now more than ever.

Disney Throws Down The Climate Crisis Gauntlet

Behavioral scientists have pointed out that climate crisis messaging can lull the public into a state of lethargy, as the receivers of those messages succumb to doom and despair. Nevertheless, a new behavioral study indicates that the right messages about climate change, to the right audiences, can help spur meaningful action.

With that in mind, now let’s take a look at Disney’s April and Earth Day lineup. Given the corporation’s powerful and diverse reach into the global media landscape, it’s possible that something, somewhere, will stick.

“Beginning April 19 through April 22, Earth Day-themed content will be spotlighted across ABC News, Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Freeform, FX, FXX, Hulu, National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo Mundo, with ourHOME collections on Disney+ and Hulu,” Disney explained in a previewed press release emailed to CleanTechnica.

The full program list is too long for these programs, but here’s a small sample to give you an idea. You can find more details at natgeo.com/ourHOME (scroll down to see our favorite):

Disney Channel: Earth Day marathon from 5:00-10:00 p.m. on April 22, including Earth Month-themed episodes of fan favorite shows.

Freeform: All-day movie marathon on April 22

FX: All-day movie marathon on April 22.

FXX: “The Simpsons” stunt on April 22 featuring six environmentalism-themed episodes.

 National Geographic: “Secrets of the Elephants” on April 21 from 4:00-8:00 p.m., leading into the premiere of “Secrets of the Octopus” at 8:00 p.m, plus many more documentaries.

Nat Geo Wild: “Secrets of the Elephants” on April 22 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. and “Secrets of the Octopus” on April 22 from 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.

Nat Geo Mundo: All-day Earth Month-themed stunt on April 22 plus “America’s National Parks” and “Jane.”

Hulu:  ourHOME Collection featuring “Queen” and lots more Nat Geo content.

Disney+: ourHOME Collection featuring lots of Nat Geo and Disneynature content

Climate Solutions Are Here

As for CleanTechnica’s favorite pick of Disney’s Earth Day programming, that’s easy. ABC News and its affiliates are showcasing a weeklong series called “Power of Us: People, The Climate, and Our Future,” beginning this Sunday, April 21.

Instead of talking about the climate crisis and leaving it there, Power of Us is all about solutions. “This series, led by ABC News’ chief meteorologist and climate correspondent, Ginger Zee, along with the ABC News weather and climate unit, will not only cover climate challenges we face but also share stories of empowerment about emerging solutions — from individuals, communities, industry, and government — for our changing world,” Disney explains.

To be clear, it’s difficult for traditional media to get anything across in today’s cluttered media and social media landscape. However, ABC News gets points for making a determined attempt. Perhaps this effort will motivate more news consumers to consume news about the climate crisis from trustworthy sources instead of relying on a social media algorithm.

To get an idea of the level of professionalism involved in the Power of Us series, check out today’s article on plastic pollution at the ABC News website under the title, “How the UN Plastics Treaty aims to tackle the pollution crisis.”

In the article, ABC reporter Leah Sarnoff digs behind the headline to describe the role of the petrochemical industry, indicating that the foundational cause of the climate crisis — human activity — is part and parcel of daily life.

“The rate of plastic production has grown faster than any other man-made material since the 1970s, according to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP),” Sarnoff writes.

“Approximately 98% of single-use plastic products are produced from fossil fuels, according to the U.N., and by 2040, fossil fuel-based plastics are forecast to grow to 19% of the global carbon budget by 2040,” she adds.

That’s just the setup. The rest of the article is devoted to a blow-by-blow account of the policy sausage-making over at the United Nations, and we’ll be tuning in to Power of the People this week to see how the ABC news team explores the solutions.

As for public policy over here in the US, we now have the distinction of leading the world in oil production for the sixth straight year in a row.

“The US produces more crude oil than any country, ever,” the Energy Information Agency reported last month.

Despite the looming climate crisis, US companies are still sucking oil out of the ground like there’s no tomorrow while a seemingly oblivious public shrugs its shoulders.

We have quite a bit of lost ground to make up, but a look back at America’s pivotal role in turning the tide of World War II indicates that nothing is impossible.

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, only after they’ve tried everything else,” is one of the most well known quotes from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to to come out of the last global war, and it still rings true today.

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Photo: Plastics are part and parcel of the global climate crisis (cropped, courtesy of US Department of Energy).