What do Al Gore, President Barack Obama and Miami University sophomore Max Blaushild have in common? Their thoughts on global warming.
This fall, Blaushild started the Miami University Copenhagen Committee (MUCC) to educate the Miami community on the immediate effects of climate change.
The committee's first venue was the screening of The Age of Stupid.
"It's entertaining, engaging and provocative," Blaushild said. "It's said that it's so compelling that you will have to take action."
According to http://www.ageofstupid.net, The Age of Stupid is a "drama-documentary-animation hybrid (that) stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching 'archive' footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?"
MUCC, with the assistance of Green Oxford, presented the film Oct. 13 to interested students and faculty with the hope of building awareness for the upcoming Copenhagen Conference in December and to show the need for people to become active and concerned about climate change.
"We are striving to build awareness," Blaushild said. "Most people aren't aware climate change is happening. We want to plug active students into the international environmental movement."
MUCC became an official group this semester with a president who trained with Greenpeace - an environmental activist group.
Spencer Mapes, a member of MUCC, said they're trying to start a coalition with Green Oxford.
According to http://www.ageofstupid.net, the movie aimed heavily at portraying the immediate effects of climate change to the world, as there isn't enough belief or cooperation from the general public. The film provides a vivid picture of what the world will look like if nothing changes in the near future and primarily with the Copenhagen Conference.
Blaushild said the screening of the movie was pivotal for the Miami community.
"The movie was only released four weeks ago and became the largest simultaneous premiere, bigger than Star Wars," Blaushild said. "The film is an amazing tool to mobilize people. It brings the effects of global warming right now so people can act here at Miami even when we don't see the immediate effects."
Sophomore Kelsey Novotny attended the film screening.
"It was really compelling," Novotny said. "Before I watched it, I obviously thought recycling and saving the environment was important, but the film showed the need to take action now. It was very eye opening. It had to be shocking and scary to get its point across."
Novotny said to make a larger impact the film should be advertised on campus and screened during classes.
"We need to realize the everyday things that we can change or do differently to save energy or recycle," Novotny said. "It's only going to make a difference if everyone does it. It needs to be a globalized goal. It needs to be a priority on everybody's list."
For more information on the Copenhagen Conference or The Age of Stupid film, visit http://www.ageofstupid.net.
