Review # 3

"The Pelican Brief"

Cast: 
Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, John Heard, Sam Shepard, William Atherton, John Lithgow

Director: Alan Pakula.

Synopsis.
A student of department of law Darby Shaw knows about assassination of two Supreme Court Justices and begins the investigations. She finds some materials and documents which she passes to FBI consultant throught her lecturer and lover. After that the later was blasted in his own car. Someone starts in pursuit of Darby... Difficult "backstage" mechanisms of the White House set in motion in order to destroy unmasking materials and people who know too much. As it turned out, this affair has a deep pre-history connected with oil business and corruption.

Review.
“The Pelican Brief” is a very interesting but suspenseful movie.  It has lots of twists that make film rich, excited and tense. The film reveals the quite real and possible situation concernig a government conspiracy. The oil tycoon wants to drill for oil on the marshland which is a major habitat of an endangered species of pelican. He stops at nothing for the sake of his business, even if it requires murders. With a help of government he protects his image and remains unpunished. This film proves us that politics is a ruthless business, that allows people who are involved into it do everything want they want in order to reach their goals. Murders of innocent people and destruction of the environment are just ordinary ways in order to manage their dirty affairs.

I think such movies are neccessary for ordinary audience because they help to think and analyze the present situation of politics and its connection with modern world's environmental issue. 

Rendering 12

The article "Green means business" was published at the site of Euronews on October 22. This article covers  a quite interesting business-project that is oriented to environmental protection. The reporter introduces us young persons who made their debuts of their "green" business plans in Paris. One of them is Sarah Smith.
Sarah Smith is part of a new generation of environmentally-aware entrepreneurs. Her drive to suceed has taken her to Paris where she will pitch her idea to a panel of experts and investors. Along with her team she has developed a business plan for a network of urban cargo bikes.

There was general feeling to believe that Sarah's strategy is successful. The “awesome bike” project was one of three winners chosen by the panel. But during the subsequent debriefing, the business coach told her team that their business plan was not realistic.

Speaking of this project, it's necessary to note that about 200 students as well as Sarah, went to the 5-week Climate KIC summer school. The scheme is supported by the European Commission and aims to train entrepreneurs of the future who are capable of building businesses which reduce global warming as well as making a profit.

Analyzing the environmental situation in the world lots of these "green" entrepreneurs express the view that people don’t actually care about climate change too much because it’s a very long process. To motivate people you have to make them save money. And for participants of project it is a business because they want to earn money in the process and want to change the world that people live in.

It's difficult to predict the course of events concerning the business-project in future but as for me it's very likely that most of student's fresh ideas will be carry out and thus there will be another step towards the problem of environmental protection.

Rendering 11

The article entitled "Cyprus's race for liquid gold" was published at the site of Euronews on December 14. The giving article discusses the situation on Cyprus concerning the problem of lack of fresh water. The author which remains unknown reports at lenghth about serious concequences of this problem in some regions of Cyprus and possible solutions.

It was revealed that the second harvest of the year is being prepared in potato fields but water from the surrounding dams isn’t enough to sustain crops. Local farmers have to create places to store water from their own wells and mix it with dam water to reduce the amount of salt. It's necessary to note that about 50,000 illegal wells have been identified in Cyprus and over the years, they’ve contributed to the depletion of the country’s aquifers – water-bearing layers of underground rock. There is general feeling to believe that it became a headache for the authorities, for whom water management is a vital issue.

Speaking of solutions of this problem the author mentions about desalination, one of  non-conventional methods. Analyzing this method it's necessary to remind that during the 2008 drought, millions of tons of water had to be imported from Greece by tankers. So as to never again find themselves in such a situation, the authorities staked everything on desalination plants that provide a portion of the water when the dams are dry. Nevertheless the reporter expresses his critical view that this method is a quite controversial solution as it’s costly in energy, generates CO2 and badly affects marine biodiversity.

Giving appraisal of the situation it's also necessary to note that in the face of global warming, which will cause increasingly important water demand in the driest areas, it is imperative to better manage existing resources. And according to researchers people can use at least clean energy, such as solar energy, to limit the damage.

The author supports opinion of Manfred Lange, director of the Cyprus Institute, who expresses the view that it's necessary to find other energy sources for desalination and enhance water use efficiency. He claimed that rainwater harvesting is much better than urban drainage system and water retention system.

As for me, I absolutely agree with director's opinion concerning other energy sources for desalination. The authority of Cyprus should care not only about financial side of the question but also about environment.