Pete Postlethwaite Introduces Age of Stupid at Ludlow

Pete Postlethwaite introduced the sell-out screening at Ludlow last night and bravely came back for a Q&A at the end. Despite saying that Pete wouldn't handle questions on the science or the politics, the audience was so fired up by the film that moderator David Gillam had a hard job keeping them in check.

It's a remarkably effective movie, and I say that from a scientific background with a healthy scepticism for the sort of fundamentalism that the environmental movement seems to be descending into. Franny Armstrong has done a great job using half a dozen, apparently unrelated stories to give several views of the situation - much more effective that a sustained polemic (Michael Moore gives me a headache). Everyone ought to see it.

But it would be good to see more focus on the possibilities and less on the guilt trip. Remember the '60s and the Silent Spring? The '70s and acid rain? The '80s and the hole in the ionosphere? We beat the first two and are well on the way to nailing the third. Did someone say 'Yes we can!'