Articles by Chris Schults

Media Shower: A weekly roundup

Wow, I guess I underestimated my ability to influence coverage here at Grist. If you haven't noticed, environmental media has been getting a lot of play around here lately. So, this week I'm simply going to provide a roundup of green-media topics appearing on Grist (and elsewhere):

Courtesy of PBS

While most television networks lack programming in the environmental arena, at least we have PBS, which will air a few green specials just in time for Earth Day.

First we have "Planet H20":

Is convenience the drug that salves commuting guilt?

I sometimes catch the bus at the busy Fremont intersection of 34th and Fremont here in Seattle. I'd estimate that at least 90 percent of the vehicles heading west over the Fremont Bridge have one occupant. This, of course, frustrates me to no end.

Here are all these people heading in the same general direction, at the same time. I've often wanted to stand on the side of the road with a sign that reads, "Your car seats four, why are you driving alone?"

So, why are they driving alone? Richard Seven attempts to answer this question in the most recent edition of The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest Magazine.

When the world comes together

In the spirit of using film and television to make a difference, I introduce you to 2006 Ted Prize winner Jehane Noujaim:

In her moving acceptance speech, TED Prize winner, Jehane Noujaim described her wish for using film to bring people together in a more meaningful way. Jehane is the award-winning filmmaker behind Control Room and Startup.com. Jehane's wish is to create a worldwide cinema event for one day each year with programming that highlights the themes of unity, the common ties that bind us into a global culture, a film festival called "Pangea Cinema, the day the world comes together." "Pangea" refers to the single land mass that broke up millions of years ago to create the disparate continents we know today.

Pangea Cinema is still very much in the brainstorming phase but the hope is to develop the idea well beyond the act of showing films. The goal is to invite the viewers of these films to join a global conversation about the issues that affect us all.

Watch Jehane's acceptance speech and proposal here.

And as for the subject matter for this day of film? May I suggest climate change.