Environment & Sustainability Videos: Home

Filmmakers Loren and Matt Feinstein provide an eye-opening account of the downside of alternative, food-based fuel sources. Delving deep into the world of agrofuels and monocrops, they explore how the increasingly common practice of diverting food crops to the industrial production of cellulose-based fuels is devastating indigenous communities, undermining small farmers, and endangering the environment across Latin America.

American Meat is a solutions-oriented documentary chronicling the current state of the U.S. meat industry.

Contents: v.1. Car of the future -- v. 2. Solar energy: saved by the sun -- v. 3. Global warming: what's up with the weather? -- v. 4. Rachel Carson's Silent spring.

This timely documentary, the second of two on climate change, goes beyond the issue of global warming, exploring many of the development situations, which are already occurring in the Canadian Arctic, making it a key region of the globe.

This program explores the pros and cons of California's controversial program to slash carbon dioxide emissions and promote energy efficiency, which could be adopted nationwide during the Obama administration.

Industrial agriculture is forcing many small farmers to lose their land due to rising debt. When India had to open its doors to foreign seed vendors such as Monsanto, genetically altered cotton seed was all that was available. These seeds are more expensive, require irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides, and must be re-purchased every season, driving the small farmer into spiraling debt and ultimately suicide.

A documentary about the current oil and energy crisis and its effect on the environment. It explores the subject of Peak Oil and its implications for the future of civilization. Includes interviews with sociologist William R. Catton, evolutionary biologist Jason Bradford, environmental analyst Lester Brown, NASA's James Hansen, author Bill McKibben, and others.

A program that demonstrates the personal, cultural, and economic benefits to be had by utilizing a variety of modern techniques and technologies to plan and build environmentally friendly, safe, comfortable, and attractive homes. Features various houses and communities that have been designed and constructed using an assortment of building materials and energy sources deemed sustainable and ecologically conscientious.

26-year-old Daniel Dembélé is equal parts West African and European, and looking to make his mark on the world. Seizing the moment at a crossroads in his life, Daniel decides to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels, the first of its kind in the sun drenched nation.

Paula Kehoe's fascinating and clarifying look at the debate surrounding global warming explores the striking disconnect between the relatively clear-cut concerns of the world's most prominent scientists and the maze of speculation, rhetorical posturing, and outright misinformation that attaches to this issue whenever it's taken up by politicians, PR specialists, and political pundits.

Examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, the heroes launch a valiant fight to arouse the nation's help in protecting their mountains, saving their families and preserving their way of life.

With the debate over alternative energy sources as contentious as ever, this Academy Award-winning program offers a wealth of issues to consider; its reexamination of what happened at the Ukranian reactor and its investigation into the dark side of nuclear power parallel the questions many Americans have regarding the storage of radioactive material and the overall safety of the nuclear industry.

A comprehensive course on the installation of Off-Grid photovoltaic solar power electric systems.

History Channel documentary film that examines the engineering accomplishments of the ultimate Renaissance man.

This three-part series follows scientists and explorers who are on the trail of the jungle's most deeply held secrets. Equipped with an arsenal of high tech tools, they encounter the fantastic web of life that makes up a jungle ecosystem.

The discovery of global dimming has led some scientists to claim that the earth's climate is heating up much faster than most previous predictions.

Half our electriticy still comes from coal. Dirty business reveals the true social and environmental costs of coal power and tells the stories of innovators who are pointing the way to an alternative energy future. Guided by Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell, the film examines what it means to remain dependent on a 19th century technology that is the largest single source of greenhouse gases. Can coal really be made clean? Can renewables be produced on a scale large enough to replace coal? The film seeks answers in a series of stories shot in China, Saskatchewan, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada and New York.

A six-part series featuring people and places around the globe where efforts are being made to improve our environment for the future.

Documentary about a community working together to build a sustainable future for its children after the arson at Grant Elementary School. Built with renewable materials and volunteer labor, the schoolhouse has inspired a progressive new curriculum.

