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- I've got a question.

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00:00:21,666 --> 00:00:23,458
How long do you
think we humans have?

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00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:26,333
- How long does the
human race have?

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00:00:26,375 --> 00:00:27,250
- Ooh.

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- Um.

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- Oh, wow.

9
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- I don't exactly
know, but may be soon.

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- I have no clue.

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- No?

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- I hope I get me at least
50 more years.

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- I think there's
infinite amount of time.

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- Infinite.

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It's infinite, yeah.

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- I give us a million.

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A million years.

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- Being kind, I would say
probably about 10 years.

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- 10, 12 years.

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- Thousands of years.

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- 47 years, three
months, five days.

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It's approximate.

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- We're kind of like
cockroaches on the planet,

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no matter how much
damage we'll do,

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enough of us will survive to
procreate and keep it going.

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- Unless we can get
to another planet,

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00:01:03,750 --> 00:01:05,958
but then we're just gonna
fuck it up like we did Earth.

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- Well, I think
that we will be here

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00:01:08,083 --> 00:01:11,125
for a long time,
but we will change.

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We're gonna turn back into apes.

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- Have you ever
wondered what would happen

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if a single species took
over an entire planet?

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Maybe they're cute,
maybe they're clever

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but lack a certain,

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shall we say,

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00:01:38,166 --> 00:01:39,541
self-restraint?

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What if they go too far?

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00:01:46,666 --> 00:01:50,583
What if they go way, way, way,

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00:01:50,625 --> 00:01:53,291
way, way too far?

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How would they know when
it's their time to go?

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- Due to our release
through factories

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00:03:32,791 --> 00:03:34,416
and automobiles every year

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00:03:34,458 --> 00:03:37,833
of more than six billion
tons of carbon dioxide,

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00:03:37,875 --> 00:03:40,583
our atmosphere seems
to be getting warmer.

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00:03:40,625 --> 00:03:41,666
- This is bad?

46
00:03:42,958 --> 00:03:45,125
- Well, it's been calculated
a few degrees rise

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00:03:45,166 --> 00:03:48,041
in the Earth's temperature
would melt the polar ice caps.

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And if this happens, an inland
sea would fill a good portion

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of the Mississippi valley.

50
00:03:57,375 --> 00:04:00,041
For in weather, we're not
only dealing with forces

51
00:04:00,083 --> 00:04:01,750
of a far greater variety

52
00:04:01,791 --> 00:04:04,458
than even the atomic
physicist encounters,

53
00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:06,458
but with life itself.

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00:04:10,541 --> 00:04:12,833
- That was 1958.

55
00:04:13,916 --> 00:04:14,875
We've known about the dangers

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00:04:14,916 --> 00:04:17,208
of climate change
for six decades.

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00:04:18,708 --> 00:04:20,833
Back then, there was
so much air pollution

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00:04:20,875 --> 00:04:22,875
it would actually
block out the sun.

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00:04:24,583 --> 00:04:28,000
There was so much
water pollution,

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Forget throwing plastic
bottles into the water,

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00:04:34,041 --> 00:04:35,791
we tossed our cars in there.

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We also knew someday
we'd run out of oil.

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- For millions of Americans,

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00:04:41,500 --> 00:04:43,916
this may be the worst
weekend they've ever faced

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00:04:43,958 --> 00:04:46,791
for finding gasoline to give
them the automobile freedom

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00:04:46,833 --> 00:04:48,000
they take as their due.

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- I never doubted
humans would find a better way

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00:04:51,916 --> 00:04:54,791
and I wanted to be part of it.

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00:04:54,833 --> 00:04:56,625
A scientist sounded the alarm

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00:04:56,666 --> 00:04:58,833
and the modern environmental
movement was born.

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- Unless we do bring these
chemicals under better control,

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00:05:01,625 --> 00:05:04,541
we are certainly
headed for disaster.

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00:05:05,541 --> 00:05:07,833
- Students all
across the country

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00:05:07,875 --> 00:05:09,375
organized the first Earth Day.

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00:05:09,416 --> 00:05:11,500
- This point in time, it's
very, very fashionable

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00:05:11,541 --> 00:05:12,791
to talk about the environment

77
00:05:12,833 --> 00:05:15,208
but as every day
proceeds, we find very,

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very little concrete being done.

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00:05:18,958 --> 00:05:20,750
- As for
me, you might say

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I was an early environmentalist.

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00:05:24,541 --> 00:05:25,958
When I was nine years old,

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a bulldozer began knocking
down the woods near my home.

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00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,125
I retaliated by putting
sand in its gas tank.

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When I grew up, I became
a tree hugger and moved

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00:05:38,458 --> 00:05:39,916
to the wilds of
Northern Michigan

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00:05:39,958 --> 00:05:43,166
to build a sustainable homestead
and commune with nature.

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00:05:44,833 --> 00:05:46,666
I wired my cabin
for solar panels

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00:05:47,583 --> 00:05:49,916
and heated with wood
instead of fossil fuels.

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00:05:51,916 --> 00:05:53,750
I wrote about sustainable living

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00:05:53,791 --> 00:05:56,750
and environmental issues
for the Mother Earth News

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00:05:56,791 --> 00:05:58,583
and several news outlets.

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00:06:01,833 --> 00:06:04,583
I traveled the country
documenting invasive species,

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ecosystem collapse,

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00:06:11,708 --> 00:06:13,791
and species threatened
with extinction.

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00:06:14,875 --> 00:06:16,250
- Come
on, girls, boys.

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00:06:19,458 --> 00:06:21,625
- I covered protests against
destroying mountains for coal.

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And was once even
confronted by the BP police.

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00:06:29,833 --> 00:06:30,583
- Journalist.
- You're a journalist?

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00:06:30,625 --> 00:06:32,041
- Jeff Gibbs, yeah.

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00:06:32,083 --> 00:06:33,458
- By all means, you can take
all the pictures you want.

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00:06:33,500 --> 00:06:34,791
- Okay.

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00:06:34,833 --> 00:06:36,083
- We'll write a report and
then we have to send it

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00:06:36,125 --> 00:06:37,875
to the FBI and the
U.S. Attorney's office

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00:06:37,916 --> 00:06:38,875
they'll call you.

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00:06:43,166 --> 00:06:45,833
- Through all of
this, I kept wondering,

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why are we still
addicted to fossil fuels?

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00:06:50,125 --> 00:06:53,625
So I decided to begin following
the green energy movement.

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What better place to check out

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how our renewable energy
revolution is coming along,

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than a solar festival

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00:07:03,083 --> 00:07:05,125
in the Green Mountain
state of Vermont

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powered by 100% solar energy.

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00:07:09,833 --> 00:07:12,791
- Solar.

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00:07:12,833 --> 00:07:14,250
- I was having fun

115
00:07:15,291 --> 00:07:16,625
and got a chance to ask

116
00:07:16,666 --> 00:07:18,833
about getting solar
panels installed.

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00:07:18,875 --> 00:07:20,625
- You can keep adding,
so maybe every time

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you get a tax return,
buy another solar panel?

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- But then, a
little rain began to fall.

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♪ Packed up my guitar

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00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:34,250
♪ Headed to the
nearest bowling alley ♪

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00:07:34,291 --> 00:07:37,041
My camera man noticed some
commotion behind the stage.

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- So the
festival's run off

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00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,000
solar energy, primarily?

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00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:04,916
- Right.

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00:08:06,083 --> 00:08:08,083
- But the biofuel
generator wasn't enough,

127
00:08:08,125 --> 00:08:09,291
so they wound up plugging

128
00:08:09,333 --> 00:08:12,083
into the electrical
grid that we all use.

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00:08:12,125 --> 00:08:14,333
- The other inverter operating,

130
00:08:14,375 --> 00:08:16,666
it's actually pulling
power in from the grid,

131
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charging the batteries.

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00:08:18,875 --> 00:08:20,083
It's running
backwards from the way

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00:08:20,125 --> 00:08:22,625
we originally intended
to do it, but.

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- That was disappointing.

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But after all, it
had been raining.

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Maybe next time things
would go better.

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Luckily for us,
hope was on the way.

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- It's been a long time
comin' but tonight,

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change has come to America.

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- Green activists
across the country cheered

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00:08:54,416 --> 00:08:57,000
when newly elected
president Barack Obama

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rolled out a trillion
dollar stimulus package

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with nearly 100 billion
dollars for green energy.

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00:09:04,375 --> 00:09:06,666
Green was finally ramping up

145
00:09:06,708 --> 00:09:08,583
and everyone wanted
to be part of it.

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00:09:09,791 --> 00:09:12,916
President Obama brought
in environmental

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00:09:12,958 --> 00:09:15,791
from the Apollo Alliance,
with shovel-ready projects.

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00:09:15,833 --> 00:09:18,166
- They've gotta put up tens
of thousands of wind farms,

149
00:09:18,208 --> 00:09:20,541
they've gotta put up
millions of solar panels.

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00:09:21,458 --> 00:09:23,208
- Former Vice
President Al Gore,

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00:09:23,250 --> 00:09:26,791
who had a few years earlier
released an Oscar winning film,

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00:09:26,833 --> 00:09:29,125
shared his ideas
with the president.

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00:09:29,166 --> 00:09:31,125
- We have the opportunity now

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00:09:31,166 --> 00:09:34,541
to create jobs all
across this country,

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in all 50 states,
to repower America.

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- Al Gore had
already encouraged

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00:09:41,333 --> 00:09:44,500
billionaire airline
owner Sir Richard Branson

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to invest big-time
in green energy.

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00:09:47,541 --> 00:09:50,125
- Branson is pledging future
profits from his airline

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00:09:50,166 --> 00:09:52,083
to the tune of perhaps
three billion dollars.

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Three billion, that's with a
B, to fight global warming!

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00:09:55,458 --> 00:09:57,333
- Is Al Gore a prophet?

163
00:09:58,750 --> 00:10:03,166
- Ah, um, ah, how do you
spell "prophet?"

164
00:10:07,583 --> 00:10:09,166
- Investors came forward.

165
00:10:09,208 --> 00:10:12,041
- Investor Vinod
Khosla, known as the father

166
00:10:12,083 --> 00:10:13,750
of the clean tech revolution,

167
00:10:13,791 --> 00:10:17,000
has poured over a billion
dollars of his own money

168
00:10:17,041 --> 00:10:19,750
into some fifty energy startups.

169
00:10:19,791 --> 00:10:22,916
- Major banks were
eager to get involved.

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00:10:22,958 --> 00:10:26,833
- By 2020, we think,
renewables will require

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00:10:26,875 --> 00:10:30,291
395 billion on an annual basis.

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00:10:30,333 --> 00:10:32,208
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,

173
00:10:32,250 --> 00:10:35,500
was both on the board of major
environmental organizations

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00:10:35,541 --> 00:10:38,333
and was leading a green
energy investment group.

175
00:10:38,375 --> 00:10:41,041
- We build wind farms,
we build solar farms,

176
00:10:41,083 --> 00:10:43,833
once you build our plant,
it's free energy forever.

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00:10:46,250 --> 00:10:47,625
- The Sierra Club
received 50 million dollars

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00:10:47,666 --> 00:10:49,708
from billionaire and
former New York City mayor

179
00:10:49,750 --> 00:10:50,791
Michael Bloomberg.

180
00:10:50,833 --> 00:10:51,875
Their mission?

181
00:10:51,916 --> 00:10:54,500
Fight coal and
promote clean energy.

182
00:10:54,541 --> 00:10:56,333
- So with the mayor's gift,
here's what will happen.

183
00:10:56,375 --> 00:10:59,958
We'll have a large
and aggressive

184
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,375
- It's time for America
to find a new energy path.

185
00:11:03,416 --> 00:11:05,541
One that takes us beyond coal.

186
00:11:05,583 --> 00:11:06,416
- So funny--

187
00:11:06,458 --> 00:11:08,291
- And then Bill McKibben,

188
00:11:08,333 --> 00:11:11,166
one of the nation's
leading environmentalists

189
00:11:11,208 --> 00:11:13,291
and author of a
breakthrough book called

190
00:11:13,333 --> 00:11:14,833
"The End of Nature,"

191
00:11:14,875 --> 00:11:17,833
formed an organization
called 350.org

192
00:11:17,875 --> 00:11:21,208
with the mission of igniting
a global climate movement.

193
00:11:22,541 --> 00:11:24,958
- Can I show off my
necktie for a minute

194
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:26,625
'cause they made it
for me yesterday?

195
00:11:26,666 --> 00:11:28,000
It's got that 350 on it

196
00:11:28,041 --> 00:11:31,416
'cause it's the most
important number in the world.

197
00:11:31,458 --> 00:11:33,166
- Things were looking up

198
00:11:33,208 --> 00:11:35,958
and the green energy
revolution was under way.

199
00:11:38,208 --> 00:11:40,916
Michigan had been hit hard
by the Great Recession

200
00:11:40,958 --> 00:11:42,625
and hundreds of
millions of dollars

201
00:11:42,666 --> 00:11:45,041
in green stimulus
money was arriving.

202
00:11:45,083 --> 00:11:48,625
Now, to do their part for
the new green economy,

203
00:11:48,666 --> 00:11:52,125
General Motors introduced a
new line of electric vehicles.

204
00:11:52,166 --> 00:11:54,083
When the Chevy Volt
was ready for release,

205
00:11:54,125 --> 00:11:56,000
I attended their
press conference.

206
00:11:56,958 --> 00:11:59,666
- So, these electric
vehicles are ready

207
00:11:59,708 --> 00:12:02,666
for public consumption
and we're ready

208
00:12:02,708 --> 00:12:04,375
with the infrastructure,
with the rates,

209
00:12:04,416 --> 00:12:05,833
with the communications.

210
00:12:05,875 --> 00:12:08,750
- I am extremely grateful to
be here today and in fact,

211
00:12:08,791 --> 00:12:11,958
this is a chance for me to
say, thank you, more formally.

212
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:13,291
The Chevy Volt is upstairs.

213
00:12:13,333 --> 00:12:14,833
We'll be able to
take a look at it.

214
00:12:16,333 --> 00:12:17,583
- You've got
about 1,000 photos.

215
00:12:17,625 --> 00:12:18,458
- Yeah.

216
00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:19,583
- This is the plug.

217
00:12:24,875 --> 00:12:26,291
It's as simple as that.

218
00:12:27,416 --> 00:12:28,833
- The batteries
are in the trunk?

219
00:12:29,375 --> 00:12:33,291
- No, the battery in this
particular design is a T-shape,

220
00:12:33,333 --> 00:12:37,833
right down the center and
across the backseat area.

221
00:12:39,833 --> 00:12:42,208
'Cause everybody thought we
killed the electric vehicle.

222
00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:43,916
No, we didn't.

223
00:12:43,958 --> 00:12:45,416
It's alive and well.

224
00:12:45,458 --> 00:12:48,166
- So, what's charging
the batteries right now?

225
00:12:48,208 --> 00:12:49,416
What's the source
of electricity?

226
00:12:49,458 --> 00:12:50,833
- Well, here, it's
coming from the building.

227
00:12:50,875 --> 00:12:53,458
- I mean, is it,
what's their mix of power?

228
00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:56,125
- Oh, actually, Lansing
feeds the building.

229
00:12:56,166 --> 00:12:57,208
- What's that?

230
00:12:57,250 --> 00:12:58,791
- Lansing feeds power
to the building.

231
00:12:58,833 --> 00:13:00,833
So, I don't know--

232
00:13:00,875 --> 00:13:02,416
- They're--

233
00:13:02,458 --> 00:13:03,833
- I betcha they're
a bit of coal?

234
00:13:03,875 --> 00:13:06,875
I think they're heavy on
natural gas, aren't they?

235
00:13:06,916 --> 00:13:08,916
- Right now, the
car's charging off your grid?

236
00:13:08,958 --> 00:13:10,458
- Right.

237
00:13:10,500 --> 00:13:14,875
It would be charging off our
grid, which is about 95% coal.

238
00:13:16,291 --> 00:13:17,500
- How long do
you think it will be

239
00:13:17,541 --> 00:13:20,958
before there's a solar
and wind powered grid?

240
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,125
- Oh, golly.

241
00:13:22,166 --> 00:13:24,458
- To suggest that
all of the power used

242
00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:29,000
for these cars will be
generated from wind and solar,

243
00:13:29,041 --> 00:13:32,083
in the very near future,
would not be correct.

244
00:13:32,125 --> 00:13:34,125
In fact, these, we're talking
about charging these up

245
00:13:34,166 --> 00:13:36,833
at night, so there won't
be any solar at that time.

246
00:13:36,875 --> 00:13:38,708
So we're down to
wind and very often,

247
00:13:38,750 --> 00:13:40,458
at night, the wind
does fall off.

248
00:13:41,625 --> 00:13:44,666
- I don't think coal is bad.

249
00:13:44,708 --> 00:13:45,500
- The big battle--
The what?

250
00:13:45,541 --> 00:13:46,250
Mountain top removal.

251
00:13:46,291 --> 00:13:47,083
- Oh, mount...

252
00:13:47,125 --> 00:13:47,833
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

253
00:13:47,875 --> 00:13:49,458
- Yeah.

254
00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:53,000
- It's got lovely BTUs, it's
got lovely energy value.

255
00:13:54,083 --> 00:13:56,708
How do you burn it more cleanly?

256
00:13:57,791 --> 00:14:00,541
I mean, do you see natural
gas getting bashed?

257
00:14:00,583 --> 00:14:03,000
- We will be
delivering power based

258
00:14:03,041 --> 00:14:05,041
on natural gas very shortly.

259
00:14:05,083 --> 00:14:10,666
And even with that
mix, we intend to use

260
00:14:10,708 --> 00:14:12,375
- Have you
gotten any support?

261
00:14:12,416 --> 00:14:14,666
- Oh, the environment groups
are extremely supportive.

262
00:14:14,708 --> 00:14:16,916
- We did install the
state's largest solar array

263
00:14:16,958 --> 00:14:18,750
at my company, The Board
of Water and Light, it's

264
00:14:18,791 --> 00:14:20,875
just down the street
from here a few miles

265
00:14:20,916 --> 00:14:21,750
if you want to
take a look at it.

266
00:14:21,791 --> 00:14:24,375
What outfit are you with?

267
00:14:24,416 --> 00:14:25,875
- New World Media,
we're doing a segment

268
00:14:25,916 --> 00:14:27,041
on the renewable energy...

269
00:14:27,083 --> 00:14:28,041
- Oh, excuse me, I
gotta go for a second

270
00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:29,083
but thanks.

271
00:14:33,750 --> 00:14:35,541
- I decided to
take him up on his offer

272
00:14:35,583 --> 00:14:38,458
to check out their football
field sized solar array

273
00:14:38,500 --> 00:14:39,625
right down the street.

