Q. How did the idea of Racing Extinction come about?
A. I have a background in paleontology. I did short stories on the Mesozoic, that’s the midlife of the planet. I wrote a book on paleontology. In the book, there’s a chapter on mass extinction. Six years ago, when I began work on my movie, The Cove, I had no idea that we were going through a mass extinction at the moment. A friend, Michael Novacek wrote a book called Terra in which he talked about how we’re losing species now faster than mankind’s ability to record the reason on the planet. Through The Cove, I wanted to create awareness on this. Then with my interest in activism, I wanted to use the film as a platform to try to change how we are doing business with the planet. If we don’t act now, I don’t think other generations are going to forgive us for our current actions. Therefore, I felt this is a story that needs to be told and this was something that pinched me after I made The Cove. I didn’t have the chance to do it then.

Cows emit methane gas, 22 times more potent than carbon dioxide