MERCHANTS OF DOUBT

 I went to see this film, Merchants of Doubt at the Watershed in Bristol last night. It's being shown as part of the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Based on the book of the same name co-written with Erik M. Conway in 2010 by Naomi Oreskes, professor of the History of Science and an affiliate professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She analysed nearly 1000 scientific journals to directly assess the magnitude of scientific consensus around anthropogenic climate change. Naomi was at the film to answer questions afterwards.
In the blurb it says,
" The US scientific community has long led the world in research on public health, environmental science and other issues affecting the quality of life. Their scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers....'

    The film maker Robert Kenner shows us the games and strategies played by the PR consultants who work for companies in the oil and gas industry and who use dirty tactics to discredit scientific claims. In the so-called 'interest of balance' these views get disproportionate air time on TV and Radio.  The sad irony is that the impact of man made carbon emissions on the arctic and climate change means that the melting ice cap makes it easier and cheaper for these companies to explore new oil and gas fields.    
     When asked by a young woman where can we find hope in the situation, Naomi replied that some hope lies with China, who are starting to address the issue of climate change because of the considerable political impact that pollution in the big cities has on the health of the inhabitants and voters.  She also cited pockets of good practice in British Columbia. New technology such as carbon capture is really important, as is carbon taxing, and even the Pope through his forthcoming encyclical message may have Catholic deniers moving to the moral high ground.
    Merchants of Doubt is not on general release but look out for it at arts centres and festivals. It's probably one of the most important films about the deniers of climate change v scientific evidence since Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.