|
 What if wind farms, solar panels and other green energy projects
are not enough to save the planet and humanity simply cannot
sustain life as we know it?
"Planet of the Humans," executive produced by Oscar-winning
filmmaker Michael Moore and written and directed by Jeff Gibbs,
asks hard questions about what it sees as the failure of
well-meaning efforts to halt climate change.
"It seems like we have been losing the battle," Moore told
Reuters. "We are in deep, deep trouble."
"Planet of the Humans," which will be released on YouTube
https://youtu.be/Zk11vI-7czE on Tuesday free of charge to the
public, argues that the mainstream environmental movement has
sold out to corporate interests and that solar and wind energy
components and electric cars rely too heavily on deforestation
and electricity generated from coal and natural gas to produce
them.
"What we have been calling green, renewable energy and
industrial civilization are one and the same thing - desperate
measures not to save the planet but to save our way of life,"
Gibbs says in the film.
A better approach, Gibbs suggests, would be people having fewer
children. "Infinite growth on a finite planet is suicide," he
says.
The multi-year film project includes interviews with scientists,
industrialists and environmental activists, visits to wind
farms, solar installations and biomass plants, and an in-depth
look at the companies that collaborate and invest in green
energy initiatives.
Moore said that he, like many people, thought electric cars were
a good idea, "but I didn't really think about where is the
electricity coming from?"
[to top of second column] |
"I assumed solar panels would last for ever. I didn't know what went
into the making of them," Moore added, referring to raw materials,
including quartz, and the fossil fuels needed to manufacture the
panels.
Moore and Gibbs acknowledge the film is bleak in parts but said they
hope it will stimulate discussion. Both men will take part in a live
Q&A on Wednesday at 10 pm ET (0200 GMT Thursday) on YouTube,
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
"The film doesn't have all the answers but it challenges us to think
differently," Gibbs said.
Gibbs and Moore said the mass shutdowns and plummeting air travel
that have been one impact from the coronavirus have shown how
swiftly the planet could benefit from a change.
The economic standstill could cause carbon dioxide emissions to fall
this year by the largest amount since World War Two, the chair of
the Global Carbon Project said earlier this month.
"The fact that within days animals are coming back and the skies are
blue tells us that we don't have to build a million square miles of
solar panels or buy a zillion electric cars. If we just slow down
and stop we can make a tremendous difference instantly," said Gibbs.
"I think this is a good chance, this 50th (Earth Day)anniversary, to
think through who we are, what we've become as an environmental
movement, and where we should be going next," he said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