274
00:14:41,375 --> 00:14:43,000
- What we're trying to do
with this kind of a tour is,

275
00:14:43,041 --> 00:14:44,708
get a sense for what
they've already done,

276
00:14:44,750 --> 00:14:46,291
as an indication
of what we could do

277
00:14:46,333 --> 00:14:47,958
to push the envelope
even further.

278
00:14:49,291 --> 00:14:53,250
- We took a hard look at
wind and determined that,

279
00:14:53,291 --> 00:14:56,583
around here, there's not really
any real good wind coming

280
00:14:56,625 --> 00:14:57,791
through all the time.

281
00:14:57,833 --> 00:14:59,291
That's what we
liked about solar.

282
00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:02,333
You would get the power
when you most needed it.

283
00:15:02,375 --> 00:15:03,875
Pass these around, look at 'em.

284
00:15:03,916 --> 00:15:05,666
They are pliable.

285
00:15:05,708 --> 00:15:08,083
Made in Michigan, that
was another good thing.

286
00:15:08,125 --> 00:15:09,500
Although, the efficiency

287
00:15:09,541 --> 00:15:12,791
of these panels is only
about, just under 8%.

288
00:15:14,916 --> 00:15:16,666
If you happen to be
NASA and you happen

289
00:15:16,708 --> 00:15:18,375
to own a rover
running around Mars,

290
00:15:18,416 --> 00:15:20,625
they have very efficient panels.

291
00:15:20,666 --> 00:15:22,041
But, we can't afford those

292
00:15:22,083 --> 00:15:24,208
at about a million
dollars a square inch.

293
00:15:27,833 --> 00:15:29,250
- The standard answer
that we tell everybody is,

294
00:15:29,291 --> 00:15:30,500
we're providing enough to meet

295
00:15:30,541 --> 00:15:33,125
the peak requirements
of 50 homes.

296
00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:36,083
However, for most of
the people that look

297
00:15:36,125 --> 00:15:37,500
at it a little bit closer,

298
00:15:37,541 --> 00:15:41,125
we generate about 63, 64
thousand kilowatt hours a year.

299
00:15:41,166 --> 00:15:42,708
Our average customer uses

300
00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:44,833
about six thousand
kilowatt hours a year.

301
00:15:44,875 --> 00:15:48,583
Six thousand into 64, it's
just a little over 10.

302
00:15:48,625 --> 00:15:51,041
We can meet the energy
requirements for 10 homes.

303
00:15:52,250 --> 00:15:53,583
Over a year.

304
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,708
- Will that be an incentive
to put more solar on?

305
00:15:59,791 --> 00:16:01,291
- Well, if you
wanted to make all

306
00:16:01,333 --> 00:16:05,375
of the energy required for the
city of Lansing over a year?

307
00:16:05,416 --> 00:16:06,166
- Well, how about--

308
00:16:06,208 --> 00:16:07,750
- You'd have a solar array

309
00:16:07,791 --> 00:16:09,583
that was three
miles by five miles.

310
00:16:09,625 --> 00:16:10,583
- Right.

311
00:16:10,625 --> 00:16:11,875
But--
- We're not gonna do that.

312
00:16:11,916 --> 00:16:13,791
- But, but, I mean.

313
00:16:13,833 --> 00:16:15,750
- My friend from
the Sierra Club wanted him

314
00:16:15,791 --> 00:16:19,291
to be more positive, but
he was not interested.

315
00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:26,458
As a consequence of the
big push for green energy,

316
00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:28,875
wind farms were rising
around the nation,

317
00:16:28,916 --> 00:16:30,916
including near my home
in northern Michigan.

318
00:16:32,208 --> 00:16:33,708
- We've done coal and
nuclear for years.

319
00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:36,666
We've been trying to get in
more into the renewable side.

320
00:16:36,708 --> 00:16:38,916
These are the
largest in Michigan,

321
00:16:38,958 --> 00:16:41,041
I think it's 482 foot total.

322
00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:42,375
- How many
yards of concrete?

323
00:16:42,416 --> 00:16:44,666
- It was 800 yards
of concrete in the base,

324
00:16:44,708 --> 00:16:47,333
right around 140
tons of resteel.

325
00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:48,708
- What are the
blades made out of?

326
00:16:48,750 --> 00:16:50,291
- That's all
fiberglass and balsam.

327
00:16:50,333 --> 00:16:52,791
They're about 36,000
pounds a piece.

328
00:16:52,833 --> 00:16:56,750
This tower will weigh 800,000
pounds when we're done.

329
00:16:56,791 --> 00:16:59,083
Then the cell is 220,000 pounds

330
00:16:59,125 --> 00:17:01,750
and the hub and rotor
assembly is another 160.

331
00:17:01,791 --> 00:17:03,541
It's pretty substantial.

332
00:17:05,791 --> 00:17:08,041
- They were
impressive machines.

333
00:17:10,166 --> 00:17:12,333
But is it possible
for machines made

334
00:17:12,375 --> 00:17:14,000
by industrial civilization

335
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,583
to save us from
industrial civilization?

336
00:17:25,625 --> 00:17:27,791
In environmental leader
Bill McKibben's home state

337
00:17:27,833 --> 00:17:30,375
of Vermont, the
Green Mountain state,

338
00:17:30,416 --> 00:17:31,500
a site was being cleared

339
00:17:31,541 --> 00:17:33,875
for the installation
of wind turbines.

340
00:17:33,916 --> 00:17:35,750
A group of citizens
was concerned

341
00:17:35,791 --> 00:17:36,916
about how the construction

342
00:17:36,958 --> 00:17:38,791
might affect the
mountains they love.

343
00:17:39,791 --> 00:17:41,416
I joined them for a tour.

344
00:17:41,458 --> 00:17:43,083
- It's going to be 21 turbines.

345
00:17:43,125 --> 00:17:44,000
- 21?

346
00:17:44,041 --> 00:17:45,916
- Yeah.
- On this project?

347
00:17:45,958 --> 00:17:47,833
- In this project, yeah.

348
00:17:47,875 --> 00:17:51,791
The estimate was maybe there
would be three full-time jobs.

349
00:17:52,958 --> 00:17:55,125
- If the goal is to try
to make Vermont the leader

350
00:17:55,166 --> 00:17:57,875
in climate change,
I appreciate looking

351
00:17:57,916 --> 00:18:00,208
to the sky in the hopes
that we can do that.

352
00:18:00,250 --> 00:18:02,791
But more importantly,
I'm personally looking

353
00:18:02,833 --> 00:18:05,333
at the ground thinking, this
is not the kind of legacy

354
00:18:05,375 --> 00:18:06,833
I'd want to leave to my kids.

355
00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:09,541
When I was a kid we'd go
hiking in these woods,

356
00:18:09,583 --> 00:18:11,375
we would be able to
drink from the waters

357
00:18:11,416 --> 00:18:14,375
down the hill here, and now
you have to question that.

358
00:18:16,250 --> 00:18:18,083
- And how long are
these towers supposed to last?

359
00:18:18,125 --> 00:18:19,791
20-something years, 20--

360
00:18:19,833 --> 00:18:22,291
- I know, it's
just a nanosecond.

361
00:18:22,333 --> 00:18:23,541
- 20 years?

362
00:18:23,583 --> 00:18:25,541
- Oh, it's a nanosecond
in the time of energy.

363
00:18:26,583 --> 00:18:27,750
- Has anybody considered

364
00:18:27,791 --> 00:18:30,000
that this is mountain
top removal for wind

365
00:18:30,041 --> 00:18:31,916
- Yeah, and we've
even had people say,

366
00:18:31,958 --> 00:18:34,041
"If you can do
mountain top removal

367
00:18:34,083 --> 00:18:37,250
"in Kentucky and West
Virginia for coal,

368
00:18:37,291 --> 00:18:39,791
"then it's about time the
rest of the country shared

369
00:18:39,833 --> 00:18:41,833
"in mountain top removal, too."

370
00:18:42,833 --> 00:18:43,875
- Hello.

371
00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:46,000
- You think they're
gonna tell us to move back?

372
00:18:46,041 --> 00:18:46,833
- Probably.

373
00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:48,166
The thing is that you've got

374
00:18:48,208 --> 00:18:51,666
to have a fossil fuel
power plant backing it up

375
00:18:51,708 --> 00:18:53,958
and idling 100% of the time.

376
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,041
Because if you cycle
up or cycle down,

377
00:18:56,083 --> 00:18:58,833
as the demand on the
wind comes through,

378
00:18:58,875 --> 00:19:01,791
then you actually generate
a bigger carbon footprint

379
00:19:01,833 --> 00:19:03,625
than if you just
ran it straight.

380
00:19:03,666 --> 00:19:04,750
- Do you ever go to
things where they just go,

381
00:19:04,791 --> 00:19:06,166
"That's not true.

382
00:19:06,208 --> 00:19:08,750
"It doesn't matter, we're
gonna have a smart grid."

383
00:19:08,791 --> 00:19:10,583
- Doesn't make any
difference, they still gotta

384
00:19:10,625 --> 00:19:11,958
have it idling.

385
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,916
Because, let's just say
the wind stopped right now.

386
00:19:15,958 --> 00:19:17,916
Just stopped for an hour.

387
00:19:17,958 --> 00:19:19,500
You've got to have that power.

388
00:19:19,541 --> 00:19:20,916
- What do you do?

389
00:19:20,958 --> 00:19:22,791
- I'm an environmental
health and safety consultant.

390
00:19:22,833 --> 00:19:25,291
I usually work with businesses
to help them do things,

391
00:19:25,333 --> 00:19:28,916
but I would never work
with scum like this.

392
00:19:31,250 --> 00:19:33,541
- You didn't get me on
camera doing this, did ya?

393
00:19:34,458 --> 00:19:37,875
Not being judgmental
or trying to play God,

394
00:19:37,916 --> 00:19:41,208
but we've got to deal
with population growth

395
00:19:41,250 --> 00:19:45,375
and sustainable resources,
we've all gotta cut back.

396
00:19:45,416 --> 00:19:48,750
All this energy's supposedly
going to heat a water park.

397
00:19:48,791 --> 00:19:52,333
We can find unique and
different ways to waste energy.

398
00:19:52,375 --> 00:19:54,500
This is not a Vermont company.

399
00:19:54,541 --> 00:19:58,333
Green Mountain Power will
be bought out by Gaz Metro

400
00:19:58,375 --> 00:20:01,791
and Gaz Metro is owned by
Enbridge, as I understand it,

401
00:20:01,833 --> 00:20:06,625
which is a big resource
company in Canada

402
00:20:06,666 --> 00:20:08,291
which is exploiting
the tar sands

403
00:20:08,333 --> 00:20:10,208
that wants to build
the XL pipeline.

404
00:20:11,666 --> 00:20:12,833
See, it's--

405
00:20:12,875 --> 00:20:15,958
- And they're
all in bed together.

406
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:17,833
- Still we don't
know the whole story.

407
00:20:17,875 --> 00:20:19,833
- Have you asked Mr.
McKibben to come see this?

408
00:20:19,875 --> 00:20:22,833
- He thinks anything
renewable is good.

409
00:20:22,875 --> 00:20:24,083
- Yeah.

410
00:20:24,125 --> 00:20:24,875
- At least that's what
I've heard people say.

411
00:20:36,958 --> 00:20:38,708
- I am in a
strange position.

412
00:20:39,958 --> 00:20:42,833
I'm against our
addiction to fossil fuels

413
00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:44,916
and have long been a
fan of green energy.

414
00:20:47,083 --> 00:20:49,125
But everywhere I
encountered green energy,

415
00:20:50,125 --> 00:20:51,791
it wasn't what it seemed.

416
00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:56,333
- This is like a
perpetual energy battery.

417
00:20:56,375 --> 00:20:57,750
- And where do you
get the hydrogen from?

418
00:20:57,791 --> 00:21:01,500
- The hydrogen that's in,
the hydrogen is sourced

419
00:21:01,541 --> 00:21:04,166
from any hydrocarbon material.

420
00:21:04,208 --> 00:21:08,958
So, you can get it from
natural gas, you can get it

421
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,083
from any petroleum
or oil based product.

422
00:21:13,541 --> 00:21:14,750
- I read about
a zoo that was said

423
00:21:14,791 --> 00:21:16,333
to be powered by
elephant manure.

424
00:21:17,791 --> 00:21:18,958
But it turned out the elephants

425
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,583
didn't even produce
enough manure to heat

426
00:21:22,625 --> 00:21:23,916
- Yeah, we don't even
really make enough

427
00:21:23,958 --> 00:21:26,791
in what we have, elephant
wise, to even do that.

428
00:21:26,833 --> 00:21:27,833
We would need a lot more.

429
00:21:27,875 --> 00:21:29,166
- More elephants?

430
00:21:29,208 --> 00:21:29,833
- Yep,
more elephants

431
00:21:29,875 --> 00:21:30,666
more manure.

432
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,291
- Ethanol
plants also seem

433
00:21:33,333 --> 00:21:35,041
to have a secret ingredient.

434
00:21:35,083 --> 00:21:37,708
- This is the most productive
farmland in the world

435
00:21:37,750 --> 00:21:40,833
and we're not that far west
of the biggest coal mines

436
00:21:40,875 --> 00:21:42,333
in the world, as well.

437
00:21:42,375 --> 00:21:44,458
So, bring the two together
and you have an ethanol plant.

438
00:21:45,583 --> 00:21:49,250
- Great, so ethanol
was reliant on two things:

439
00:21:49,291 --> 00:21:52,666
a giant, fossil fuel-based,
industrial agricultural system

440
00:21:52,708 --> 00:21:56,250
to produce corn, and
even more fossil fuels

441
00:21:56,291 --> 00:21:58,375
in the form of coal.

442
00:21:58,416 --> 00:22:02,000
All of this in the attempt
to replace fossil fuels?

443
00:22:03,833 --> 00:22:05,791
It was enough to
make my head explode.

444
00:22:08,875 --> 00:22:10,791
I was getting the uneasy feeling

445
00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:12,875
that green energy was
not going to save us.

446
00:22:13,833 --> 00:22:15,750
And I wasn't the only one.

447
00:22:15,791 --> 00:22:17,041
- I've counted something

448
00:22:17,083 --> 00:22:19,875
like 25 different
alternative energy options.

449
00:22:19,916 --> 00:22:21,791
So surely, among all of those,

450
00:22:21,833 --> 00:22:24,458
there are enough sources

451
00:22:24,500 --> 00:22:26,791
of energy to keep
us living basically

452
00:22:26,833 --> 00:22:28,708
the way we are in perpetuity.

453
00:22:29,625 --> 00:22:31,541
That's not the reality.

454
00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:34,333
Currently, we're
getting, in some cases,

455
00:22:34,375 --> 00:22:37,666
no energy from these
potential options.

456
00:22:37,708 --> 00:22:39,875
- Richard York, of
the University of Oregon,

457
00:22:39,916 --> 00:22:42,208
published a study in
the Journal of Nature

458
00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:45,666
in which he posed the question-
do non-fossil energy sources

459
00:22:45,708 --> 00:22:47,833
actually replace fossil fuels?

460
00:22:47,875 --> 00:22:49,875
- What we implicitly
assume, often,

461
00:22:49,916 --> 00:22:52,500
the substitute pushes out

462
00:22:52,541 --> 00:22:54,750
the thing you want
it to substitute for.

463
00:22:54,791 --> 00:22:56,416
What you find is,

464
00:22:56,458 --> 00:23:00,750
nations that add non-fossil
energy sources do not seem

465
00:23:00,791 --> 00:23:03,958
to see a particular
suppression of fossil fuel use.

466
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,250
- That's
pretty mind-blowing.

467
00:23:05,291 --> 00:23:07,208
We've got billions of
dollars being spent

468
00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:10,000
and green energy is not
even replacing fossil fuels?

469
00:23:10,041 --> 00:23:13,541
- They don't even know that
that's a question, yes.

470
00:23:13,583 --> 00:23:17,750
- The story that we're
in, right now, is okay,

471
00:23:17,791 --> 00:23:19,916
we're in ecological hot water,

472
00:23:19,958 --> 00:23:21,833
but there are
technological fixes

473
00:23:21,875 --> 00:23:23,708
and if we're just
creative enough,

474
00:23:23,750 --> 00:23:25,375
if we're just ingenious enough

475
00:23:25,416 --> 00:23:28,541
and if we just work hard
enough, we will triumph.

476
00:23:28,583 --> 00:23:31,791
Seeking technological
fixes, one after another,

477
00:23:31,833 --> 00:23:35,500
is simply going to lead
us to another level

478
00:23:35,541 --> 00:23:38,500
of catastrophe sooner
rather than later.

479
00:23:38,541 --> 00:23:41,416
- We wanna believe that these
things are gonna be available

480
00:23:41,458 --> 00:23:44,458
for us, so if we
get a little worried

481
00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:48,708
and somebody comes up with
a new thingy and promises

482
00:23:48,750 --> 00:23:54,208
that this will do it for
us, we wanna believe.

483
00:23:57,791 --> 00:23:59,791
- Because we're
a little worried,

484
00:24:00,875 --> 00:24:04,333
are we desperate to accept any
idea that sounds alternative

485
00:24:04,375 --> 00:24:05,625
or green?

486
00:24:07,958 --> 00:24:09,750
Are we avoiding
looking too closely

487
00:24:10,666 --> 00:24:12,916
because we don't want
to know the answer?

488
00:24:16,291 --> 00:24:19,125
Ozzie Zehner, a visiting
scholar at UC Berkeley

489
00:24:19,166 --> 00:24:22,583
and Northwestern
University was asking some

490
00:24:22,625 --> 00:24:23,875
of the same questions.

491
00:24:24,958 --> 00:24:26,625
- I mean, I thought that solar

492
00:24:26,666 --> 00:24:28,958
and wind were probably
very good solutions.

493
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,625
It wasn't really
even that long ago.

494
00:24:30,666 --> 00:24:34,291
One of the most dangerous
things right now is the illusion

495
00:24:34,333 --> 00:24:37,666
that alternative technologies,
like wind and solar,

496
00:24:37,708 --> 00:24:39,583
are somehow different
from fossil fuels.

497
00:24:39,625 --> 00:24:41,875
Well I hear a lot of the
time that solar cells

498
00:24:41,916 --> 00:24:43,375
are made out of sand.

499
00:24:43,416 --> 00:24:44,875
- Have you ever
thought about solar panels?

500
00:24:44,916 --> 00:24:46,041
The main ingredient

501
00:24:46,083 --> 00:24:48,250
that makes them work
is silicon, or sand.

502
00:24:48,291 --> 00:24:50,041
- This is
the raw material chips

503
00:24:50,083 --> 00:24:51,916
are made of, sand.

504
00:24:51,958 --> 00:24:53,291
- They don't use sand at all.

505
00:24:53,333 --> 00:24:54,750
I'll show you what...

