Despite his biased position, the documentary is well done and makes great points. The propaganda offered lands on nuclear as the best source of clean energy (which is true, relative to other options like coal). The challenge for the discerning viewer is to balance the information in the doc against the anti-climate-science bias. The title is catchy, but a more honest one would be: “Why your wind turbines and solar farms are BS.”
Bryce pushes both fossil fuel and nuclear, which should not be lumped together. Coal mining has always come with an annual death rate and is environmentally devastating at both ends of it’s production cycle. Deep coal veins aren’t cost-effective any longer, so coal is now mined near the surface, removing the top layer of soil in practice called “strip” mining. This destroys the landscape in large swaths of once-beautiful states like West Virginia. Also, of course, coal burns dirty, pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Coal is a lose/lose proposition.
Nuclear power is much safer, and can be made the safest source of power, but is hampered by a few high-profile disasters like Fukushima and Chernobyl. Nuclear power is also mysterious and scary, evoking images of nuclear war, mushroom clouds. However, a historical comparison of nuclear energy safety vs. fossil fuels, just the numbers, will show that nuclear power has always been the safest source of cheap power.
“Watch this film cynically: Bryce has ties to the fossil fuel industry…”
In his book Gusher of Lies, Bryce argues against the idea of energy independence, claiming that renewable sources like wind and solar cannot meet America’s growing energy demand. He believes that ethanol, wind, solar, and other forms of sustainable energy are boondoggles and that moving toward them will devastate poorer countries trying to feed and house their people.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Sustainable energy has a long way to go. Fossil fuels destroy the environment. Technology can solve both of these issues, but it will take a long time. With global dependence on electric-powered tech, we have painted ourselves into a very difficult corner that will take generations to dig out of. Bryce points out that darkness kills human potential. Electricity nourishes it. That is an accurate assessment of the current state of the world.
This would have been a much better doc without the bias. It’s easy to imagine a Bill Nye version, focused on the science of electricity and the future of sustainable energy and climate change. This film is also missing any discussion of the origins of electricity, and the early days of Edison and Tesla, DC vs. AC, and so on.
Still, this is a lively and engaging documentary/infomercial brought to you by a man who is an advocate for the oil and coal industry (Bryce) and a director who primarily works on commercials (Culver). It’s informative, and if you watch it considering the source, you can do your research and fill in the blanks Bryce intentionally leaves in the material. It reveals the cultural and political importance of electricity (both in what is, and what isn’t said), who’s getting it, and how developing countries all over the world are working to provide power and opportunity to their populations.
"…global poverty can be addressed with clean, cheap power, and that resolving economic disparity"
While it’s so easy to criticize and knock someone’s ideas down, the critic doesn’t present any concrete reason/facts for the harsh comments. Therefore, the criticism has no basis but is based on frustration that it doesn’t fit the narrative the critic desires.