The 1960 film, depicting the origins of the Tennessee Valley Authority, has been restored and got a rare screening at a recent film festival.
"Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick and Jo Van Fleet star in "Wild River," a stirring drama set during Depression-era Tennessee. The film revolves around true events â€" the controlled flooding of the Tennessee River by the newly formed Tennessee Valley Authority. In order to flood the river, though, the residents need to be relocated, but one woman (Van Fleet) refuses to leave her homestead. Enter Clift as the TVA agent sent out from Washington, D.C., to persuade her to leave the area where they have resided for generations."
"The creation of the vast system of dams... tamed the Tennessee River, which almost annually flooded, carrying away millions of dollars worth of land, buildings, livestock â€" not to mention people [and] brought electricity to a seven-state region that had been nearly devoid of modern life's most essential power source..."
"[Kazan] believed in the TVA, perhaps the most successful act of civil and social engineering in American history. Those dams were mighty constructions â€" it is said their individual masses were sometimes 12 times that of all the pyramids, that you could have buried 20 Empire State Buildings in some of their excavations."
"...those great dams abide. They are still the property of the U.S. government, and the money they earn goes to dozens of local governments and institutions. "The New South" â€" no longer backward and benighted but an economically, socially and culturally vibrant region -- began in the Tennessee Valley."
FULL STORY: Elia Kazan, complexity monger

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Minneapolis Bans Rent-Setting Software
Four cities have enacted restrictions on algorithmic software that can inflate rent costs.

Oakland to Add 244 New EV Chargers
Oakland plans to launch its new charging network at eight locations by the end of 2025.

Jane Goodall Inspires with Message of Hope, Resilience, and Environmental Action
Speaking in Pasadena, Jane Goodall offered a hopeful and inspirational message, urging global compassion, environmental responsibility, and the power of individual action to shape a better future.
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