An evening of Electricity on WXXI-TV

This evening presents three documentaries discussing the dichotomy between going green and keeping the lights on.

The evening begins with Independent Lens "Deep Down" at 7:30 p.m. followed by Independent Lens "Power Paths" at 8:30 p.m. and finally Global Voices "Power Trip" at 9:30 p.m. on WXXI World (cable 524/DT21.2).

Independent Lens "Deep Down"

Beverly May and Terry Ratliff grew up on opposite sides of a mountain ridge in eastern Kentucky, where coal is king. When a mountaintop removal coal mine encroaches on their community, the two find themselves on opposite sides of a debate that divides their community and the world — who controls, consumes, and benefits from the planet's dwindling supply of natural resources? In a small town in dire economic straits and high unemployment, the coal company’s offer to buy land and provide jobs can be hard to resist.

Independent Lens "Power Paths"

Strip mines and coal-burning power plants have provided royalties and jobs to a number of Native American tribes, but they have brought with them pollution, cancer and environmental devastation. POWER PATHS follows a grassroots coalition determined to transform their reservation’s economy to green energy, preserving their land for future generations.

Global Voices "Power Trip"

Amid pervasive blackouts and corruption, an American energy company purchases a formerly state-run electricity company in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Cultures clash, tempers flare and managers and locals tussle as a struggling nation attempts to build itself from beneath the rubble of Soviet collapse.