Food For Thought: Earth Day Provocation

Recently my posts have been quite tame so I thought that this one would be a bit more provocative. I didn't have time to post about Earth Day, other than the video that I shared with students. So this first video is a lovely ode to the Earth that expresses our gratitude for what we have and should be protecting.

Then I read this article about how the billionaires are getting richer and richer during COVID 19. You might say what has that got to do with Earth Day. Well, this is where it starts to become provocative. Is this the way of the world, the rich benefit from others' misfortunes whether it be health or environmental?

I have been a Michael Moore fan for years because he doesn't try to be politically correct. One could argue that political correctness is what has got us into such a mess politically around the world. Anyway, that is another story. On Earth Day Michael Moore released a documentary film, Planet Humans, and claimed that we should all watch it. So I did. This is the link to the rich getting richer. Guess what? The richest people in the world are now making money from the "green movement" and driving them in a direction that isn't particularly 'green' but makes money, eg biomass fuel. As always I leave it up to you to decide what you think.

"Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late.
Removed from the debate is the only thing that MIGHT save us: getting a grip on our out-of-control human presence and consumption. Why is this not THE issue? Because that would be bad for profits, bad for business. Have we environmentalists fallen for illusions, “green” illusions, that are anything but green, because we’re scared that this is the end—and we’ve pinned all our hopes on biomass, wind turbines, and electric cars? No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine"). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late."

Finally, as I would have predicted because you can't criticize the rich, that's fake news, or politically incorrect, the "green movement" wants Michael Moores film banned and taken down as this Guardian article points out.

"Planet of the Humans has provoked a furious reaction from scientists and campaigners, however, who have called for it be taken down. Films for Action, an online library of videos, temporarily took down the film after describing it as “full of misinformation”, though they later reinstated it, saying they did not want accusations of censorship to give the film “more power and mystique than it deserves”. A free version on YouTube has been viewed more than 3m times.

A letter written by Josh Fox, who made the documentary Gasland, and signed by various scientists and activists, has urged the removal of “shockingly misleading and absurd” film for making false claims about renewable energy. Planet of the Humans “trades in debunked fossil fuel industry talking points” that question the affordability and reliability of solar and wind energy, the letter states, pointing out that these alternatives are now cheaper to run than fossil fuels such as coal."