506
00:24:56,875 --> 00:24:59,958
So, this is one of
the ingredients,

507
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,875
it's actually mined quartz.

508
00:25:06,833 --> 00:25:08,875
- Spruce
Pine, North Carolina,

509
00:25:08,916 --> 00:25:12,000
regarded as the finest
source of high purity quartz

510
00:25:12,041 --> 00:25:14,416
in the world, for
semiconductor, solar

511
00:25:14,458 --> 00:25:16,833
and communication applications.

512
00:25:16,875 --> 00:25:19,375
- You can't use sand because
sand has too many impurities.

513
00:25:19,416 --> 00:25:22,041
So, you start with a
very high quality quartz

514
00:25:22,083 --> 00:25:24,708
and a very high quality
coal, and then you put

515
00:25:24,750 --> 00:25:28,916
those two together into an
arc furnace and you melt them.

516
00:25:28,958 --> 00:25:31,041
- The quartz is
then melted with coal

517
00:25:31,083 --> 00:25:35,916
in a large furnace
at temperatures of

518
00:25:35,958 --> 00:25:37,875
- And so you need
more coal to do that.

519
00:25:38,916 --> 00:25:40,750
I'll get another coal out.

520
00:25:40,791 --> 00:25:42,833
When we melt these together,

521
00:25:42,875 --> 00:25:44,833
we get silicon metal
and carbon dioxide.

522
00:25:44,875 --> 00:25:45,958
The carbon dioxide just goes off

523
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,041
and you got rid of the carbon

524
00:25:47,083 --> 00:25:48,958
and you're left
with silicon metal.

525
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,208
This is not clean coal
apparently.

526
00:25:50,250 --> 00:25:52,041
- Not clean coal.

527
00:25:52,083 --> 00:25:53,875
Ozzie Zehner said
it was an illusion

528
00:25:53,916 --> 00:25:58,208
that renewables were replacing
coal or any fossil fuel.

529
00:25:58,250 --> 00:26:01,333
Environmental groups continued
telling a different story.

530
00:26:01,375 --> 00:26:04,208
- We've already
seen more than 25%

531
00:26:04,250 --> 00:26:07,958
of the U.S. coal fleet
has already either retired

532
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,916
or is on a schedule to retire.

533
00:26:09,958 --> 00:26:12,083
- Coal plants were
closing, but Ozzie explained

534
00:26:12,125 --> 00:26:14,500
that well meaning people
were being misled.

535
00:26:14,541 --> 00:26:16,916
- NV Energy's now gonna go
ahead and shut down the plant

536
00:26:16,958 --> 00:26:17,791
and go with renewable.

537
00:26:17,833 --> 00:26:19,208
One of the largest solar plants

538
00:26:19,250 --> 00:26:21,208
and that's gonna
happen right behind me.

539
00:26:21,250 --> 00:26:23,708
- Since you can't replace
a coal plant with solar,

540
00:26:23,750 --> 00:26:25,541
they're actually
replacing the coal plant

541
00:26:25,583 --> 00:26:27,041
with two natural gas plants,

542
00:26:27,083 --> 00:26:28,791
and natural gas
is a fossil fuel.

543
00:26:28,833 --> 00:26:31,958
This is the Las Vegas
Co-Gen natural gas plant.

544
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,458
This is one of the facilities

545
00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:35,875
that's replacing the coal
plant that's being shut down.

546
00:26:35,916 --> 00:26:39,041
This is the Sun Peak
generating facility.

547
00:26:39,083 --> 00:26:40,833
This is the second
natural gas plant

548
00:26:40,875 --> 00:26:43,750
that was used to
replace the coal plant.

549
00:26:43,791 --> 00:26:46,041
And you hear the
same story in Iowa.

550
00:26:46,083 --> 00:26:48,041
- Instead of
using energy generated

551
00:26:48,083 --> 00:26:49,875
by coal-fired power plants,

552
00:26:49,916 --> 00:26:51,541
the solar farm will now avoid

553
00:26:51,583 --> 00:26:54,750
about 2.1 million pounds
of carbon pollution.

554
00:26:54,791 --> 00:26:57,916
- But then they're building
a larger natural gas plant.

555
00:26:59,125 --> 00:27:02,083
This is a 650 megawatt
natural gas plant.

556
00:27:02,125 --> 00:27:03,958
That's four times more megawatts

557
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,250
than the coal plant over
there that it's replacing.

558
00:27:07,291 --> 00:27:09,166
And they're doing the same
thing in North Carolina,

559
00:27:09,208 --> 00:27:10,375
which was the subject

560
00:27:10,416 --> 00:27:13,000
of that Years of Living
Dangerously series.

561
00:27:13,041 --> 00:27:14,791
- Duke Energy operates
a coal plant right

562
00:27:14,833 --> 00:27:17,125
outside of Asheville that
is the biggest source

563
00:27:17,166 --> 00:27:20,333
of climate pollution in
western North Carolina.

564
00:27:20,375 --> 00:27:22,166
And we are working
to retire that plant

565
00:27:22,208 --> 00:27:23,500
and replace it
with clean energy.

566
00:27:23,541 --> 00:27:24,958
- But what they
don't tell you is

567
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,583
that we're also building a
larger natural gas facility.

568
00:27:27,625 --> 00:27:31,916
- So, we'll be
retiring a two-unit 376

569
00:27:31,958 --> 00:27:34,750
We'll invest $750 million

570
00:27:34,791 --> 00:27:37,166
to build a state-of-the-art
natural gas plant.

571
00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:39,708
- When Michael Brune stands up
and talks about clean energy,

572
00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:41,208
he's using solar cells
and wind turbines.

573
00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:42,875
- This is the new world

574
00:27:42,916 --> 00:27:44,916
100% clean energy.

575
00:27:44,958 --> 00:27:46,250
- When Michael Bloomberg
stands up and says,

576
00:27:46,291 --> 00:27:48,833
"Cleaner energy," he's
talking about natural gas.

577
00:27:48,875 --> 00:27:52,708
- Create cleaner energy:
solar, wind, and natural gas.

578
00:27:53,208 --> 00:27:55,750
- In fact, the Sierra
Club's Beyond Coal campaign

579
00:27:55,791 --> 00:27:58,833
actually coincides with one
of the largest expansions

580
00:27:58,875 --> 00:28:01,125
of fossil fuel production
that we've ever pulled off,

581
00:28:01,166 --> 00:28:03,041
most of that being natural gas.

582
00:28:04,291 --> 00:28:05,500
- Ozzie's assertion

583
00:28:05,541 --> 00:28:08,083
that renewables were not
replacing fossil fuels,

584
00:28:08,125 --> 00:28:10,916
if true, would upend
all of our assumptions

585
00:28:10,958 --> 00:28:13,541
about green energy and
what was going to save us.

586
00:28:16,208 --> 00:28:18,375
What would happen if I
asked the same question

587
00:28:18,416 --> 00:28:19,833
to industry insiders?

588
00:28:21,125 --> 00:28:23,250
Like, where do solar
panels come from?

589
00:28:23,291 --> 00:28:25,625
- Well, you have to
start with a mine.

590
00:28:27,250 --> 00:28:29,541
Or, what's stopping us
from running the world

591
00:28:29,583 --> 00:28:31,583
on 100% solar and wind?

592
00:28:31,625 --> 00:28:34,291
- Well, intermittency is
one of the major challenges.

593
00:28:34,333 --> 00:28:35,791
- Grid stability.

594
00:28:35,833 --> 00:28:38,166
- The sun's everywhere,
except when it's not there.

595
00:28:38,208 --> 00:28:40,250
- There's a lot of
developers that were flocking

596
00:28:40,291 --> 00:28:43,208
to California, wanting to
connect their solar farms

597
00:28:43,250 --> 00:28:44,416
and wind farms.

598
00:28:44,458 --> 00:28:46,000
The utilities would
turn to me and my team

599
00:28:46,041 --> 00:28:49,708
to help them look at what the
impact to their grid would be.

600
00:28:49,750 --> 00:28:50,791
- When we add solar cells

601
00:28:50,833 --> 00:28:51,875
or wind turbines to a grid,

602
00:28:51,916 --> 00:28:53,708
do we get to shut
off a coal plant?

603
00:28:54,625 --> 00:28:56,708
- That's certainly the
goal, the problem is,

604
00:28:56,750 --> 00:28:59,708
or the difference is that
renewables are intermittent.

605
00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:01,958
All of a sudden, a cloud
cover could come over

606
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,125
and your solar generation
could drastically decrease,

607
00:29:05,166 --> 00:29:06,666
and if you don't have
something else there

608
00:29:06,708 --> 00:29:09,916
to meet whatever the
load is at that moment,

609
00:29:09,958 --> 00:29:12,125
then you're gonna
have power outages.

610
00:29:12,166 --> 00:29:13,166
- So, we don't get

611
00:29:13,208 --> 00:29:14,750
to turn a fossil
fuel power plant off

612
00:29:14,791 --> 00:29:16,916
when the sun is shining
or the wind is blowing?

613
00:29:16,958 --> 00:29:18,541
- Well, it's not that easy.

614
00:29:18,583 --> 00:29:21,166
We need to be able
to back up that power

615
00:29:21,208 --> 00:29:24,458
to keep the system
steady all the time

616
00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:25,958
so it doesn't collapse.

617
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,250
Most likely that's through
fast-acting gas plants,

618
00:29:30,291 --> 00:29:33,000
but also what we call
the baseload plants,

619
00:29:33,041 --> 00:29:35,500
either nuclear or coal
that are on all the time

620
00:29:35,541 --> 00:29:38,625
but that maybe can be
dialed down during the day

621
00:29:38,666 --> 00:29:42,083
and dialed up when
demand starts rising.

622
00:29:42,125 --> 00:29:43,500
- Does it
affect the efficiency

623
00:29:43,541 --> 00:29:45,958
to turn fossil fuel
power plants on and off?

624
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,166
- Oh, yeah.

625
00:29:47,208 --> 00:29:49,125
They don't like to be
dialed up and down.

626
00:29:49,166 --> 00:29:52,416
It does make, that's
wear and tear for them.

627
00:29:52,458 --> 00:29:56,125
- Turning them on, turning
it off, there's energy used

628
00:29:56,166 --> 00:29:57,750
and lost and any time,

629
00:29:57,791 --> 00:29:59,166
kind of like when you turn
on your car on and off,

630
00:29:59,208 --> 00:30:00,250
you use a little extra gas

631
00:30:00,291 --> 00:30:01,625
to get it turned on.

632
00:30:01,666 --> 00:30:02,708
I do still think you have

633
00:30:02,750 --> 00:30:04,291
to maintain a
baseload of some kind.

634
00:30:04,333 --> 00:30:05,625
- What's
the solution then?

635
00:30:05,666 --> 00:30:06,916
- You need energy storage.

636
00:30:06,958 --> 00:30:09,916
- Without storage,
you can't count on it.

637
00:30:09,958 --> 00:30:13,750
- If you can store the
energy that's created off

638
00:30:13,791 --> 00:30:17,000
of things that are intermittent
like solar and wind,

639
00:30:17,041 --> 00:30:20,291
you can store that, now
you're reducing your need

640
00:30:20,333 --> 00:30:21,416
for a baseload.

641
00:30:21,458 --> 00:30:22,666
- But would
adding storage

642
00:30:22,708 --> 00:30:24,833
like batteries increase
the carbon footprint?

643
00:30:24,875 --> 00:30:26,208
- Yeah, absolutely.

644
00:30:27,791 --> 00:30:29,000
In a big way, actually.

645
00:30:29,041 --> 00:30:31,416
And as more energy
storage gets on the grid,

646
00:30:32,666 --> 00:30:35,625
it has a mass scale implication.

647
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,000
- When I looked up
how much battery storage

648
00:30:38,041 --> 00:30:40,125
there is, it was
less than one-tenth

649
00:30:40,166 --> 00:30:41,916
of one percent of what's needed.

650
00:30:42,875 --> 00:30:45,000
In a couple years,
they begin to degrade

651
00:30:45,041 --> 00:30:47,208
and need to be replaced
a few years later.

652
00:30:48,166 --> 00:30:50,875
I learned that the solar panels
don't last forever, either.

653
00:30:50,916 --> 00:30:53,916
- Some solar panels are
built to last only 10 years.

654
00:30:53,958 --> 00:30:58,375
So, it's not as if you get
this magic free energy.

655
00:30:58,416 --> 00:31:00,833
I don't know that
it's the solution,

656
00:31:00,875 --> 00:31:05,166
and here I am helping
to sell the materials

657
00:31:05,208 --> 00:31:06,791
that would go into
photovoltaics.

658
00:31:08,791 --> 00:31:10,833
- And so to overcome
profound limitations

659
00:31:10,875 --> 00:31:13,750
of solar and wind, rarely
discussed in the media,

660
00:31:13,791 --> 00:31:16,000
a new generation of
technology was rising

661
00:31:16,041 --> 00:31:17,500
in the California desert.

662
00:31:18,750 --> 00:31:19,875
- What is this?

663
00:31:19,916 --> 00:31:21,625
- What we're using
is a field of mirrors

664
00:31:21,666 --> 00:31:23,916
to focus sunlight onto a tower.

665
00:31:23,958 --> 00:31:27,416
The power plant itself,
at 377 megawatts,

666
00:31:27,458 --> 00:31:29,500
will be the largest of
its kind in the world.

667
00:31:29,541 --> 00:31:31,750
- This will become the biggest
solar plant in the world!

668
00:31:33,041 --> 00:31:35,500
There's some people that
look out in a desert,

669
00:31:35,541 --> 00:31:38,708
and they see miles and
miles of emptiness.

670
00:31:38,750 --> 00:31:42,166
I see miles and
miles of a gold mine.

671
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:44,416
- But this
next generation

672
00:31:44,458 --> 00:31:46,750
had a fossil fuel secret, too.

673
00:31:46,791 --> 00:31:49,041
- This solar facility burns
natural gas pretty much

674
00:31:49,083 --> 00:31:51,666
every morning in order
to get it started up.

675
00:31:51,708 --> 00:31:53,000
- How long do
they have to burn it for?

676
00:31:53,041 --> 00:31:54,625
- Hours, usually.

677
00:31:54,666 --> 00:31:57,416
This is the incoming natural
gas for the facility.

678
00:31:57,458 --> 00:31:59,583
This plant would work about
as well without natural gas

679
00:31:59,625 --> 00:32:01,166
as I would without coffee
in the morning.

680
00:32:01,208 --> 00:32:03,000
- Or maybe how you
would be without food.

681
00:32:03,041 --> 00:32:04,625
- Or without food,
yeah.

682
00:32:04,666 --> 00:32:06,833
They have to file for
acid rain permits,

683
00:32:06,875 --> 00:32:08,833
permits for nitrous
oxide emissions,

684
00:32:08,875 --> 00:32:12,000
they have to apply for
carbon offset permits.

685
00:32:12,041 --> 00:32:14,000
Because they're producing
carbon dioxide here,

686
00:32:14,041 --> 00:32:15,583
so they have to offset that.

687
00:32:15,625 --> 00:32:18,041
The whole thing is built using
fossil fuel infrastructure,

688
00:32:18,083 --> 00:32:20,875
from the concrete to the
steel to the mirrors,

689
00:32:20,916 --> 00:32:22,500
to the backing on the mirrors.

690
00:32:22,541 --> 00:32:27,208
The sun is renewable, but
the solar arrays are not.

691
00:32:27,250 --> 00:32:28,333
- Oh, come on.

692
00:32:28,375 --> 00:32:29,291
There's got to be
something renewable.

693
00:32:29,333 --> 00:32:30,666
Glass is renewable.

694
00:32:30,708 --> 00:32:31,625
- Glass.

695
00:32:31,666 --> 00:32:32,916
Glass is not renewable.

696
00:32:32,958 --> 00:32:34,208
- Iron's renewable.

697
00:32:36,041 --> 00:32:36,791
Aluminum?

698
00:32:36,833 --> 00:32:37,833
That's renewable.

699
00:32:37,875 --> 00:32:38,958
I recycle my soda cans.

700
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,958
I know
it's renewable.

701
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,750
- Yeah, the problem with
all of these materials is

702
00:32:42,791 --> 00:32:46,583
that it takes an incredible
amount of energy to mine

703
00:32:46,625 --> 00:32:48,833
and process all of the materials

704
00:32:48,875 --> 00:32:50,750
that go into building
something like this.

705
00:32:50,791 --> 00:32:53,291
You use more fossil
fuels to do this

706
00:32:53,333 --> 00:32:56,041
than you're getting
benefit from it.

707
00:32:56,083 --> 00:32:57,750
You would have been better off
just burning the fossil fuels

708
00:32:57,791 --> 00:33:01,125
in the first place,
instead of playing pretend.

709
00:33:01,166 --> 00:33:02,583
- That green
energy has nothing

710
00:33:02,625 --> 00:33:05,500
to do with fossil fuels
is apparently a story

711
00:33:05,541 --> 00:33:07,666
only meant for you and me.

712
00:33:07,708 --> 00:33:09,125
Here is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,

713
00:33:09,166 --> 00:33:12,208
speaking to oil and
gas company insiders.

714
00:33:12,250 --> 00:33:15,791
- It's a combination
solar gas plant.

715
00:33:15,833 --> 00:33:18,083
It's a turbine that we
just take from a gas plant,

716
00:33:18,125 --> 00:33:20,708
suspend it from a big
scaffolding, a tower,

717
00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:22,875
and surround it by giant
mirrors in the desert.

718
00:33:22,916 --> 00:33:24,875
The plants that we're
building, the wind plants

719
00:33:24,916 --> 00:33:26,750
and the solar plants,
are gas plants.

720
00:33:26,791 --> 00:33:29,000
- What kind of
game is being played?

721
00:33:30,166 --> 00:33:34,708
- Well we're
basically just being fed a lie.

722
00:33:34,750 --> 00:33:35,875
For instance, you'll hear

723
00:33:35,916 --> 00:33:37,833
about Germany running
on wind and solar.

724
00:33:37,875 --> 00:33:39,125
- They were getting
50% of their power

725
00:33:39,166 --> 00:33:41,125
coming from the sun.

726
00:33:41,166 --> 00:33:43,000
- There were days
this past summer

727
00:33:43,041 --> 00:33:44,958
when the Germans
were generating 80%

728
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:46,416
of their power from the sun.

729
00:33:46,458 --> 00:33:47,666
- But Germany

730
00:33:47,708 --> 00:33:49,583
is still Europe's
largest consumer of coal.

731
00:33:56,125 --> 00:33:57,125
- Uhh.

732
00:33:57,166 --> 00:33:58,458
- Only a small fraction

733
00:33:58,500 --> 00:34:01,041
of their energy actually
comes from wind and solar.

