LOOKING GLASS Activist Stewart Brand sees the future.

That America relies too much on oil, that pollution is out of control and that the world population has been growing at an unsustainable rate are three lessons you’ll learn—probably not for the first time—from Earth Days, a routine and sprawling but still somewhat engrossing documentary on the history of modern American environmental activism. Featuring great ’60s–’70s archival clips and poignant interviews with several of the aging icons who started the movement (including Population Bomb author Paul Ehrlich and Earth Day founder Denis Hayes), this is in some ways a movie about the limits of idealism. The lack of progress over the last 40 years is attributed as much to a failure of salesmanship as it is to politics. Carter couldn’t put an upbeat spin on his green initiatives; Reagan found a way to make consumption sound patriotic.

The movie offers more than its share of compelling doomsday arguments, especially when it sticks to economics. But as frequently seems to be the case with environmental docs, it preaches to the choir. Just as the environmental movement needs dynamic personalities, perhaps documentary filmmakers should look for a more innovative angle or approach.

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