Five Reasons Why

In April, Amy gave away or sold most of her personal belonging, moved out of the home where she’d been living, and cashed in her retirement in order to manifest her dream: a documentary about the impact of climate change on people in the United States.

The seeds of her involvement with climate change were planted in 1999-2000, when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi, East Africa. Her project was to educate people about AIDS, a task that taught her about the devastating consequences of denial. Despite the high rate of infection, the word AIDS was never spoken; methods of prevention were not discussed; and the disease continued to spread.

While Amy was in Malawi, there was also a severe drought and many of the people in her village died of starvation.

Malawian Baby in Mother’s Arms

To learn more about Amy’s time in Malawi, read this Sun Magazine article.

In 2004, Amy met David Suzuki, the Japanese Canadian environmentalist. He told her that the drought-induced starvation she’d witnessed in East Africa was related to climate change. That drought, he explained, was only one of many catastrophes that are expected to increase in severity and occurrence because of climate change. Since that time, Amy’s been voraciously researching the issue—traveling to meet the world’s experts on climate change: both scientists and indigenous peoples living in the most severely impacted regions—and holding focus groups with American’s to determine the level of awareness in the general population.

Rachel Stewart, an 85-year old Gwich’in elder living in Fort Mcpherson in the Canadian Arctic. She says that the fish she depends on are no longer good to eat, the warmer water rots their flesh.

All of the scientists and indigenous peoples agree with Suzuki: climate change is the issue of our time. And the scientific community agrees: human behavior is the main cause of our warming planet. But the majority of American’s are not aware, or concerned, about our changing climate.

There are parallels between AIDS in Africa and climate change in America. As the world’s greatest polluter, America is in denial about our warming planet. But, unlike the AIDS pandemic in Africa, the consequences of America’s inaction will be experienced by the entire world.

As an American, Amy is determined: Action must be taken! We must wake up to the truth! She is creating a film, Five Reasons Why, which looks at five individuals/groups in America who are doing something about climate change. The film asks: What sparked your motivation? And what have you done?

Inspiration is contagious. Five Reasons Why intends to spread it!

Amy Wilson can be contacted at: