Documentary Reflection
February 18, 2026 By: T00736087
The climate and energy of Canada discussion continues with the article from CBC news titled “Climate and Energy”. They stated about the difficulty of balancing the needs of the economy and environment. While reading, it became clear to me that environmental issues are not just ecological problems, but also political and social problems. I honestly believe in supporting strong and effective possible environmental protections, even if there are some economic consequences in the short-term, because I consider the long-term implications of climate change to be more important than the short-term economic effects. This article also discusses the fact that many of the different groups involved like the indigenous communities, environmental activists, etc. often have competing interests and priorities, this reflects many of the historical tensions we discussed in this course. 1
The recent documentaries from this unit have taught me that civil disobedience has been an important method for the success of many environmental movements. Many of the accomplishments of today’s environmental protections came as a result of activists risking their lives and breaking laws in order to inform people about environmental damage. The experience of watching these successes through the documentaries has changed the way I view protest because it shows how things that appear irresponsible or unreasonable at the time can be justified when viewed through the lens of social change.
An example of a case study of civil disobedience as a way for securing positive environmental change is the Fairy Creek old-growth logging protest in British Columbia. As well as being one of Canada’s largest acts of civil disobedience, in which protesters barricaded access to an area of old-growth forest to stop logging, the protests had led to arrests. While they did not stop all logging immediately, they raised awareness of old-growth protection and influenced policy discussions at both the local and provincial level, which required the government to take old-growth protection seriously. This provides evidence that civil disobedience can be effective long-term by changing the attitudes of the society and creating pressure on politicians and the people who do the policies. 2
In conclusion, I believe that civil disobedience serves a useful purpose when pursuing environmental change when it is carried out in a way that does not harm others, when it is non-violent and is clearly linked to protecting ecosystems. The documentaries helped build my understanding that securing environmental progress has always been difficult and has not been a steady progress, and the ongoing tension in Canada continues to show how this trend has kept happening historically.
1 CBC News, “Climate and Energy,” accessed February 16, 2026, https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate
2 David J. Legree et al., “Fairy Creek Logging Conflict, British Columbia, Canada,” Environmental Justice Atlas, accessed February 16, 2026, https://ejatlas.org/print/fair-creek-old-growth-logging-protests