734
00:34:01,083 --> 00:34:03,833
In fact, Germany is pushing
forward with a large terminal

735
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:06,041
that could import natural
gas from the United States.

736
00:34:07,750 --> 00:34:09,041
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla,

737
00:34:09,083 --> 00:34:10,958
when he announced his
Gigafactory battery plant,

738
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,833
he said it would power itself
with wind and solar energy.

739
00:34:13,875 --> 00:34:17,541
- Through a combination of
geothermal, wind and solar,

740
00:34:17,583 --> 00:34:19,750
it will produce all the
energy that it needs.

741
00:34:19,791 --> 00:34:21,541
- But in fact, it
has lines connecting it

742
00:34:21,583 --> 00:34:24,333
to the same electrical grid
that we're all connected to.

743
00:34:31,916 --> 00:34:33,000
Electric cars, wind turbines

744
00:34:33,041 --> 00:34:35,083
and solar panels use
rare earth metals.

745
00:34:35,125 --> 00:34:36,583
And in fact, a
rare earth mine is

746
00:34:36,625 --> 00:34:38,750
right up the street from here.

747
00:34:38,791 --> 00:34:41,833
In mining these deep
deposits, about 90%

748
00:34:41,875 --> 00:34:44,833
of what they pull up out of
the ground contains uranium,

749
00:34:44,875 --> 00:34:48,458
thorium and low level
of other radionuclides.

750
00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:51,291
Radioactive waste that has
to be disposed of somehow,

751
00:34:51,333 --> 00:34:53,750
they kind of turn it into
a paste and spread it

752
00:34:53,791 --> 00:34:55,208
over the desert floor.

753
00:34:55,250 --> 00:34:56,500
- Well, that's good
for the desert, right?

754
00:34:56,541 --> 00:34:58,083
- Yeah, the desert loves that.

755
00:35:00,583 --> 00:35:02,166
Tesla's electric cars
are built with aluminum,

756
00:35:02,208 --> 00:35:03,833
which uses eight
times more energy

757
00:35:03,875 --> 00:35:05,375
to manufacture than steel.

758
00:35:05,416 --> 00:35:08,791
They use lithium, which
also relies on toxic mining.

759
00:35:08,833 --> 00:35:10,875
And even more
graphite, which is one

760
00:35:10,916 --> 00:35:12,541
of the rarest forms of carbon.

761
00:35:13,541 --> 00:35:14,750
In fact, the investors wanted

762
00:35:14,791 --> 00:35:16,583
to open several
new graphite mines

763
00:35:16,625 --> 00:35:19,291
after Tesla announced
the Gigafactory.

764
00:35:19,333 --> 00:35:21,083
Apple claims to
be 100% renewable.

765
00:35:21,125 --> 00:35:24,041
- We never stop thinking about
what's best for the planet.

766
00:35:24,083 --> 00:35:27,708
We now run Apple on
100% renewable energy.

767
00:35:27,750 --> 00:35:32,000
All
of our facilities, worldwide.

768
00:35:32,041 --> 00:35:33,500
- And they
did chop down a forest

769
00:35:33,541 --> 00:35:36,500
to put up solar panels near
their North Carolina plant.

770
00:35:36,541 --> 00:35:39,000
But they didn't disconnect
from the grid and they can't.

771
00:35:39,041 --> 00:35:41,166
- Duke says energy
hungry companies

772
00:35:41,208 --> 00:35:44,166
like Apple can never go
entirely off the grid.

773
00:35:44,208 --> 00:35:46,333
- They're still
hooked up to our grid.

774
00:35:47,458 --> 00:35:48,791
- Despite
all of the claims,

775
00:35:48,833 --> 00:35:51,500
I haven't found a single
entity anywhere in the world

776
00:35:51,541 --> 00:35:55,041
that's running on 100%
solar and wind alone.

777
00:35:57,375 --> 00:36:00,000
- It turns out, you
don't just need fossil fuels

778
00:36:00,041 --> 00:36:04,166
to run a place like Ivanpah,
you need the devil himself,

779
00:36:04,208 --> 00:36:06,958
or in this case, themselves.

780
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,416
- All of the mirrors
that you see there are built

781
00:36:09,458 --> 00:36:11,916
by the Koch brothers,
Guardian Glass Industry,

782
00:36:11,958 --> 00:36:13,375
a company that they control.

783
00:36:13,416 --> 00:36:15,708
Koch Carbon creates a lot
of the inputs that are used

784
00:36:15,750 --> 00:36:18,375
to create the cement and
the concrete and the steel.

785
00:36:18,416 --> 00:36:20,583
And not only that,
they build the plants

786
00:36:20,625 --> 00:36:22,708
that builds polysilicon
for solar cells.

787
00:36:22,750 --> 00:36:23,875
They have, actually,

788
00:36:23,916 --> 00:36:26,000
their own solar line
called Solar Molex.

789
00:36:26,041 --> 00:36:29,458
From every step of the process,
the Koch brothers are there.

790
00:36:29,500 --> 00:36:31,416
- But, they're
the evil doers.

791
00:36:31,458 --> 00:36:32,875
- Yeah ,
the funny part is

792
00:36:32,916 --> 00:36:35,000
that when you criticize
solar plants like this,

793
00:36:35,041 --> 00:36:37,416
you're accused of working
for the Koch brothers.

794
00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:40,416
That's the idiocy
in all of this.

795
00:36:40,458 --> 00:36:42,916
This absolutely can not
extend civilization's life.

796
00:36:42,958 --> 00:36:45,916
This relies on the most toxic
and industrial processes

797
00:36:45,958 --> 00:36:47,208
that we've ever created.

798
00:39:10,125 --> 00:39:11,833
- The beauty of
a solar facility,

799
00:39:11,875 --> 00:39:13,125
and particularly
this technology,

800
00:39:13,166 --> 00:39:15,791
is that it is so
environmentally benign.

801
00:39:37,500 --> 00:39:38,541
I, too, had once thought

802
00:39:38,583 --> 00:39:40,875
deserts could be
sacrifice zones.

803
00:39:42,916 --> 00:39:44,333
I was wrong.

804
00:39:44,375 --> 00:39:45,666
Deserts are not dead.

805
00:39:46,875 --> 00:39:48,875
They are, in fact,
full of ancient life.

806
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,416
In the desert, the Joshua
tree stands, waiting,

807
00:40:05,791 --> 00:40:08,000
waiting for the
giant ground sloths

808
00:40:08,041 --> 00:40:10,416
and the mammoths that
shall never return.

809
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,083
The Joshua tree depended
on the giant mammals

810
00:40:15,125 --> 00:40:17,833
to reach up high
and eat their seeds,

811
00:40:17,875 --> 00:40:20,875
and thus disperse
the Joshua tree.

812
00:40:23,791 --> 00:40:27,041
But now, stranded
in time and space,

813
00:40:27,083 --> 00:40:30,333
the Joshua tree
awaits a new fate.

814
00:40:30,375 --> 00:40:31,625
To be sacrificed

815
00:40:32,625 --> 00:40:33,875
in the name of progress.

816
00:40:35,416 --> 00:40:38,708
- Joshua trees are torn down
to make way for solar projects.

817
00:40:38,750 --> 00:40:40,666
23ABC's Cassie Carlisle travels

818
00:40:40,708 --> 00:40:42,875
to the Mojave Desert
to talk to neighbors.

819
00:40:42,916 --> 00:40:44,750
- They're
not your usual tree.

820
00:40:44,791 --> 00:40:46,250
More like something
from fiction,

821
00:40:46,291 --> 00:40:48,791
but these Joshuas are
causing quite an uproar.

822
00:40:48,833 --> 00:40:51,458
- No, it makes me sick that
they're clearing them off,

823
00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,250
killing them real quick,

824
00:40:53,291 --> 00:40:54,833
and now they're
grinding them up,

825
00:40:54,875 --> 00:40:56,416
getting rid of all the evidence.

826
00:41:04,666 --> 00:41:06,958
- Not far
from Ivanpah Solar,

827
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:08,541
Daggett, California was home

828
00:41:08,583 --> 00:41:11,291
to several generations
of solar arrays

829
00:41:11,333 --> 00:41:13,875
including some of the
first on the planet.

830
00:41:18,250 --> 00:41:20,125
Ozzie and I thought
we would take a trip

831
00:41:20,166 --> 00:41:21,916
to see where it all began.

832
00:41:35,916 --> 00:41:38,125
- This is one of the sunniest
places in the planet, really,

833
00:41:38,166 --> 00:41:41,458
and it's the center
of the solar industry

834
00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:42,875
and they've been
building and dismantling

835
00:41:42,916 --> 00:41:46,833
and building arrays
here for about 40 years.

836
00:41:48,208 --> 00:41:49,250
- Then we happened to run

837
00:41:49,291 --> 00:41:51,083
into the mayor of Daggett.

838
00:41:51,125 --> 00:41:53,500
- And then the solar plants
out there, my husband,

839
00:41:53,541 --> 00:41:58,000
back in, I'd say '83, '84,
they worked out there building

840
00:41:58,041 --> 00:41:58,916
that solar plant out there.

841
00:41:58,958 --> 00:41:59,875
- Yeah, the SEGS.

842
00:41:59,916 --> 00:42:02,458
- And everybody here worked.

843
00:42:02,500 --> 00:42:03,333
- How's that held up?

844
00:42:03,375 --> 00:42:04,875
Is it, are the jobs still here?

845
00:42:04,916 --> 00:42:05,916
- No.

846
00:42:05,958 --> 00:42:07,666
Jobs went bye-bye.

847
00:42:07,708 --> 00:42:09,625
They have their normal
people that run the plant,

848
00:42:09,666 --> 00:42:11,541
the plant operators
and stuff like that,

849
00:42:11,583 --> 00:42:13,833
the big wigs, you
know, they have that.

850
00:42:13,875 --> 00:42:15,833
Where that energy's
going, I don't know.

851
00:42:15,875 --> 00:42:17,750
- Were you
originally optimistic

852
00:42:17,791 --> 00:42:19,916
that the solar would
bring more jobs

853
00:42:19,958 --> 00:42:21,041
and development for people?

854
00:42:21,083 --> 00:42:22,500
- Yeah, we really
did, we really did.

855
00:42:22,541 --> 00:42:25,125
A lot of things come into
this town, they come and go.

856
00:42:25,166 --> 00:42:26,750
They go really fast.

857
00:42:29,791 --> 00:42:30,916
- Do you see this?

858
00:42:32,666 --> 00:42:34,166
- Then Ozzie
and I discovered

859
00:42:34,208 --> 00:42:37,000
that the giant solar arrays
had been razed to the ground.

860
00:42:38,583 --> 00:42:40,125
- Oh, my God.

861
00:42:41,291 --> 00:42:42,958
- I mean, this was huge.

862
00:42:46,708 --> 00:42:49,000
It suddenly dawned on me
what we were looking at.

863
00:42:50,416 --> 00:42:51,791
A solar dead zone.

864
00:42:53,583 --> 00:42:55,125
Look at the blowing sand.

865
00:42:55,166 --> 00:42:56,166
- Yeah.

866
00:42:56,208 --> 00:42:57,416
There's sand everywhere,

867
00:42:57,458 --> 00:42:59,666
there's sand dunes
forming around this area.

868
00:42:59,708 --> 00:43:00,500
- Wow.

869
00:43:15,541 --> 00:43:16,958
So, after all the mining,

870
00:43:18,208 --> 00:43:20,166
the fossil fuels,

871
00:43:20,208 --> 00:43:21,750
the toxins,

872
00:43:21,791 --> 00:43:23,708
the environmental destruction,

873
00:43:24,916 --> 00:43:26,875
here's what happens next.

874
00:43:28,125 --> 00:43:30,708
Only a few years
after it was built,

875
00:43:30,750 --> 00:43:33,000
things at Ivanpah
began to fall apart.

876
00:43:35,875 --> 00:43:37,875
Broken mirrors
littered the desert.

877
00:43:42,291 --> 00:43:43,875
Yes, these giant solar

878
00:43:43,916 --> 00:43:46,916
and wind technology
installations may last

879
00:43:46,958 --> 00:43:48,458
only a few decades,

880
00:43:50,708 --> 00:43:52,958
then tear it down and
start all over again.

881
00:43:57,333 --> 00:43:59,000
If there is enough planet left.

882
00:44:04,916 --> 00:44:06,416
It was becoming clear that

883
00:44:06,458 --> 00:44:09,125
what we have been calling
green, renewable energy

884
00:44:10,041 --> 00:44:13,083
and industrial civilization,
are one and the same.

885
00:44:14,958 --> 00:44:17,875
Desperate measures not
to save the planet,

886
00:44:19,375 --> 00:44:21,333
but to save our way of life.

887
00:44:24,708 --> 00:44:28,125
Desperate measures rather
than face the reality,

888
00:44:28,166 --> 00:44:32,208
humans are experiencing
the planet's limits

889
00:44:32,250 --> 00:44:34,125
all at once.

890
00:44:34,166 --> 00:44:37,708
- Every different
perspective I look at

891
00:44:37,750 --> 00:44:41,250
and imagine, well, we
could do more of this,

892
00:44:41,291 --> 00:44:44,458
or go to a larger area
or use more of that.

893
00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:46,833
Well, it turns out,
there isn't more.

894
00:44:46,875 --> 00:44:49,875
I looked at marine production
and fish production

895
00:44:49,916 --> 00:44:52,333
and found that
peaked 20 years ago.

896
00:44:53,708 --> 00:44:57,166
More and more of what we
eat is from fish farming.

897
00:44:58,083 --> 00:45:01,416
The current acres of
actively farmed land,

898
00:45:01,458 --> 00:45:03,416
that has peaked also.

899
00:45:03,458 --> 00:45:05,958
The rivers are already
being irrigated

900
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,083
to about the limits of
what they can sustain.

901
00:45:09,125 --> 00:45:13,583
The Colorado River doesn't
get to the ocean anymore.

902
00:45:13,625 --> 00:45:16,083
Well, then you start
looking at ground water,

903
00:45:16,125 --> 00:45:18,000
the Southern Great Plains,

904
00:45:18,041 --> 00:45:21,166
and I think they can almost
predict when they will run out

905
00:45:21,208 --> 00:45:23,791
of ground water and
it's in a decade or two.

906
00:45:25,375 --> 00:45:29,333
A human vulnerability
at the global scale,

907
00:45:29,375 --> 00:45:33,083
that any one of them we
could maybe compartmentalize,

908
00:45:33,125 --> 00:45:34,958
but we're seeing
them propagating

909
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:40,000
across topic after topic of
society and the earth system.

910
00:45:41,083 --> 00:45:43,750
And I don't think the people

911
00:45:43,791 --> 00:45:46,000
in charge are near
nervous enough.

912
00:45:51,958 --> 00:45:53,083
- Though each

913
00:45:53,125 --> 00:45:54,791
of them takes climate
change seriously,

914
00:45:54,833 --> 00:45:56,833
every expert I talked to wanted

915
00:45:56,875 --> 00:46:00,000
to bring my attention to the
same, underlying problem.

916
00:46:00,041 --> 00:46:04,875
- There are too many human
beings using too much, too fast.

917
00:46:04,916 --> 00:46:07,166
- As a global community,
we really have got

918
00:46:07,208 --> 00:46:09,833
to start dealing with
the issue of population.

919
00:46:09,875 --> 00:46:13,166
- Population growth
continues to be the,

920
00:46:13,208 --> 00:46:16,833
not the elephant, the herd
of elephants, in the room.

921
00:46:16,875 --> 00:46:18,125
- Can a single species

922
00:46:18,166 --> 00:46:19,875
that's come to dominate
an entire planet--

923
00:46:19,916 --> 00:46:24,875
- Be smart enough to voluntarily
limit its own presence?

924
00:46:24,916 --> 00:46:26,416
- Is there any
precedence for that in nature?

925
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:29,375
- Wow.

926
00:46:29,416 --> 00:46:32,958
- We have to have our
abilities to consume reined in.

927
00:46:34,125 --> 00:46:37,000
Because we're not good
at reining them in

928
00:46:37,041 --> 00:46:40,833
if there are seemingly
unrestrained resources.

929
00:46:40,875 --> 00:46:44,750
- Species hit the population
wall a lot and then they crash.

930
00:46:44,791 --> 00:46:47,791
I mean, that's a common
story in biology.

931
00:46:47,833 --> 00:46:49,916
If that happens to us, in a way,

932
00:46:49,958 --> 00:46:51,541
it's the natural
order of things.

933
00:46:51,583 --> 00:46:54,250
And I don't think we're gonna
find a way out of this one.

934
00:46:55,666 --> 00:46:56,375
I don't.

935
00:46:56,416 --> 00:46:57,375
- As a scientist,

936
00:46:57,416 --> 00:46:58,750
what leads you to
that conclusion?

937
00:46:58,791 --> 00:47:03,416
- Well, because right
now, a large percentage

938
00:47:03,458 --> 00:47:07,500
of that number is supported
by industrial agriculture,

939
00:47:07,541 --> 00:47:09,500
which is heavily
subsidized by oil,

940
00:47:09,541 --> 00:47:10,791
and it's not sustainable,

941
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:15,458
and there's no going back.

942
00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:18,541
Without seeing some sort of
major die-off in population,

943
00:47:18,583 --> 00:47:19,791
there's no turning back.

944
00:47:21,208 --> 00:47:22,541
- What's the thing
that nobody ever asks you

945
00:47:22,583 --> 00:47:23,791
that you want--

946
00:47:25,833 --> 00:47:27,791
- Nobody's ever asked
me if I'm scared.

947
00:47:28,916 --> 00:47:29,666
- Yeah.

948
00:47:29,708 --> 00:47:30,458
- And, I am.

949
00:47:30,500 --> 00:47:31,375
I actually am scared.

950
00:47:31,416 --> 00:47:34,166
I lose sleep over all of this.

951
00:47:40,791 --> 00:47:42,500
- It took modern
humans tens of thousands

952
00:47:42,541 --> 00:47:45,541
of years to reach a
population of 700 million.

953
00:47:46,708 --> 00:47:48,458
And then we tapped
into millions of years

954
00:47:48,500 --> 00:47:51,500
of stored energy,
known as fossil fuels.

955
00:47:51,541 --> 00:47:53,333
Our human population exploded.

956
00:47:54,208 --> 00:47:58,083
It increased by 10 times
in a mere 200 years.

957
00:47:58,125 --> 00:48:00,375
Our consumption
has also exploded,

958
00:48:00,416 --> 00:48:02,875
on average ten times per person,

959
00:48:02,916 --> 00:48:05,208
and many times more
in the Western world.

960
00:48:06,125 --> 00:48:07,958
You put the two together,

961
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,875
the result is a total human
impact 100 times greater

962
00:48:11,916 --> 00:48:14,125
than only 200 years ago.

963
00:48:16,875 --> 00:48:20,958
And that is the most terrifying
realization I have ever had.

