The Age of Stupid (2009) - full transcript

(suspenseful instrumental music)

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(people chattering)

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- Welcome to the global archive,

a vast storage structure

located 800 kilometers
north of Norway.

(turbines whirring)

It contains the artwork

from every national museum.



There are pickled animals

stack up two by two.

(liquid bubbling)

Every film, every book,

every scientific report,

all stored on banks of servers.

(electronic humming)

But the conditions we
are experiencing now

were actually cause
by our behavior

in the period
leading up to 2015.

In other words, we
could've saved ourselves.

(sighing)

(electronic beeping)

We could've saved ourselves.

But we didn't, it's amazing.

What state of mind were we in,

to face extinction, and
simply shrug it off?

(electronic beeping)

(upbeat instrumental music)

(horn honking)

- By nature or by disinterest,

I was always an introvert.

For years, you know,

the non-business
needs, needs a face

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

A personality.

- [Narrator] The
year 32-year-old

entrepreneur Jeh Wadia,

he's starting up India's

third low-cost airline, in 2005.

(phones ringing)

- Time for India is
now, the time for

developing businesses
in India is now.

- [Narrator] He's got 1200
employees, most of whom

have never set foot
on an airplane.

- What are the
different kinds of

hijackers that you might have?

- Uniforms.

- [Man] Uniforms are
the first point.

- Do I care?
- The 31st--

- No no, do I care?

(liquid hissing)

- Babe?

- Why are you scared
of a little smoke?

Do you want to be
scared and run of fire?

It's not a toy, it's
not a perfume bottle,

you've got to aim it, hold it.

(liquid hissing)

That's it.

- I was in London at the time,
where Stelios Haji-loannou,

you know, created Easy Jet,

and I was always fascinated

with basically how he did it.

- Evacuate, evacuate!

Go this way, go this way!

Go this way!

(chattering in foreign language)

- We'd be offering
fares from 600 rupees,

okay, all the way
down to one rupee.

How many people can
afford a one rupee fare?

I would imagine every
single Indian can.

That the, a rickshaw
driver can, and servants.

You know in the year
2005, I mean, you know,

having a elite class
who can fly in

a country of a billion
people is ridiculous.

- Search, visible impacts
of climate change

leading up to 2010.

(electronic beeping)

(people chattering)

- 101 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's the hottest
day ever recorded.

- [Reporter] 700 people
are now feared dead

after the strongest
ever-recorded

day's rain fall in
India's history.

- Now, it's official,
the past year

has been the driest in
Melbourne's history.

- The desert is advancing
at the phenomenal rate

of three miles every year.

- [Reporter] Dozens of
Antarctic ice shelves

collapsing faster than
anyone predicted.

- [Reporter] 18 countries
are under water

and one and a half million
people are affected.

(dramatic instrumental music)

(soft upbeat music)

(electronic beeping)

- [Narrator] Fernand Pareau
has climbed Europe's

highest mountain Mont
Blanc over 150 times.

Here he's guiding a
family from England.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Narrator] At 82,
Fernand's the oldest guide

still working in France.

All his lifetime he's witnessed

huge changes in the mountains.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Now, there's a
ladder extension

on the bottom here now.

- Wow.

Wow.

(melancholy instrumental music)

- Extraordinary to think that

these are the Alps in December.

Here in Chamonix as
across the Alps,

there is a dramatic lack of snow

and exceptionally
warm temperatures.

It is a glimpse into the future.

- More than half the
ski resorts in Europe

could shut down in
the next 50 years

because of global warming.

- So nobody goes
skiing, big deal.

But the thing is it's
not that, is it?

That's the whole point.

The fact you can't
go skiing anymore or

that the glaciers are melting
is not really the point.

The point is that that signals

that basically the earth
is destabilizing.

And all the norms that have

allowed life to exist

as it has done are changing.

(melancholy instrumental music)

- List, climate change,

major events, up to
the present day.

(electronic beeping)

(people chattering)

(upbeat instrumental music)

This is a couple of days
before Katrina struck.

Most people are following
the evacuation order

in getting out of the city.

But New Orleans-borne
Alvin DuVernay

had no intention of moving.

I got up Saturday morning

and there was a buzz
in the neighborhood.

Everybody was running around

and I was like what's
up, what's up?

You know, the
hurricane's coming.

I checked on the web
and sure enough

all of the models had it,
aiming right for us, bullseye.

This is a monster,
and it's coming.

Walked through the
house a few times,

putting things up, you know.

My silk rug from Nepal
up on a top shelf,

and my guitar, I mean, you know,

you just do these
things, you know.

I mean another way to do that is

get all your stuff and
go, that's option one,

probably the best option.

I didn't grow up in that option.

The biggest blue marlin--

- [Narrator] Alvin collected
his 84-year-old father

just then barricaded
the two of them inside

his house as the
hurricane approached.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- You stare Mother
Nature in the eye,

usually she's fairly benign.

Then she comes along,

methodically, ruthlessly.

And then she stands toe to toe

with you and dares
you, dares you.

Go ahead and get your
best equipment out.

Go ahead, do it, let's dance.

(rain pattering) (wind howling)

- I think one's got
to be very careful

about attaching a particular
event to global warming.

But nevertheless the
intensity of hurricanes

is related to surface
sea temperature,

so increased intensity
of hurricanes

is associated with
global warming.

(water crashing)

(soft jazz music)

- [Narrator] By first light,
the water in Alvin's house

was chest-deep and still rising.

So he helped Alvin Sr.
into their boat

and headed for dry land.

(metal creaking)

(dog barking)

At this point, the
boat's floating,

so it's no big deal to launch
the boat, it's launched.

(motor rumbling)

There's no landmarks,
really, to speak of.

