AliprandoJoannaAnnotation4

China Revs Up

China Revs Up The film begins as coining China as the world's worst polluter. It continues to focus on China as destructive to the earth's atmosphere and massive enough to affect not just itself but the entire world. As China has begun to develop itself and meet the standards of living experienced in other countries, the environment is experiencing subjected to more emissions. Overpopulation and a movement towards 20th century luxuries with 19th century technology are suggested as factors towards China's increasing negative global pollution affects. The film argues that while searching to move and work towards a better life, China is not technologically developed enough to experience the luxuries they see others enjoy and consequently, wish for themselves. Foremost, I would comment the movie does not draw out examples of //media and informational// sustainability issues but rather it is an example of one. I do not doubt the validity of all the information presented and understand it's importance. Yet the delivery dismisses much (pretty much all) of the blame away from the viewer and onto others. //Ecological// damage due to anthropogenic forces is a critical factor of global climate change and requires action by both the individual consumer and in the public and private sectors. This piece of media entirely disregards the power us as viewers have in altering the effects of climate change through changing our own behaviors. Rather, it blames those thousands of miles away as the epicenter of global disturbance leaving the viewer incapable of creating an impact.
 * 1. Title, director and release year?**
 * 2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**
 * 3. What sustainability problems does the film draw out?

Technological sustainability issues are presented through the evaluation of common Chinese heating practices using 19th century coal cylinders. Throughout most of the film Chinese environmental issues result from outdated technology and the shift in cultural behavior for a better standard of living. New behavioral wants and needs of the Chinese society are unable to be satisfied efficiently by the country's current technological capabilities. The conflict is of behavioral wants increasing quicker than technological advancement.

4. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? I though it interesting the film began showing a scientist collecting air samples off a California coast. The scene explained this scientist's findings of dirty air entering "cities that have already spent billions cleaning up their own air" from China. I found it curious the film had to begin by explaining why we should care about China's pollution, because it's costing us billions! That's the only way to get us to listen.

Scenes depicting the Beijing air and urban haze were visually compelling. A harvard professor was the only interviewee to connect this all back to America. He stated the US has used up all of the atmopshere's capacity for carbon dioxide, so now the Chinese are unable to follow our footsteps. I was compelled first, that it was the only United States critizism in the entire film. Secondly that if other nations are unable to follow our road to prosperity using the same techniques we had in the past, how will they? Through this sense i was was almost inspired that because our road to progress is no longer feasible to other nations that they may be able to reach higher levels of progress utilizing a more sustainable technique. 5. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? I was not convinced by the graphical representations made by the film displaying CO2 and other green house gas emissions of China as compared with the United States. Yet a ** nother aspect ignored by the film is that China represents nearly 20% of the world's population while the United States is under 5%. Visual graphs are used throughout the film comparing US and Chinese emissions, which to me are inaccurate and invaluable when trying to make direct comparisons of the two countries. The charts would be much more accurate if they explicitly state that the United States and China have comparable emissions and environmental impact even though the US serves a population 1/4 the size of China's. Looking at pollution per citizen would be a more accurate and less skewed vision of country wide emissions as related to global impact. A scene criticizing Chinese 4X4 off-roading enthusiasts compelled me to think of the most viewed sport in America, NASCAR. I attempted to research the environmental pollution and impacts unable to find answers. NASCAR blogs asking that same question are flooded with fans commenting the environmental impact is insignificant in comparison to everyday American traffic. My response to that is everyday American traffic emissions are so significant that it would take a monstrosity for a single event to seem significant in comparison.
 * 6. What additional information does this film compel you to seek out? Where do you want to dig deeper and what connections do you want to make with other issues, factors, problems, etc.?

7. What audiences does the film best address? What kind of imagination is fostered in viewers? Do you think the film is likely to change the way viewers think about and act on environmental problems? I think the film is best directed towards the proud, ethnocentric American. I doubt the film will change any actions or habits of that audience. While I do agree that the film addresses critical circumstances and presents valuable knowledge I think the nature of the delivery presents China as our polluting inferior. If anything the film will spark conversations among Americans however I'm not sure of any environmental impact those conversations may have. I can only see the film increasing negative feelings Americans may have for these "underdeveloped" and polluting Chinese, destroying our earth. 8. What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film? Little to none. Most if not all blame is placed on the citizens in a country over 6000 miles away, which is convenient for me because it's not my fault, I've never been to China, I can't do anything about it. 9. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? Some enhancement may of been added to this film's argument if it had included data of the United States's emissions and pollutions during our industrial era. The film does not sympathize with the Chinese looking to increase their own standards of living, which may mean during the early years of development some extra global emissions. Less than one hundred years ago our country underwent the same process of technological integration and increasing independence (and decreasing interdependence) through the emergence of suburbs, mass production and car usage for example. I would like to see some research of the United State's global impact and emissions during our rapidly increasing luxuries and lifestyles relative to that of China's. It's easy now that we are on top, and live a life luxurious enough to "care" about the environment and invest in expensive technologies to look down upon others less advanced and criticize. **