- Joined
- May 19, 2012
- Messages
- 1,990
Carbondale hosts the 5Point Film Festival ( http://5pointfilm.org/ ), and we had the chance to watch this movie about dams, and their environmental and social costs. It chronicles groups trying to remove dams that serve no purpose, other than screwing up fisheries and the ecosystem in general. And shows the work of this guy who painted cracks on several dams across the pacific north west, and a famous one on a dam in Ventura, Ca, where he painted an enormous pair of scissors :
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/13/a-graffiti-taunt-to-tear-down-matilija-dam/
The highlight for me though, was Katie Lee and her footage of Glenn Canyon in the mid 1950's. The camera guy for DAMNATION asked her, if Floyd Dominy (head of the Bureau of Reclamation from 1959-1971, who built Glenn Canyon Dam) was here in front of her, what would she say or do? She said she would cut his balls off. She is quite the poet. Anyway, the film makers and Katie Lee (now 94) were there and had a talk afterwards. It was cool to hear stories about river running when hardly anyone did it, especially through a place as remarkable as Glenn Canyon. She talked about hanging gardens, secret places and getting naked. She was pretty hip.
In the end, the film makers I felt presented a balanced view of the situation. They are not advocating the removal of all dams, just the ones that are not needed and are harmful to ecosystems and native peoples. A lot of the dams are very small, some large. And most can be replaced without any loss in our electrical capacities, or water storage for that matter.
I highly recommend this movie, no matter where you stand on the issue.
No affiliation etc.
http://damnationfilm.com/
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/13/a-graffiti-taunt-to-tear-down-matilija-dam/
The highlight for me though, was Katie Lee and her footage of Glenn Canyon in the mid 1950's. The camera guy for DAMNATION asked her, if Floyd Dominy (head of the Bureau of Reclamation from 1959-1971, who built Glenn Canyon Dam) was here in front of her, what would she say or do? She said she would cut his balls off. She is quite the poet. Anyway, the film makers and Katie Lee (now 94) were there and had a talk afterwards. It was cool to hear stories about river running when hardly anyone did it, especially through a place as remarkable as Glenn Canyon. She talked about hanging gardens, secret places and getting naked. She was pretty hip.
In the end, the film makers I felt presented a balanced view of the situation. They are not advocating the removal of all dams, just the ones that are not needed and are harmful to ecosystems and native peoples. A lot of the dams are very small, some large. And most can be replaced without any loss in our electrical capacities, or water storage for that matter.
I highly recommend this movie, no matter where you stand on the issue.
No affiliation etc.
http://damnationfilm.com/