That's a real different
perspective,

driving through your
neighborhood at tree level.

Then, all of a
sudden you realize

there's a lot of people
who stayed behind.

There was no coastguard
or police or,

most of our national guards

was elsewhere in the
world, Iraq, Afghanistan.

- [Narrator] Alvin rescued
over a hundred people,

and their pets,
over two long days,

including a 95-year-old man

and a six-week-old baby.

When that little basket
came out of the window,

that was a pretty special time.

And just as peaceful,
eyes-closed,

it just stops you, in your
tracks, just dead stop.

Take a breath, you know,

there's nothing more
precious than that.

(water lapping)

- [Narrator] Alvin's neighbors
were the lucky ones,

Hurricane Katrina
was America's worst

weather-related
event to that date,

but it was just a taste
of what was to come.

(helicopter blades whirring)

- It is our fault.

After years of debate,
some of the world's

top scientists have concluded--

- [Reporter]
Unequivocable, is the word

they used, human activity is--

- Contributing to changes
in our earth's climate,

and that issue is no
longer up to debate.

- [Reporter] In Andermatt,

they've covered a
glacier with a special

protective sheet to
reduce its summer melt.

- One way I do my bit
for the environment

is turning to 30 with Ariel.

- This is offsetting all
those flights that I take

that I have to for my job.

- [Reporter] David Cameron
even wears recycled shoes

made from old
fireman's trousers.

- Despite all of the efforts
to control pollution

and its effect in our climate,

the level of greenhouse
gas emissions has reached

a record high and shows no
signs of being reversed.

- Despite the Kyoto
treaty, and all the talk

of reducing emissions
of carbon dioxide,

levels of this key
greenhouse gas

are rising faster than ever.

- [Narrator] 6:30 a.m.
on a cool autumn morning

and Alvin's heading off to
work, searching for more oil.

(helicopter blades whirring)

Ironically, the oil
infrastructure

off the coast of New Orleans

suffered major damage
during the hurricane,

but Shell moved fast
to carry out repairs

and just nine months later,

the rigs are online, and
everyone's back at work.

(soft upbeat music)

- [Reporter] Oil was formed
when ancient plant life

in the oceans absorbed
energy from the ancient sun.

As these plants died, they
settled on the ocean floor

along with the dead
bodies of tons

and tons of ocean creatures.

Over the millennia,
temperatures increased

and the organic matter
was gradually cooked

until the sun's energy
was stored inside oil.

150 million years later,
Shell's geologists

analyzed where the oil might be,

then drilled three miles down

into the seabed to
collect samples.

- Here Al, get it yourself.

- Thank you, brother.

We get the samples
and analyze them

for the fossil contents,
the microscopic fossils.

And it's just another
geo-scientific tool

in order to improve your
possibility of finding oil.

In my opinion, probably
arrogantly so,

but it's pretty high calling

actually to try to do that,

to try to figure out or maybe

take apart, you
know, time itself.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(speaking in foreign language)

Go back a few thousand years,

and the energy available to
grow our crops or feed animals

was limited by the daily
sunlight falling on the earth.

But now, we use the energy
equivalent to hundreds of years

of sunlight every single year.

Every part of modern life is
now literally made of oil,

from CDs and plastic bags,

to medicine and computers.

From clothes and carpets to
cosmetics and cell phones.

It's truly a wonderful
and necessary substance.

Then there's our food,

each calorie we eat uses
nearly a hundred oil calories

to produce, package,
refrigerate, transport.

And fossil fuel produced
fertilizers now feed

a couple billion or so people

who could not otherwise
be sustained.

It would be prudent for
humanity to carefully use

the remaining oil to build a
new society run without it.

Instead, we're burning
up tens of millions

of barrels every day,
so it will be gone.

It will run out,

leaving pretty much none
for future generations.

Even though we in
the oil industry

are working our asses
off looking for

and finding this
magical substance.

- All right, guy!
- Push it back!

- And then you see it,

and you smell it, and, you know,

it's greasy and ugly
and smells so much

like money, it's just
beautiful, you know.

- [Reporter] 13 billion
pounds in 2005.

That's one and a half
million pounds an hour,

400 pounds a second.

- [Reporter] And a hefty
chunk of those profits

came from here, Nigeria,

where most of the
population lives

on less than one dollar a day.

- This is the water we drink.

- [Narrator] 22-year-old
Layefa Malin

has an ambition to
train as a doctor

and then work in a home
village called Cojabanee,

where Shell started building
this medical center.

- [Narrator] Like hundreds
of other community projects

across the Niger Delta,
construction has been abandoned.

Shell maintains that's because
of the risk of kidnapping.

13% of the oil
revenue is supposed

to be spent on
community development.

But the local people's
share is almost

all lost to the corrupt
political system.

So despite being in the most

profitable oil region
in West Africa,

Layefa's village has
no health service,

no secondary school, no

electricity, and
no drinking water.

(gentle instrumental music)

(water lapping)

- This way?
- Yeah.

- Yes, like, no!

- [Narrator] Layefa is
describing a phenomenon

known as the resource curse.

Paradoxically,
finding oil usually

increases a country's poverty.

As the oil wealth
is concentrated

in the hands of a few,

so the agriculture,
education, and health system

of the country become
neglected and often collapse.

The local people's
health problems

are compounded by gas flares,

burning night and day

throughout the Niger Delta.

Asthma, bronchitis,
skin diseases

and cancer have all been linked.

That gas is found alongside oil,

but, as it's dangerous
to transport,

it can't easily be sold
to over-seas markets

It could be used for cooking
and heating within Nigeria,

but building infrastructure
is expensive

so the oil companies
just burn it off.

