This hour long Channel 4 “documentary” contends that some of the positions that the green movement has taken in the past, particularly on nuclear power and genetically modified foods has been wrong and has actually not helped the general aims of the movement get where it wants to go. It suggests that parts of the green movement is now trapped in an ideological corner and needs to reconsider it’s position on these key issues.

The follow up discussion on the Channel 4 (UK) youtube channel will help put some of the points made in the doco into perspective although it highlights that there still isn’t a consensus view on much in the green movement still. But I suppose with such a big subject and with so much at stake it will be almost impossible to take the human emotion out of the debate. Passionate people can be a help and also a hinderance.

The reason why i put documentary in quotation marks is that this video is more of an opinion piece than a real documentary. I in fact agree with a fair chunk of what stance the doco made (nuclear is the lesser evil and I am ambivalent about GM) but as the debate after the show highlights, the complexity of the issues involved cannot be simplified into a 60 minute video. Also you cannot label the green movement with a single brush. Just as with the Occupy Wall St movement, it captures a broad cross section of people who all involved for very different reasons and want many different things.

But it does raise the question of what is going wrong and why the most consequential issue on the planet right now is fading from the political landscape. Not having a consensus on issues such as nuclear cannot help the fact that the issue of climate change is not resonating with people at the moment.