Ever since it came out in 2006, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth has been something of a cult classic. Despite its numerous scientific mistakes and exaggerations, the movie has risen to must-see status, even being required viewing in many public schools. Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney teamed up earlier this year to create a rebuttal film, Not Evil, Just Wrong to discuss the scientific inaccuracies and the hidden agendas of Al Gore’s smash hit.
Not Evil, Just Wrong points out some of the grossest scientific problems with An Inconvenient Truth; it uncovers the truth about the notorious “hockey stick graph,” which allegedly proved the CO2-global warming connection. It examines the true greatest threat to polar bears—hunting; and the lies that contribute to the sea level myth. The ocean has been projected to rise 20 feet, but only over the next millennium, not the next decade, the makers note.
McAleer focuses the film heavily on the personal effects of Al Gore-style eco-alarmism, conducting a case study of the town of Vevay, Indiana. He interviews one family in particular, about how global warming alarmism could affect them. McAleer makes it clear that attempts to cap carbon emissions would lead to massive economic problems for those in small towns that survive on industry. With a cap on burning fossil fuels, entire towns could be destroyed from lack of work.
McAleer also provides an international perspective, traveling to Africa where America’s misguided environmental obsessions have led to extreme suffering. He interviews African DDT activist Fiona Boynes, whose child died from a preventable case of malaria. “Why can’t Uganda use DDT?” Boynes asks. The film points out that the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted the ban on DDT the same year An Inconvenient Truth came out. Still, American environmentalists have prevented DDT from becoming available to those who need it most: the Third World mothers and children who die en masse every year from diseases that could easily by prevented with this marvelously safe pesticide. “[Getting DDT in Africa] is a human rights issue,” says Roy Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality, in the film: “Human rights and civil rights are intertwined.” Innis continues, “I cannot believe that Al Gore has great regard for people, real people.”
One notable scene involves actor Ed Begley, Jr., who at a conference on eco-activism admitted to faking heartfelt tears about a “very, very powerful” presentation on giving green jobs to people fresh out of jail. “Everybody was very emotional; I just happened to have to go on microphone afterwards… everybody was experiencing what I was experiencing,” Begley, Jr. tells admiring interviewers after the speech. However, McAleer picks up Begley’s private commentary to a trusted friend on microphone: “I’m an actor…like I can have an emotion. Please.”
Another scene of note involves an interview with a Stanford professor. The professor, Stephen Schneider, granted McAleer an interview about climate change; shortly afterward, Stanford University made a legal demand to remove the footage from the film. McAleer hired an actor to read the transcript of what Schneider said, so as to avoid legal issue. Schneider was on the forefront of the “global cooling” movement before he became “very confident” in global warming instead. It is telling and powerful that Stanford University denied McAleer to show actual footage of Schneider admitting his reversed position.
Not Evil, Just Wrong is a vital exposition of the myths and misconceptions involved in Al Gore’s hit documentary. The movie is a must for anyone who struggles to expose the lies and deceit of left-wing eco-alarmism.
Allie Winegar Duzett is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