(flames hissing)

The flares emit about
70 million tons

of carbon dioxide every year,

more than the annual emissions

from 10 million British homes.

They just do whatever they like.

(melancholy instrumental music)

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Reporter] Why are
American cities designed

so it's almost impossible
not to have a car?

Why were a hundred railways
in cities like New York,

Philadelphia, and Los
Angeles bought up

and then deliberately destroyed?

Why did the electric
car get scrapped?

Why were we, along
with Australia,

the only two countries
not to sign

the original Kyoto
climate treaty?

Why was an oil company
lobbyist allowed to change

official government reports
on global warming?

Why was the same PR firm
employed by the tobacco industry

to persuade the public
that smoking is healthy,

then employed by the oil
industry to convince us

there was still doubt
about climate change?

Alternative energy
has been available

for 50 years, why have
we barely used it?

Why were solar panels taken
off the White House?

Because right from the early
days of the industry,

the oil men and their
obscene profits have had

an unhealthy influence on the
people running our country.

And now, they are the
people running our country.

And they're providing
the cash, too.

Oil business isn't just in
bed with the government,

it is the government.

(water lapping)

(engine rumbling)

- [Narrator] Here, Layefa is
going to a nearby village,

Odioma, that was massacre
by the government.

The village was
involved in a dispute

about ownership of
a piece of land,

on which Shell planned
to drill for oil.

The government claimed that

the village was
harboring terrorists,

and when they sent

the military in to
find those terrorists,

the villagers opened
fire on the soldiers.

(speaking in foreign language)

Layefa has gone to hear
the villagers' side

of the story, from
Omiekma Wekid.

(explosions booming)

(children laughing)

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Amnesty
international investigated

the massacre and concluded that,

although the government

was responsible
for the killings,

Shell Nigeria should
have made sure that

their activities did not
contribute to the conflict.

- They shoot him?
- Yes.

They burned them off.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Human history
is littered with the corpses

of people who had
stuff worth stealing.

(arrows whooshing)

(sheep baaing)

Animals,

(water splashing)

water,

(animals shrieking)

(arrows whooshing) (groans)

shiny things, - Ugh!

- [Narrator] Fertile land.

(groaning)

(trumpets blaring)

(gunshots firing)

(people screaming)

Spices.

(sword whooshing)

(upbeat instrumental music)

(speaking in foreign language)

- Hmm!

Nutmeg slice, tea?

(explosions booming)

(people screaming)

- [Narrator] But when
it came to stuff

worth pinching one
continent had it all.

(elephant shrieks)

Ivory, copper, cotton,
rubber, wood,

tin, gold, diamonds, and people.

We're saving a pool
of, pool of, pool of

- [Narrator] As cheap energy,
slaves were unbeatable,

until a less troublesome
energy source was discovered,

and the new era began.

(horns honking)

Human numbers increased
five times over.

And with each person wanting
more and more stuff,

oil became the resource

worth fighting for all
around the world.

(engine rumbling)

(upbeat orchestral music)

(tires screeching)

(helicopter blades whirring)

(heavy metal music)

(gunshots firing)

(explosion booms)

(moaning)

(explosion booms)

- Well, you want to know

the real reason we
went to war in Iraq?

According to the former
Federal Reserve Chairman

Alan Greenspan, it's simple,
three letter answer.

Not WMD, it's O-I-L.

(applauding)

- [Alan] I am saddened that it
is politically inconvenient

to acknowledge what
everyone knows,

that the Iraq war is
largely about oil.

- You might read the
ex-chairman of Shell

that said over weekend that
oil could hit over $150

a barrel as world
production begins to peak,

not really good news for a
country whose entire economy,

not to mention its
entire way of life,

is based on cheap oil.

(singing in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

(imitating gun firing)

(imitating gun firing)

- Throughout our
history, the deal was

we left the world
in a better place

than we found it.

That was progress,

the wheel, the rule
of law, penicillin.

It was our covenant to our
children and grandchildren.

My children weren't
angry with me

for breaking the covenant,

they were too busy
trying to stay alive

to waste energy on blame,

trying to negotiate their
way through food riots,

and refugee camps, and
the collapse of society.

But I think my grandchildren
would have been angry,

had they survived
into adulthood.

(electronic beeping)

(speaking in foreign language)

(chainsaw whirring)

(upbeat instrumental music)

(camels grunting)

- [Narrator] Skiing
in the desert,

heating the air,

(chattering)

lighting empty offices,
(phone ringing)

energy is so ridiculously
cheap it makes

perfect economic sense
to just piss it away.

China is new bad guy,
because they are building

a new power station
every four days.

But a quarter of that
energy makes stuffs for us.

(clacking)

Western companies
pay Chinese workers

crap wages to make
crap plastic toys,

then ship them to Europe,

and wrap them in more plastic.

(horn blaring)

Punters drive to the out-of-town

megastore in their gas-guzzlers.

Plastic toy and plastic box

goes into plastic bag.

Two days later toy is broken

and back it goes to a
Chinese landfill where it

stays for about,
hmm, 50,000 years?

(upbeat instrumental music)

Water from the bottles

Much better than the tap

Ooh water from the bottles

Much better than the tap

Ooh health giving
life enhancing

Mountain spring spa

- [Narrator] 800 times
more energy wasted

and 10,000 times more
expensive for you.

It's a tricky decision.

(coin clanging)

- Wee!

("These Boots are Made for
Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra)

You keep saying you've
got something for me

Something you call
love, but confess

You've been messing where you
shouldn't have been messing

(horns honking)

And now someone else is
getting all your best

(electronic beeping)

Boots are made for walkin'

And that's just
what they'll do

One of these days these boots
are gonna walk all over you

(people chattering)

- Woo!
- Woo!

