DIRECTOR’S DOC A NOD TO PROVINCE’S OILPATCH
Global Warning examines ‘both sides of polarized debate,’ says Embry
A new documentary boosting the province’s oil and gas industry by local filmmaker Matt Embry is likely to hit a positive chord with some Calgarians feeling alienated by this week’s national election results.
Global Warning, which debuted Oct. 20 on Superchannel and will screen publicly on Sunday at the Globe Cinema, purports to offer a “a much-needed, balanced and hopeful approach to the climate change debate.” But it also pushes buttons that tend to rally the city’s energy-industry boosters, whether it be suggesting environmental activists and government policies have deepened Calgary’s economic downturn, attempting to make the case that the science behind manmade climate change has yet to be settled or even pillorying the green activism of A-list actor Leonardo Dicaprio.
“My goal was to create a balanced film and get both sides of this highly polarized debate, to get their positions out there,” Embry says. “I think the conclusions we made in the film don’t easily fall into those two camps. I think that’s an important voice that needs to be heard. I don’t want to say that I’m pro-oilsands. I’m definitely pro-industry, I’m pro-economic development, but I’m also pro-environment. I think you can be both and I think that’s a voice that has to get out there.”
Embry says he began planning the documentary in 2008 and admits he had no idea “how polarizing” the debate actually was until he was immersed in it. The film takes him from empty office towers in Calgary to the oilfields of Texas and a congressional hearing in Washington D.C. He also visits Germany, where one scientist casts doubt on the country’s success with renewable energy programs. But Embry does interview people on both sides of the debate, embedding himself with activists from Climate Action Network and Greenpeace and visiting First Nation elder and environmentalist Ray Owl.
“One of the things we really wanted to demonstrate was to get a deep understanding of the First Nations issues that also surround this,” Embry says. “There are other issues, constitutionally, that also need to be dealt with. There are relationships that need to be created and fostered and grown in a different way to allow industry to go forward successfully.”
In the film, we hear congressional hearing testimony of Robert Watson, a British chemist and high-profile proponent of the idea that human activity has contributed to global warming and a loss in biodiversity. But much more time is dedicated to Patrick Moore, Ian Clark and Fritz Vahrenholt, scientists whose theories about climate change are, by their own admission, in the minority.
“I don’t think any of those scientists in our film deny that climate change is happening,” Embry says. “I think the question is whether C02 is the major driver. And those are two different conversations that have really been mixed into one. And, I think, in the scientific community, science is never over. People say the science is settled, but science is never settled. The idea of consensus can be dangerous.”
Moore is a particularly controversial figure, a former member of Greenpeace who made headlines recently by comparing the environmental movement led by teenage activist Greta Thunberg to Hitler Youth.
“There’s no question he’s a polarizing figure,” Embry says. “I think getting access to someone like that for us was really interesting. He brought us behind the scenes at the congressional hearing. He was able to get us right in the room.”
Embry says he did approach climatologist Michael Mann, director of the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, James Hansen and activist David Suzuki, but says they all declined to participate in the film. He did convince former politician and conservative radio host Danielle Smith to participate. She offers a teary tribute to oil and gas workers who have lost their jobs and suggests they are being held back by “governments making decisions that are standing in the way of the economy getting back on track.”
She’s far from an unbiased observer, but Embry says he wanted her historical perspective and wasn’t bothered by her considerable political baggage.
If Global Warning proves to be controversial, it will not be the first film by Embry to ruffle feathers. Past documentaries include Living Proof, a personal film that chronicles his own experiences with multiple sclerosis and targeted not only the pharmaceutical industry but also charities such as Multiple Sclerosis of Canada. But Embry says Global Warning is not meant to be divisive. Quite the opposite.
“My goal is hopefully those two sides can start coming together and working together instead of it being an us versus them,” he says. “The one thing I want to get across is that you can be pro-environment and pro-industry. It’s not an either/or. As Canadians, we need to be really careful about the economic consequences if we shut off the taps to oil and gas and what that means politically, culturally, economically on a global scale. We need to be aware that other countries aren’t operating that way.”