Why I Saw This Movie
If left to myself, I would never
have watched this movie.
Not because
I don’t believe in the danger of climate change, but because I believe in it
all too much, and thinking about it only sends me into depression. Consequently, I try not to think about it.
However, I
was recently assigned to teach an advanced English for Academic Purposes class
(for ESL students) in which the topic for the term was human activity and climate change. This movie was part of the pre-determined
curriculum, and because my students had to watch the movie, I also had to watch
it with them.
The Review
First, a caveat:
Someday, I’m
going to write a long and pessimistic blog post about how I don’t think we
humans are going to get our act together in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. (I’d love to be proven wrong on this, but…) But this is not that post. In this post, I’m going to focus primarily on
reviewing this movie and critiquing its effectiveness. I’ll deal tangentially with the larger issues
(it would be impossible to ignore them completely) but it’s not the purpose of
this post to write exhaustively all my thoughts about global warming.
Next, the
review:
Since this
movie is already several years old, I suspect that by now either you’ve already
seen it, or you’re not planning to.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve been purposely avoiding it.
If you have
been avoiding this movie, the good news is that it’s not quite as emotionally
draining as I feared it would be. Or, at
least it balances interesting facts with predictions of gloom and doom.
Documentaries
are a popular genre because we humans get pleasure from learning something new,
and there is actually a lot of interesting science in this movie that does stimulate
and feed your brain even as you realize the implications of what you’re
learning are devastating.
Al Gore got a lot of flack during the 2000 election for being stiff and boring,
but this was unfair. He’s a skilled
communicator with a lot of folksy charm, and as he guides you through the
issues and the science he makes a wonderful narrator.
For
example, I thought his description of why Carbon Dioxide levels vary with the
seasons was quite interesting. I also
enjoyed his description of how scientists use ice in the Antarctic to obtain a historical
record of global temperatures.
Also, I
think it was good for me to watch this film.
I had
previously been avoiding it because I already believed in climate change, and
so saw no need to watch a film that would convert me to what I already knew. But after watching this film, I have a
renewed sense of urgency about the matter, which has caused me to be more vigilant
about conserving energy.
Therefore,
I think I’m a better person for watching the film, and it’s probably an
important enough film that, ideally, everyone should see it.
Unfortunately
everyone’s not going to see it, and this film is going to be almost exclusively
watched by people who already agree with it.
Part of the
reason for this is the spokesman, Al Gore, is not perceived as a neutral figure
in American politics.
The movie itself originated as just a slide-show presentation Al Gore had put together. When movie producer Laurie David saw the slide show, she was so inspired that she put together a team to make a motion picture out of the slide show. Al Gore agreed to the project. To the original slide show presentation, the producers decided to mix in pieces of Al Gore's biography.
Since the
whole basis of the film is Al Gore’s presentation, it is perhaps a little
unreasonable to ask that Al Gore be removed from Al Gore’s presentation.
And yet,
the decision to integrate the issue of climate change with Al Gore’s biography
guarantees that this film will have limited appeal outside of the Democratic
Party base. It struck me that one of the
reasons this film has such a polemical reputation isn’t because of climate
change, but because conservatives really hate Al Gore.
(I remember
I was doing my student teaching in a ultra-right wing conservative Christian high school during the 2000 election, and its impossible to
understate the visceral hatred these people had for Al Gore. During the re-count debacle, they
were convinced he was trying to destroy the republic.)
To make
matters worse, the film contains some polemical jabs against George W. Bush and his administration.
It’s not
that Bush doesn’t deserve the scorn (I’m no fan of Bush myself), but
ultimately, if there’s any hope that humans will come together to avert a
global catastrophic, then the goal will have to be to convert conservatives,
not alienate them.
Unfortunately,
I worry that this film is not going to make converts.
Again, I
know you can’t really criticize Al Gore for being involved in a film about Al
Gore’s slideshow. Given that Al Gore can’t
be anyone but himself, I think the worst you can say of him is that he did what
he could, and the world is a better place for it. But at some point, if we’re going to get any
dialogue on this issue, we’re going to need an evangelical film by a figure
less associated with partisan politics.
(As it is… well, you can give this film to your conservative friends if
you want to, but don’t expect them to watch anything with Al Gore’s name on
it.)
Solutions
One of the reasons I’m so
pessimistic about Global Warming is that in spite of all the increased
awareness we have about the problem, human beings show no sign of reducing our
carbon footprint. In fact we show every
sign of increasing our consumption, not decreasing it.
