Dear President Obama

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Audience Member Very eye opening... would have been even better if it was able to show the luxuries life of the oil executives in price of working level people's health and prospects! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member A good film on many levels, but incomplete. Mr. Ruffalo is an excellent narrator and as co-executive producer (with director Bowermaster) tells a compelling and very human tale of good people who have been negatively impacted by natural gas fracking. Just plain, straight-forward conversations detailing how the energy industry has taken land, privacy, health, and in a few cases dignity away from many who thought they were insulated from many of these concerns - being proud, self-reliant Americans before the fracking. Through most of the film Mr. Ruffalo remains the quiet, insightful voice tying together the narrative. When he does appear onscreen it is only briefly at events which he might have attended regardless of this documentary. In a nutshell, his home state of New York is the only one with a moratorium against fracking. Something which he is quite proud of. What isn't mentioned is that NY is building a large gas plant between NYC and Syracuse. Seems a bit disingenuous that fracking was banned and this gas plant wasn't opposed, as there will be a need for pipelines to import natural gas from the surrounding fracked states. The plant is being built to likely replace a zero greenhouse gas emissions nuclear plant. The gas plant will emit about 440 grams of CO² per KWh. According to the United Nations' IPCC, a clean grid should emit less than 50 grams per KWh. NY is moving backwards on it's emissions goals. Is this the ultimate goal for an environmentalist? So in winning a minor skirmish against natural gas fracking, Mr. Ruffalo has protected his personal home while condemning those in surrounding states to produce the gas, lose their fresh water, and survive the earthquakes so that New York state will have consistent electrical power. A clear case of NIMBY. What is also missing is the fact that all of New England has increased it's reliance on natural gas, slowly filling the proverbial energy basket with smelly methane eggs. If there's a problem with that gas pipe, a large section of NY may well loose power. Mr. Ruffalo may have inadvertently condemned much of New England to blackouts - at some point in the near future. When advocating for a better future it can be a good idea to suggest preferable and feasible alternatives. This film certainly attempts that as well. In the closing minutes Dr. MZ Jacobsen appears to promote the wind, water, & solar mantra of The Solutions Project, which Mark Ruffalo helped to found. Unfortunately the proposal of 100% renewables just won't work for the great majority of Americans who expect 24/7 availability of the electrical grid. Hydro is maxed out and limited to a very few areas, while the fickle and unreliable nature of wind & solar absolutely require a baseload power source which can load follow constantly. 24/7/365. Ask the utilities what their preferred majority-of-the-time backup is and you'll hear 'natural gas'! That's right, this film ultimately advocates for zero fracking while still expecting the utilities to balance the grid without it's best energy balancing tool. Again, a prescription for blackouts or at least rolling brown outs. I suspect President Obama is already ahead of you on the energy front, Mr. Ruffalo. In fact if you want to eliminate fracking, you need to greatly reduce wind & solar on the electrical grid. This is the real world constrained by the physics of amps, volts, & ohms; not some Hollywood back lot where you get to rewrite the rules to suit a heartwarming ending. Life goes on after the editing here. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Dear President Obama

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