In and effort to encourage the public to become more environmentally conscious, the McDowell County Solid Waste Authority debuted the 90-minute movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Friday night, January 16th at the McDowell County Commission Conference room. Admission was free and a discussion on global warming followed the movie.
SWA Vice Chairman Patton explained that the award-winning documentary features former presidential contender Al Gore and contains an abundance of information on the many causes and negative effects of global warming. Though the movie has engendered controversy since being released in 2005, the message is timelier than ever.
“The movie is not anti-coal and it’s not what you think,” Patton says. “Mr. Gore connects all the dots and makes global warming issue easy to understand for anyone. It certainly gives us all a lot to think about.”
Moreover, Patton said the information in the movie is presented in an entertaining and personal way.
“The movie is not boring. It's very educational, and it doesn’t preach,” he says. “It presents the information and lets the viewer draw his own conclusions. All of those who attended its local debut agreed that it is a real eye-opener.”

Patton says he purchased the movie himself to see what all the fuss was about. Since then, he adds that he has encountered quite a bit of negative resistance by simply mentioning it.
“People have all kinds of negative opinions about it and they’ve never even watched it,” he notes. “I don’t know how you can be negative about something you’re not familiar with.”
Showing the movie is a part of the SWA Board’s continuing thrust to educate the public about the importance of creating a clean, green environment for future generations and us.
In that vein, Patton reminds the public that beginning February 1, anyone caught burning trash will automatically receive a ticket. The stricter measure is a part of the state code.
There won’t be any warnings, just an automatic ticket,” Patton says. ‘We’re telling people now because most don’t know about the change and we don’t want anyone to get a ticket for something so easily avoidable.”
For additional information on burning, contact the SWA at 436-6608.