("Just Can't Get Enough"
by Depeche Mode)

- [Narrator] Lots
of ideas have tried

to take over the world,

but there's only one winner.

3,000 adverts bombard
us every day.

Telling us we'll be happier,

more attractive and
with better skin,

if only we buy their product.

To get there, they create
within us an insatiable

desire to buy more
and more stuff.

Americans have been
advertised that longest,

and they now each consume

twice as much energy
as a European,

and nine times more
than a Chinese person,

15 more times than an Indian,

and 50 times more than
someone from Kenya.

If all six and a half billion
people here on earth

consumed like Europeans
or Japanese,

we'd need two more planets
worth of resources.

If everyone consumed like

Americans, Australians
and Canadians,

we'd need another four.

And in 2040 or so when there's
about nine billion of us,

we'll need two more again.

Capitalism's only goal is
ever expending growth,

but ever expending growth

on just the one not
expending planet,

(air squelching)
it's impossible.

The current economic
system is disastrous,

not just for the planet

but for most people, too.

400 years of
capitalism has allowed

the richest 1% to take
40% for themselves,

leaving just 1% for
the poorest to have.

But anyone wanting
to live differently

is thwarted at every turn.

With profit the only
measuring step,

destroying the planet

is written into the system,

and runaway climate change

is a not very surprising result.

Just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

(engine revving)

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

- The logo effectively is color,

you know, light Gray, you know,

orange Telecom, they
have orange and black.

Our logo is fluorescent color.

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

- Everything changes in economy

the minute you have
an airline moving in.

Because people can basically
do business a lot faster.

(women laughing)

If businesses grow a lot faster,

people have more
disposable income,

then, you know,
consumerism sets in,

and you know where the verge

where basic consumerism
is setting in.

(speaking in foreign language)

Just moving a lot like America.

You're like an angel when
you give me your love

(somber instrumental
music) (engine rumbling)

- [Man] Glide slow, glide slow.

- [Narrator] Here, Jeh travels
to Airbus headquarters

in France, as they'll
be supplying him

with 26 planes in his
first three years.

- [Man] We'd do it
year round, of course.

- We have only 200 aircraft

commercially flying in
India, China has 800.

Ultimately, you know,

we have a very long way to go,

playing catch up with China,

or catch up with Europe,

or, you know, say America,

one airline Southwest,
have 417 aircraft.

That's double the amount

of aircraft we
have as a country.

- So this is not of
course your final design.

- You know, one simple sentence
for me, summarizes it all.

Thing are gonna get better.

(twangy guitar music)

(engine rumbling)

- In my main house was,

it had 10 feet of water in it,

marinated in that
for, in that sludge

for three weeks, almost.

So it's current state of my
house, it has been demolished.

It's a flat piece of
a property waiting

for another house to go on that.

(light piano music)

I lost everything,
everything that I owned.

I mean everything
from family heirlooms

to the paper towels sitting
on your kitchen counter,

and everything in between,
it goes on and on.

Two beautiful, beautiful
oak trees I did not lose,

you know, local, indigenous,

Quercus Virginianas, live oaks

that sprawl all over the place,

beautiful, beautiful things.

That's what I have
left, two oak trees

and an empty lawn,
everything else is gone.

That sucks.

Losing everything you have,

it's so overwhelming.

And the grief that comes

with that, is just,
it's profound.

(melancholy instrumental music)

- [Narrator] We have an
unspoken collective pact

to pretend climate
change wasn't happening,

as though as long we ignored it

hard enough, it
wouldn't be true.

(thunder rumbling)

Not absolutely everyone,

a few were shouting fire.

- Hello, come on in.

One of the greatest difficulties

with climate change

is that the effects of
our emissions today are

not actually realized in
terms of the temperature

for 30 to 40 years so there's
this time-lag in the system.

Which makes it difficult
for us humans to respond

because we're
evolutionary equipped

to deal with very
immediate threats

like advancing armies
or dangerous animals.

We're not so well-equipped
with dealing rationally

with very long-term problems
like climate change.

So we have to act now to stop

something happening
in the future.

If we wait until the
full temperature

effects are already upon us,

then it's far too late to stop.

If you remember one single
number above all else,

make it two degrees,

now everyone in the
world pretty much,

the European Union, big
multi-national corporations,

Greenpeace, political parties,

all agreed that we have to
stabilize global temperatures

within two degrees above
pre-industrial levels,

and the reason for
that is because,

if you cross that threshold,

the narrow tipping points
in the earth system,

which could drive
the warming process

essentially out of control.

Huge amounts of carbon
could be coming out

of the world's trees and the
soils, methane could be coming

out of the permafrost in Siberia

and it's that extra input
of greenhouse gases

into the atmosphere,

which then leads us up
to worst case scenario

to six or more degrees

and the eventual wipe-out
of most of life on earth.

So power emissions
has been going up

between, let's say 1950,

and now they need to level out,

stabilize, and then decline

just as rapidly to
sustainable levels

about an 80% cut by 2050.

But crucially, to
keep the temperature

rise within two degrees,

this point of stabilization

needs to be at around 2015.

And so that means,
really, the time,

timeline we've got,
ticking clock,

is that we have to
stabilize global emissions

within just seven years
from now as we speak, 2008.

And the scale of
this task to achieve

a transformation to a
low carbon economy

for the entire, entirety
of human civilization,

is obviously, it's a
huge monumental task,

probably the greatest that
humanity's ever faced.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Remember
the English family

who went to see the glacier?

They're back home in Cornwall,

Southwest England,
inspired to start tackling

their own energy wasting.

- It says that the
average individual

in the UK is responsible

for emitting 10 tons of
greenhouse gas a year.

- [Narrator] They're
calculating exactly how much

climate-change-gases their
family currently produces,

and how it can be reduced.

