Dave McNary and Ricardo Lopez / Variety & Democracy Now! – 2017-07-19 01:02:12
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/al-gore-an-inconvenient-sequel-trump-paris-accord-1202451487/
Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Sequel to Include Trump’s Exit From Paris Accord
Dave McNary and Ricardo Lopez / Variety
(June 1, 2017) — Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power will get a last-minute edit to incorporate President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement.
“An Inconvenient Sequel” is slated for release July 28. Paramount said the filmmakers will revise the movie to include Trump’s controversial move, announced Thursday.
“The final film will address today’s news,” Paramount spokesperson Katie Martin Kelley told Variety.
Gore stars in the film, which shows how the landmark 2015 Paris agreement came together. The documentary, produced by Participant Media, kicked off this year’s Sundance Film Festival, on the day before Trump was inaugurated. The film was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.
The movie includes footage of then-candidate Donald Trump joking about global warming. Trump issued a sweeping executive order in March rescinding many of the climate change regulations introduced by former President Barack Obama, including reducing carbon emissions and lifting the moratorium of mining coal on federal lands.
“Inconvenient Sequel” is a follow-up to Davis Guggenheim’s Oscar-winning 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth, which followed Gore’s efforts to convince legislators and the public of the devastating effects of climate change. Bonnie Cohen and Jon Shenk directed the sequel.
Gore joined a growing chorus of national, international, and local leaders Thursday in condemning Trump’s action, which had been expected but nonetheless threw into question how efforts to reduce countries’ national footprint will be affected by the exit of the US.
“Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and indefensible action,” Gore said in a statement. “It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. But make no mistake: if President Trump won’t lead, the American people will.”
David Linde, chief executive of Participant Media, called Trump’s move “a blow to our collective ability to fight the climate crisis in time.”
Linde also said, “No matter what happens, our job is to keep the momentum moving forward as quickly as we can, regardless of what stands in our path.”
Cohen and Schenk said in a statement, “We were shocked and disappointed to hear President Trump’s announcement today regarding withdrawing the US from the historic international deal reached in Paris. In our new film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, we filmed behind-the-scenes in Paris to show the hard work, finesse, and passion that went into making the agreement happen.
“We hope that the hard work of those who made the deal happen will not be in vain. The good news is that there is a great deal to be hopeful about. The technology exists to create enough clean energy for the world economy and to avoid total climate catastrophe. Now that President Trump is pledging to do less to keep America’s commitment to the world, we must all step up to do more to ensure the health of our planet.”
Al Gore: Exit From Paris Deal
Is ‘Reckless and Indefensible’
Ted Johnson / Variety
(June 1, 2017) — Former Vice President Al Gore said President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate deal is “reckless and indefensible.”
Gore, whose sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth” — “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” — will be released late next month, said that it would be up to states and cities and others to carry the mantle of action on climate change.
“Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and indefensible action,” Gore said in a statement. “It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. But make no mistake: if President Trump won’t lead, the American people will.”
“Civic leaders, mayors, governors, CEOs, investors, and the majority of the business community will take up this challenge,” he added. “We are in the middle of a clean energy revolution that no single person or group can stop.
“President Trump’s decision is profoundly in conflict with what the majority of Americans want from our president; but no matter what he does, we will ensure that our inevitable transition to a clean energy economy continues.”
Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for their work.
Trump announced on Thursday afternoon that the US will withdraw — a process that takes almost four years — from the landmark Paris climate accord to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. He said that the country will negotiate for better terms.
Participant Media CEO David Linde said Trump “removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a blow to our collective ability to fight the climate crisis in time.”
“But there is an incredible momentum toward solutions to the climate crisis — new technologies exist and are being deployed, overwhelming public support exists for climate action, markets are rewarding clean energy, and of course, global political leaders outside the US will maintain their course under the Paris Agreement,” he added in the statement. “No matter what happens, our job is to keep the momentum moving forward as quickly as we can, regardless of what stands in our path.”
Participant Media, along with Paramount Pictures, produced “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.” It will be released on July 28.
Ted Johnson is Senior Editor at Variety
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