Michael Moore turns on the Green Movement

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A new documentary produced by Michael Moore has caused quite a stir in liberal circles. Directed and presented by Jeff Green, an environmentalist, ‘Planet of the Humans’ takes aim at one of the Left’s moved beloved elements: the green movement. The documentary attacks the renewables industry for selling the illusion that the world’s environmental problems can be solved with wind farms and battery-powered cars.

Reaching over 3 million views on YouTube in the past week alone, the film aims to challenge some of the conventional wisdom surrounding the green movement. It claims that:

• Seeking technological fixes will not solve the climate crisis.
• Renewables do not replace fossil fuels. Nations that add non-fossil fuels energy sources do not significantly reduce fossil fuel usage.
• Wind and solar energy sources are not clean.
• Solar cells, for example, aren’t made of sand. They are made of mined quartz and coal which is melted in a large furnace (which requires more coal).
• Koch-owned factories are producing many of the secondary materials required for renewable energy.
• One interviewee says he cannot name a single entity anywhere in the world that’s running on solar and wind alone.
• The planet has already reached its maximum capacity: peak marine and fish production was 25 years ago, current acres of actively farmed land peaked 20 years ago, rivers are irrigated to their maximum limit, and ground water will run out in a decade or two.

Essentially, the film comes down to one question: can a single species dominating an entire planet be smart enough to voluntarily limit its own presence? The answer is a resounding no. But the film was made before Covid-19. Jeff Green’s conclusion is that the world needs nothing short of an overhaul of the whole capitalism system… which may be just what this disease is leading to.

Though the documentary has faced criticism for reheating “lazy, old myths” about decarbonisation technology, it is still strange to see Michael Moore — one of America’s most renowned Left-wing filmmakers — put his name to a film that could undermine a core Democratic plank in the 2020 presidential election.

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