964
00:48:23,500 --> 00:48:27,041
We humans are poised for a fall
from an unimaginable height.

965
00:48:28,791 --> 00:48:30,375
Not because of one thing,

966
00:48:31,416 --> 00:48:32,916
not climate change alone,

967
00:48:34,208 --> 00:48:36,333
but all the human-caused changes

968
00:48:36,375 --> 00:48:37,875
the planet is suffering from.

969
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:44,250
So, why are bankers,
industrialists

970
00:48:44,291 --> 00:48:46,083
and environmental
leaders only focused

971
00:48:46,125 --> 00:48:48,416
on the narrow solution
of green technology?

972
00:48:50,333 --> 00:48:51,708
Is it the profit motive?

973
00:48:53,291 --> 00:48:56,291
And why, for most of
my life, have I fallen

974
00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:58,958
for the illusion green
energy would save us?

975
00:49:04,250 --> 00:49:05,833
Clearly, to answer
this question,

976
00:49:05,875 --> 00:49:08,125
I needed professional help.

977
00:49:08,166 --> 00:49:09,458
- Keep my stuff.

978
00:49:09,500 --> 00:49:11,541
No, I never heard...

979
00:49:11,583 --> 00:49:13,375
- I'll just be honest
with you about my dilemma.

980
00:49:13,416 --> 00:49:17,750
You can be my clinical
social psych--

981
00:49:17,791 --> 00:49:20,666
It's like, the
right has religion,

982
00:49:21,708 --> 00:49:24,250
and they have a belief
in infinite fossil fuels.

983
00:49:24,291 --> 00:49:27,833
Our side says, "Oh,
it's gonna be okay,

984
00:49:27,875 --> 00:49:29,041
we're gonna have solar panels,

985
00:49:29,083 --> 00:49:31,250
we're gonna have wind towers."

986
00:49:31,291 --> 00:49:33,333
Soon as I heard you talk
about our denial of death,

987
00:49:33,375 --> 00:49:35,958
I'm like could that be it?

988
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,458
Could it be that we can't
face our own mortality?

989
00:49:38,500 --> 00:49:40,750
Could we have a religion
that we're unaware of?

990
00:49:40,791 --> 00:49:42,125
- Absolutely.

991
00:49:42,166 --> 00:49:44,750
I think you've hit the
proverbial nail on the head.

992
00:49:44,791 --> 00:49:48,916
What just differentiates
people from all other forms

993
00:49:48,958 --> 00:49:51,458
of life is that,
we're not only here

994
00:49:51,500 --> 00:49:52,916
but that we know
that we're here.

995
00:49:52,958 --> 00:49:57,041
If you know that you're
here, then you recognize,

996
00:49:57,083 --> 00:50:00,333
even dimly, that you'll
not be here someday.

997
00:50:00,375 --> 00:50:03,958
And on top of that, we don't
like that we're animals.

998
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:05,750
So we don't like that
we're gonna die someday,

999
00:50:05,791 --> 00:50:07,791
and we don't like that
you could walk outside

1000
00:50:07,833 --> 00:50:09,875
and get hit by a fuckin' meteor.

1001
00:50:09,916 --> 00:50:11,916
What human beings did back

1002
00:50:11,958 --> 00:50:15,083
in yesteryear is to
envelop ourselves

1003
00:50:15,125 --> 00:50:17,958
in culturally constructed
belief systems.

1004
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,250
You know, call them cultures,

1005
00:50:19,291 --> 00:50:23,125
call them world views,
schemes of things.

1006
00:50:23,166 --> 00:50:27,125
Whatever you call them, every
human community has them.

1007
00:50:27,166 --> 00:50:31,333
Every culture has an account
of the origin of the Universe.

1008
00:50:31,375 --> 00:50:32,875
Every culture has a prescription

1009
00:50:32,916 --> 00:50:34,916
for how you're supposed to
behave while you're here.

1010
00:50:34,958 --> 00:50:38,833
And every culture offers its
denizens hope of immortality,

1011
00:50:38,875 --> 00:50:42,833
either literally
or symbolically.

1012
00:50:42,875 --> 00:50:45,375
Then the question is, well,
what happens when you bump

1013
00:50:45,416 --> 00:50:49,083
into people who don't
share those beliefs?

1014
00:50:49,125 --> 00:50:51,958
Whether you know it or not,
whether you like it or not,

1015
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,333
that's undermining
the confidence

1016
00:50:54,375 --> 00:50:57,375
with which you subscribe
to your own views,

1017
00:50:57,416 --> 00:50:59,875
and exposing you
to the very anxiety

1018
00:50:59,916 --> 00:51:02,000
that those beliefs
were constructed

1019
00:51:02,041 --> 00:51:04,208
to eradicate in the first place.

1020
00:51:04,250 --> 00:51:07,041
If we're to make progress,
whatever that word means,

1021
00:51:07,083 --> 00:51:10,666
or even to persist as a form
of life, we're gonna need

1022
00:51:10,708 --> 00:51:15,708
to radically overhaul
our basic conception

1023
00:51:16,750 --> 00:51:20,166
of who and what we are, and
what it is that we value.

1024
00:51:21,208 --> 00:51:23,875
Because the people that
you referred to earlier,

1025
00:51:23,916 --> 00:51:27,375
both on the left and the right

1026
00:51:27,416 --> 00:51:32,791
that think we're gonna be
able to discover more oil,

1027
00:51:32,833 --> 00:51:37,958
or solar panel ourselves
into the future,

1028
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,291
where life will look pretty
much like it does now.

1029
00:51:41,333 --> 00:51:43,500
You know, only
cleaner and better.

1030
00:51:43,541 --> 00:51:45,083
- Either with more
oil or greener or both.

1031
00:51:45,125 --> 00:51:46,250
- Correct.

1032
00:51:46,291 --> 00:51:49,000
I think that's just
frankly delusional.

1033
00:51:49,041 --> 00:51:51,916
- What I'm hearing is that,
if I haven't come to grips

1034
00:51:51,958 --> 00:51:55,791
with my own anxiety
about death and life,

1035
00:51:55,833 --> 00:52:00,333
and presented with a reminder
of that, I'm highly likely

1036
00:52:00,375 --> 00:52:05,166
to make some tragic
decisions for the community.

1037
00:52:05,208 --> 00:52:06,708
- Yes.

1038
00:52:06,750 --> 00:52:12,000
The only solution in principle
is, as Albert Camus put it,

1039
00:52:12,041 --> 00:52:15,333
he said, "There's only one
liberty, to come to terms

1040
00:52:15,375 --> 00:52:18,958
with death, thereafter
anything is possible."

1041
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:22,291
I find that downright inspiring.

1042
00:52:23,958 --> 00:52:25,791
- As for our
environmental leaders,

1043
00:52:25,833 --> 00:52:27,958
who dwelled in
comfortable illusions,

1044
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:30,541
how tragic of decisions
were they capable of making?

1045
00:52:32,791 --> 00:52:34,041
I was about to find out.

1046
00:52:49,666 --> 00:52:52,125
- They claim they're
just using forest residues,

1047
00:52:52,166 --> 00:52:55,333
but actually a great deal
of what the McNeil facility,

1048
00:52:55,375 --> 00:52:58,333
and lots of biomass facilities
burn, is whole trees.

1049
00:52:58,375 --> 00:53:00,500
As you can see by this
pile that's stacked right

1050
00:53:00,541 --> 00:53:03,208
outside of the facility,
these are trees.

1051
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:06,416
- It turns out
that the biggest source

1052
00:53:06,458 --> 00:53:09,791
of green energy in Vermont
is something called biomass.

1053
00:53:10,875 --> 00:53:12,958
Burning trees to
create electricity.

1054
00:53:14,750 --> 00:53:16,875
- This is definitely
not the way.

1055
00:53:16,916 --> 00:53:19,250
At the first step is actually
looking at our lifestyles,

1056
00:53:19,291 --> 00:53:21,791
how we can reduce our
energy consumption.

1057
00:53:23,208 --> 00:53:28,541
This is all the ash that has
varying levels of toxic metals,

1058
00:53:28,583 --> 00:53:30,041
a great deal of radiation

1059
00:53:30,083 --> 00:53:31,500
because these trees
have been absorb...

1060
00:53:31,541 --> 00:53:32,541
Oops, there's the...

1061
00:53:36,625 --> 00:53:38,500
- You're in uh forbidden
territory here.

1062
00:53:38,541 --> 00:53:39,958
- Are we?

1063
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:41,958
- May I ask both of you to
come up to our office, okay?

1064
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:43,208
- Is that something
you're interested in doing?

1065
00:53:43,250 --> 00:53:45,833
- It's not an interest,
you've got five seconds

1066
00:53:45,875 --> 00:53:46,875
or I'm calling 911.

1067
00:53:46,916 --> 00:53:48,208
- Okay.

1068
00:53:48,250 --> 00:53:50,750
- We've
got two individuals here--

1069
00:53:52,125 --> 00:53:53,958
The police will be down
here in about two minutes.

1070
00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:55,833
- But you asked us
to leave and we're doing so.

1071
00:53:55,875 --> 00:53:57,000
- I'm
not asking you to leave,

1072
00:53:57,041 --> 00:53:59,000
I'm asking you to
come up to the office.

1073
00:53:59,041 --> 00:54:00,583
- Okay,
thanks for the offer.

1074
00:54:00,625 --> 00:54:01,541
Maybe next time.

1075
00:54:05,208 --> 00:54:06,583
You got everything here.

1076
00:54:07,541 --> 00:54:10,000
You have the number one
polluter in the state

1077
00:54:10,041 --> 00:54:12,666
that people think emits
magical fairy dust

1078
00:54:12,708 --> 00:54:14,583
from the smokestack.

1079
00:54:14,625 --> 00:54:16,416
Reality is what you
have is a facility

1080
00:54:16,458 --> 00:54:20,333
that burns 400,000 green
tons a year of trees.

1081
00:54:20,375 --> 00:54:23,375
This facility burns thirty
cords of wood per hour.

1082
00:54:23,416 --> 00:54:24,916
- That's a
hell of a lot of wood.

1083
00:54:24,958 --> 00:54:26,083
- And on top of that,

1084
00:54:26,125 --> 00:54:28,541
it actually burns
natural gas, as well.

1085
00:54:28,583 --> 00:54:29,958
- And to think
you would have to have 10

1086
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,916
of these to replace one
average coal-fired power plant.

1087
00:54:32,958 --> 00:54:34,416
It's just not gonna work.

1088
00:54:34,458 --> 00:54:35,833
- It's just nuts.

1089
00:54:35,875 --> 00:54:37,500
It takes a great
deal of fossil fuels

1090
00:54:37,541 --> 00:54:40,000
to cut down all these trees,

1091
00:54:40,041 --> 00:54:42,000
to truck 'em in, to
use the big machinery

1092
00:54:42,041 --> 00:54:43,750
to dump the wood
chips everywhere.

1093
00:54:43,791 --> 00:54:46,375
So, the idea that somehow
this is not anything to do

1094
00:54:46,416 --> 00:54:49,083
with fossil fuels just
doesn't even make any sense.

1095
00:54:49,125 --> 00:54:51,916
It couldn't happen without
fossil fuels, in fact.

1096
00:54:51,958 --> 00:54:53,416
- How did the
environmental groups

1097
00:54:53,458 --> 00:54:54,625
get pulled into this?

1098
00:54:54,666 --> 00:54:57,000
- Obviously, the main
factor is delusion.

1099
00:54:57,041 --> 00:54:59,833
A lot of these environmental
groups have been saying

1100
00:54:59,875 --> 00:55:01,916
that all we have to
do is, for instance,

1101
00:55:01,958 --> 00:55:04,000
switch our fossil
fuel economy over

1102
00:55:04,041 --> 00:55:06,000
to a few solar
panels and windmills,

1103
00:55:06,041 --> 00:55:09,666
and we can continue
living life as normal.

1104
00:55:09,708 --> 00:55:11,833
Some of the environmental
groups have been,

1105
00:55:11,875 --> 00:55:15,875
for years, touting facilities
like this saying that,

1106
00:55:15,916 --> 00:55:18,875
number one, it's carbon neutral.

1107
00:55:18,916 --> 00:55:22,625
That this will actually help
us fend off climate change

1108
00:55:22,666 --> 00:55:25,958
because there are
no CO2 emissions.

1109
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:27,958
It actually emits
over 400 thousand tons

1110
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,666
per year of carbon dioxide.

1111
00:55:30,708 --> 00:55:33,250
"Oh, but once we cut
'em, they'll grow back."

1112
00:55:33,291 --> 00:55:36,958
They'll grow back over a
period of decades to centuries

1113
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:38,916
but if we cut every tree
in the United States,

1114
00:55:38,958 --> 00:55:41,750
it would be able to power
the country for a year.

1115
00:55:41,791 --> 00:55:44,625
Then what happens when, you
know, those trees are gone?

1116
00:55:51,166 --> 00:55:52,875
- I discovered
biomass plants

1117
00:55:52,916 --> 00:55:55,208
were not even always
biomass plants.

1118
00:55:56,166 --> 00:55:58,458
- This is actually a
solid waste incinerator

1119
00:55:58,500 --> 00:56:00,583
that's posing as
a biomass plant.

1120
00:56:00,625 --> 00:56:04,916
The impact in this
community is severe.

1121
00:56:04,958 --> 00:56:09,125
The plant is right next
to a Head Start school

1122
00:56:09,166 --> 00:56:10,750
for preschool kids.

1123
00:56:10,791 --> 00:56:12,750
There is Green Hill Manor and

1124
00:56:12,791 --> 00:56:16,750
that's an assisted
living senior residence.

1125
00:56:16,791 --> 00:56:20,083
And there's also a
Catholic elementary school

1126
00:56:20,125 --> 00:56:21,833
right next door.

1127
00:56:22,958 --> 00:56:23,875
- How do you
know they're polluting?

1128
00:56:23,916 --> 00:56:24,916
Can you see it ever?

1129
00:56:24,958 --> 00:56:25,916
- We can see it.

1130
00:56:25,958 --> 00:56:28,041
The snow at the
elementary school

1131
00:56:28,083 --> 00:56:32,875
and at the preschool
is covered with black,

1132
00:56:32,916 --> 00:56:34,791
some kind of black soot.

1133
00:56:34,833 --> 00:56:36,250
We just had it analyzed

1134
00:56:36,291 --> 00:56:41,833
and it came back as
mostly tire chips.

1135
00:56:41,875 --> 00:56:45,000
They have to add
tire-derived fuel

1136
00:56:45,041 --> 00:56:47,250
to raise the
temperature of the fire,

1137
00:56:47,291 --> 00:56:50,875
because anybody who's tried to
burn green wood or wet wood,

1138
00:56:50,916 --> 00:56:52,833
knows that it doesn't
burn very well.

1139
00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:55,375
- But this
biomass plant had

1140
00:56:55,416 --> 00:56:56,833
yet another surprise.

1141
00:56:58,208 --> 00:57:01,833
- They admit that they
burn 20.1 tons per hour

1142
00:57:01,875 --> 00:57:04,250
of creosote treated
railroad ties.

1143
00:57:04,291 --> 00:57:09,250
Besides that, they are allowed
to burn 500 pounds per hour

1144
00:57:09,291 --> 00:57:13,125
of PCP treated railroad ties.

1145
00:57:13,166 --> 00:57:15,000
These are shipped
in from Canada.

1146
00:57:16,166 --> 00:57:20,166
It's not green, it's
not renewable, it's

1147
00:57:20,208 --> 00:57:22,500
it's not anything that
they claim it to be.

1148
00:57:22,541 --> 00:57:26,166
Yet, they got
$11.5 million grant

1149
00:57:26,208 --> 00:57:28,875
because it was
classified as renewable.

1150
00:57:29,958 --> 00:57:31,500
The plant owner told us

1151
00:57:31,541 --> 00:57:36,166
that they were having trouble
getting enough wood chips.

1152
00:57:36,208 --> 00:57:39,916
And he even asked us if
we had any scrap wood

1153
00:57:39,958 --> 00:57:42,833
where we lived, would
we call the plant

1154
00:57:42,875 --> 00:57:45,708
and let them know so they
could come up and pick it up.

1155
00:57:45,750 --> 00:57:46,583
- We're not talking

1156
00:57:46,625 --> 00:57:48,791
about some old industrial site,

1157
00:57:48,833 --> 00:57:50,208
we're next to one of the most
beautiful places in the world.

1158
00:57:50,250 --> 00:57:52,916
- We're next to Lake Superior,
this is Keweenaw B...

1159
00:57:52,958 --> 00:57:56,125
this is actually L'Anse Bay,
it's part of Keweenaw Bay.

1160
00:57:57,458 --> 00:58:03,250
It's Lake Superior, our
lake.

1161
00:58:03,291 --> 00:58:06,625
So, it's a very sacred
place to many people.

1162
00:58:11,875 --> 00:58:13,125
- Are you with the news?

1163
00:58:13,166 --> 00:58:14,000
- No, there's supposed

1164
00:58:14,041 --> 00:58:14,833
to be a climate change rally.

1165
00:58:14,875 --> 00:58:16,625
- Oh.

1166
00:58:20,458 --> 00:58:22,750
- Michigan State
University students,

1167
00:58:22,791 --> 00:58:26,166
inspired by 350.org,
were holding a rally

1168
00:58:26,208 --> 00:58:29,125
for the clean energy future
they'd been promised.

1169
00:58:34,416 --> 00:58:35,958
- Imagine when I found out

1170
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:39,583
that it is the largest on-campus
coal plant in the nation.

1171
00:58:39,625 --> 00:58:42,041
The goal is to get
the whole world moving

1172
00:58:42,083 --> 00:58:43,500
beyond fossil fuels.

1173
00:58:45,541 --> 00:58:49,916
- Who wants to
do a 350 sign on the steps?

1174
00:58:49,958 --> 00:58:51,833
- But it turned out
Michigan State had a form

1175
00:58:51,875 --> 00:58:54,958
of green energy in mind the
students did not support.

1176
00:58:56,041 --> 00:58:57,375
- The university contracted

1177
00:58:57,416 --> 00:59:00,208
with an energy
contracting company.

1178
00:59:00,250 --> 00:59:01,875
They put together
a modeling tool.

1179
00:59:01,916 --> 00:59:03,416
The first two or three months

1180
00:59:03,458 --> 00:59:06,458
that the steering committee
was using this modeling tool,

1181
00:59:06,500 --> 00:59:09,125
it didn't even contain
data for wind or solar.

1182
00:59:09,166 --> 00:59:10,375
So there was

1183
00:59:10,416 --> 00:59:11,708
- Adam told me
they were planning on

1184
00:59:11,750 --> 00:59:14,375
substituting coal burning
with biomass burning.