- Yeah, but that's the
average individual.

There are five of us, yeah.

- Ah, ooh.

- Whichever way
you look at this,

it isn't good.

(cow moos)

- [Woman] We produce
about half of our food,

and we try and keep

our consumption of
meat and dairy down.

My car runs on chip fat

and we do cycle when we can.

We've just got our wind turbine,

which will produce all
our own electricity.

- [Man] We're aiming
to cut down to

about one ton each per year,

which is apparently the
sustainable amount

that the world's trees
and plants can reabsorb.

- [Woman] But the big
problem is flying,

just one return flight,
say London to New York,

would blow our entire carbon

budget for about three
and a half years.

Apparently, other than
setting fire to a forest,

flying is the single
worst thing an ordinary

individual can do to
cause climate change.

So, it's a bit of a
dilemma, because we've

just been invited to
go skiing in France.

- Then I am flying from Newquay,

which is our nearest airport,

it's like 40 minutes
from here, to Bergerac,

which is like, you know,

an hour and a half--

- Very tempting.
- Or something, from it.

- And literally we
could leave here

in the morning, we live
like, in Cornwall,

we could leave Cornwall
in the morning,

and be in Bergerac by sort of,

for lunch, after lunch.

But if you actually think,
this is going to cause

the death of people, is
actually gonna affect people,

and make that direct connection

then it is a really
scary thought.

(children laughing)

Obviously, us not flying
to France or not flying,

wherever it's hardly
gonna solve the problem.

But it's down to what you think

is the correct thing to do.

Because everyone else
is doing it, I mean,

that's not a good
reason to do anything.

You know, you have to look
at the terrible things

in our history that
everyone regrets now,

you know, massacres,

the holocaust, et cetera,
and a lot of that

was just going along
with what was

the predominant
thinking at the time.

I'm almost jealous of the time,

five, 10 years ago, when I could

just jump on a plane
with impunity.

I didn't even think about
it, it's just blissful.

No moral dilemma
there, whatsoever.

(beating drums)
(people chanting)

- [Narrator] Needless to say,

they didn't take that flight.

And joining the climate
change protest march

may not be everybody's idea

of a 10th wedding anniversary,

but Piers and Lisa
have shared ideals

from the moment they met.

- My friend, we went along
to the party together,

and she just basically took me

straight over to Piers and said,

"Hey, look," you know
"Piers, this is Lisa."

And, dah dah dah.

And that was it, that was it.

We just (fingers snap) and
spent the whole evening

talking about wind turbines.
(laughs)

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Piers has been
developing wind farms in Africa,

America, and Britain
for over 15 years.

But he knows that they will only

help solve the climate crisis

as a small part of a total

reordering of western society.

- [Piers] And there's still
this idea that somehow

we have to find the solution,

you know, the silver bullet.

No single renewable
source is gonna

be the solution, absolutely not.

- [Narrator] And
Piers doesn't think

much of the other option,

whereby everyone
crosses their fingers

and hopes that the miracle

technology will be
invented in time.

- I'm not saying we
shouldn't be developing

other stuff, absolutely,
we should be.

We should be throwing
everything at it.

But, you've got to make use
of what's available now.

And in the UK, we've got
a great wind resource,

and we just got to bite
the bullet and go for it.

- [Narrator] Piers has
purposed a new wind farm

at Airfield Farm in
Bedfordshire, central England.

He could have 15 turbines
installed and generating

13 megawatts of electricity
within a year.

- Good morning, sorry.
- Well, we're the

revolutionary army.

- [Photographer] That's
it, outraged faces.

Edward, I've lost your
face again, sorry chap.

Can you just?

That's it, yeah, good man.

Right, okay.

- Well, the process
balloon is now going up,

but while that's happening,

I'll just explain where we are.

This is the site (phone ringing)

of an old World War
II bomber base.

Phone, bullocks. (phone ringing)

- [Photographer] We all have
our thumbs down as well.

(group laughing) That's it.

- UK-wise surveys point
to about 70 to 80%

in favor of wind
farms as a concept.

The difficulty is when you've

got one on your own doorstep,

and then it's the sort of

not-in-my-backyard syndrome.

- Jim, what's the problem?

- Well, the problem really
is that this is one of the

least windy sites
in the country.

- [Woman] I hope it's not
gonna get too windy tomorrow

and it wraps itself
around the church.

- Well, I live in Coddington,
and we're going to be

absolutely surrounded
by these high moss.

They're going to
obliterate the view.

- What it normally
always comes down to

with wind farms is
aesthetics, you know.

Everything else is
basically put together

to try and back up
the ultimate thing,

and the ultimate thing is they

don't want it to
spoil their view.

- But I'm a bit concerned

about the low level
noise as well.

- [Narrator] The wind
farm site is right next

to the world famous Santa
Pod drag-racing strip.

(engine revving)

- Anybody you ask it,
nobody's against

wind energy, that's the point.

- Yeah.

- It's against inappropriate
wind energy use.

- Right, okay.

- Hypnotic, you're
driving along,

and you tend to see
the sails revolving,

and you're not concentrating
on the driving.

- [Narrator] Ernie
Braddock will benefit

financially having
turbines on his farm,

but now he's in conflict

with his neighbor,
Victoria Reeves.

- Well, everyone is
very unhappy about it.

We're gonna lose the
value in our properties.

- No, we're not.

- We're not gonna be able
to sleep, it will make

a difference, Ernie you
have no idea, believe me.

- According to Victoria, they
stopped a wind farm up in

Scotland on their other
estate in Scotland

back in the mid-90's, and
that was a great victory.

- It can't rely on the wind.

It can only deliver.

- It's only an additive.