In the 3rd
world, where I am currently living, the goal of the people is to
develop to Western standards of living.
From an egalitarian standpoint, we in the West can hardly criticize
this, and indeed economic development is the explicit goal of many NGOs working
in the 3rd world. And yet, if the 3rd
world ever did catch up to the West in terms of consumption, it would be
environmentally disastrous.
Even in the
West, consumerism is only increasing as yesterday’s luxuries are considered
today’s necessities. To give but one
example out of many, high-powered smart phones, which 5 years ago were
considered a luxury, are now quickly becoming a necessity to keep up socially.
Right now,
we can’t even properly address the problem because we are still trying to get a
large portion of the politicians to acknowledge the reality. But, even if we did convert all the
science-deniers on the Right, does humanity have the will-power and the means
to address this problem?
Al Gore is
an optimist. He believes we do. And at the end of the movie, he quickly lists
all the ways we can overcome the problem.
“…If we accept that this problem is real,
maybe it’s just too big to do anything about.
And you know, there are a lot of people who go straight from denial to
despair, without pausing on the intermediate step of actually doing something
about the problem. And that’s what I’d
like to finish with: the fact that we already know everything we need to know
to effectively address this problem. We’ve got to do a lot of things, not just
one. If we use more efficient
electricity appliances, we can save this much” [Indicates space on graph] “off of the global warming pollution that
would otherwise be put into the atmosphere.
If we use other end-use efficiency, this much. If we have higher mileage cars, this
much. All these begin to add up. Other transport efficiency. Renewable technology. Carbon capture and sequestration—a big
solution that you’re going to be hearing a lot more about. They all add up, and pretty soon we are below
our 1970 emissions. We have everything we need, save perhaps political
will. But you know what? In America political will is a
renewable resource.”
Perhaps he
goes through this a little bit too quickly.
He didn’t even bother to explain most of the solutions he listed at the
end. Despite his assertion that I’m going to be hearing a lot more about carbon
capture and sequestration, I still have no idea what this is.
(Also,
correct me if I’m wrong, but even this hopeful picture is still based on the
assumption that China, India, and the rest of the 3rd World never rise-up out
of poverty and reach Western levels of consumption, right? If we factor in economic development and
increasing levels of consumption in the 3rd world, then….? And what about the projections for continued
population increases?)
Solutions
are not the main thrust of this movie.
The point of this documentary is just to convince people that the
problem exists. Unfortunately, we’re
still at that stage of our political discourse.
(Although, as I mentioned above, the irony is that this movie is only
going to be watched by the sort of people who already believe the problem
exists.)
At some
point though, we’re going to need another documentary that explores more fully
the solutions to global warming.
Al Gore’s Personal
Environmental Record
Although Al Gore was well-known as
an environmentalist even back in the 1990s, it’s important to remember that his
political record didn’t always match his rhetoric. (For example, SEE - THESE - LINKS - HERE) In fact his poor environmental
record was one of the reasons Nadar’s campaign was so popular with
a large percentage of green voters back in 2000
Now that Al
Gore is out of political office, he’s found it advantageous to return the environmentalist
rhetoric.
Ordinarily,
I wouldn’t care. Politicians reinvent
themselves all the time, and if Al Gore is a hypocrite, so what? Ad hominem attacks don’t disprove the content
of the message.
Except…except
Al Gore’s own political history does seem to undercut his message of hope.
Al Gore
believes that the global climate change crisis is solvable if the American
people simply muster the political will power.
But perhaps this is an overly optimistic view of how the political
process works in our country.
In the 2000
election, why did Al Gore make so many concessions to oil companies? (SEE HERE
- HERE - HERE- HERE and HERE for examples). It wasn’t
because he personally believed it was the right thing to do. The author of Earth in the Balance (A) knew as well as anyone the environmental
dangers. It certainly wasn’t because his
political base wanted it. And it wasn’t
even because he believed it would be popular with the majority of voters. (He
certainly didn’t campaign on these concessions). If everyone was against these concessions to
business, then why do they keep happening?
Powerful
corporations and businesses lobbyist control much of the political process. Al Gore knew it was a political necessity to
make these concessions not because the people wanted it, but because businesses
wanted it.
Al Gore
speaks like if we simply vote in the right politicians, we can solve climate
change. But if that we’re true, it would
have already been solved. We already had
8 years of Clinton-Gore, and what did that get us?
In 2008, after his primary victory, Obama promised his supporters that: " I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to
look back and tell our children that this was the moment when ... the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to
heal."
