12th Annual Boston GreenFest

An Inside Look at Iceland:  Dreamland or Alcoa-land?

by Sofia Regalado, Boston GreenFest Team Journailst & Photographer

With an ever-changing scenery, a one hour drive through Iceland could easily turn out into a sample tour of every terrain on Earth. It only takes 820 miles to drive around the entire country’s coastline and yet along every bend lurks a dramatic new landscape waiting to reveal itself. From active volcanoes and steaming geysers, to endless fields of lupine to Europe’s largest glaciers, it is no secret that Iceland is a unique pocket of ecological treasures. 

Like many other countries however, its fruitful natural resources are vulnerable to a capitalist ecology that threatens to exploit them for corporate gain. Dreamland, a documentary based on the book Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation, exposes the often shadowed downfalls of Iceland’s hydro-electric and geothermal power plants. In a quest to attract foreign aluminum companies and bring the economy back to life after the 2008 crisis, the Icelandic government has promised “the cheapest energy in the world”. Yet this economic ideal has led to grave environmental consequences for the Icelandic landscape. Dreamland reveals how Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminum producer, has used Iceland’s eastern geothermal and hydroelectric areas to build smelters and left a trail of spoiled nature in its wake. 

This highly visually impacting film has not only tested Icelandic people’s loyalty to their land, it has also forced the nation to come face to face with the consequences of economic growth and to question its morality. Environmentalism aside, it's particularly hard for a nation whose culture is so inextricably intertwined with its natural landscape not to react to the sight of its mountains being blown up into smithereens and to hear the melodies of its rivers silenced. It is equally unsettling to see vast terrains of unspoiled nature interrupted by industrial power plants and construction next to vital rivers.

 According to the film, the Alcoa aluminum plant in Iceland uses as much electricity as a city of one million citizens. Iceland’s population is only 330,850. The economic upturn of this energy usage however, is that the three smelters based on the island, including Alcoa, contributed to 38 percent of the economy’s total exports in 2015. The government thus argues that the economic benefits, including the production of jobs, far outweigh the environmental costs. With the publication of Dreamland however, the nation’s eyes were opened to the extent to which companies are taking over the land and resources region after region. As a result, it has sparked public debate about respecting Iceland’s thresholds and the consequences of producing beyond the national product. 

Climate Rally on Boston Common today (4-29-17).  Great turnout and energy!

Abby is excited about 10th Annual Boston GreenFest!  She is helping the Entertainment Team bring performers to our many stages.  (Photo is of last year’s Metro Main Stage with Tiz Kompa, courtesy of Olga Chernyatyeva)

My Internship 

By Abigail Robinson

Since 2008, Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. has been expanding its reach across the city as well as nationally and globally. The founder, Dr. Karen Weber, started the organization to share her desire for a green future. She values uniting the community with nature and all the plant life that grows in our city. In 1997, Dr. Weber received her doctorate in Law, Policy and Society from Northeastern University. Working several years with the Oceanographic Research Center of Abidjan, she was able to expand her knowledge on marine life and maritime fisheries management in West Africa.  Her years of fieldwork in villages throughout Côte d’Ivoire instilled in her a passion for strengthening communities.  The outcome of these experiences led Dr. Karen Weber to co-found Foundation for a Green Future, Inc.

Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. is a nonprofit organization promoting environmental justice and awareness. Its mission is to educate and empower people to help preserve the world’s resources. The organization runs an annual multicultural eco-celebration at Boston City Hall Plaza in August. This event includes art, music, food, films, fashion shows, fitness, innovation, robotics, and exhibits which highlight the many ways people can live more sustainably.  While performers draw in the festival-goers, the exhibitors and guest speakers help inform the community about conserving earth’s resources.

In order to carry off an event of such a large scale, the Foundation collaborates with a number of partners including: Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc., Isaac’s Moving and Storage, Sierra Club Massachusetts, the Environment Department of the City of Boston, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and the South Asian Arts and Cultural Council.