Is Soil A Solution to Climate Change?  Two Santa Barbara Filmmakers Say Yes! 

When filmmakers Carol Hirashima and Jill Cloutier first heard of the research being done about soil as a potential solution to the climate change crisis, they wanted to share it with the world.

“In 2010, when we began filming, information was just starting to trickle in about the connection between our carbon deficient soil and excess carbon, as CO2, in the atmosphere.” says Jill Cloutier. “If soil and land management could provide a low-cost, biological solution to climate change, why wasn’t everyone talking about it?”

The two filmmakers started documenting the field work being done by researchers at the Marin Carbon Project in Northern California. “We felt it was important to get this information out. What if a solution to climate change lay in the ground beneath our feet?”

Their film, a 28 minute documentary, The Soil Solution to Climate Change was completed in 2013 and features ranchers, scientists, farmers and environmentalists all bearing the same message, “Whatever we do to increase soil fertility, is a step in reversing climate change.”

Hirashima and Cloutier’s self-funded film premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2012 and went on to screen at seven festivals, including Sausalito, Davis, OneEarth and the Wild and Scenic Film Tour. The film was also one of thirteen documentaries chosen by 350.org and the TRUST Campaign for their Climate of Change Tour, that visited college campuses across the U.S.

When the filmmakers heard that the 68th UN General Assembly declared December 5th, 2014 as World Soil Day and 2015 as the International Year of Soils, Cloutier and Hirashima decided that it was the ideal time to offer their film for free viewing around the world.

“We really want to spread the word that we don’t have to depend on technology or corporations to get us out of this climate change mess. Nature already has the answers- plants, soil, photosynthesis, the soil food web, and the carbon cycle.” says Cloutier  “We want as many people as possible to know that they can participate in the soil solution to climate change. Once we manage our land for optimal carbon sequestration and storage, we will see atmospheric CO2 levels drop to non-catastrophic levels.”

Click here to view The Soil Solution to Climate Change online, or visit the Sustainable World YouTube Channel athttps://www.youtube.com/user/SustainableWorld/videos.