1185
00:59:14,416 --> 00:59:16,333
- But the permit that is
currently being considered

1186
00:59:16,375 --> 00:59:20,875
by the state is a permit
for 24,000 tons of biomass,

1187
00:59:22,916 --> 00:59:24,208
I think per year.

1188
00:59:24,250 --> 00:59:26,458
And the plan is to do
that in all four boilers.

1189
00:59:26,500 --> 00:59:28,083
Unfortunately, the steering
committee considers

1190
00:59:28,125 --> 00:59:30,333
biomass renewable at the moment,

1191
00:59:30,375 --> 00:59:32,875
which we're not happy with.

1192
00:59:34,916 --> 00:59:36,958
- Michigan State
wasn't the only university

1193
00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:37,833
to go green.

1194
00:59:39,250 --> 00:59:41,666
- I'm happy to announce
that Carolina will be going

1195
00:59:41,708 --> 00:59:44,791
beyond coal in the next decade.

1196
00:59:44,833 --> 00:59:48,125
Now, as we begin to wean
ourselves on coal, we are about

1197
00:59:48,166 --> 00:59:52,000
to try another alternative
energy source, biomass.

1198
00:59:52,916 --> 00:59:54,125
- And who was here

1199
00:59:54,166 --> 00:59:55,291
to help the University
of North Carolina switch

1200
00:59:55,333 --> 00:59:57,500
from burning coal
to burning trees?

1201
00:59:58,791 --> 01:00:01,416
- So, it is a great
pleasure to be here today

1202
01:00:01,458 --> 01:00:03,333
to celebrate the remarkable step

1203
01:00:03,375 --> 01:00:05,833
that the university
is taking to say,

1204
01:00:05,875 --> 01:00:07,750
"We're gonna do our part."

1205
01:00:08,875 --> 01:00:10,583
- A remarkable
step, indeed.

1206
01:00:11,875 --> 01:00:13,583
We're to do our
part by getting out

1207
01:00:13,625 --> 01:00:15,750
of bed with coal companies

1208
01:00:15,791 --> 01:00:17,875
and into bed with
logging companies?

1209
01:00:19,791 --> 01:00:21,875
Where did the idea of
colleges going green

1210
01:00:21,916 --> 01:00:23,958
by burning trees
come from, anyway?

1211
01:00:25,166 --> 01:00:28,916
A little college
called Middlebury in the heart
of Vermont.

1212
01:00:30,583 --> 01:00:32,875
- Welcome to the
celebration of the opening

1213
01:00:32,916 --> 01:00:36,625
of Middlebury's new biomass
gasification system.

1214
01:00:36,666 --> 01:00:38,833
It's now my great
pleasure to introduce

1215
01:00:38,875 --> 01:00:40,875
this afternoon's
speaker, Bill McKibben.

1216
01:00:42,791 --> 01:00:45,541
- What powers a
learning community?

1217
01:00:45,583 --> 01:00:48,333
And as of this afternoon,
the easy answer

1218
01:00:48,375 --> 01:00:50,916
to that is wood chips.

1219
01:00:50,958 --> 01:00:53,958
It's incredibly beautiful
to stand over there

1220
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:57,000
and see that big bunker
full of wood chips.

1221
01:00:57,041 --> 01:00:59,875
You can put any kind of
wood in, oak, willow,

1222
01:00:59,916 --> 01:01:01,291
whatever you want.

1223
01:01:01,333 --> 01:01:03,750
Pretty much anything that
burns we can toss in there

1224
01:01:03,791 --> 01:01:06,041
if we can chip it down
to the right size.

1225
01:01:06,083 --> 01:01:08,791
And there are very few
similar cases anyplace

1226
01:01:08,833 --> 01:01:12,291
in this country of that kind
of change over that scale.

1227
01:01:12,333 --> 01:01:13,958
But it shows it
could happen anywhere

1228
01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:15,625
and it should happen anywhere.

1229
01:01:15,666 --> 01:01:18,875
In fact, it must
happen everywhere.

1230
01:01:18,916 --> 01:01:21,083
- It must
happen everywhere.

1231
01:01:24,041 --> 01:01:25,791
And now it's time
for a nature break,

1232
01:01:25,833 --> 01:01:28,916
enjoying our sustainably
managed Michigan forests.

1233
01:01:30,625 --> 01:01:31,791
- If you walk through
here and you look,

1234
01:01:31,833 --> 01:01:34,333
there's virtually
nothing growing.

1235
01:01:34,375 --> 01:01:36,875
A little bit of
grass occasionally.

1236
01:01:38,541 --> 01:01:40,541
- And it seemed that
biomass plants, indeed,

1237
01:01:40,583 --> 01:01:41,916
were suddenly everywhere,

1238
01:01:42,875 --> 01:01:44,833
like this one in
Cadillac, Michigan.

1239
01:01:47,791 --> 01:01:49,125
In Detroit, an incinerator

1240
01:01:49,166 --> 01:01:51,500
that burned garbage
was considered green.

1241
01:01:53,083 --> 01:01:56,125
- The Detroit incinerator is
known to emit horrible smells

1242
01:01:56,166 --> 01:01:58,833
and pollutants that neighbors
say make them feel sick

1243
01:01:58,875 --> 01:02:00,000
and put their health at risk.

1244
01:02:00,041 --> 01:02:03,208
- It's a stink, it's
a horrendous stink.

1245
01:02:03,250 --> 01:02:04,750
- A proposed
biofuel plant

1246
01:02:04,791 --> 01:02:07,750
for the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan would consume trees

1247
01:02:07,791 --> 01:02:10,458
from tens of thousands
of square miles.

1248
01:02:10,500 --> 01:02:13,416
- In order to create 40
million gallons of ethanol,

1249
01:02:13,458 --> 01:02:15,458
they were going
to have to use up

1250
01:02:15,500 --> 01:02:17,541
over a million
tons of green wood.

1251
01:02:17,583 --> 01:02:19,083
We pointed out that
they were gonna be using

1252
01:02:19,125 --> 01:02:22,250
more natural gas than they
were gonna be creating ethanol

1253
01:02:22,291 --> 01:02:23,875
to displace the natural gas.

1254
01:02:23,916 --> 01:02:24,958
If you continue to do this,

1255
01:02:25,000 --> 01:02:26,791
you're gonna be
fertilizing the forests.

1256
01:02:26,833 --> 01:02:28,958
- Fertilizing
forests with?

1257
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:29,833
Fossil fuels?
- Fossil fuel

1258
01:02:29,875 --> 01:02:31,416
based fertilizers.

1259
01:02:31,458 --> 01:02:32,208
- Made from natural gas?

1260
01:02:32,250 --> 01:02:33,000
- Yeah.

1261
01:02:34,208 --> 01:02:35,708
Then came a
ballot proposal backed

1262
01:02:35,750 --> 01:02:39,750
by Bill McKibben and nearly
every major environmental group,

1263
01:02:39,791 --> 01:02:43,375
requiring Michigan to get
25% of its electricity

1264
01:02:43,416 --> 01:02:46,625
from renewable sources
by the year 2025.

1265
01:02:46,666 --> 01:02:49,333
- This year,
Michigan voters have a choice:

1266
01:02:49,375 --> 01:02:52,416
keep burning dirty coal
and oil, or move Michigan

1267
01:02:52,458 --> 01:02:55,625
to clean, renewable energy
like wind and solar.

1268
01:02:55,666 --> 01:02:57,875
Vote 'Yes' on Proposal 3.

1269
01:02:57,916 --> 01:02:59,708
- Surprisingly,
Proposal 3,

1270
01:02:59,750 --> 01:03:04,125
also known as 25 by
'25, was the brain child

1271
01:03:04,166 --> 01:03:09,083
of an organization that was
100% biofuels and biomass.

1272
01:03:09,125 --> 01:03:11,750
- Allowing America's farms,
ranches and forest lands

1273
01:03:11,791 --> 01:03:14,291
to be active participants
in contributing

1274
01:03:14,333 --> 01:03:16,333
to America's energy future.

1275
01:03:16,375 --> 01:03:17,750
- These are the biomass

1276
01:03:17,791 --> 01:03:20,333
and biofuel plants
across the U.S.

1277
01:03:26,125 --> 01:03:27,125
How did this happen?

1278
01:03:28,916 --> 01:03:30,958
And it wasn't just the U.S.A.,

1279
01:03:31,000 --> 01:03:33,333
it was all around the world.

1280
01:03:33,375 --> 01:03:37,625
Wood chips, which is just
a euphemism for trees,

1281
01:03:37,666 --> 01:03:40,375
are being exported to
Europe from America,

1282
01:03:40,416 --> 01:03:44,416
British Columbia,
Brazil, and Indonesia.

1283
01:03:44,458 --> 01:03:46,583
Wherever they can get them from.

1284
01:03:47,833 --> 01:03:50,708
Biomass, especially when
you add in biofuels,

1285
01:03:50,750 --> 01:03:54,166
is by far the largest
portion of green energy

1286
01:03:54,208 --> 01:03:56,958
around the world,
even in Germany,

1287
01:03:57,000 --> 01:03:59,041
source of the solar miracle.

1288
01:04:01,875 --> 01:04:03,791
But maybe I was
missing something.

1289
01:04:03,833 --> 01:04:05,583
Maybe I had it all wrong.

1290
01:04:07,125 --> 01:04:10,500
I decided to ask people
protesting fossil fuels

1291
01:04:10,541 --> 01:04:14,833
how they felt about biomass
and biofuels as green energy.

1292
01:04:14,875 --> 01:04:16,583
Would you say we don't
need to do biofuels

1293
01:04:16,625 --> 01:04:18,375
and food and forests for energy?

1294
01:04:18,416 --> 01:04:19,916
- No, no, definitely not.

1295
01:04:19,958 --> 01:04:21,916
Of course not, of course not.

1296
01:04:21,958 --> 01:04:23,625
- Burning biomass, any
kind of combustion,

1297
01:04:23,666 --> 01:04:25,875
is something we just
need to move away from.

1298
01:04:25,916 --> 01:04:27,291
- The more trees we
have, the better.

1299
01:04:27,333 --> 01:04:28,666
- A lot of that
didn't grow overnight.

1300
01:04:28,708 --> 01:04:30,833
If we cut it down, we don't
know the impact of that.

1301
01:04:30,875 --> 01:04:31,875
- You're
here as an oak tree?

1302
01:04:31,916 --> 01:04:32,583
- Yes.

1303
01:04:32,625 --> 01:04:33,833
- If I had a chainsaw,

1304
01:04:33,875 --> 01:04:34,541
that wouldn't be saving
the planet, would it?

1305
01:04:34,583 --> 01:04:35,333
- No, it's a painful,

1306
01:04:35,375 --> 01:04:36,208
it's a painful way to go.

1307
01:04:36,250 --> 01:04:37,958
I can tell you that right now.

1308
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:39,041
- It would take
you a while to regrow.

1309
01:04:39,875 --> 01:04:41,083
- Yeah, oh yeah.

1310
01:04:41,125 --> 01:04:43,791
And it wouldn't be me,
it'd be an off-spring.

1311
01:04:43,833 --> 01:04:46,625
- With so many people doing
it on such a massive scale,

1312
01:04:46,666 --> 01:04:50,750
all of a sudden at once,
that's pretty serious.

1313
01:04:50,791 --> 01:04:52,791
- No, I think we should
not be burning trees.

1314
01:04:52,833 --> 01:04:54,166
- No, no.

1315
01:04:54,208 --> 01:04:55,958
- Why would we cut down trees?

1316
01:04:56,000 --> 01:04:58,250
- We shouldn't replace one
terrible way of getting energy

1317
01:04:58,291 --> 01:04:59,750
with another terrible
way of getting energy.

1318
01:04:59,791 --> 01:05:01,500
Because it's one thing.

1319
01:05:02,750 --> 01:05:05,000
- Clearly, most
citizens are opposed

1320
01:05:05,041 --> 01:05:06,750
to biomass and biofuels.

1321
01:05:08,666 --> 01:05:11,291
But what about
environmental leaders?

1322
01:05:11,333 --> 01:05:15,916
At times, they have promoted
biomass but other times,

1323
01:05:15,958 --> 01:05:18,125
they sound like they
are against biomass.

1324
01:05:19,250 --> 01:05:21,458
Like this Sierra Club policy,

1325
01:05:21,500 --> 01:05:23,833
"We are deeply concerned
about the implications

1326
01:05:23,875 --> 01:05:27,125
of wood-to-energy
for native forests."

1327
01:05:27,166 --> 01:05:30,791
Or this statement signed on
by 75 environmental groups,

1328
01:05:30,833 --> 01:05:33,250
"Burning forests for
energy will destroy one

1329
01:05:33,291 --> 01:05:36,666
of our best defenses
against climate change."

1330
01:05:36,708 --> 01:05:39,916
But then again, their
language leaves loopholes

1331
01:05:39,958 --> 01:05:41,833
that enable biomass.

1332
01:05:41,875 --> 01:05:45,875
The NRDC says you must use
the "right types of biomass."

1333
01:05:46,750 --> 01:05:47,750
The Dogwood Alliance says

1334
01:05:47,791 --> 01:05:50,416
maybe small biomass
plants are okay.

1335
01:05:51,791 --> 01:05:53,916
And the Sierra Club
flat out states,

1336
01:05:53,958 --> 01:05:56,166
"biomass can be sustainable."

1337
01:05:57,958 --> 01:05:59,666
Which side are they really on?

1338
01:06:01,541 --> 01:06:03,250
I thought for sure with
the camera rolling,

1339
01:06:03,291 --> 01:06:05,750
environmental leaders
would speak for the trees.

1340
01:06:05,791 --> 01:06:08,333
- No frackin' way.

1341
01:06:08,375 --> 01:06:10,333
- Where's the science,
where's the science?

1342
01:06:12,625 --> 01:06:15,958
- We're here to tell a
story about what the forests

1343
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:20,041
of this state, of our
commonwealth, mean to us.

1344
01:06:20,083 --> 01:06:22,500
- Does your organization
have any stance on that?

1345
01:06:22,541 --> 01:06:24,833
- I'm not sure I would
say we support it as much

1346
01:06:24,875 --> 01:06:27,666
as we can wrap our
heads around it.

1347
01:06:27,708 --> 01:06:30,208
We've almost made a peace
with the timber industry.

1348
01:06:30,250 --> 01:06:32,000
- I'm just curious,
what's your group stance

1349
01:06:32,041 --> 01:06:34,916
on using forests for biomass?

1350
01:06:34,958 --> 01:06:40,583
- Biomass is renewable,
biomass is sustainable.

1351
01:06:40,625 --> 01:06:43,833
- And I'm with
Clean Water Action,

1352
01:06:44,791 --> 01:06:47,041
we don't really
have a stand on it.

1353
01:06:47,083 --> 01:06:49,750
If the director of the
Sierra Club was here,

1354
01:06:49,791 --> 01:06:53,666
she'd be able to talk
your ear off about it.

1355
01:06:53,708 --> 01:06:56,833
- I'm the director for the
Sierra Club in Pennsylvania.

1356
01:06:56,875 --> 01:06:57,958
- Does the
Sierra Club support

1357
01:06:58,000 --> 01:06:59,833
or not support biomass?

1358
01:07:02,791 --> 01:07:04,416
- Um... I'm not totally
prepared to talk

1359
01:07:04,458 --> 01:07:06,375
about our policy
on biomass today.

1360
01:07:06,416 --> 01:07:08,916
Our position is
somewhat nuanced,

1361
01:07:08,958 --> 01:07:11,833
so I just want to
be careful not to...

1362
01:07:14,416 --> 01:07:15,416
- So, you're with 350?

1363
01:07:15,458 --> 01:07:16,458
- I am.

1364
01:07:16,500 --> 01:07:17,875
- Do 350 have a
position on biomass

1365
01:07:17,916 --> 01:07:18,958
'cause I'm kind of actually--

1366
01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:21,250
- I can't really speak for 350.

1367
01:07:21,291 --> 01:07:22,916
- Do you personally
have an opinion about

1368
01:07:22,958 --> 01:07:26,125
whether we should be burning
trees for green energy?

1369
01:07:26,166 --> 01:07:28,041
- No, I don't have
an opinion on that.

1370
01:07:29,166 --> 01:07:31,333
I like a fire.

1371
01:07:31,375 --> 01:07:32,875
- One of my
biggest concerns

1372
01:07:32,916 --> 01:07:34,458
as an environmentalist is that
we're trying to burn trees,

1373
01:07:34,500 --> 01:07:36,458
there are tree
burning power plants.

1374
01:07:36,500 --> 01:07:38,625
Are you aware of the problems
with biomass or biofuels?

1375
01:07:38,666 --> 01:07:41,791
- Yeah, yeah, I'm
not as aware of that

1376
01:07:41,833 --> 01:07:43,583
as I could be or I should be.

1377
01:07:43,625 --> 01:07:45,583
- Jeff Gibbs, working
on a documentary.

1378
01:07:45,625 --> 01:07:47,000
In Michigan where I
live, where I'm from,

1379
01:07:47,041 --> 01:07:49,875
there's large plants that
burn trees for energy

1380
01:07:49,916 --> 01:07:51,208
and pretty much whole
trees chipped up.

1381
01:07:51,250 --> 01:07:52,500
Do you have a
thought about whether

1382
01:07:52,541 --> 01:07:55,208
that should be a part
of green energy or not?

1383
01:07:55,250 --> 01:07:57,000
- The great thing
about green energy is

1384
01:07:57,041 --> 01:07:58,791
you don't have to
pick a favorite.

1385
01:07:58,833 --> 01:07:59,583
- Jeff Gibbs.

1386
01:07:59,625 --> 01:08:01,041
- Oh, hello.

1387
01:08:01,083 --> 01:08:02,875
- My biggest concern is that
in Germany, for instance,

1388
01:08:02,916 --> 01:08:04,708
they're moving
towards solar and wind

1389
01:08:04,750 --> 01:08:07,958
but 60% of their actual
energy is coming from biomass.

1390
01:08:08,000 --> 01:08:10,375
60% of what's considered
renewable energy.

1391
01:08:10,416 --> 01:08:11,708
Burning trees for energy?

1392
01:08:11,750 --> 01:08:13,500
- I don't know the
details out of Germany.

1393
01:08:13,541 --> 01:08:15,250
What Germany's
really doing is a lot

1394
01:08:15,291 --> 01:08:17,958
of sun and wind and that's
really powerful to see.

1395
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:19,083
- I'd like
to see us come out

1396
01:08:19,125 --> 01:08:20,208
against any burning of trees-

1397
01:08:20,250 --> 01:08:21,000
- All right, well
go ahead and do it.

1398
01:08:21,041 --> 01:08:21,875
- for clean energy.

