With the Obama Administration focused on creating a thriving green economy, the environmental movement is gathering at Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change (www.connectingforchange.org) to urge increased personal and civic action for a more sustainable and equitable world. The conference will take place October 22 through 25 at the Zeiterion Theatre and other venues in historic downtown New Bedford.
Before the conference begins on Friday, Oct. 23, the Zeiteron Theatre is opening its doors free to the public, Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) for a kick-off event, featuring some of the largest names in the green movement.
This year’s event will highlight a wide array of issues surrounding climate change and how it directly affects the vitality of New Bedford, from its potential to transform our booming commercial fishing industry to our food systems. There will be a screening of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s newly released short film ACID TEST, featuring Sigourney Weaver, followed by a discussion led by ecology and evolutionary biologist and NRDC senior scientist Dr. Lisa Suatoni. The film was made in an effort to draw attention to the virtually unfamiliar issue of ocean acidification. "Like global warming," cites NRDC, "ocean acidification stems from the increase of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution."