2015 39 min. 978-1-893521-15-5 This film has subtitles English

The Burden

Synopsis

The Burden presents the determined voices of those within the military and across the political spectrum who advocate for breaking America’s addiction to fossil fuels as essential to improving our national security.

Featuring high-level active duty and retired military leaders, elected officials and others, the film illustrates a tale of energy innovation. Some of our country’s most vital consumer technologies emerged out of military needs, such as the Internet and GPS, and the military is poised to play the same role again with energy.

However, as the film highlights, the fossil fuel industry’s powerful political influence poses major challenges to successfully developing renewable energy alternatives, even within the military. But the resolute advocates featured in The Burden are determined to break the energy impasse in order to improve American security and prosperity.

The Film's Purpose

The U.S. military is currently the world’s single largest institutional consumer of oil, and the United States alone uses 20% of the total global supply. The film highlights how that heavy reliance upon oil and other fossil fuels poses a variety of national security concerns, including:

• The vulnerability of troops and loss of lives and money resulting from the need to protect and defend fuel convoys in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq,

• The strategic and economic costs of keeping oil rich areas of the world open,

• How climate change will increase the need for the military to respond to natural disasters, and other emerging global security challenges.

The film presents in stark terms the urgent need to accelerate our transition from oil in the name of strengthening national security. While many elected officials privately express concern about our environmental and energy challenges, many refuse to do so publicly for fear of the political consequences. The Burden hopes to change this equation.

Characters include current and former Republican elected officials, active duty and retired military leaders, and veterans-turned-entrepreneurs, who believe the most significant extension of their service to country is helping the nation end its dependence on fossil fuels through innovation that drives economic prosperity. The film highlights the work of military, political and business leaders who can inspire others in similar positions of influence to take action – without waiting for Congress.

Release Date:2015
Duration:39 min.
ISBN:978-1-893521-15-5
Subtitles:English

Trailers

Watch the trailer

Filmmaker Credits

Director, Producer, Writer
Roger Sorkin
In Association with
the Truman National Security Project
Executive Producers
Guy Saperstein, Jeanine Saperstein, Hani Shalabi
Producers
Elizabeth Dixon, Scott Fitzgerald, Ray Johnson, TVIG, Inc. and American Helios Constructors
Consulting Producer
Christopher Seward
Music
John Cabán
Associate Producers
Jon Gensler, Sharon Heaton, Nat Kreamer, Zachary MacDonald, Carrie Owens, Madeleine Pryor, Hugo Soskin, Eddie Zareh
Camera
David Duncan, Michelle Farrell, Kate Geis, Zachary MacDonald, Kelley Marchal, Richard Pearce, Roger Sorkin, Susana Travieso, Steve Weiss
Sound
Matt Bowman, Bob Haggard, Zachary MacDonald, Stueart Pearce, Eric Seguim-Arnold, Roger Sorkin, JT Wing
Assistant Editor
Zachary MacDonald
Additional Editing
Christopher Seward
Archival Research
Ed Engel, Zachary MacDonald, Rich Remsberg
Graphic Design/Animation
Ben Hillman, Sam Hull, Jordan Karr-Morse
Advisors
Joshua Busby, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, Strauss Center for International Security and Law; Larry Hott, documentary filmmaker, Florentine Films; Rachel Kleinfeld, Co-founder/CEO, Truman National Security Project; Nicole Lederer, Co-Founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs; Carl Pope, Former Chairman & Executive Director, Sierra Club; Lt. Gen. Norm Seip, USAF (Ret.), Frmr. Commander, 12th Air Force; Gen. Tony Zinni, USMC (Ret.), Fmr. Middle East special envoy / Fmr. Commander, U.S. Central Command
Featured
Gen. James Amos, Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps; Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.), former commander, U.S. Central Command; Hon. Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy; Hon. Sharon Burke, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense; Hon. Dennis McGinn, Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Cdr. Blake McBride, USN, Deputy Chief, Task Force Climate Change; Col. Bob Charette, USMC, Director, Expeditionary Energy Office; Vice Adm. Phil Cullom, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations; Capt. Wayne Porter, USN, former strategist, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Hon. Bob Inglis (R-SC), former U.S. Congressman; Mayor Gregory Ballard (R), City of Indianapolis (USMC - Ret.); Lt. Col. David Preston, U.S. Army; Robin Eckstein, Iraq war veteran; Jon Gensler, West Point graduate, Iraq war veteran; Steven Mentor, Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran

