Inside Clean Energy: 6 Things Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Gets Wrong

Filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary purports to expose hypocrisy at the heart of the renewable energy movement. But the video, released on YouTube last week, is a mess of deceptive and outdated anecdotes, and a succession of ridiculous arguments. It will almost certainly do far more harm than good in the struggle to reduce carbon emissions.

Filmmaker Michael Moore released the documentary "Planet
of the Humans" last week, a critique of the movement to renewable energy. 

As a reporter who covers renewable energy and has a background in covering the business of energy, watching "Planet of the Humans" was a slog, the equivalent of being cornered at a backyard barbecue by someone who wants to share conspiracy theories.

The writer and director, Jeff Gibbs, and the executive producer, Moore, have put together something that is woefully dated—the kind of commentary that was more common years ago, when renewable energy was more expensive and less efficient and we knew much less about what an energy transition might look like. Today we know more and we know better, but to watch this film you'd think it was about 2010.

Read the story from Inside Climate News by Dan Gearino - “Inside Clean Energy: 6 Things Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Gets Wrong.”

Climate experts call for 'dangerous' Michael Moore film to be taken down.

A new Michael Moore-produced documentary that takes aim at the supposed hypocrisy of the green movement is “dangerous, misleading and destructive” and should be removed from public viewing, according to an assortment of climate scientists and environmental campaigners.

A still from Planet of the Humans, which has provoked a furious reaction.

The film, Planet of the Humans, was released on the eve of Earth Day last week by its producer, Michael Moore, the baseball cap-wearing documentarian known for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine. Describing itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows”, the film argues that electric cars and solar energy are unreliable and rely upon fossil fuels to function. It also attacks figures including Al Gore for bolstering corporations that push flawed technologies over real solutions to the climate crisis.

Read the story from The Guardian by Oliver Milman - “Climate experts call for 'dangerous' Michael Moore film to be taken down.”

Michael Moore produced a film about climate change that’s a gift to Big Oil

Last week marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. To celebrate the occasion, filmmaker Michael Moore dropped a new movie he produced, Planet of the Humans. In less than a week, it has racked up over 3 million views on YouTube.

Executive producer Michael Moore, director Jeff Gibbs,
 and producer Ozzie Zehner on stage at the Traverse
City Film Festival screening of Planet of the Humans
on August 4, 2019.

 

But the film, directed by Jeff Gibbs, a long-time Moore collaborator, is not the climate message we’ve all been waiting for — it’s a nihilistic take, riddled with errors about clean energy and climate activism. With very little evidence, it claims that renewables are disastrous and that environmental groups are corrupt.

What’s more, it has nothing to say about fossil fuel corporations, who have pushed climate denial and blocked progress on climate policy for decades. Given the film’s loose relationship to facts, I’m not even sure it should be classified as a documentary.

Read the story from Vox by Leah C. Stokes - “Michael Moore produced a film about climate change that’s a gift to Big Oil.”

Cuts to climate research at CSIRO puts Australia’s public health at risk

CSIRO’s science is absolutely critical to the health of Australia. The proposed cuts to CSIRO will mean our national capacity to understand health issues related to climate science will be under threat according to Michael Moore, CEO of Australia’s peak public health body, the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA).

“It is simply incomprehensible as to how the proposed cuts to Oceans and Atmosphere, and the Land and Water Divisions can help Australia when they are such an integral part of the operation of the country. It is fanciful to think overseas research agencies will stand up to fill this gap in Australia’s research capacity,” said Mr Moore.

“This is a time when the importance of being able to understand our ecosystem, to monitor changes, to plan and monitor these responses is paramount. The CSIRO staffing changes will undermine the skills, experience and corporate memory for the organisation, and its capacity to serve Australia.”

“Australia’s natural climate is hot and highly fire prone, with the world’s most variable rainfall. This raises questions that have not yet been fully understood, on how these global changes will impact on health issues such infectious disease vectors and general health, human migration and heat response planning,” Mr Moore added.

“Changes in how crops and livestock will grow and behave, for example, requires an ability to research changes needed in agriculture, the protection of natural systems and the impact it will have on maintaining a healthy Australian population.”

The PHAA supports calls from international climate scientists to reverse the decision which would isolate Australian from the global scientific community and send many of our brightest scientists overseas in search for jobs.

“If this decision is not reversed, then the Australian Prime Minister Mr Turnbull will need to explain to the Australian public and the science community how this expertise is going to be maintained in an innovative Australia”.