Examines the cultural, economic and environmental impact of a transnational gold mining operation on a remote farming community in northeastern Guinea. Our two guides, the village chief and the head engineer of the mine, illustrate in telling detail the contrasting lifestyles and worldviews of global corporations and local, pre-industrial societies.

Profiles newly emergent 'superpowers' such as Iran and Venezuela. Thomas Friedman analyzes the political concept of 'petro authoritarianism' and Kenneth Deffeyes explains the 'Peak Oil' phenomenon, the point at which the earth's supply of oil begins its terminal decline. Concludes by investigating the search for alternatives to our dependency on oil, featuring interviews with economists, stock market traders, and new energy entrepreneurs, who discuss the pros and cons of such possible substitutes as biofuels, hydropower, nuclear and solar energy.

Documents the trend of unlabeled genetically-modified foods which have become increasingly prevalent in grocery stores. Unravels the complex web of market and political forces that are changing the nature of what we eat. Explores organic and sustainable agriculture as alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011, the film focuses on communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a method of horizontal drilling into shale formations known as slickwater fracking.

In this explosive follow-up to his Oscar-nominated film Gasland, filmmaker Josh Fox uses his trademark dark humor to take a deeper, broader look at the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil, now occurring on a global level (in 32 countries worldwide).

Describes the growing market for environmentally friendly and pro-active jobs, and provides tips for creating a resume, conducting an effective job search, and having a successful interview process.

Examines new technology in advanced biodiesel, produced from animal fats and from algae and waste materials. Discusses how this new technology is expanding job opportunities and creating green jobs from home grown renewable resources. Jobs profiled include Biodiesel plant manager, Quality control director, Plant administrator, Ethanol plant maintenance, Electrician, and Biofuel researcher.

In this program visit the largest geothermal operation in the world to see how heat from the earth's core is transformed into electricity. Meet a chemist, geologist, plant operator, environmental manager and engineer as they show us how they manage steam productioin weels and electric generators. This growing field relies not just on professionals with advanced degrees but entry level workers who drill the wells and maintain the power plants in this vanguard of clean energy. Jobs profiled in this program include: Geologist, Project manager, Chemist, Environmental manager, Plant operator.

Presents the entire range of jobs needed to make solar power a reality from research and development, design and marketing, and financial analysis to construction and project management. Engineers, analysts and managers share how they work in this emerging green industry and how they found the opportunity to be part of the clean energy solution. Jobs profiled in this program include: Research & development engineer, Design engineer, Marketing manager, Financial analyst, Construction manager, and Project manager.

Explore a new wind ranch to see the full range of new jobs from entry-level wind turbine technician to crane operator, wind power computer analyst and up to operations managers. Visit a leading university taking part in the California Wind Energy Initiative where young wind power researchers are beginning their new careers designing better windmills and the wind energy systems of the future. Jobs profiled include: wind turbine technician, crane operator, operations manager, computer analyst, wind power researcher, aerodynamicist.

Examines how staffers at nonprofit agencies work with lawyers, lobbyists and other concerned citizens to advocate for environmental protection and strategies for sustainable growth. Jobs profiled in this program include: Environmental attorney, Research associate, Press secretary, Community organizer, and EPA attorney.

Explores the exciting race underway to design greener products of all sorts. Jobs profiled in this program include: Architect, Interior designer, consultant, and Landscape designer.

An overview of the job opportunities in recycling. Visit an electronics recycling start-up and a San Francisco municipal program for recycling cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. Various jobs include collection, transportation, receiving and sorting, handling hazardous materials, and aspects of plant management. Includes information on fields of study and areas of interest related to recycling.

In this program, a Naval Air Station is visited where a team from the Environmental Protection Agency manages a massive program to remove a half-century of hazardous waster. Jobs profiled in this program include: Project manager, Technical manager, Safety officer, chemists and Scientists.

An inside look at an organic farm and organic retail store, discussing day-to-day challenges and rewards. Includes information on fields of study and areas of interest related to organic farming.