1399
01:08:21,916 --> 01:08:23,125
Would you-

1400
01:08:23,166 --> 01:08:25,875
- Although I confess
I stoke my wood stove

1401
01:08:25,916 --> 01:08:27,083
almost every night
of the winter,

1402
01:08:27,125 --> 01:08:28,333
so I'm not really the
right person to ask.

1403
01:08:28,375 --> 01:08:30,291
- But designating green
energy for power plants?

1404
01:08:30,333 --> 01:08:32,958
- Yeah, yeah, I don't know.

1405
01:08:33,000 --> 01:08:34,833
It's not what this day's about.

1406
01:08:34,875 --> 01:08:36,458
- But if
we're burning trees

1407
01:08:36,500 --> 01:08:38,500
instead of fossil fuels.

1408
01:08:39,833 --> 01:08:40,875
from Taiwan.

1409
01:08:40,916 --> 01:08:42,333
- Oh, good.

1410
01:08:42,375 --> 01:08:45,291
- We're wondering
what role do you want

1411
01:08:45,333 --> 01:08:46,916
to play in this

1412
01:08:46,958 --> 01:08:48,916
- I think the biomass
question's a non-starter.

1413
01:08:54,166 --> 01:08:56,375
I found only one
environmental leader willing

1414
01:08:56,416 --> 01:08:58,791
to reject biomass and biofuels.

1415
01:09:00,416 --> 01:09:01,458
- So we are talking

1416
01:09:01,500 --> 01:09:05,666
of the old oil economy trying

1417
01:09:05,708 --> 01:09:07,500
to maintain itself now

1418
01:09:07,541 --> 01:09:11,541
through another raw
material, the green planet.

1419
01:09:11,583 --> 01:09:15,250
The only reason corn and soy
has been planted for biofuel

1420
01:09:15,291 --> 01:09:18,041
in this country is the
subsidies make it profitable.

1421
01:09:18,083 --> 01:09:20,791
I think the big
crisis of our times is

1422
01:09:21,791 --> 01:09:25,750
our minds have been manipulated
to give power to illusions.

1423
01:09:25,791 --> 01:09:28,208
We shifted to measuring growth,

1424
01:09:28,250 --> 01:09:32,375
not in terms of how
life is enriched

1425
01:09:32,416 --> 01:09:34,958
but in terms of how
life is destroyed.

1426
01:09:37,041 --> 01:09:38,791
- Her honesty
was refreshing.

1427
01:09:40,875 --> 01:09:43,708
But as for the rest
of them, I wondered,

1428
01:09:45,875 --> 01:09:47,000
what are they hiding?

1429
01:09:48,708 --> 01:09:49,916
And why are they hiding it?

1430
01:09:52,208 --> 01:09:53,375
Is it their ignorance?

1431
01:09:55,541 --> 01:09:57,041
Or is it something else?

1432
01:09:59,041 --> 01:10:01,958
What if they, themselves,
had become misguided?

1433
01:10:03,875 --> 01:10:05,750
What if they've made
some kind of deal

1434
01:10:05,791 --> 01:10:06,833
they shouldn't have made,

1435
01:10:08,958 --> 01:10:12,250
and are leading us
all off the cliff?

1436
01:10:20,791 --> 01:10:22,500
It was long past time
for me to come to grips

1437
01:10:22,541 --> 01:10:24,833
with the other elephant
in the living room.

1438
01:10:25,875 --> 01:10:26,791
The profit motive.

1439
01:10:29,125 --> 01:10:31,125
The only reason we've
been force-fed the story,

1440
01:10:31,166 --> 01:10:35,416
climate change plus renewables
equals "we're saved!",

1441
01:10:35,458 --> 01:10:37,333
is because
billionaires, bankers,

1442
01:10:37,375 --> 01:10:39,458
and corporations profit from it.

1443
01:10:40,833 --> 01:10:43,833
And the reason we're not
talking about over-population,

1444
01:10:43,875 --> 01:10:47,541
consumption, and the suicide
of economic growth is

1445
01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:51,666
that would be bad for business.

1446
01:10:51,708 --> 01:10:53,791
Especially the cancerous
form of capitalism

1447
01:10:53,833 --> 01:10:55,750
that rules the world,

1448
01:10:55,791 --> 01:10:58,500
now hiding under
a cover of green.

1449
01:10:58,541 --> 01:11:00,208
- Today Bloomberg
Philanthropies is making,

1450
01:11:00,250 --> 01:11:02,833
I'm happy to announce,
a new investment

1451
01:11:02,875 --> 01:11:06,250
of $30 million in the
Beyond Coal campaign.

1452
01:11:09,041 --> 01:11:09,791
We have more.

1453
01:11:09,833 --> 01:11:11,041
I'm glad to say that more

1454
01:11:11,083 --> 01:11:13,333
than a dozen additional
funders have committed

1455
01:11:13,375 --> 01:11:15,291
to match that $30 million.

1456
01:11:18,083 --> 01:11:20,125
- And who were
these new partners?

1457
01:11:20,166 --> 01:11:21,916
One of them was Jeremy Grantham.

1458
01:11:21,958 --> 01:11:25,750
Billionaire, world's leading
timber investment advisor.

1459
01:11:27,250 --> 01:11:28,958
They were not investing in trees

1460
01:11:29,000 --> 01:11:30,833
to turn them into
nature preserves.

1461
01:11:32,166 --> 01:11:33,791
Which might answer
another riddle,

1462
01:11:35,583 --> 01:11:38,708
why is this name redacted on
the Sierra Club's tax return?

1463
01:11:39,875 --> 01:11:42,750
Would they be embarrassed to
take three million dollars

1464
01:11:42,791 --> 01:11:44,875
from a man who made his
living selling the forests

1465
01:11:44,916 --> 01:11:45,958
of the world?

1466
01:11:47,708 --> 01:11:50,625
Bloomberg, bringing a timber
investment billionaire

1467
01:11:50,666 --> 01:11:53,625
to the party, was
no coincidence.

1468
01:11:53,666 --> 01:11:56,083
Bloomberg sponsored a
U.N. climate session

1469
01:11:56,125 --> 01:11:57,750
to discuss ramping up biomass

1470
01:11:57,791 --> 01:11:59,541
and biofuels around the world.

1471
01:12:01,958 --> 01:12:04,208
Billionaires were in love
with the idea of turning

1472
01:12:04,250 --> 01:12:06,833
what was left of nature
into green profits.

1473
01:12:08,666 --> 01:12:10,791
Remember when Al Gore had
gotten Richard Branson

1474
01:12:10,833 --> 01:12:13,625
to invest billions
into saving the planet?

1475
01:12:13,666 --> 01:12:16,125
- Richard Branson,
founder of Virgin Atlantic,

1476
01:12:16,166 --> 01:12:19,416
powered a Boeing 747
from London to Amsterdam

1477
01:12:19,458 --> 01:12:22,125
on a coconut oil mixture
to highlight the potential

1478
01:12:22,166 --> 01:12:24,958
of this amazing oil as
a clean energy biofuel.

1479
01:12:26,750 --> 01:12:29,958
- Branson had actually
invested in biofuels.

1480
01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:31,666
He was attempting to
replace the jet fuel

1481
01:12:31,708 --> 01:12:33,916
damaging the planet
with biofuels

1482
01:12:33,958 --> 01:12:36,416
that required the consumption
of the living planet.

1483
01:12:37,875 --> 01:12:40,500
And it was game-on for
the airline industry.

1484
01:12:40,541 --> 01:12:41,583
Dozens of researchers

1485
01:12:41,625 --> 01:12:42,916
from all over the
northwest gathered

1486
01:12:42,958 --> 01:12:44,958
in Missoula the past two
days to explore the idea

1487
01:12:45,000 --> 01:12:46,833
of converting the
region's mass of reserves

1488
01:12:46,875 --> 01:12:48,500
of wood into jet fuel.

1489
01:12:48,541 --> 01:12:50,833
Especially with the demand
for aircraft fuel expected

1490
01:12:50,875 --> 01:12:53,750
to grow by a billion gallons
in the northwest alone.

1491
01:12:53,791 --> 01:12:56,583
- United Airlines
will buy a $30 million stake

1492
01:12:56,625 --> 01:12:59,083
in biofuel company,
Fulcrum BioEnergy.

1493
01:12:59,125 --> 01:13:04,083
The airline used 3.9 billion
gallons of fuel last year.

1494
01:13:04,125 --> 01:13:07,541
- What technology was
Silicon Valley billionaire

1495
01:13:07,583 --> 01:13:10,375
Vinod Khosla hoping
to profit from?

1496
01:13:10,416 --> 01:13:14,333
- Nature takes a million years
to produce our crude oil.

1497
01:13:14,375 --> 01:13:16,916
KiOR can produce it in seconds.

1498
01:13:16,958 --> 01:13:19,375
- The company took
over this old paper mill

1499
01:13:19,416 --> 01:13:22,625
where logs are picked
up by a giant claw,

1500
01:13:22,666 --> 01:13:26,625
dropped into a shredder and
pulverized into wood chips.

1501
01:13:26,666 --> 01:13:27,666
Clean gasoline?

1502
01:13:27,708 --> 01:13:29,458
- Clean, green gasoline.

1503
01:13:29,500 --> 01:13:31,041
- There must be a downside.

1504
01:13:31,083 --> 01:13:32,791
- There is no downside.

1505
01:13:33,875 --> 01:13:35,708
- The bank that
crashed the economy,

1506
01:13:35,750 --> 01:13:38,416
ruined millions of lives
and has their tentacles

1507
01:13:38,458 --> 01:13:40,500
on the levers of power,

1508
01:13:40,541 --> 01:13:43,458
what would their favorite
form of green energy be?

1509
01:13:43,500 --> 01:13:44,916
- One of the very
interesting markets

1510
01:13:44,958 --> 01:13:46,625
that we deal with is Brazil.

1511
01:13:46,666 --> 01:13:49,500
It's unlike any other
market in that today,

1512
01:13:49,541 --> 01:13:51,583
alternative energy isn't
really alternative energy.

1513
01:13:51,625 --> 01:13:54,791
It's so much a part of
the fabric of the society.

1514
01:13:54,833 --> 01:13:58,333
The country began to
utilize its vast resources

1515
01:13:58,375 --> 01:14:00,041
of sugarcane to produce ethanol.

1516
01:14:01,291 --> 01:14:03,125
- There was a
man from Goldman Sachs

1517
01:14:03,166 --> 01:14:05,000
who was particularly in love

1518
01:14:05,041 --> 01:14:07,875
with turning forests
into profits.

1519
01:14:07,916 --> 01:14:10,000
- Has everybody
got enough coffee?

1520
01:14:10,916 --> 01:14:12,791
Might want to get some more.

1521
01:14:12,833 --> 01:14:15,000
- Meet David
Blood, former CEO

1522
01:14:15,041 --> 01:14:17,791
of Asset Management
for Goldman Sachs.

1523
01:14:18,833 --> 01:14:20,791
How much money did Mr.
Blood believe should

1524
01:14:20,833 --> 01:14:22,583
be invested in green energy?

1525
01:14:22,625 --> 01:14:25,708
- A natural alignment for
something in the order

1526
01:14:25,750 --> 01:14:29,041
of $40-50 trillion
worth of capital.

1527
01:14:29,083 --> 01:14:30,541
- $40-50 trillion.

1528
01:14:32,250 --> 01:14:35,708
And who was going to help
the man from Goldman Sachs,

1529
01:14:35,750 --> 01:14:38,208
help him raise that
astronomical amount of money?

1530
01:14:39,291 --> 01:14:41,375
- A gentleman some
of you may recognize

1531
01:14:41,416 --> 01:14:43,833
and know, Bill McKibben.

1532
01:14:43,875 --> 01:14:46,500
- It's entirely
dependent on what kind

1533
01:14:46,541 --> 01:14:48,416
of political will we can muster.

1534
01:14:48,458 --> 01:14:51,916
And if we do not get
this done very fast,

1535
01:14:51,958 --> 01:14:53,791
then we're not
gonna get it done.

1536
01:14:54,916 --> 01:14:57,000
- And so Bill
McKibben went forth

1537
01:14:57,041 --> 01:14:59,666
to generate the political
will for trillions

1538
01:14:59,708 --> 01:15:01,541
of dollars in green investments.

1539
01:15:02,416 --> 01:15:03,625
- Our next guest has been called

1540
01:15:03,666 --> 01:15:05,875
our nation's leading
environmentalist.

1541
01:15:05,916 --> 01:15:07,125
- And you are, in some sense,

1542
01:15:07,166 --> 01:15:09,958
the Grand Poobah of the
environmental movement.

1543
01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:14,083
- My guest tonight is
on a global crusade.

1544
01:15:14,125 --> 01:15:16,583
- On a global
crusade for what?

1545
01:15:16,625 --> 01:15:18,708
- Commit to divesting
from fossil fuels.

1546
01:15:18,750 --> 01:15:21,875
We can't justify investing
our money in companies

1547
01:15:21,916 --> 01:15:24,666
that are basically
running Genesis backward.

1548
01:15:24,708 --> 01:15:27,416
- So when you
divest from fossil fuels,

1549
01:15:27,458 --> 01:15:31,000
and invest in green funds,
what are you investing in?

1550
01:15:31,875 --> 01:15:34,333
I took a deep dive
into Securities

1551
01:15:34,375 --> 01:15:37,291
and Exchange Commission
filings to find out.

1552
01:15:38,166 --> 01:15:41,000
For instance, in the
Green Century Funds,

1553
01:15:41,041 --> 01:15:45,250
recommended by 350.org
and Bill McKibben,

1554
01:15:45,291 --> 01:15:48,375
I found less than one
percent solar and wind

1555
01:15:48,416 --> 01:15:51,750
and 99% things like mining,

1556
01:15:56,958 --> 01:15:59,416
oil and gas
infrastructure companies,

1557
01:16:00,875 --> 01:16:03,041
including a tar sands exploiter,

1558
01:16:04,500 --> 01:16:07,666
McDonald's, one of the companies
driving meat consumption

1559
01:16:07,708 --> 01:16:08,791
across the planet,

1560
01:16:10,375 --> 01:16:11,875
Archer Daniels Midland,

1561
01:16:11,916 --> 01:16:14,791
one of the world's largest
producers of biofuel,

1562
01:16:16,125 --> 01:16:18,791
Coca Cola, the largest creator

1563
01:16:18,833 --> 01:16:20,291
of plastic pollution on earth,

1564
01:16:21,791 --> 01:16:24,833
logging and paper
companies including one

1565
01:16:24,875 --> 01:16:29,875
that brags about biomass
burning. And banks.

1566
01:16:32,000 --> 01:16:33,125
Lots of banks -

1567
01:16:35,916 --> 01:16:39,041
including BlackRock,
the largest financer

1568
01:16:39,083 --> 01:16:40,958
of deforestation on earth.

1569
01:16:42,083 --> 01:16:44,500
- The business that
they're engaged in

1570
01:16:44,541 --> 01:16:47,875
is actually destroying
our life support system.

1571
01:16:49,666 --> 01:16:51,333
- The Sierra
Club, also partners

1572
01:16:51,375 --> 01:16:53,791
with a green fund
called Aspiration.

1573
01:16:54,958 --> 01:16:58,958
Aspiration also includes
dozens of companies profiting

1574
01:16:59,000 --> 01:17:00,666
from the destruction
of the planet,

1575
01:17:02,750 --> 01:17:08,458
including Chevron,
ExxonMobil, Chesapeake Energy.

1576
01:17:08,500 --> 01:17:10,833
- In
order to maximize the

1577
01:17:10,875 --> 01:17:12,208
of the well,

1578
01:17:12,250 --> 01:17:14,916
the shale formation will
be hydraulically fractured.

1579
01:17:14,958 --> 01:17:17,541
- The Russian
gas giant, Gazprom.

1580
01:17:18,416 --> 01:17:20,208
- Gazprom
owns the world's largest

1581
01:17:20,250 --> 01:17:24,291
explored gas reserves,
36 trillion cubic meters.

1582
01:17:25,250 --> 01:17:28,166
- And in perhaps the
most bizarre twist of all,

1583
01:17:28,208 --> 01:17:32,708
the Sierra Club's green fund's
biggest holding is in Enviva,

1584
01:17:32,750 --> 01:17:35,041
the world's largest
consumer of forests,

1585
01:17:35,083 --> 01:17:37,791
to be incinerated in green
energy biomass plants.

1586
01:17:44,916 --> 01:17:47,791
Of course, one investment
option is a green fund,

1587
01:17:47,833 --> 01:17:50,166
run by Bill McKibben's
buddy, David Blood.

1588
01:17:51,125 --> 01:17:53,375
And who was the
chairman of this fund?

1589
01:17:54,541 --> 01:17:56,166
Someone familiar.

1590
01:17:56,208 --> 01:17:59,208
- Use capitalism,
it gives incentives

1591
01:17:59,250 --> 01:18:02,166
for people to do their best.

1592
01:18:02,208 --> 01:18:04,541
- Al Gore and
David Blood partnered

1593
01:18:04,583 --> 01:18:07,416
to form a company
called Blood and Gore.

1594
01:18:09,166 --> 01:18:13,250
No, scratch that, Generation
Investment Management.

1595
01:18:14,166 --> 01:18:16,791
And within this fund,
Blood and Gore designated

1596
01:18:16,833 --> 01:18:21,958
a special investment category
targeting $650 million

1597
01:18:22,000 --> 01:18:24,000
of biomass and biofuels.

1598
01:18:25,000 --> 01:18:26,916
Funny thing was, they partnered

1599
01:18:26,958 --> 01:18:29,041
before Al Gore's film came out.

1600
01:18:30,958 --> 01:18:35,791
Was that movie just
about climate change

1601
01:18:35,833 --> 01:18:39,041
- On one side, we
have gold bars.

1602
01:18:39,083 --> 01:18:43,125
Mm, mm, mm.

1603
01:18:43,166 --> 01:18:44,500
Don't they look good?

1604
01:18:44,541 --> 01:18:47,083
I'd just like to have
some of those gold bars.

1605
01:18:47,125 --> 01:18:51,333
On the other side of the
scales, the entire planet.

1606
01:18:53,541 --> 01:18:55,166
If we do the right thing,

1607
01:18:55,208 --> 01:18:57,291
then we're gonna
create a lot of wealth.

1608
01:18:58,333 --> 01:18:59,916
- And when it
came time for Al Gore

1609
01:18:59,958 --> 01:19:04,833
to choose between the entire
planet and getting him some

1610
01:19:04,875 --> 01:19:08,958
of them gold bars, what
choice did he make?

1611
01:19:09,000 --> 01:19:11,750
Here's Al Gore earning his
keep by pretending to care

1612
01:19:11,791 --> 01:19:14,166
about the rain forest
while lobbying Congress

1613
01:19:14,208 --> 01:19:17,375
on behalf of the sugarcane
ethanol industry.