- An additive?

- It means that--
- Do you mean additional?

Yes, it is additional.

- It prolongs the
resources, put it that way.

- No, Ernie, it doesn't.

- It's got to.

- It does nothing of the sort.

- Got to.
- Believe me.

- It's got to. (Victoria laughs)

- It's an emotional
campaign, it's about fear

mostly based on complete
bullocks, frankly.

But never mind, facts are
not a problem, you know.

- It's a fair fight.

- Yeah.

- And I hope you lose.

- All right.

(dramatic instrumental music)

(rain pattering)

- [Narrator] This is
August 2005, just after

Mumbai's worst ever floods.

And a couple of months
before Jeh's first flight.

- [Jeh] All right?

(electronic whirring)

- Come on.

Show daddy how good
you ride this,

show daddy how fast
you can go, come on.

Press, press.

Whoa. - No more pushing.

It's battery operated.

- So, I can't see
an issue there.

- That's grandpa.
- Secondly.

- See you, Grandpa.
- And, you know.

- [Narrator] Jeh is descended
from one of India's richest

and most powerful
business dynasties.

They've pioneered everything
from ship building

in the 18th century to
internet services in the 21st.

In a round about way, his
privileged upbringing

sparked the idea for
the low cost airline.

- What do you want me to do?

I'm going to the airport.

(upbeat instrumental music)

Throughout basically my
life, from a young age,

I mean, I used to hang out
with basically tons of,

you know, servants' kids.

You know, that sort of stuff.

You know, and when you go home,

you say, you suddenly think,

why the hell do I have so much,

and these guys have nothing.

And that sort of shook, and

that constantly, constantly,
constantly adding me up.

(gentle instrumental music)

You know, everyone is
here for a purpose.

The idea is to realize what
your higher purpose is,

and then understand how
you're gonna fulfill it.

And eventually I realized
what my higher purpose was,

it was to ensure that
I eradicated poverty.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Jeh volunteers
at a charity which helps

villagers lift themselves
out of poverty.

But even by private
jet and Jeep,

it's a five hour, 900
kilometer journey.

- Hiring a private jet basically

in terms of costs as much
as the village does.

In order to take a
village from below

the poverty and put
it above the poverty.

So effectively, in terms of it

defeats the purpose.

And therefore I
decided to, you know,

try the trains, from Bombay
it takes about 26 hours.

I said to myself, wow,
this is just incredible.

You know, people pay good money

and still have to basically
put with this rubbish.

- [Narrator] 15
million people travel

by train in India
every single day.

Jeh's dream is to
get them all off

the trains and into the skies.

- We're not at war
at the moment.

It's not a war.

But if people actually
recognize the

full implications of
what's in store for us,

they would be treating
it like a war.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(engine rumbling)

(explosions booming)

They only gotta take
Airfield Farm, for example.

I mean that was a US airbase,

people flew out of
there and died.

Or a cause, which was
massive at the time,

the global problem, and
we have ourselves now

a real global problem that needs

that kind of level
of commitment.

- There are many,
many other industries

that need to be looked into
first, before aviation.

It's not a question about
choosing one industry to target.

The ultimate deal, we all
contribute to greenhouse gases,

we all contribute to the crisis

that we have today
with the planet.

So ultimately, in
terms of, you know

ensuring our planet is safe and

healthy is each one's job, task.

Whether you do it in your own

way by using less tissue paper,

using less paper so
the trees not cut,

buying green cars or not flying.

Obviously, if you're
not doing it,

the demand goes down,

the demand goes down,
the supply goes down.

Life's about demand and supply

or supply demand.

(fire crackling)

(upbeat instrumental music)

(chattering in foreign language)

(chattering in foreign language)

- Strange, watching
these film fragments.

Like looking through binoculars

observing people on
a far off beach.

Running around in
circles, fixated on

the small area of sand
under their feet,

as a tsunami races
towards the shore.

- Rickety, girl.

Ah.

- [Narrator] Here's Alvin.

He's just taken early retirement

after 30 years on an
oil industry salary.

And he's planning
to spend his later

years outside enjoying nature.

- Oh, certainly
I'm an ecologist,

and an environmentalist.

I really don't have a
problem squaring that,

working for an oil company

that I feel has done
a pretty good job

in being environmentally
friendly.

(engine rumbling)
(water splashing)

When I started working in

the oil industry,
about the mid '70s,

it was a clear path for me,

as a scientist coming
out of college.

And I didn't know the
detail of what goes on

in the industry, the
goods and the bad.

But indeed every industry has
that, the goods and the bad.

Would I do it again,
knowing what I know now,

of course I would do it again.

I mean, you need to work,

you need to do something.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Answering Machine]
Message one.

- The worst example
I've had is a lady,

an old lady came up to me,

at the public exhibition,

and gave me a cutting
from a newspaper,

with a picture of
a guy being shot.

- [Narrator] Local
anti-campaigns are one

of the key factors

stopping about 80%
of the proposed

wind energy projects in Britain.

Had they all been
built, 10% of our

electricity would've
been non-polluted.

- How the heck are
we meant to persuade

people in India and China

that they should develop
in a more sustainable way

when we're not prepared
to even accept

you know, the old wind
farming landscape.

So how's it going?
- All right, yes.

- Not too much trouble?
- Not really, no.

Nobody's punched
me up yet, anyway.

- (chuckles) Good.

- [Narrator] Piers has
come back to Ernie's farm

with a plan to make the
turbines less visible.

Trying to kick start
the planning process

that the anti-campaign has now

held up for 18 months.

- Another 18 months
of climate change.

Another eighteen months

where I've been able to
do nothing about it.

Yeah, I feel really,
really fucked off with it.

You must be feeling
the same as me.