Jobs profiled include: automotive design, green highway construction, high speed rail design, project planner, engineering manager.

An overview of the job opportunities in water management: flood control, reservoir management, levee design and repair, designing and operating dams and sewer systems, river management and restoration, monitoring fish populations, protecting habitats, maintaining natural resources, water conservation, irrigation, landscape design and more. Presents on-the-job profiles with people currently working in some of these areas. Includes information on fields of study and areas of interest related to water management.

The story of [The Macallen Building,] Boston's first LEED certified residential 'green' building, and the people that made it possible.

A timely documentary that raises urgent questions about how we travel and the unintended cultural and environmental consequences of tourism around the globe.

With the average age of farmers in the U.S. currently at 57, it's critical to encourage more young people to take up the plow. GROW! profiles a new crop of idealistic young farmers who have turned to the fields for a more fulfilling life, driven also by a strong desire to change how our food is grown.

Learn how to save energy, water, and money with some construction changes to your home. Subjects covered include: what makes a building green, shades of green, the most energy efficient building, orientation and landscaping, green framing techniques, the importance of using the right insulation, FSC-certified lumber, how to determine your carbon footprint, LEED, HERS, and energy star ratings.

"[T]akes viewers through a home performance audit and shows how insights into the thermal envelope, energy footprint, and structural soundness can guide the remodeler and homeowner through the first steps toward creating a greener home. An overview of high-efficiency HVAC and geothermal technologies and the role they play in a house's energy efficiency are explored."

Sir David Attenborough presents this look at the growth of the world's population and the future of the earth with a population that is projected to grow to 9 billion within the next 40 years. Researchers study densely populated regions to try to understand the problems of overpopulation.

Lifts the veil on the shocking reality that thousands of untested chemicals are in our everyday products, our homes and inside of us. Tells the personal stories of people who believe their lives have been affected by chemicals and takes viewers to the front lines as activists go head-to-head with the powerful and well-funded chemical industry.

Former Vice President Al Gore explains the facts of global warming, presents arguments that the dangers of global warning have reached the level of crisis, and addresses the efforts of certain interests to discredit the anti-global warming cause. Between lecture segments, Gore discusses his personal commitment to the environment, sharing anecdotes from his experiences.

Ingredients is a journey that reveals the people behind the movement to bring good food back to the table and health back to our communities.

In Organic We Trust is an eye-opening food documentary that follows Director/Producer Kip Pastor on a personal journey to answer commonly asked questions about organic food: What exactly is organic? Is it really better, or just a marketing scam?

Water. It's the earth's most valuable resource. Our cities are powered by it, countless industries depend on it, and all living things need it to survive. But it's very possible that in the near future, there won't be enough to sustain life on our planet. This film sheds light on the vital role water plays in our lives, exposes the defects in the current system, and shows communities already struggling with its ill effects.

Documents the efforts of a small Appalachian town to keep a coal mining company away from their last pristine mountain.

The scientists and engineers who helped build the world's first nuclear weapon reflect on their accomplishments and legacy.

In May 2006, a mud volcano developed in the middle of a residential and commercial district in Sidoarjo, Java, Indonesia, as a result of gas drilling. This documentary examines efforts to contain the damage, and the effects on residents and the environment.

Organic products are now being sold by large corporations in addition to smaller traditional operations. Discusses the growth of the organic food industry.

Deep in the rain forests of Grenada, anarchist chocolate-maker, Mott Green operates an unusual chocolate factory that turns out delicious creations unknown to a world saturated with industrially produced cocoa. See how the world's smallest chocolate factory, by tackling the unsustainable and exploitative practices of the Goliaths of the industry, is doing enormous things for cocoa communities, and the world's sweet tooth.

The planet's oceans are rapidly becoming the world's trash dump. Every mile of ocean now contains an average of 74,000 pieces of plastic. A "plastic soup" of waste, killing hundreds of thousands of animals every year and as chemicals trickle slowly up the food chain. What will be the long-term impact of this "plastic pollution?" Can anything be done to clean up our oceans?

