Modern bravery speaks volumes

At the end of the day I went straight to the book store on the upper level in the Baxter Theatre at the TEDxCapeTown event, which took place on the 20 July 2013, and met Ivo Vegter in person. He was selling his new book called 'Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies' but upon examining the heavy reference section at the back of the book, it showed me that he has done plenty of research on hot topics such as the fuelled fracking debates.

My keen interest for something challenging and new got me a ticket to see the Fracknation documentary which screened at the Labia on Orange theatre on the 21 July 2013 at 14h30.

What does this man have to say?

I arrived early at the Labia theatre received my ticket, but noticed the man with the red arrow sticker. My understanding of this topic was limited, I must admit, and was hoping the documentary would help me to fully understand what people are fracking about. My initial understanding was that it is bad. Period.

I needed to find out for myself how bad this 'bad' actually is. There must be two sides to the story? The documentary was over an hour and the man on the sticker turns out to be a cool guy trying to raise awareness about other people's opinions and to question extremist protesting (@PhelimMcAleer).

There was a Q & A after the screening where Ivo Vegter allowed himself to be in the line of fire for any comments or questions. There were strong words from the audience and Ivo such as 'shale', 'dolorite', 'waterless techniques', 'regulators', 'land royalties', 'farmers', 'mineral rights', 'mines', 'limited power licence holders', 'exporting power', 'nuclear power', 'coal bed methane', 'solar panels', 'cleaner and cheaper'.

I sat quietly trying to absorb most of the concerns, but have a better understanding that it is more of an alternative energy resource for South Africa. The debate still stands tall and needs plenty of discussion platforms which should also include the youth to contribute their views and ideas.

The problem is trying to make the jargon more digestible for the youth to understand the implications as well as the positive reactions.

Don't be afraid of opinion

TEDxCapeTown challenges the normal ideas and thought patterns making alternative stories heard from different perspectives. We all have opinions that need to be shared and debated without emotions flaring and to make informed decisions about passionate topics.

Ivo has a passion for information and searching for balanced information as he is clearly dedicated to his work. Be on the lookout for Ivo's TEDx talk on the TEDxCapeTown website (@tedxcapetown).