But what has happened since then?
The lesson
seems to be that you can vote however you want, but business interests, not the
voters, are going to decide the country’s environmental policies.
And that’s
another reason why I’m pessimistic that this problem will be solved.
The Ending Credits
Yep, I’m
going to complain about the ending credits here.
During the
ending credits, the filmmakers attached a list of all the things you could do
to solve the problem of climate change.
Below is their list:
Are you ready to
change the way you live?
The climate crisis can
be solved.
Here’s how to start
go to
www.climatecrisis.net
You can reduce your
carbon emissions
In fact, you can even
reduce your carbon emissions to zero.
Buy energy efficient
appliances
* lightbulbs
Change your thermostat
(and use clock thermostats)
to reduce energy for heating
& cooling
Weatherize your house
Increase insulation,
get an energy audit
Recycle
If you can, buy a
hybrid car
When you can, walk or
ride a bicycle
When you can, use
light rail* mass transit
Tell your parents not
to ruin the world that you will live in
If you are a parent,
join with your children
to save the world they will live in
switch to renewable
sources of energy
Call your power
company
to see if they offer green energy
if they don’t ask them why not
Vote for leaders who
pledge to solve this crisis
Write to congress
If they don’t listen,
run for congress
Plant trees
Lots of trees
Speak up in your
community
Call radio shows and
write newspapers
Insist that America freeze
CO2 emissions
Join international
efforts to stop global warming
Reduce our dependence
on foreign oil
Help farmers grow alcohol
fuels
Raise fuel economy
standards
Require lower
emissions from automobiles
If you believe in
prayer,
pray that people will find
the strength to change
In the words of the
old African proverb,
when you pray
move your feet
Encourage everyone you
know to see this movie
Learn as much as you can about the
climate crisis
Then put your knowledge
into action
Now, when I
was showing this movie to my class of Cambodian students, it was impossible for
all the students to read these suggestions off of the small screen TV we were
using in the classroom. So I had to
stand at the front of the room and read out the suggestions aloud as the
credits rolled. Occasionally I stopped
to explain something or clarify a point.
Here’s what it sounded like:
Are you ready to
change the way you live?
The climate crisis can
be solved.
Here’s how to start
go to
www.climatecrisis.net
“…Actually I was just
visiting that website before class. It
didn’t really think it had many useful practical suggestions, but go ahead and
check yourself and see what you think…”
You can reduce your
carbon emissions
In fact, you can even
reduce your carbon emissions to zero.
“…All the way to
zero! Really? It doesn’t really say how
though, does it? Does anyone know how
you can do this? No? Well, moving on....”
Buy energy efficient
appliances
* lightbulbs
“….let’s see, it doesn’t really say where you can buy
these. Does anyone know where they sell
these? No? Oh, wait, next one…”
Change your thermostat
(and use clock thermostats)
to reduce energy for
heating
“…Let’s see, you probably don’t really heat your house in Cambodia, do
you? No, I didn’t think so…”
& cooling
Weatherize your house
Increase insulation,
get an energy audit
“…Do you insulate houses in Cambodia? No? Does
anyone around in Cambodia
do energy audits? No?....”
Recycle
“…Yeah, you can recycle.
I think you already knew that though…”
If you can, buy a
hybrid car
When you can, walk or
ride a bicycle
When you can, use
light rail* mass transit
“…No mass transit in Phnom
Penh, is there?
Okay, just ignore that one…”
Tell your parents not
to ruin the world that you will live in
“…Um, you might want to be a little bit nicer about it…”
If you are a parent,
join with your children
to save the world they will live in
“…Nobody here is a parent, right? Okay, just ignore that one…”
switch to renewable
sources of energy
Call your power
company
to see if they offer green energy
if they don’t ask them why not
“…Does anyone here ever call your power company? Does this sound a conversation you might
have? No? Okay, just ignore this one too…”
Vote for leaders who
pledge to solve this crisis
Write to congress
If they don’t listen,
run for congress
“…Can any of you run for congress? No?
Okay, ignore that one as well…”
Plant trees
lots of trees
Speak up in your
community
Call radio shows and
write newspapers
Insist that America
freeze CO2 emissions
“…Yeah, okay, you can try this. I’m not sure who in America you
would contact…”
Join international
efforts to stop global warming
“…Um, let’s see, it doesn’t really say how you would do this…”
Reduce our dependence
on foreign oil
“…Yeah, again, I’m not sure how you would do this, so…”
Help farmers grow
alcohol fuels
“…Does anyone here help famers grow alcohol fuels? No? I’m
not sure how you would go about doing this….”