1614
01:19:18,291 --> 01:19:19,916
- Let me come in on the
Brazilian effort here

1615
01:19:19,958 --> 01:19:22,125
with the issue of the
possibility of expanding into

1616
01:19:22,166 --> 01:19:25,458
that Amazon River basin
with further deforestation

1617
01:19:25,500 --> 01:19:27,666
to produce more ethanol out
of sugarcane is a worry.

1618
01:19:27,708 --> 01:19:29,666
And apparently you're not
as concerned about that.

1619
01:19:29,708 --> 01:19:32,583
- No, no, I am, I simply forgot.

1620
01:19:36,791 --> 01:19:41,541
What's been going on there,
it is really very troubling.

1621
01:19:46,875 --> 01:19:49,458
And with your permission, I'll
show you a very quick example

1622
01:19:49,500 --> 01:19:52,750
of it over a period of 25 years.

1623
01:19:56,833 --> 01:19:58,750
- The invasion
of sugarcane monocultures

1624
01:19:58,791 --> 01:20:00,250
in the region clashes

1625
01:20:00,291 --> 01:20:03,208
with the indigenous
people's right to land.

1626
01:20:03,250 --> 01:20:05,791
These are images of
a last ditch attempt

1627
01:20:05,833 --> 01:20:08,625
by the Guarani-Kaiowá
to resist eviction.

1628
01:20:08,666 --> 01:20:11,333
- Important to note
that the exploitation

1629
01:20:11,375 --> 01:20:16,625
of the sugarcane growing
areas in Brazil does not have

1630
01:20:16,666 --> 01:20:20,500
to inevitably have the
knock-on consequence

1631
01:20:20,541 --> 01:20:24,833
of causing destruction
in the Amazon.

1632
01:20:26,416 --> 01:20:28,541
- Sugarcane fields are burning.

1633
01:20:28,583 --> 01:20:30,541
They're set alight
before the harvest

1634
01:20:30,583 --> 01:20:32,791
to eliminate the leaves
and tops of the plant,

1635
01:20:32,833 --> 01:20:34,958
which makes cutting
more efficient.

1636
01:20:37,000 --> 01:20:38,916
Environmentalists
blame the seemingly

1637
01:20:38,958 --> 01:20:42,500
endless sugarcane fields
for air and water pollution

1638
01:20:42,541 --> 01:20:44,250
on an epic scale.

1639
01:20:44,291 --> 01:20:47,333
And along with deforestation,
the threat it poses

1640
01:20:47,375 --> 01:20:49,833
to the environment
is becoming clear.

1641
01:20:51,333 --> 01:20:53,958
Once the indigenous
families were expelled,

1642
01:20:54,000 --> 01:20:57,000
the land owners set
their homes on fire.

1643
01:21:04,125 --> 01:21:05,958
- Is there
anything too terrible

1644
01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:07,375
to qualify as green energy?

1645
01:21:09,833 --> 01:21:12,666
- Thank you very much Secretary
Mabus, and the U.S. Navy for

1646
01:21:12,708 --> 01:21:14,916
once again, inviting me
to speak with you today.

1647
01:21:14,958 --> 01:21:16,625
The Navy's work to help launch

1648
01:21:16,666 --> 01:21:19,875
this new fuels
industry is invaluable.

1649
01:21:22,583 --> 01:21:24,541
- The U.S.
Navy has a special message

1650
01:21:24,583 --> 01:21:25,333
this year.

1651
01:21:25,375 --> 01:21:27,500
It is time to turn green.

1652
01:21:27,541 --> 01:21:29,958
Joining the vessels is
what the U.S. Navy calls,

1653
01:21:30,000 --> 01:21:31,750
it's great green
fleet of warships,

1654
01:21:31,791 --> 01:21:34,958
powered by fuel from
renewable sources like algae,

1655
01:21:35,000 --> 01:21:36,958
grass and animal fat.

1656
01:21:37,000 --> 01:21:38,833
- Animal fat?

1657
01:21:46,375 --> 01:21:47,958
- The next time you fill up

1658
01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:49,750
at your neighborhood
gas station,

1659
01:21:49,791 --> 01:21:52,833
you might find yourself
pumping a little alligator

1660
01:21:52,875 --> 01:21:54,000
into your tank.

1661
01:21:54,041 --> 01:21:55,791
That's right, U.L.
Lafayette researchers

1662
01:21:55,833 --> 01:21:57,458
have developed alligator fat

1663
01:21:57,500 --> 01:22:00,125
into a renewable
source for biofuels.

1664
01:22:02,500 --> 01:22:06,541
- And once we run through
the animals, what's next?

1665
01:22:06,583 --> 01:22:10,458
GE, who brings you nuclear
energy and wind turbines,

1666
01:22:10,500 --> 01:22:11,750
is ready with a plan.

1667
01:22:13,083 --> 01:22:16,125
- I believe that liquid
fuels, chemicals,

1668
01:22:16,166 --> 01:22:19,166
are eventually gonna
have to be made

1669
01:22:20,583 --> 01:22:22,500
from sustainable raw materials.

1670
01:22:22,541 --> 01:22:24,416
We believe that seaweed is one

1671
01:22:24,458 --> 01:22:26,208
of the most attractive
opportunities.

1672
01:22:37,125 --> 01:22:38,250
- Better hurry.

1673
01:22:40,916 --> 01:22:45,083
One year after it was filmed,
this seaweed forest was dead.

1674
01:22:53,416 --> 01:22:56,291
You might ask yourself,
how could men destroy

1675
01:22:56,333 --> 01:22:59,041
what remains of nature
to enrich themselves?

1676
01:23:00,416 --> 01:23:04,250
Well, that's why they're
billionaires and you're not.

1677
01:23:07,833 --> 01:23:09,916
The takeover of the
environmental movement

1678
01:23:09,958 --> 01:23:12,541
by capitalism is now complete.

1679
01:23:12,583 --> 01:23:14,750
Environmentalists are no
longer resisting those

1680
01:23:14,791 --> 01:23:17,791
with a profit motive, but
collaborating with them.

1681
01:23:18,916 --> 01:23:22,833
The Nature Conservancy is
now the logging conservancy.

1682
01:23:22,875 --> 01:23:27,666
- We will capture the most
important pieces biologically

1683
01:23:27,708 --> 01:23:30,750
and there will be
another large block sold

1684
01:23:30,791 --> 01:23:32,916
to timber investment groups.

1685
01:23:32,958 --> 01:23:36,250
The Union of Concerned
Scientists has become the union

1686
01:23:36,291 --> 01:23:39,250
of concerned salesmen,
having taken millions,

1687
01:23:39,291 --> 01:23:40,666
not for science,

1688
01:23:40,708 --> 01:23:44,416
but to create markets
for electric cars.

1689
01:23:46,083 --> 01:23:48,083
The Sierra Club
sells electric cars

1690
01:23:48,125 --> 01:23:50,333
and solar panels right
from their website.

1691
01:23:51,416 --> 01:23:52,875
- The best thing
about Sungevity is

1692
01:23:52,916 --> 01:23:54,666
that they make it easy for you.

1693
01:23:54,708 --> 01:23:57,041
All that you have
to do is to say yes.

1694
01:23:57,916 --> 01:24:00,791
- The New York Times
partners with ExxonMobil

1695
01:24:00,833 --> 01:24:03,250
to bring you the good
news about biofuels.

1696
01:24:03,291 --> 01:24:04,250
- Algae derived fuel

1697
01:24:04,291 --> 01:24:05,916
could help us meet
growing demand.

1698
01:24:06,875 --> 01:24:08,875
- Treehugger.com,
which claims

1699
01:24:08,916 --> 01:24:12,125
to be the largest single
source of environmental news,

1700
01:24:12,166 --> 01:24:15,750
was founded and funded
by Georgia Pacific,

1701
01:24:15,791 --> 01:24:17,541
a logging company.

1702
01:24:17,583 --> 01:24:19,041
In fact, they are neighbors.

1703
01:24:20,958 --> 01:24:24,291
Georgia Pacific is owned by
our friends, the Koch brothers,

1704
01:24:24,333 --> 01:24:26,458
who are likely the
largest recipient

1705
01:24:26,500 --> 01:24:29,750
of green energy biomass
subsidies in the United States.

1706
01:24:32,166 --> 01:24:34,416
Yes, the merger of
environmentalism

1707
01:24:34,458 --> 01:24:37,333
and capitalism is now complete.

1708
01:24:37,375 --> 01:24:39,166
But maybe it's
always been complete.

1709
01:24:40,166 --> 01:24:43,000
- How is 350.org funded?

1710
01:24:43,041 --> 01:24:44,875
- Well, not very well.

1711
01:24:44,916 --> 01:24:47,250
- Who
are your funders?

1712
01:24:47,291 --> 01:24:48,875
- To the degree that we
have any money at all,

1713
01:24:48,916 --> 01:24:50,958
it's come from a few
foundations in Europe and U.S.

1714
01:24:51,000 --> 01:24:53,125
- Which ones?

1715
01:24:53,166 --> 01:24:54,625
- Ah, let's see.

1716
01:24:54,666 --> 01:24:59,416
The, uh, I'm trying to think
who the biggest funders are.

1717
01:25:00,791 --> 01:25:01,791
Ah...

1718
01:25:03,958 --> 01:25:08,875
There's a foundation in,
based in Sweden called,

1719
01:25:10,791 --> 01:25:13,000
I think it's called the
Rasmussen Foundation

1720
01:25:14,416 --> 01:25:16,541
that I think has been
the biggest funder.

1721
01:25:16,583 --> 01:25:19,000
- So you don't get money
from Pew or Rockefeller

1722
01:25:19,041 --> 01:25:20,708
or any of those big foundations?

1723
01:25:20,750 --> 01:25:22,041
- No, we did.

1724
01:25:22,083 --> 01:25:24,375
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
gave us some money right

1725
01:25:24,416 --> 01:25:25,416
when we were starting out.

1726
01:25:25,458 --> 01:25:26,708
That's been useful, too.

1727
01:25:27,666 --> 01:25:29,958
- But they no longer fund you?

1728
01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:32,333
- I don't know, I don't
have this sort of-

1729
01:25:32,375 --> 01:25:34,583
- Really?

1730
01:25:34,625 --> 01:25:36,333
- Funders sitting
in front of me.

1731
01:25:36,375 --> 01:25:38,333
- That's usually
something that people know.

1732
01:25:38,375 --> 01:25:41,958
- Rockefeller's been one
of our, is one of the,

1733
01:25:42,000 --> 01:25:44,000
is a great ally in this fight.

1734
01:25:44,541 --> 01:25:48,125
- You just sold
your TV network to Al Jazeera.

1735
01:25:48,166 --> 01:25:49,583
- Right.

1736
01:25:49,625 --> 01:25:51,083
- And that
government is basically nothing

1737
01:25:51,125 --> 01:25:52,416
but an oil producer.

1738
01:25:52,458 --> 01:25:53,958
- Gas, mainly and oil.

1739
01:25:54,000 --> 01:25:56,791
- Your take on that, about a
hundred million dollars pre-tax

1740
01:25:56,833 --> 01:26:00,916
from a country that bases
it's wealth on fossil fuels.

1741
01:26:00,958 --> 01:26:02,833
Isn't there a bit of
hypocrisy in that?

1742
01:26:02,875 --> 01:26:05,958
- Well, I get the criticism,
I just disagree with it.

1743
01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:07,791
I'm proud of the transaction.

1744
01:26:07,833 --> 01:26:10,916
- You couldn't find,
for your business,

1745
01:26:10,958 --> 01:26:12,750
a more sustainable choice?

1746
01:26:12,791 --> 01:26:14,750
- What is not
sustainable about it?

1747
01:26:14,791 --> 01:26:17,000
- Because it is backed
by fossil fuel money.

1748
01:26:17,041 --> 01:26:19,458
- I get it, I get it, I get it.

1749
01:26:19,500 --> 01:26:20,958
- And so,
if you got yourself

1750
01:26:21,000 --> 01:26:23,875
an environmental movement
and environmental leaders,

1751
01:26:23,916 --> 01:26:26,458
why not buy the holy day itself?

1752
01:26:26,500 --> 01:26:27,750
Happy Earth Day!

1753
01:26:31,416 --> 01:26:33,583
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

1754
01:26:33,625 --> 01:26:36,916
♪ You make me want to say

1755
01:26:36,958 --> 01:26:40,416
♪ Ah, you make me want to say

1756
01:26:40,458 --> 01:26:43,958
- Now we are facing the
greatest sets of issues

1757
01:26:44,000 --> 01:26:45,958
that we've seen in my lifetime.

1758
01:26:46,000 --> 01:26:48,500
It's time now for a new
generation to jump up

1759
01:26:48,541 --> 01:26:51,416
on the stage and create
a habitable country,

1760
01:26:51,458 --> 01:26:54,541
a habitable planet,
that we can all enjoy.

1761
01:26:54,583 --> 01:26:56,250
Are you that generation?

1762
01:26:59,416 --> 01:27:01,416
I need to thank Building Energy

1763
01:27:01,458 --> 01:27:04,291
which provided so much
solar power to this

1764
01:27:04,333 --> 01:27:07,666
that we powered the entire
event with solar energy.

1765
01:27:11,166 --> 01:27:12,875
- But when I
went backstage to see

1766
01:27:12,916 --> 01:27:14,208
what was really going on.

1767
01:27:15,083 --> 01:27:16,833
- It ain't running this
whole thing on that, Jack.

1768
01:27:16,875 --> 01:27:17,916
I can tell you that.

1769
01:27:17,958 --> 01:27:21,750
For a toaster is 1200 watts.

1770
01:27:21,791 --> 01:27:25,125
So, that run right there
could run a toaster.

1771
01:27:25,166 --> 01:27:27,375
- I found the installer.

1772
01:27:27,416 --> 01:27:28,875
- Hi.

1773
01:27:28,916 --> 01:27:29,875
- Are they
running the festival

1774
01:27:29,916 --> 01:27:31,208
on these solar panels?

1775
01:27:31,250 --> 01:27:35,500
- The concert is run by
diesel generation system.

1776
01:27:36,791 --> 01:27:41,500
They didn't ask us to
energize the concert.

1777
01:27:41,541 --> 01:27:42,833
- Oh, okay.

1778
01:27:42,875 --> 01:27:44,000
- And we'd also like

1779
01:27:44,041 --> 01:27:46,166
to thank our incredible
corporate sponsors

1780
01:27:46,208 --> 01:27:48,750
who've been behind the
movement to end extreme poverty

1781
01:27:48,791 --> 01:27:51,333
and tackle climate change
since the very beginning.

1782
01:27:51,375 --> 01:27:52,791
I want to thank Toyota.

1783
01:27:55,875 --> 01:27:56,666
Citibank.

1784
01:27:59,958 --> 01:28:01,791
We want to thank Caterpillar.

1785
01:28:01,833 --> 01:28:03,583
- We're standing at
the construction site

1786
01:28:03,625 --> 01:28:05,750
of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

1787
01:28:05,791 --> 01:28:07,250
It looks like there are

1788
01:28:07,291 --> 01:28:11,750
at least three bulldozers
actually bulldozing the land.

1789
01:28:15,000 --> 01:28:16,625
People have gone
through the fence,

1790
01:28:16,666 --> 01:28:18,333
the bulldozers are still going

1791
01:28:19,833 --> 01:28:22,958
and they're marching
over the dirt mounds.

1792
01:28:24,166 --> 01:28:25,666
Get the fuck off!

1793
01:28:25,708 --> 01:28:27,000
Get the fuck out of here!

1794
01:28:27,041 --> 01:28:28,333
- Without these partners,
it wouldn't be possible.

1795
01:28:28,375 --> 01:28:30,125
Let's give them a round
of applause, everyone.

1796
01:28:43,166 --> 01:28:45,833
- Now I know this
all might seem overwhelming.

1797
01:28:47,791 --> 01:28:48,958
It's a kind of thing

1798
01:28:49,000 --> 01:28:51,750
that we normally don't
try and think about.

1799
01:28:55,375 --> 01:28:56,916
But by not thinking about it,

1800
01:28:58,291 --> 01:29:00,458
it stands a good
chance of doing us in.

1801
01:29:03,083 --> 01:29:05,916
I truly believe that
the path to change

1802
01:29:07,041 --> 01:29:08,833
comes from awareness.

1803
01:29:10,791 --> 01:29:14,875
That awareness alone can begin
to create the transformation.

1804
01:29:19,708 --> 01:29:21,041
There is a way out of this.

1805
01:29:22,875 --> 01:29:26,041
We humans must accept
that infinite growth

1806
01:29:26,083 --> 01:29:29,541
on a finite planet is suicide.

1807
01:29:31,083 --> 01:29:34,083
We must accept that
our human presence

1808
01:29:34,125 --> 01:29:36,791
is already far beyond
sustainability,

1809
01:29:38,416 --> 01:29:40,500
and all that that implies.

1810
01:29:43,000 --> 01:29:46,250
We must take control of
our environmental movement

1811
01:29:46,291 --> 01:29:49,791
and our future from billionaires

1812
01:29:49,833 --> 01:29:52,375
and their permanent
war on Planet Earth.

1813
01:29:54,250 --> 01:29:56,291
They are not our friends.

1814
01:29:58,916 --> 01:30:00,791
Less must be the new more

1815
01:30:02,208 --> 01:30:04,250
and instead of climate change,

1816
01:30:04,291 --> 01:30:06,041
we must at long last accept

1817
01:30:07,291 --> 01:30:09,166
that it's not the
carbon dioxide molecule

1818
01:30:09,208 --> 01:30:10,333
destroying the planet,

1819
01:30:12,125 --> 01:30:13,625
it's us.

1820
01:30:17,833 --> 01:30:21,916
It's not one thing, but
everything we humans are doing.

1821
01:30:23,833 --> 01:30:27,125
A human-caused apocalypse.

1822
01:30:27,166 --> 01:30:31,833
If we get ourselves
under control, all

1823
01:30:35,583 --> 01:30:36,500
And if we don't...

1824
01:31:30,916 --> 01:31:33,000
♪ Ah-Ooh

1825
01:32:29,916 --> 01:32:34,916
♪ Ah-Ah-Ooh

1826
01:32:36,791 --> 01:32:41,791
♪ Ooh-Ooh

1827
01:32:43,916 --> 01:32:46,041
♪ Ah-Ooh

1828
01:33:05,166 --> 01:33:06,875
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1829
01:33:09,958 --> 01:33:13,791
♪ Ah-Ah-Ah

1830
01:33:16,166 --> 01:33:20,750
♪ Oh-Oh-Ah

1831
01:33:20,791 --> 01:33:25,791
♪ Ooh-Ah

1832
01:33:26,708 --> 01:33:31,416
♪ Oh-Oh-Oh

1833
01:33:31,458 --> 01:33:33,250
♪ Ooh