‘The White House Effect’ Review: How the U.S. Government’s Global Warming Fight Went Cold
variety.comDennis Harvey Film Critic Most people probably can’t remember “global warming” or whatever you want to call it being a significant issue — let alone a political football — before the last decade or two.
But as “The White House Effect” underlines, about 35 years ago it was both prominent in the public eye and not yet politically divisive.
There was a moment when early decisive action could have been taken… and that moment passed. Engrossing as well as damning, this documentary, playing the Telluride Film Festival, is assembled entirely from archival footage by directors Bonnie Cohen, Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk, who wind the clock back primarily to the first Bush presidency: a single term that began with the trumpeting of high environmentalist ideals.
It ended with key opportunities lost and the deliberately-sown beginnings of an anti-science denialism that continues to dog progress, despite all real-world evidence of escalating climate change.
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