Dear Michael Moore,
This has been a rough year for everyone, but, given the movie houses, theater, and film festivals are canceled this year, it must be a really difficult year for you. Add to that your first attempt, that I know of, as an Executive Producer and YouTube took down a free film. Ouch.
Why is it when you do something controversial you need your own theaters to distribute them? I am surprised at YouTube, but, the film was questionably ethical if there is copyright infringement. Shame on Jeff Gibbs and the lawyers, if he employed any, did the film an injustice.
I sat down the other day and dedicated about three hours to watching it though, taking notes the 2nd time I watched it through and then compose a dialogue for this blog in what I felt would be an even-handed critique. I watched the first ten minutes of Mr. Gibbs film and my intelligence was so insulted I turned it off. Now, I promised myself I would try one more time on another day, but, it is no longer available to watch. Perhaps it will be in the future.
The entire issue of the Climate Crisis is real. There is no one that can deny the very drastic change in climate and weather all over the world. The reason the Climate Crisis is important is that it is not changing in a benevolent way that will forever sustain life. The Barrier Reefs in Australia is a profound statement of the degree this crisis is taking Earth's climate and troposphere, not to mention other layers of atmosphere above the troposphere. That is an entirely different subject, but, the layers of atmosphere around Earth have received impacts from the Climate Crisis experienced and begun in the troposphere where humans live.
Now that is probably boring to someone like Jeff Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs wanted to dig deep into the environmental movement and be controversial to have a dialogue about the future of energy. Hopefully, Mr. Gibb would be willing to admit there is a Climate Crisis of which something needs to be done and I hope he admits it has been caused by human activity. If those two premise are rejected by him, there is no sense in even watching his film because it only estranges the very people that need to change their bad energy habits and allows them to be zealots.
The Climate Crisis and the path forward is not up for discussion. Radical changes in energy have to be made and now. This change is long overdue. All the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) have to be brought under control. It is just that simple. The major offender of this is the petroleum industry. As you well know the original Henry Ford believed the electric car was vital and he also stated the burning of fossil fuels would cause a climate crisis. Those are not his exact words, only his understanding of the very machine he designed to burn gasoline.
There is a profound reality I am quite confident Jeff Gibbs didn't even attempt to examine called Ohm's Law. Ohm's Law is a scientific LAW that electric current is proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance. If you want a modern-day explanation of the difficulty in designing electric anything efficiently ask Elon Musk to explain it to you. Elon Musk has applied the science to his battery technology and won. He won, Michael. He found a way to overcome the RESISTANCE of Ohm's Law and actually produce batteries that propel a semi-truck otherwise known as a tractor-trailer. That is the pinnacle of any environmental success. Elon Musk is a hero in every sense of the word.
Ever since the 1960s it became obvious the GHGs needed to be controlled to end their saturation of Earth's atmospheres, engineers have been trying to overcome RESISTANCE so that it would not eat up the entire EFFICIENCY of alternative energies. I heard your complaint about wind turbine efficiency. Engineers were able to find 12 to 16 percent efficiency to produce GHG-FREE electricity. That doesn't even address THE GRID. President Obama knew the importance of modernizing and making AN EFFICIENT ELECTRIC GRID IN THE USA. No one is going to state it isn't important to have the greatest efficiency possible for alternative energies. Everyone wants that. There is no planned obsolescence in alternative energies. Quite the opposite. The longer manufacturing can be held at bay to prevent any heat pollution the happier the environmental community is, however, the real question is, "IS IT PRACTICAL TO EXPECT IT?"
Earth's physics is a difficult partner in this pursuit. Physics have LAWS and they are real and designing efficient ANYTHING in this world takes the best of the best. NASA is one of the best of the best. They work with Earth's physics all the time and even NASA has issues they have difficulty solving.
The problem as I see it Michael is not the willingness to have alternative energies that work to return a healthy troposphere to Earth's many, many generations; but; commitment and financing. It is completely hypocritical to have financial institutions handing out pittance of funding for alternative energies while at the same time using petroleum to increase their cash flow. It is ludicrous. I have no patience for it.
Perhaps I will someday see Mr. Gibbs film and bit the bullet to get into the material without being insulted. But, if his premise for his film is wrong, then it is wrong and there is no reason to air it anymore.
Michael, the youngest generation today is currently inheriting an Earth that is completely alien to the planet you and I grew up on. That is more than unfair, it is a lack of respect for life. If Mr. Gibb returns the desire for anyone watching his film to respect life and accept a new reality that is will benefit the children of today; then it was worth all the effort to understand it. But, if it is simply complaining for the sake of complaining without valid sound science behind his complaint then your venture into being an Executive Producer is a failure. I think some self-reflection by all involved with this film is due and if that self-reflection reveals a wrongful agenda, then let the film die. It isn't worth the venture and I am sorry this happened in your otherwise very successful career.
Best regards, Michael.
25 May 2020
By Jonathan Watts
YouTube (click here) has taken down the controversial Michael Moore-produced documentary Planet of the Humans in response to a copyright infringement claim by a British environmental photographer.
The movie, which has been condemned as inaccurate and misleading by climate scientists and activists, allegedly includes a clip used without the permission of the owner Toby Smith, who does not approve of the context in which his material is being used.
In response, the filmmakers denied violating fair usage rules and accused their critics of politically motivated censorship....
