American Renewable Energy Day -- known as AREDAY -- was launched in 2004 under the leadership of Chip Comins, local filmmaker and activist. As its name suggests, AREDAY exists to promote the use of renewable energy and counter the effects of global warming. From its inception, AREDAY has been a mix of education, inspiration and family fun. This year's AREDAY, beginning this afternoon, is no exception; in fact it's on course to outshine all previous years. A stellar cast of speakers, panelists and films is featured, along with demonstrations of renewable energy products, music, ice cream and other fun. Thanks to generous sponsors, everything is free. With all due respect to Aspen's legions of expert fundraisers, that's a nice break from current trends in our valley.
AREDAY gets under way at 3 p.m. today in the Wheeler Opera House, where Gov. Bill Ritter will deliver the keynote speech, "Leading our Renewable Energy Future." Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will join the governor to tell us how the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver will be made carbon neutral, and these two leaders will describe plans to develop renewable energy resources and reduce carbon emissions in Denver and throughout the state and nation.
Randy Udall, the executive director of the Community Office for Resource Efficiency here in the Roaring Fork Valley, will moderate a panel discussion on America's energy future. Panelists are: Bill Becker from The Presidential Climate Action Plan; Mike Bowman, the 25x25 Campaign; Larry Flowers, Wind Powering America-NREL; Pat Spears, of the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy; and Heidi Van Genderen, senior advisor on climate change and energy for the state of Colorado. The panel discussion will end at about 6 p.m.
Leonardo DiCaprio's new documentary feature film, "The 11th Hour," will be shown tonight in the Wheeler Opera House at 8 p.m. It carries a two-fold message: first, that we are poisoning and otherwise killing off life on Earth, including the oceans, the atmosphere, fresh water, other species, and our food supply. As DiCaprio says in the film, "We face a convergence of crises, all of which are a concern for life. Every living system is in decline -- the forest cover, the soil, the oceans. There isn't one living system that is stable or improving. And those systems are required for life."
If you still doubt the urgency of this crisis, listen to what Cambridge math professor and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has to say in the film:
"The danger is that the temperature increase might become self-sustaining, if it has not done so already... the warming of the seas may trigger the release of large quantities of CO2 trapped on the ocean floor. In addition, the melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets will reduce the amount of solar energy reflected back into space and so increase the temperature further. We don't know where the global warming will stop, but the worst-case scenario is that earth would become like its sister planet, Venus, with a temperature of 250 centigrade, and raining sulfuric acid. The human race could not survive in those conditions."
The second message of the film is that, even though it's not just the 11th hour -- it's actually 11:59 -- it is still possible to turn things around, and it behooves each of us to work on that without wasting more time.
"During this critical period of human history, healing the damage of industrial civilization is the task of our generation," says DiCaprio. Experts featured in the film, much like the experts physically present at AREDAY this Friday and Saturday, point out that we already have the technological know-how to reduce the human footprint on Earth by 90 percent. What's missing so far is the clarity and political will to confront the "inconvenient truth." This film should be a wakeup call to people still mired in ignorance and denial. As one reviewer said, "'The 11th Hour' is a stunning film. It is packed with facts we human beings need to know to save our planet. It is the ultimate horror movie, action flick and feel-good movie all wrapped up into one. We all owe it to ourselves and our future to all go see it."
After the film, Chip Comins will lead the audience in a discussion of ways to turn concern into action.
Saturday, Aug. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. on the Cooper Avenue mall and Wagner Park there will be demonstrations and displays of renewable energy products that can help create a sustainable future. They'll be accompanied by the live music of Jimmy Ibbotson and the Running Late Bluegrass Band, as well as free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and a bungee trampoline guaranteed to work off energy without consuming fossil fuels.
Lastly, starting at 4 p.m. at the Wheeler Opera House, there will be a screening of "Nobody's Home," a short film by the Sopris Foundation about the impact of second homes and escalating prices on resort communities. Sponsor John McBride and climate mitigation specialist Rick Heede will be on hand to comment on the film.
The final film, "Crude Impact," with filmmakers James Jandak Wood and Steve Michelson, is a documentary about humanity's seemingly insatiable appetite for oil, and the horrendous consequences of continuing on that trajectory.
For more information, see the Web site www.areday.net.
Connie Harvey can be reached at cmharve@gmail.com. 
