Jeremy Jones on Climate Change, Division and His New Film: Purple Mountains

A legend in the snowboard field and pioneer in significant mountain freeriding, Jeremy Jones has conquered some of the most significant, baddest mountains on the planet. In 2010, he started a new company––Jones Snowboards––that models and builds freeride-oriented snowboards, bindings and accessories. Nationwide Geographic even nominated him as 1 of their Adventurers of the Calendar year in 2013.

Now, the 45-year-previous father-of-two is focused on a further, more urgent mission––saving the planet from local weather alter.

Jones is not new to the environmentalism space––he began the non-income business, Defend Our Winters (POW), in 2007. But though his business proceeds to unfold consciousness about the devastating consequences of local weather alter on our planet, the political divide about this difficulty is larger than at any time.

In buy to much better recognize where the political divide about local weather science stems from, and how to bridge it, he started perform his latest movie project––Purple Mountains––which was unveiled this 7 days and is now offered to stream for no cost. We caught up with Jones to go over the movie, what he’s realized, and where we go from here.

MJ: You just unveiled Purple Mountains to the earth, what can you tell us about the movie?

JJ: It is my journey to recognize why we are so divided as a region on local weather alter. It is truly the most divisive difficulty in the region, even more than guns. So, it’s about how we obtained so divided on something like thoroughly clean air, thoroughly clean water and a healthful planet.

MJ: Why is local weather alter this kind of an critical difficulty?

JJ: It is critical due to the fact at the finish of the day, science has been genuinely constant that the recent path is the completely wrong path. Our modern society is now observing the consequences of the mass consumption and burning of CO2 in the environment. We have to have to make alterations as a modern society and the only way to make key alterations is to do it collectively. For that to transpire, we have to have the world’s leaders on board due to the fact it’s not a uncomplicated alter.

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MJ: Wherever does the title Purple Mountains arrive from?

JJ: I arrived up with the title Purple Mountains due to the fact we understood with this election that we have to have to acquire in a handful of key states. They are not purple states, they are not blue point out, I get in touch with them purple states. Which is been our target with Defend Our Winters, just putting our endeavours in areas where a few thousand votes will be the variance involving a local weather winner in place of work or a local weather denier in place of work.

MJ: If men and women acquire 1 thing absent from Purple Mountains, what do you hope it will be?

JJ: Ideally, it would be understanding the urgency needed to act on local weather alter and making that a priority. Since lengthy-expression, as significantly as these other concerns are genuinely critical, we are in the eleventh hour on local weather. it’s switched into a local weather crisis and we have to have urgency on that. We genuinely have to have to get earlier this bi-polarization on local weather alter.

It is a situation where your grandkids could inquire, ‘When our region was run by local weather deniers, who did you vote for in that pivotal election?’ I think it would be tricky to defend that vote.

MJ: As a expert snowboarder, how did you develop into associated with politics?

JJ: I understood that to have serious motion on local weather alter, we needed to shift the needle with our elected officers. We are not just likely to get there by shifting our mild bulbs and applying reusable water bottles. We have to have massive-scale, systemic alter. And to do that we have to have plan and our policymakers on board.

MJ: What is the variance involving Purple Mountains and your other snowboard films?

JJ: With Purple Mountains, it’s a serious documentary. I’m definitely way out of my comfort and ease zone with this movie, which is both of those remarkable and terrifying.

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MJ: Why do you think men and women deny local weather alter is going on?

JJ: There has been this extremely concentrated and complex work to focus on certain men and women, to poke holes in the science. Hundreds of millions of pounds has been invested to insert question to local weather alter. This dates back again to the ’80s and it performs. It is not by prospect, that was the goal of the fossil gas field.

MJ: Do you believe the public’s see on local weather alter has shifted in the final couple of a long time?

JJ: The most significant alter is we are observing these new voters––the 18-35-year-previous generation––and they are severe about local weather motion. But typically, that age demographic has had a rather bad voting history. So the serious X component is finding these 18-to-35 year olds out to vote and which is where we’ve focused a ton of our focus at Defend our Winters.

To be very clear, Defend Our Winters is a bipartisan group focused on local weather motion. When we go to DC, 70% of our conferences are with reasonable Republicans that we think could quite possibly vote for local weather motion. Since at the finish of the day, we have to have to get there collectively as a region.

MJ: What do you hope to see transpire with local weather motion?

JJ: Cleanse water, thoroughly clean air and a healthful planet are byproducts of local weather motion. So what we are pushing for is this transition from fossil fuels to thoroughly clean electricity. And I have optimism due to the fact we previously have the alternatives, and the alternatives are career creators.

Appropriate now, fossil gas and thoroughly clean electricity is not on an even playing subject, the subsidies for fossil fuels are significantly larger. So preferably, we would just really like to see a reasonable market on electricity.

MJ: What is the see on local weather alter in rural mountain communities throughout the West?

JJ: We are finding earlier the local weather is not shifting story, which genuinely just happened final year. So which is beneficial and a good assertion to have built in 1984, but the sad part is we have to have urgency. In the next thirty-forty a long time, the transition is going on due to the fact the economics are far too good. But we have to have to have it transpire in the next 8-10 a long time.

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MJ: Talk about Defend Our Winters’ initiative with the Out of doors Point out?

JJ: We know there are about 50 million men and women in this region that stand for the final swing point out, which is the outdoor point out. This is 50 million men and women whose lives are genuinely connected to the outdoor in 1 way or the other, but they typically are not the finest voters.

So we’re making an attempt to make clear that local weather alter is threatening people’s yard paradise––which is frequently on general public lands––so you have to have to vote for the land that you really like. And based where you stay, this land may perhaps also be underneath risk of extraction from the fossil gas field. A single of the matters that will make America distinctive is that we were so progressive with our protection of general public lands, but they are underneath attack by the extraction field.

MJ: How can men and women assist with the struggle against local weather alter?

JJ: Vote, get buddies to vote, get more buddies to vote. I will say, there is a concerted work to make voting as tricky as feasible this year, so you genuinely have to have to make a prepare. We released makeadamnplan.com to assist men and women make a voting prepare and navigate the various requirements for voting in your region.