Film Festivals

Screenings

U.S. Army War College's National Security Seminar
NATO Clean Energy training exercise, Hungary
West Point, and currently in the curriculum
Annapolis Naval Academy
Privately at NATO Headquarters, Belgium
Privately at the Pentagon and White House

Awards

Best of 2016, Science Books and Films

Winner, Best Documentary Audience Award Long Beach International Film Festival, New York

Winner, Best of Festival, Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Grass Valley, California

Winner, American Clean Skies Foundation Energy Visions Prize

Resources: Downloads and Related Links

Praise

“The Burden makes a compelling case about the importance of energy security. Dependence on fossil fuels is not just an environmental concern: it’s a matter of national security. That’s why the military invests in renewable and efficient energy, and why the nation should invest in a clean energy future.”
— Sharon Burke, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense
"Highly Recommended. Sorkin’s film breaks new ground. It is a cost-benefit analysis of US military dependency on fossil fuels, a consequence of the general US dependence on these fuels. (A) well-made, very watchable documentary...of interest to anyone interested in national security."
Educational Media Reviews Online
"The Burden opens doors to meaningful discussions about the military's reliance on fossil fuels and vividly illuminates how oil dependence is increasingly a national security concern.”
– Stephanie Kline, USMC veteran, Environmental Defense Fund military energy analyst
"An outstanding and enormously important film that breaks through the partisan rhetoric that has stymied long overdue efforts to address the compelling issue of climate change. The Burden gives voice to our military leaders who make clear how unnecessary reliance on fossil fuels literally places at risk and costs the lives of our troops. A film every American who cares about supporting our troops and safeguarding national security should see."
— Richard Lazarus
Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
"Editor's Choice. Highly Recommended. An accurate story about the military's reliance on fossil fuel... Plus, it shows how the military is using energy efficiency and alternative energy."
— Science Books and Films (AAAS)
"Provides an eye-opening, in-depth look at how our addiction to oil compromises our national security, and the steep price we pay in dollars and in human life supporting that addiction. Students of climate change and policy makers across the political spectrum will be astounded to learn the impact of oil dependence on our military and our national security. The film should be required viewing for every member of Congress who purports to support the military but opposes supporting alternatives to fossil fuels."
— Maria Savasta-Kennedy
Environmental Law at UNC School of Law
"This important film highlights the US military's huge dependency on fossil fuels, presenting a military perspective on the critical need for a transition away from them. Drawing on interviews with serving and retired US military personnel, it explains how this dependency creates an unintended energy burden, while global demand for oil causes insecurity. We hope this film will inform military or political sceptics on why militaries must change their approach to energy use and reliance on fossil fuels."
— Conflict and Environment Observatory, UK
"If there’s one image that lingers after viewing The Burden, it’s the ubiquitous shots of troops — from every service in every theater — trudging around with massive fuel hoses over their shoulders. The film underscores where the military finds itself as the new century begins: Liquid petroleum is its lifeblood, but those fuel lines are an oppressive tether.”
— Wyatt Olson, Stars and Stripes
"The Burden provides an important insight into the way fossil fuels hinder the military's ability to protect the nation and achieve their missions. Use of fossil fuels can threaten the supply lines of our military, but also leads to increases in the number of threats they will need to defend against. An important call to action."
— Destenie Nock
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University