It's a film we all need to see because of our connection to and our love of the water. The Erie Situation is a movie about toxic algae blooms that happened in Lake Erie and are a threat to us here in Muskegon and West Michigan.
From the film's website - "In 2014, the citizens of Toledo, Ohio had to go without running water for three days when a bloom of highly toxic algae entered the drinking water plant from Lake Erie. This should have been a wake up call for politicians, big agriculture, and citizens everywhere that freshwater resources are at risk of becoming toxic." If you spend any amount of time watching informational television or films, you know that things like this are a genuine concern and this goes far beyond the "radicals" that some label for their concerns about environmental issues. This is about the long term health and preservation of the largest fresh water supply on the planet, of which the State of Michigan is part and parcel to all of.
There is also a world of push and pull in this issue. The "Big Ag" industrial farming lobby, the mid size to small farmer, the feelings of the public, politics and more all come in to play with the "what do we do about it" when it comes to generating food versus making sure that the environment is protected form the run off of waste and fertilizers that are close enough to the water that it can actually seep in and enhance the growth of aquatic plats and harmful algae.
The Erie Situation has already won multiple awards at film festivals world wide and the accolades continue to pile up. Awards aside, the purpose of this film is an entertaining and informative look at a remarkably large and complex situation that will have to be addressed. It's not an if thing, it's when. It's also the balance of a lot of very key things for our region, including the future as the climate continues to change and we are sitting on the greatest supply of fresh water on earth.
We've assembled a team to talk about the film. David Ruck is here and joining him is Al Steinman from Grand Valley State University as well as Amber Kumph from Muskegon Community College. There's a wealth of info in this video. Take a listen.
It's a large and complex issue. There's no two ways about it. It's also time to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to our lakes, streams and the bigger scale of the Great Lakes which surround us. As Amber said in the video..... "The earth is going to continue.....what comes of the life on it, the earth decides." We have seen that play out over the 4.543 billion years that the planet has been here. Sure, the "history" we know is limited....but the level of understanding we have now gives us the power to make the choices necessary to preserve ourselves, our resources and our planet. Take the time to see the film on February 23rd at the Frauenthal. You can view the films trailer below.
