Another “Traitor to the Left”, Before Michael Moore There Was Robert Stone
Michael Moore is being called a traitor to the left because of his attack on green energy in his film, Planet of the Humans. The film effectively casts doubt on green energy’s ability to ever solve climate change, and questions the integrity of several prominent green energy promoters, like Al Gore and Bill McKibben. On 4/21, the day before Earth Day, the film was released free on YouTube, and nine days later it has received over 4.5 million views. Moore promised to keep it free for at least 30 days. At its current rate, it could reach 15 million views by then. No wonder the left is worried.
The backlash against Moore is reminiscent of the backlash 7 years ago against another progressive film maker, Robert Stone, for his pro-nuclear energy movie, Pandora’s Promise. Stone had helped Moore with his first movie, Roger and Me. Moore expressed his gratitude to Stone when Pandora’s Promise was shown at Moore’s 2013 Traverse City Film Festival. Events came full circle when Moore introduced his own anti-renewable movie, Planet of the Humans, at his 2019 Traverse City Film Festival.
Stone’s film debunked the three primary criticisms of nuclear energy, that it is extremely dangerous, that it would allow nuclear proliferation, and that it had no solution for its waste. Anti-nuclear critics, without conceding these issues, shifted their objection to its high cost. When the new nuclear reactors designs addressed the cost issue, the critics said that nuclear reactors were not needed because green energy would solve climate change.
Then came Planet of the Humans; green energy had its own serious problems. It would seem that it was time to reconsider nuclear energy, but Moore gave it no mention, pro or con. In fact, the film gave no solution to climate change, except to suggest that our high energy lifestyles need to change. To get the missing story of nuclear you need to see, Pandora’s Promise.
To watch Pandora’s Promise online you may need need to go to a pay site. But you can get a good understanding of the movie from this free video where Stone talks to the 7th Thorium Energy Alliance Convention in 2015:
In the beginning of his latest podcast, Moore said, “You could say that the third act of the movie is in your hands. The movie has to be completed by the people who see the movie. Because we are all in this together, in terms of figuring out the solutions and what we are going to do.”
Moore has said that the coronavirus lockdown has given us the time for everybody to participate in a discussion to save the environment. I agree. A broad discussion is needed which includes green energy, nuclear, carbon capture and climate engineering. His controversial movie has gotten everybody’s attention. We need to stop preaching and start listening.
Added 5/1/20:
Yesterday, Robert Stone talked about Planet of the Humans in an online forum about the closing of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant near New York City. Pandora’s Promise actually starts with a protests at Indian Point several years ago. Stone lives near Indian Point and Michael Moore is currently in NYC for the corona lockdown. So both film makers will be emitting more CO2 because Indian Point is being replaced by natural gas.
Stone spoke for 15 minutes in the forum video, which was well over 3 hours. The link above will take you to where Stone starts, but the rest of the video is worth seeing if you find the time. The forum covers a topic that should have been in Moore’s film. The closure of Indian Point and other nuclear power plants, during a climate emergency, represents the most egregious example of green energy insanity.