In The Story Of Broke, Leonard discusses how a shift in government spending toward renewable energy, better materials, cleaner chemistry, and zero-waste projects could revive both our environment and the job market. We’re not really broke, she says, it’s just that our economic system is broken. There are admittedly some subsidies available for renewable energy projects, but Leonard wonders why "we are giving public money to super mature, profitable oil and gas companies" instead of more cash for the companies that really need it.
She stresses that she’s not anti-subsidy; she just wants to see more support for environmentally friendly projects—the kinds of things that will keep our oil-reliant economy from continuing its deathly spiral. "If solar companies were having record profits, I’d say let’s stop subsidizing them too. Once they’re raking in the profits, it’s not the public’s job to put the icing on the profit cake," she says. So what should the government subsidize? "We need to be supporting companies that are helping all of us," she says. "I personally got a solar system and super energy efficient windows because there were some tax breaks for that. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to see."
We also recommend watching: "Consumer Awareness: The Story of Bottled Water" and "Consumerism: The Story of Stuff".
Annie Leonard is a proponent of sustainability and critic of excessive consumerism. The Story of Stuff Project was created by Annie Leonard to leverage and extend the film’s impact and amplify public discourse on a series of environmental, social and economic concerns to build a more sustainable and just world.
Occupy Movement: The Story of Broke