Raise fuel economy
standards
“…Again, I’m not sure how you would go about doing this on
your own…”
Require lower
emissions from automobiles
“….Yeah, um, just see what you can do about this one…”
If you believe in
prayer,
pray that people will find
the strength to change
“…Um…,well, you can do that if you want to but…”
In the words of the
old African proverb,
when you pray
move your feet
Encourage everyone you
know to see this movie
Learn as much as you can about the
climate crisis
Then put your knowledge
into action
“…Um, right, so, to sum up, your options are to pray, or run
for congress. Any questions?...”
[…Sigh…]
This list
comes right at the end of the movie, right after the viewer has been
sufficiently scared into being motivated to take action, and is desperate to
find out what they personally can do.
Never will
the viewer be more receptive to practical advice.
Never was
an opportunity more criminally misused.
How much
time do you think the filmmakers spent putting this list together? Did the
interns take 5 minutes right before lunch break? Were people in the room just yelling out
whatever came into their head? Were they
accepting any and all ideas?
About half
of the suggestions on this list just amount to telling other people to be
worried about climate change in some form or another.
Okay, to be
fair, some of the ideas on this list are good practical suggestions.
Other
things on this list would be okay if the list didn’t muddle together issues
that can be addressed individually with issues that require collective action. (Whoever put this list together apparently
doesn’t understand the difference.) Both
are issues that need attention, but it doesn’t really inspire empower people if
you promise them a list of things they can start doing right now, and then
instead just list a variety of issues that are going to require large scale
political organization.
I mean
really, without any further help or guidance, what good does it do to just tell
someone to “Raise fuel economy standards”?
What is that person going to do when they walk out of the movie theater? It would have been much better to just
provide contact details for organizations already working on these issues.
And then,
some items on this list just seem to embody the worst aspect of flaky new age hippy
thinking. “Tell your parents not to ruin the world that you will live in”????? Does
that sound like it’s going to be the start to a constructive conversation? “If you
are a parent, join with your children to save the world they will live in”????
Yeah, that’s a great consciousness raising sentiment and everything, but you’re
preaching to the converted. The reason
we’re watching this video is because we’re already concerned about saving the
world we live in. Just please give us
some practical advice!
And then: “If you believe in prayer, pray that people
will find the strength to change.”
Oh come on! This is the advice we’re
getting?! Come on, this is a serious issue!
Now,
granted, a significant portion of the American population does believe that God
routinely intervenes in earthly affairs.
(Although,
not to be to cynical but, much of that same population also believes that the
fate of the earth is firmly in God’s control, and so what we humans do won’t
matter much one way or the other, which is one of the reasons climate change is
having so much trouble gaining traction as a broad based issue in the first
place.)
But for a
documentary that hopes to have a broad-based appeal, resorting to appeals for
divine intervention to solve the climate-change crisis is an unfortunate
editorial decision. I mean, if we’re
going to appeal to private individual beliefs to solve climate change, then why
not also say that the droughts caused by global warming might be solved if
people tried more rain dances? Or, since
many people in Cambodia believe in animist forest spirits, ask people to supplicate the tree
gods in the rain forests so that more carbon can be absorbed.
(Even
assuming a Christian worldview, I’m not sure you could just appeal to God to help
people change their ways. Somewhere in
here there’s a sticky theological question of human free will, but I’ll leave
that alone for now.)
And then,
they follow up the advice for prayer with: In
the words of the old African proverb, when
you pray move your feet.
Okay, so essentially they’re
saying pray, but just don’t expect it to do any good.
Worthless!
Also: Help farmers
grow alcohol fuels
Correct me
if I’m wrong, but I’m not sure alcohol fuels are better for global warming than
oil. Don’t they also release Carbon
Dioxide, and isn’t the land used to grow them sometimes taken from the
rainforest?
Reduce our dependence
on foreign oil
Yeah, the atmosphere really
doesn’t care if the oil is foreign or domestic.
And we have plenty of domestic oil if we wanted to burn it.
If they don’t listen,
run for congress
Okay, I’m
going to shatter a Jeffersonian myth here, and say that, for most ordinary people,
running for congress is not a realistic option.
Since the constitution prohibits anyone under 25 from serving in
Congress, by the time most people have reached the age where they are eligible,
they have jobs, families, and responsibilities which occupy most of their time.
