It’s Not Easy Being Green, Unless You’re Making Boatloads of Money at It
- Michael Moore’s “Planet of the Humans” Exposes the Green Energy Scam
By a former leftist who worked for environmental groups
May 30, 2020
Film removed from YouTube - Now on Vimeo
On the eve of this past Earth Day, Michael Moore released a new documentary on his YouTube channel. The movie takes a completely unexpected turn: a leftist film studio revealing the sham that is the green technology movement and its cynical backing by prominent environmental leaders. “Planet of Humans” is directed by long-time left-environmentalist and Moore collaborator Jeff Gibbs who also serves as narrator.
Gibbs travels across the country visiting all the high-profile green technology sites that the green establishment promised for years would not only better the environment but create plentiful jobs as well. What he found was that these heavily government-subsidized projects failed terribly to deliver what the glitzy media fanfare once promised. At solar panel and windmill sites he found that they contributed far less to the overall share of the electricity supply than expected, as they were so dependent on the vagaries of sunshine and wind. And this is when he found them still operative. Countless others were lying abandoned and rusting away as the short life-spans for solar panels and windmills made them cost-prohibitive to replace. More startling, he found frightening amounts of toxic materials needed for their construction, as much as in electric batteries for electric cars.
Finally Gibbs travels to biomass facilities. Yet again he is aghast to find they are but shams. The fuels used are none other than trees cut down from beautiful forests not only in North America but around the globe. Moreover, their power output is not only insufficient to make a real difference, like solar and wind sources, but their emissions pollute the local environment. So, Gibbs asks, how did we get this lie foisted upon us?
Gibbs reviews the financial backgrounds of all the main green celebrities at the beginning of the documentary who championed these policies: the Sierra Club, Earth Day founder Denis Hayes, Richard Branson, Al Gore, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Vinod Khosla, and Bill McKibben. In each case, he finds all have deep financial interests in the large corporate entities who stand to gain billions in the green technology revolution. Gibbs’ conclusion: it’s all one giant scam.
Gibbs’ exposé is truly remarkable in its sober analysis of the filmmakers’ own movement. But what made him and other left-environmentalists blind for so long? Free-market environmentalists have known all about this scam for well over fifteen years. Nonetheless, the dam may have broken: in less than one month since posting on YouTube, the documentary has been viewed an astounding eight million times. If this movie proves the beginning of the end of the green technology revolution, it will be a wonderful event. But, it would pose disturbing implications for the Right which would necessitate bracing self-introspection: Why did it take a leftist like Michael Moore to lead the change? Could the Right not have made during all these years such a documentary that would have garnered as much global interest? Does the Right have its Gibbs who would perform the same salutary function? If not, why does the Right continue to believe that it can effect lasting political change while remaining culturally, socially, and intellectually irrelevant? The Right should champion this documentary but also admit that the movie’s success lays bare the deep dysfunction of the Right which it can no longer afford to ignore
In addition, the Right needs to take advantage of this huge opportunity to capitalize on the disillusionment of the left-environmentalist base with their establishment. The documentary interviewed and covered dozens of grassroots scientists and activist groups who are very sincere, albeit misguided, in their concern for the environment. The Right should use the credibility won through its own long-standing opposition to the green technology hoax to extend an olive branch and form a coalition with those activists on the Left who are open-minded. Such a rapprochement could heal political divisions and offer a real opportunity to find some common ground by redefining the environmental movement. By marrying idealism with hard-headed reality, such an effort could lead to innovative solutions backed by broad public support for real social change.
- Michael Moore’s “Planet of the Humans” Exposes the Green Energy Scam
By a former leftist who worked for environmental groups
May 30, 2020
Film removed from YouTube - Now on Vimeo
On the eve of this past Earth Day, Michael Moore released a new documentary on his YouTube channel. The movie takes a completely unexpected turn: a leftist film studio revealing the sham that is the green technology movement and its cynical backing by prominent environmental leaders. “Planet of Humans” is directed by long-time left-environmentalist and Moore collaborator Jeff Gibbs who also serves as narrator.
Gibbs travels across the country visiting all the high-profile green technology sites that the green establishment promised for years would not only better the environment but create plentiful jobs as well. What he found was that these heavily government-subsidized projects failed terribly to deliver what the glitzy media fanfare once promised. At solar panel and windmill sites he found that they contributed far less to the overall share of the electricity supply than expected, as they were so dependent on the vagaries of sunshine and wind. And this is when he found them still operative. Countless others were lying abandoned and rusting away as the short life-spans for solar panels and windmills made them cost-prohibitive to replace. More startling, he found frightening amounts of toxic materials needed for their construction, as much as in electric batteries for electric cars.
Finally Gibbs travels to biomass facilities. Yet again he is aghast to find they are but shams. The fuels used are none other than trees cut down from beautiful forests not only in North America but around the globe. Moreover, their power output is not only insufficient to make a real difference, like solar and wind sources, but their emissions pollute the local environment. So, Gibbs asks, how did we get this lie foisted upon us?
Gibbs reviews the financial backgrounds of all the main green celebrities at the beginning of the documentary who championed these policies: the Sierra Club, Earth Day founder Denis Hayes, Richard Branson, Al Gore, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Vinod Khosla, and Bill McKibben. In each case, he finds all have deep financial interests in the large corporate entities who stand to gain billions in the green technology revolution. Gibbs’ conclusion: it’s all one giant scam.
Gibbs’ exposé is truly remarkable in its sober analysis of the filmmakers’ own movement. But what made him and other left-environmentalists blind for so long? Free-market environmentalists have known all about this scam for well over fifteen years. Nonetheless, the dam may have broken: in less than one month since posting on YouTube, the documentary has been viewed an astounding eight million times. If this movie proves the beginning of the end of the green technology revolution, it will be a wonderful event. But, it would pose disturbing implications for the Right which would necessitate bracing self-introspection: Why did it take a leftist like Michael Moore to lead the change? Could the Right not have made during all these years such a documentary that would have garnered as much global interest? Does the Right have its Gibbs who would perform the same salutary function? If not, why does the Right continue to believe that it can effect lasting political change while remaining culturally, socially, and intellectually irrelevant? The Right should champion this documentary but also admit that the movie’s success lays bare the deep dysfunction of the Right which it can no longer afford to ignore
In addition, the Right needs to take advantage of this huge opportunity to capitalize on the disillusionment of the left-environmentalist base with their establishment. The documentary interviewed and covered dozens of grassroots scientists and activist groups who are very sincere, albeit misguided, in their concern for the environment. The Right should use the credibility won through its own long-standing opposition to the green technology hoax to extend an olive branch and form a coalition with those activists on the Left who are open-minded. Such a rapprochement could heal political divisions and offer a real opportunity to find some common ground by redefining the environmental movement. By marrying idealism with hard-headed reality, such an effort could lead to innovative solutions backed by broad public support for real social change.