An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power
Directed by Jon Shenk & Bonni Cohen
Paramount Pictures Corporation
In cinemas now
There are few subjects more reliably depressing than the problem of impending climate chaos.
In some ways, the daily dumpster fire that is the Donald Trump administration is a welcome distraction from the increasingly dire predictions of the Hell on Earth awaiting us if we do not drastically and immediately alter our trajectory.
It is worth going to see聽An聽Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, however, for the same reason that it was valuable to see it鈥檚 prequel,聽An Inconvenient Truth, over a decade ago: Through these films we can come to understand how the liberal establishment proposes to tackle this, the mother of all capitalism鈥檚 crises.
Al Gore, the former Democratic vice-president, remains the perfect spokesperson for the liberal approach to addressing climate change. He doesn鈥檛 come off as a bad guy 鈥 he鈥檚 an affable, decent fellow with a hue of misfortune hovering about him. But he consistently reveals the essential limits of what the ruling class can imagine. His tragic aura makes him the perfect pitchman for lost causes.
Gore鈥檚 faith in our political and economic system has remained undaunted, despite the debacle of the 2000 election, when the then-Democratic candidate ceded the presidency to George W Bush following a contentious battle to recount votes in Florida.
Gore鈥檚 concession speech, wherein he took a stand for the 鈥渙rderly transition of power鈥, is a terrific reminder of how dangerous a reflexive and myopic faith in 鈥渢he system鈥 can be. The same goes for Gore鈥檚 inability to imagine any truly radical response to the imminent catastrophe of climate chaos.
Gore simply cannot see that the neoliberal logic that governs our institutions and lives constrain our collective ability to address the crisis.
His imaginative/political limitations were on full display in the original 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. In that film, after painstakingly laying out the irrefutable case for climate change and its devastating consequences, Gore suggests a way out: Buy a better light bulb at Walmart. Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, there is hope and it鈥檚 as convenient as making better consumer choices.
Gore did a masterful job of explaining the problem, but his lack of vision, his lack of any deep critical thinking or analysis of power, was nakedly exposed.
More than a decade has passed since then and the seeming premise of this new film is that Gore will now get 鈥減olitical鈥 and level with the audience. So, where does he land? Has he changed his tune?
Gore does suggest a collective response, in addition to an individual one, but none of his suggestions fundamentally challenge the status quo.
He advocates for two primary courses of action. On an individual level, he has evolved from 鈥渂uy a better light bulb鈥 to 鈥渂uy yourself a solar panel鈥 鈥 specifically from Elon Musks鈥 SolarCity, a company that Gore鈥檚 investment firm,聽Generation Investment Management, has a stake in.
On top of this individual action, he persuasively advocates for working on the local level, with local governments to 鈥済reen the grid鈥.
I don鈥檛 mean to make light of this strategy. Encouraging municipalities to get their energy from renewable sources and invest in renewable energy infrastructure is one of the most important things that we can do. But it remains well within the lines that have already been drawn by our current institutions.
Anyone honestly assessing the scale of the climate problem will admit that this won鈥檛 be enough. Still, credit Gore with providing at least the inkling of an idea for how we can begin to work collectively to address this crisis. That in itself is of value.
The real limitations to what Gore and his ilk are capable of imagining is revealed during the film鈥檚 coverage of the Paris climate accords of 2015. That the film depicts Gore as the behind-the-scenes saviour of the negotiations is annoying enough, but it is a film about Gore after all and the filmmakers are creating a hero arc for their movie.
罢丑别听means聽by which he supposedly saved the negotiations, however, is revealing. As is the uncritical praise for the accords themselves, which most climate activists will tell you are聽woefully inadequate.
As the filmmakers tell it, Gore was working tirelessly to get the Indian government to sign off on the accords. He was wracking his brains, trying everything he could, when he was struck by a big idea: Persuade SolarCity to share it鈥檚 patent for a super-efficient solar cell with the Indian government.
He got on the phone with his pals, convinced them to be the 鈥渃orporate heroes of the Paris agreement鈥 and voila! India is on board. Everybody wins!
The problems with this happy ending are many. Let鈥檚 start with the simple fact that there聽reportedly聽has been no technology transfer at all up to this point. This fact certainly undermines the claim that SolarCity鈥檚 patent-sharing saved the climate talks, which was a specious claim to begin with.
The bigger problem, however, is the unquestioning fealty to the premise of private intellectual property in the first place 鈥 by Gore and pretty much everyone involved in the talks.
What moral justification is there for a private corporation to withhold potentially Earth-saving technology from humanity, particularly when that technology rests squarely on prior technological advances developed with public dollars? Why should it have been up to SolarCity whether the Paris accords succeeded or failed?
If we are to survive as a species, the legal, economic and cultural structures that privilege private ownership of intellectual property over the interests of the many must be challenged and fought at every turn. It must become a cornerstone of our fight for a more just and sustainable future.
If we do not pull this system out by its roots, it is going to kill us all and our children.
I look forward to a sequel to this film, wherein a group of Gore鈥檚 former students finally pry from the dying, greedy hands of Big Wind and Big Solar what was never theirs to begin with and fan out across the world like modern-day Johnny Appleseeds to ensure planetary survival by redistributing the power of knowledge for everyone to use. That will be a film worth watching. It鈥檚 up to us to write it.
[Reprinted from .]
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