Narrated by Emma Thompson, this documentary examines the rise of extreme energy extraction in Canada and its impact on the environment, economy, and local communities. The fossil fuel industry’s intensive hunt for unconventional non-renewable resources, including Arctic drilling and shale gas fracking, also gives rise to a formidable array of scientists, authors and activists who envision a post-growth economic future premised on co-operation, social justice and ecological stewardship.

It follows concerned citizens living at the frontiers of extreme oil and gas extraction, bearing witness to a global crossroads. We meet the mayor of an Inuit village in Canada’s high Arctic who is concerned that seismic testing for oil in the ocean is blowing up the eardrums of the animals that the Inuit depend on for sustenance. An environmental lawyer goes on a journey to tar sands areas in Alberta where he learns of the massive inputs of energy required when extracting oil here and why this project is economically unsustainable. A river conservationist in Utah fights to protect the Colorado River from oil shale projects that would disturb its headwaters.

This video brings forward the voices of those who not only denounce the ruse of extreme energy, but also envision the new world that is taking shape in its stead: a future beyond the resource pyramid, a post-growth economy.

55 Minute version also available.

55 Minute French version also available.