SELC to Co-Host Atlanta Screening of Paramount's Global Warming Documentary, Featuring Al Gore

SELC to Co-Host Atlanta Screening of Paramount's Global Warming Documentary, Featuring Al Gore

Georgia Ranks Top in Nation for Largest Increase in Carbon
Dioxide Emissions

The Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization, is proud to co-host the upcoming Atlanta screening of Paramount Classic's An Inconvenient Truth, the new documentary film by a major studio that examines the increasingly urgent issue of global warming, featuring former Vice President Al Gore. A screening for the press will take place on April 21. Interviews with Mr. Gore, along with SELC Atlanta Office Director Ciannat Howett, will be scheduled for May 15. The public film opening is June 9.

The film's Atlanta debut is timely, with news today that in 2005 Georgia had the largest increase of any state in carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Also, Earth Day falling on April 22, helps focus the public's attention on the human impact on the natural environment. Additionally, May 1 is the beginning of "ozone season," which for many Atlantans means asthma attacks and curbed activities due to poor air quality.

Schedule:
* April 21: Press screening of An Inconvenient Truth, 10:30 a.m., at
Phipps Plaza
Contacts: Wendy Schoeler (Paramount) at 404-239-5433
Suzanne Henry (SELC) at 434-972-7278
* May 15: Press interviews during the day with Al Gore and Ciannat
Howett. SELC and Paramount will co-host the evening
screening for VIPs at the Regal Atlantic Station 16, 7 p.m.
Members of accredited press may receive credentials to
attend. Contact Schoeler or Henry, above.
* June 9: Public film release in Atlanta

Atlanta is "hot spot" for focus on global warming, air quality issues

Tailpipe pollution and smokestack emissions contain much of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. They also contribute substantially to American's expanding respiratory problems, especially in Atlanta. Atlanta has been described as the fastest growing city in history. Today, it's also one of the most polluted. Residents of over 25 metropolitan Atlanta counties breathe air that violates federal health standards for ozone, particle pollution or both. Tailpipe exhaust in this ever-sprawling region is the main source of summertime smog that triggers increased asthma attacks and other health problems. Atlanta is also headquarters to Southern Company. According to Cox News Service today, the Energy Department recently identified Southern as the nation's top emitter of greenhouse gases. Southern gets 76% of its power from coal-fired plants that are at least 20 years old.

SELC Actions Affecting Air Quality

SELC is at the forefront of air quality issues in Atlanta, and in the South. A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, which is 100% donor supported, SELC houses some of the nation's most effective advocates and top experts on the Clean Air Act and on transportation-related air pollution, as well as other critical conservation issues.

Through the generosity of the many individuals who support SELC's work, significant impacts at the local, regional and national level have been made including repeatedly taking legal action against power companies in the South to ensure they adhere to provisions of the Clean Air Act, specifically the requirement that modern pollution controls are installed when plants are upgraded.

SELC also spearheaded the formation and debut earlier this month of the Georgia Air Coalition, a consortium of nonprofit organizations from around the state that have joined together to advocate clean and healthy air for all of Georgia's citizens. Among the coalition's goals: hold power companies to highest clean-air standards and dramatically cut soot from diesel engines; promote transit and transportation alternatives; promote energy efficiency, use of clean fuels, and alternative sources in Georgia; develop a State Energy Plan.

Facing the Facts about Atlanta's Air Quality

A growing body of evidence links air pollution to serious health impacts, including heart disease, heart attacks, increased risk of death from lung cancer. Quick stats:

* For more than 25 years, metro Atlanta's air quality has failed to meet
national health-based standards.

* For the last 15 years, Atlanta has averaged 40 "code orange" days every
summer, when health officials warn that "children, people who are
sensitive to ozone, and people with heart or lung disease should limit
prolonged outdoor exertion during the afternoon or early evening when
ozone levels are highest."

* Residents of more than 25 metropolitan Atlanta counties currently
breathe air that violates federal health standards for ozone, particle
pollution or both.

* Many of the state's mid-sized cities, including Augusta, Athens,
Columbus, Macon and counties south of Chattanooga, TN are increasingly
failing to meet the federal standards.

* On bad air days in metro Atlanta, when ozone levels are high, there is
a 35% increase in emergency room visits for respiratory-related
illnesses, mainly among children and the elderly.

* 11% of Georgia's children have asthma -- almost double the national
average.

* Residents in the region have suffered 144 "red alert" ozone days from
2000 to 2005. The number of "red alert" days increased from 2004 to
2005.

CONTACT: Suzanne Henry of Four Leaf Public Relations, Charlottesville, VA, +1-434-972-7278, Suzanne@FourLeafPR.com, for Southern Environmental Law Center; or Cat McCue, Charlottesville, VA, +1-434-977-4090, cmccue@selcva.org, or Melinda Pierson, Chapel Hill, NC, +1-919-967-1450, mpierson@selcnc.org, both of Southern Environmental Law Center.

PRNewswire -- April 13

Source: Southern Environmental Law Center

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