It's just, I mean how long
have we got? (laughs)

- [Narrator] Piers's
compromise reduces the number

of turbines from
15 down to nine.

- This is still the
equivalent electrical power

to fair 11,000 homes.

So there's still a lot of power.

Exactly the opposite
is happening,

to the very thing
that needs to happen.

These things need
to be speeded up,

and actually, they're
getting slowed down.

Plenty of politicians
are talking about it,

but when it comes down to it,

it's just not happening.

It's just not happening, folks.

- Governments will only go as
far as the population demands,

and that means mass protest
on an unprecedented scale.

Direct action like
this is essential,

if you're going to turn an issue

around in a short
period of time.

We've found that many
many times in the past,

from the suffragettes onwards.

(upbeat instrumental music)

The very fact that the
crisis is taking place

within our generation and
it's happening right now,

means that we are
tremendously powerful people.

So this position of despair,

and I can't do anything,
and there's no point,

it's completely illogical.

It's exactly the opposite.

(gentle instrumental music)

(speaking in foreign language)

(chattering in foreign language)

(bicycle bells ringing)

(bicycle bells ringing)

- There's no shortage
of Gray matter

in the species, we can
do some amazing things.

(upbeat jazz music)

But I don't think
we been very smart

about how we use our resources.

How we quite literally
burn up something

as beautiful and useful as oil.

We literally burn it up.

That's it, it's gone, it's done.

- [Narrator] I think
most people were

becoming disenchanted
by this point.

We'd stopped believing
that this was

the golden era of
human civilization,

and started questioning
our collective values.

- All I can hope is,

incredible disasters
like Katrina,

and the horrible
wars and what not

that are going on
around the world

will snap us out of it.

I'd like to see us headed in

the right direction for
the good of mankind.

I still believe
in chasing dreams

- Hey, how you doing?
- Oh, you got me.

Jack on the rocks, perfect.
- I do.

- You know what I like.

(upbeat jazz music)

I had my share

I drank my fill

And even though
I'm satisfied

I'm hungry still

- [Alvin] Before this disaster,
I had a lot of stuff.

I was a classic consumer.

Two years later, I've
learned a lot about

happiness and the
pursuit thereof.

So here's to life

And every joy it brings

- [Alvin] Happiness is not
in the latest gadget,

the latest electric toothbrush,
or something like that.

All of that stuff.

It's just not the stuff of life.

Not for me anyway.

Here's to life

Here's to love

Here's to you

(electronic beeping)

(banging)

- Come on, you stupid computer.

Come on.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Climate scientist
can estimate how much of

the remaining fossil fuels
we can safely burn.

This amount is called
the global cap.

Under this proposal, the
world's governments

would make a binding
international agreement

detailing how to
distribute the global cap.

The earlier the start date,

the greater the chance of not

triggering runaway
climate change.

The total global emissions
for the first year,

say 2012, will be set
at their current level.

Every year following
they'd shrink until

by about 2065,
they're almost zero.

Initially, each country would be

allocated an emissions quota,

according to how much
they currently consume.

But this would change over time.

America would slash
its emissions 90%

from its current
over-consuming position.

Europe too would decrease
massively, as would China.

But India and Africa would
increase until by about 2025,

each human being on
the planet would have

equal rights to the
earth's resources.

Equity is the only
option morally,

and also practically as
developing countries

won't sign up to anything less.

The total emissions would then
keep decreasing every year,

until by 2065 we'll have

weaned ourselves
off fossil fuels

and prevented the worst
impacts of climate change.

As to how each country
divvies up its share to

its citizens, there were
various options on the table,

the most promising of which is
individual carbon rationing.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Announcer] Mr. W.S
Morrison is here to explain.

- If in the course of
the war, we are short

for a time of this or
that article of food,

rationing will give everyone,

rich and poor alike,

an equal share of
all that's going.

- Down to the scheme,

everyone in the UK
would be allocated

an annual carbon allowance.

- Stored electronically,
rather like

a supermarket loyalty card,

points will be
deducted every time

we buy or use
non-renewable energy.

For example, using electricity

to power appliances in the home.

- Or traveling
somewhere by plane.

- Or even buying
Petro-fuel for your car.

- The best way you can help

is by rationing yourselves.

I'm sure that all of you will

buy your fair share and no more.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Airports were
expanding all over the world,

to cope with the
exploding number

of cheap flights we
were all demanding.

And Jeh was doing everything

he could to join the party.

- Ultimately, the art is
to hug and then kick.

She thinks that the
PSF is payable,

you're saying the PSF
is not been payable.

What's wrong with you?

Now!

Yes or no?

Did I ask you that question,

or did I not ask
you that question?

- You asked--

- You are suspended,
you are suspended.

Both of you go to my
office right now.

Does it take bloody more than
10 minutes to clean this?

Keep paint with you!

It's all in a day's work.
(laughs)

Maintaining my plane means
something to me, okay?

If I see my step
ladder like this,

and if I find one dirt,
you'll be fired!

Okay?

(phones ringing) (paper tearing)

Now!

(knocking)

- Yes.

(applauding)

- [Narrator] June
the 11th, 2007,

in a hotel room in Bedford.

Piers is polishing his
speech for tonight's

showdown with the local
planning committee.

- This committee can
approve this application.

If you do, you will show
courage and leadership.

- [Narrator] He has just
six minutes to convince

them to approve his wind farm.

- I'm absolutely confident,

that if you approve
this project,

you'll look back on the decision

and say, thank
goodness we said yes.

- [Narrator] But the committee
rejected Piers's application,

saying that his wind farm
would be conspicuous

and out of place in the
Bedfordshire landscape,

that it would decrease
enjoyment of nearby footpaths

and negatively impact
the listed building

and an ancient monument.