A look at the environmental degradation of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Therein, the ice that large animals require is rapidly disappearing, likely due to pollution from the industrialized world.

Captures rare action, impossible locations, and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures. From the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, [the program] takes you to places you've never been to experience sights and sounds never before captured on film.

"The Power of the Sun" tells the story of how the ideas and the technology to tap the sun's rays as a source of clean, safe, and renewable energy were first developed.

Can emerging technology defeat global warming? Travel the globe to reveal the surprising technologies that just might turn back the clock on climate change. Focusing on the latest and greatest innovations, including everything from artificial trees to green reboots of familiar technologies like coal and nuclear energy, Nova asks: 'Can our technology, which helped create this problem, now solve it?'

An Anglo-Finnish filmmaker and his family embark on a year-long "oil diet", aiming to reduce their consumption of petroleum-based products in hopes of minimizing their contribution to greenhouse gases.

This video explains how air, water, earth, and fire are transformed into clean, reliable sources of heat, electricity, and even automobile fuel.

After twenty-five years Jean-Michel Cousteau returns to the Amazon and revisited areas he'd explored with his father, Jacques Cousteau. Deforestation, population shifts and burgeoning cities have taken their toll on the area but so have numerous efforts to protect the rainforests, wildlife and indigenous people. The ecology of this one river has global consequences.

By 2006, as many as 5,000 electric cars were destroyed by the major car companies that built them. Today, the electric car is back with a vengeance. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America's future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever. It's not just the next generation of green cars that's on the line, it's the future of the automobile itself.

NOVA presents a provocative mix of scientists, economists, and ordinary citizens who are all pushing the envelope of solar power's untapped potential.

As the world turns to sustainability, solar enriches our lives. This film takes a look at today's developments in solar electricity and its increasing role as power provider.

This video documents ocean acidification and discusses the changes we are seeing in the chemistry of the oceans.

With the world of agriculture confronting the impact of such factors as global warming, population urbanization trends, changes in eating habits, and increased use of grain for biofuels, [this film] outlines the shape of an impending global food crisis.

When Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger's nine-year old daughter died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened. His search for answers led to a shocking discovery of Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history.

Learn how a green approach to landscaping can reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool a house, the proper management of rainwater and runoff, the value of native plants and the benefits of green roofs. Site visits with landscape architects and designers are included as well.

Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy -- a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? ... [T]his timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water.

Explores the thought process at the core of green architectural design and construction as it takes viewers behind the scenes of an architectural firm specializing in sustainable design, a remodeler who has built a green construction business, a supplier of eco-friendly building materials, and a homeowner who has remodeled his house from the ground up using green materials, technologies, and practices.

Looks at the impact of fracking in one of the country's most pristine watersheds. With exclusive interviews from oil and gas industry leaders, independent experts and impacted residents, Triple divide [redacted] covers five years (2011 - 2016) of cradle-to-grave investigations that reveal how regulators and industry keep water contamination covered up.

Water on the Table features Maude Barlow, who is considered 'an international water warrior' for her crusade to have water declared a human right...More than a portrait of an activist, [the film] presents several dramatic opposing arguments. Barlow's critics are policy and economic experts who argue that water is no different than any other resource, and that the best way to protect freshwater is to privatize it.

Documents serious water issues the world and all of humanity are facing. Includes: the devastating floods and droughts in Bangladesh, the sea overtaking the dams in Holland, the Tsunami in southeast Asia, and the massive hurricane that destroyed the city of New Orleans. Can the global community work together to deal with impeding calamities and perhaps avert a world catastrophe before it is too late?

The greatest impacts from climate change will not be warmer temperatures but water shortages. Learn how America's water infrastructure is incapable of handling these changes.

In this David and Goliath story for the 21st century, a group of proud Scottish homeowners take on celebrity tycoon Donald Trump as he buys up one of Scotland's last wilderness areas to build a golf resort.