Video of the Week--Kilowatt Ours: Energy Conservation and Renewables

From SLJ May 2005

Joan Karasick, Greenwich Public Schools, CT -- School Library Journal, 5/16/2005

videocassette. color. 35 min. The Video Project (videoproject.net). 2005. #KIL-881-V. $95.

–The message of this sincere and personal documentary, filmed during an 18-month journey around the southeastern region of the United States, should encourage all of us to make changes in our use of energy. Filmmaker and conservationist Jeff Barrie poses questions to the average person on the street such as "Do you know where your electricity comes from?" Those interviewed on camera show how uninformed we are about energy and its conservation. Barrie ably narrates and includes interviews with adults and children whose lives have been affected by air pollution that contributes to asthma and lung disease; nuclear power waste; mercury poisoning; and widespread pollution of our air, water, and land to fill the country’s increasing power needs. The program opens with excerpts from a speech by Vice President Cheney explaining the staggering number of power plants we will need to build to keep up with energy demand. The video offers an optimistic message that details what changes can be made now to avoid continued reliance on coal and nuclear power. Barrie’s preferred solution requires homes and businesses to start using more green power products such as energy efficient light bulbs, Energy Star rated appliances, geothermal and solar heating and cooling, and wind power. He offers many excellent examples of energy-saving changes. The benefits of energy conservation and renewable power are clearly explained and illustrated with several animated sequences, charts, graphs, and text prompts between sections. This appealingly quirky and moving film will generate discussion in biology and environmental science classes.