Update: Members of the public can contribute directly to the campaign with their financial contribution. Visit the Conscious Earth post here, or the Learning Climate Education Society for information on donating online, or mailing your cheque.


Calling An Inconvenient Truth a "life altering event", Vancouver businessman Will Cole-Hamilton has launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the distribution of the global warming documentary to every high school in Canada.

Through their recently founded Learning Climate Educational Society, Cole-Hamilton and his partners have already raised $10,000 of the $50,000 they need, and they are also working on an educational package to accompany the film.

"Young people are going to be dealing with the opportunities and the challenges of climate change for the rest of their lives. And I think that a film that can give them a clear and comprehensible introduction to the scope and shape of that challenge is something that they need as they head forward."

Their efforts have so far been welcomed, which is in stark contrast to the situation in the United States. Four months ago, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) created an uproar when they refused 50,000 free copies of the DVD. It was later revealed that Exxon-Mobil is among the NSTA's funders.

Though better than the efforts made down south, Canada still lags noticeably behind the world leaders. In Britain, the government is distributing the movie to every secondary school in the nation, and it is required viewing for all students in Norway and Sweden.

However, provided the initiative isn't derailed by irrational parents (as was the case in Washington State) Canada's students, and the education system, stand to be the better for Cole-Hamilton's efforts.

If anyone has information regarding how the public can support this fundraising drive, email me at odiyya@fastmail.fm