Draumalandið

Today in my culture class I watched the movie Draumalandið, which in English means Dreamland (trailer above). It is an environmental documentary about Icelandic politicians and businesses who try to lure aluminum production to the country. Iceland is an ideal place for this industry because of the hydropower and geothermal energy opportunities. Iceland saves the companies 200 million because they are using much less energy. It specifically looks at ALCOA, a company I am familiar with from my studies at St. Lawrence. ALCOA now has two plants along the St. Lawrence river and has been there for over 50 years. They have continued to pollute the air, water, people, and animals for years. There is a Native American reservation bordering ALCOA and they have had to stop farming and fishing, which are a huge part of their culture, due to the pollution. The women are advised not to eat the fish because they carry PCBs which can cause detrimental health defects to the women and their children. Now ALCOA is coming to Iceland. This angers me because I've seen the plants (in NY) and learned what they can do to people and their culture.

After I saw the movie I left feeling enraged and saddened. I was enraged that Icelandic politicians are letting ALCOA come into their country, and greeting them like heroes. I was enraged that ALCOA emits as much CO2 as 200,000 cars and uses enough electricity to power a city of over 1 million people. I was mostly enraged at this one women, who I think works for the government, when she said that this one area (where they were going to flood for a damn) wasn't even that beautiful and it doesn't matter if it is under water. First of all, the area was beautiful (all of Iceland is) and by flooding it you are killing vegetation, insects, birds, and other flora and fauna. The film shows the area being flooded and a duck sitting on a nest being washed by the water. You see the eggs float away from the nest, and one that was just starting to hatch gets submerged into the water. It was heartbreaking to see. It was also heartbreaking to see the beautiful Icelandic nature and know that industry is being proposed into those places. Part of the reason I came here, and I think why most people do, is because of Iceland's unspoiled natural landscape. You feel as if you are in a country untouched by dirty business and pollution. If they continue to let these industries exploit the natural resources of Iceland, I think many will be outraged and tourism--a huge part of the economy--could suffer.

This video shows some of the beautiful scenery and the destruction taking place. 

Update: Thursday the author of the book and the producer of the film talked to our class about his work and the movie. He had no background on the issues but wanted to write the book so that others could understand the reality that was going on. The dam that the movie focused on in Eastern Iceland has doubled the energy production in Iceland. However, the project has also killed 90% of the biomass in a nearby lake. They have already harnessed 5 times more energy than the nation needs, but they are still looking to build more smelters and dams. I think this is ridiculous as they don't need more energy and it's destroying the land, species living there, and farmers livelihood. Additionally, Iceland has the highest tourists per capita in the world. They come to Iceland for the nature not to see dams and smelters. Some positives though that have come from the film is that all the "silly politicians" that were in office during the filming of the movie, are all now out of office. People are also speaking out against ALCOA. The film showed this town Husavik in northern Iceland where they have proposed a smelter. I haven't been to this town, but it is on my list of things to see as Husavik is the "capital" of Iceland for whale watching. In the film they show the people cheering and celebrating for ALCOA. There is one family however who has farmed there for years and they would lose their farmland if the smelter was built there. The grandfather even said he would rather take his car and drive off the cliffs by their house than see ALCOA come in and lose his farm. Well the author went there and showed his film to them and did a Q&A afterwards. He said the mayor and some of his friends were acting like school bullies and giving him a hard time. However, then one man stood up and said thank you for the film, and that he hadn't spoken up before because he was afraid to stand up and voice his opinion--mostly due to the mayor and his "bullies." The author said a bunch of people, at a gas station, a coffee shop, etc kept telling him thank you. As of now there is no smelter in Husavik, but there are companies--including ALCOA--still trying to get the piece of land next to the farmers. I hope that it does not happen, for the sake of the farmers, the people, and the beautiful area that is Husavik.