“Earth: The Operators’ Manual” at the FW Museum of Science and History

From www.fwmuseum.org:

“If we approach Earth as if we have an Operators’ Manual, we can avoid climate catastrophes, improve energy security, and make millions of good jobs.”
-Richard Alley, Host of “Earth: The Operators’ Manual”

YOU’RE INVITED TO AN EXCLUSIVE SIMULCAST OF THE DEBUT OF “EARTH: THE OPERATORS’ MANUAL,” A NEW PBS SPECIAL ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 6:45 p.m. at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, 1600 Gendy St.

This free presentation will be followed by a live Q&A session with host Richard Alley and program writer/director Geoff Haines-Stiles.

On Thursday, April 14, 2011, KERA-TV will debut a new kind of program on climate change.  Earth: The Operators’ Manual dispenses with politics, polemics or punditry; instead, it presents an objective, accessible assessment of the Earth’s problems and possibilities that will leave viewers informed, energized and optimistic.  The broadcast will be simulcast concurrently at 7 p.m. CST in the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s Omni IMAX Theater.  You’re invited to attend the free simulcast then remain for an interactive Q&A session via a live link with the program’s host, Richard Alley, and its writer/director, Geoff Haines-Stiles.

Admission to the screening and post-program discussion is free but you must obtain a ticket in advance.  Tickets are available by phone at 817-255-9540, and in person at the Museum ticket office.  Tickets will be available at the door if space allows.  Please arrive by 6:45 p.m.  The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is located at 1600 Gendy Street in Fort Worth’s Cultural District.

Earth: The Operators’ Manual (ETOM for short) is a rigorously researched, beautifully filmed and ultimately uplifting antidote to the widespread “doom and gloom” approach to climate change.  The program opens with a thorough grounding in Earth’s climate history and an overview of the current dilemmas, but its main thrust is an upbeat assessment of our many viable sustainable energy options.

Cars and computers come with manuals.  So why don’t we have one for the most complex operating system of all, the Earth?  Now we do.  Is the planet due for an oil change?  What tailpipe emissions are impacting the atmosphere and why?  What actions could keep Earth operating at peak performance?  These are just some of the questions that will be addressed when Earth: The Operators’ Manual premieres on PBS.

Alley – a geologist, contributor to the United Nations panel on climate change and former oil company employee whom Andy Revkin of the New York Times has called “a cross between Woody Allen and Carl Sagan” – leads the audience on this engaging one-hour special about climate change and sustainable energy.  Alley’s book of the same name, a companion to the program, is currently available from W.W. Norton & Co.

Says writer/director Haines-Stiles (who produced Carl Sagan’s Emmy Award-winning Cosmos series, Creation of the Universe and other PBS specials):  “Of course we share the best climate science, but we know today’s audiences want to see solutions, not just restatements of the problems.”