In other words, it
would spoil the view.

- Oh, we're delighted that
it's been refused, yes.

- It's a wonderful result.

- It just shows
if you work hard,

if you look at all the facts,

if you do it fair
and with balance,

you can get a good outcome.

- 10 against and one in favor.

Might even have been 11
against and one in favor.

But there as only one
guy that actually,

actually voted in favor of it.
(sighs)

- [Reporter] Cheers, mate.

(melancholy instrumental music)

- Hi, mom, it's Piers.

I think it was 10 to one
or 11 to one against.

Yeah, just a fucking
waste of time.

That's the thing.

(sighs)

I could have said
anything, to be honest.

I don't think it would
have made any difference.

- Of course we're worried
about global warming,

I mean, that's got
to be something

that we're all concerned about.

I mean, we're all doing our
bit to try and conserve

and looking at renewable energy.

Of course, absolutely,
yeah, I mean,

we're part of the (laughs) yes.

(bell tolls)

- [Reporter] And it
is global warming.

For the first time,
scientists confirm the link

between climate change
and our awful weather.

- [Reporter] Emergency services
scramble to Bedford's--

- [Reporter] As the flood
waters finally work

their way along the Great Ouse,

other parts of Bedfordshire
didn't escape, either.

- We've lived at here
for over 40 years,

and we've never ever had
anything like this.

- [Reporter] At least
80,000 fatalities

in Burma today after
cyclone Nargis--

- [Reporter] Emergency
across Western Europe with

drinking water strictly
rationed in Holland and France.

- [Reporter] Forest
fires which are still

sweeping across
Spain and Portugal.

- [Reporter] 30 billion pounds,

a price worth paying
for motorists'

right to drive,
said Lord Clarkson.

- [Reporter] Good news for
the UK wine industries,

especially--

- [Reporter] Is that New
Orleans will not be rebuilt

a third time, said the
Louisiana governor.

- [Reporter] Less than a total
destruction of India's dams

would end Pakistan's
drinking water crisis.

- [Reporter] As a U.S.
president, Chelsea Clinton

refuses Africa's demands.

- [Reporter] Sales of air
conditioning units in India.

- [Reporter] San
Francisco's extraordinary

heat wave continues
into Los Angeles.

- [Reporter] Now we are
seeing extreme weather

events somewhere around the
planet every single day.

- [Reporter] 35 million
Chinese refugees.

- [Reporter] Skiing
in the Alps is over.

- [Reporter] New Channel
Four documentary asks

is global warming really
happening, or are natural--

- [Reporter] 61
degrees centigrade,

the highest land temperature.

- [Reporter] More than a hundred

million people are homeless
tonight as Bangladesh--

- [Reporter] Methane
emissions from Siberia.

- [Reporter] The last
Indonesian tree found,

but fire fuel crisis--

- [Reporter] European Union
today permanently closed

all of its borders.

- [Reporter] Roadside
villages must be reserved

for food production.

- [Reporter] London
is under water again,

as last night's 30 foot storm
surge overcame the Thames.

- [Reporter] New Zealand
has also now closed

its borders leaving
22 million stranded.

- [Reporter] Reports
are coming in

that the North Sea is boiling.

- [Reporter] 100
million refugees

from middle east and
continental Europe.

- [Reporter] Half of the
species are now extinct,

scientists estimate, and
ecosystems are collapsing.

- [Reporter] Past two
degrees, we cannot

now stop runaway climate change.

- [Reporter] There are
simply too many people

to feed on Ireland's
remaining farm land.

- [Reporter] Suicide
rates increasing 800%.

- [Reporter] The Amazon
rainforest is still burning.

- [Reporter] And
anyone who cannot bear

to eat their own cats and dogs.

- [Reporter] We are entering
the eighth world food crisis.

- [Reporter] The
world temperature

today passing four degrees.

- [Reporter] Retaliate
to a nuclear strike.

- [Man] Go on, with ferocity
across the entire continent.

(fire crackling)
(people screaming)

- We wouldn't be the
first life form

to wipe itself out.

But what would be
unique about us

is that we did it knowingly.

And what does that say about us?

The question I've
been asking is,

why didn't we save ourselves

when we had the chance?

Is the answer because
on some level,

we weren't sure if we
were worth saving?

(electronic beeping)

(upbeat instrumental music)

(blender whirring)

(engine rumbling)

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Woman] Please proceed
near the aircraft,

and take care of the
responsibilities.

- You know if all of us
stood united, in terms

of the world would be
different in every way,

Unfortunately, that's
not the reality.

If we can't even stand united on

eradicating poverty
in the world,

what does the health of the
planet have any chance?

- Thank you, sir.

(singing in foreign language)

- In my opinion,
our use or misuse

of resources in the last
hundred years or so,

I'd probably rename that age,

something like the
age of ignorance.

The age of stupid.

(speaking in foreign language)

Every minute they take
our oil then they go

(upbeat instrumental music)

(passengers applauding)

(melancholy instrumental music)

(sighs)

- I just find it surprising,

that after so much
effort, the final act

of our existence
should be suicide.

So why did I build this archive?

It's a cautionary tale.

Not for us, too late for us.

But for, well,

for whoever, whatever,

eventually finds this recording.

(electronic beeping)

And away you go.

(dramatic instrumental music)

(electronic whirring)

(people chattering)

(debris whooshing)

("Reckoner" by Radiohead)

Reckoner

You can't take it with ya

Dancing for your pleasure

We are not to blame for

Bittersweet distracters

Dare not speak its name

'Cause every kid is all you

All you

Because we separate

Like ripples on
a blank shore

Because we separate

Like ripples on
a blank shore

Reckoner

Take me with ya