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Raining Polar Bears

Will Plane Stupid's stomach-churning video convince you to change your flying habits?

By Allison Martell, 1 Dec 2009, TheTyee.ca

Concrete images of an abstract issue.

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From a distance, I assume the limp figures falling from the sky are people. Then the camera draws closer, and I see that they are polar bears, hurtling towards a generic metropolis, bouncing off buildings and leaving behind stomach-turning splashes of blood. They land, by the dozen, and lie still.

"An average European flight produces over 400kg of greenhouse gases for every passenger," I read. "That's the weight of an adult polar bear."

Only then do I realize that I've been watching an ad about climate change, from U.K. anti-aviation campaigners Plane Stupid. The spot has been developed for cinemas. But in the slick streets of the Internet, it's hard to say whether the gore will land where it is supposed to.

The relationship is coincidental, after all -- it takes more than the weight of a polar bear in CO2 to drown a polar bear. And my first association, watching the beginning of the ad, was with 9-11 -- a connection that would be sure to backfire, but may well be unintentional. Writing in The Huffington Post, Gazelle Emami also wonders if the violent imagery might weaken Plane Stupid's message.

The ad makes more sense if you are familiar with Plane Stupid. This is an organization with guts, advocating an end to short-haul flights in a country where it's not unusual to fly from London to Manchester. Plane Stupid routinely protests at airports -- something no government appreciates -- even camping out on runways. Their signs say things like "we fly, we die."

The essential dilemma for the environmental movement is how to take big, slow-moving events like climate change and give them enough emotional resonance to inspire action. Plane Stupid will not reach everyone with this ad, but they did reach me. [Tyee]

Allison Martell regularly writes about online video for The Tyee.

24 Comments:

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  • make_up_another...

    2 years ago

    Climate 'Debate'

    The latest article on Harper and climate change over at the Globe & Mail site reveals a lot in the comments section. There seems to be an overwhelming sentiment, judging by the thumbs ups that are generated, on doubting or denying the science behind climate change.

    A lot of reference is made to 'Climategate', these emails that were hacked, allegedly revealing that climate scientists have fudged the numbers. Also highlighted are comments made about climate deniers.

    So it would seem that there are a lot of people out there who don't believe in it. The comments seem to place emphasis on how any treaties or legislation will hurt us economically. This, of course smacks of think tank talking points, which leads me to believe that the climate deniers have been very successful in steering opinion.

    Personally, I think global warming is a concern but what concerns me more these days is the fragility of our food system. The conclusion I have drawn is that any interruption in oil supply is enough to tip us into crises. Currently, only the third world suffers the effects on food prices that biofuels have created.

    Oil prices are depressed due to financial woes, but things will pick up again, and prices will continue to go up as easily exploited reserves give way to finds that cost much more to refine. Consumption will keep growing as supply decreases, or becomes more costly to refine. Without resorting to fantasy, one can see that a crisis is coming for a food system that relies on oil for inputs, processing and transportation.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    need another eco scare

    Sounds to me you commies have been caught with your pants draped around your ankles and now you need to test the waters with another eco scare to continue with your psychopathic obsession to rule the world for the enrichment of the few and the obliteration of the many.

  • zalm

    2 years ago

    Thanks for that comment

    Another drive-by shooting from one of the gang members Harpo claims to represent.

    If you've nothing to add that makes any sense, [REMOVED. -MODERATOR.]

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    If you've nothing to add that makes any sense, STFU.

    I make perfect sense:

    You're all liars and you've been caught and the only thing you can do is spew blight from a dead soul. You can try the usual spin tactics of trying to make it a left/right issue but in reality it's a lie/truth issue, a good/evil issue, a right/wrong issue a psychotic/sane issue.

    The sickness of the above vid show what length you psychos will go to propagate fear.

    [NOTE TO SOLEPROBE: PAINTING ALL WHO DISAGREE WITH YOU AS "EVIL" OR "LIARS" IS OFFENSIVE. ARGUE, DEBATE, CRITICIZE, AND BE SKEPTICAL. BUT DO SO RESPECTFULLY ON THIS SITE. -MODERATOR.]

  • OilbertaRedTory

    2 years ago

    For those with delicate constitutions

    From a gentle soft-spoken kindly psycho-commie liar:
    http://www.gregcraven.org/en/the-videos/hardcore-skeptics

    Hope your seriously polar mind can bear to watch.

    Have a surreal day.

  • atom

    2 years ago

    Preaching to the Choir

    Will this advertisement make sense to mainstreet? It's certainly eye-catching. But Canada's role as international climate thug is not going to be influenced by ads preaching to the converted. We need to reach mainstreet. And we are not. The polling data show quite clearly that most Canadians have no clue about global warming. An ad that is premised on supposed awareness about the link between "carbon" and "polar bear" deaths is likely to be way over the heads of the mainstreet audience we need to reach. Too bad.

  • Janie Jones

    2 years ago

    Propaganda

    This video is disgusting.

    Quite clearly, most Canadians do have a clue about global warming. They understand that it is the fraud that Climategate has revealed it to be.

  • Fiat lux

    2 years ago

    Here in BC we haven't had

    Here in BC we haven't had any -40 C for any length of time since 1995, which then killed the tent caterpillar invasion and saved the aspens.

    Now, we're surrounded by millions of acres of dead pine, with the bugs now starting to mutate and go after the fir and the spruce, because we don't get it cold enough to kill the eggs.

    When we were living in England from 1948 to 55, there were still letters in the papers from the Flat Earth Society and I often wondered what happened to them since?

    Now I know. They've set up the Reform Party now ruling Canada, with their brethren also ruling the world, and joined the Fraser Institute to deny the obvious signs of global warming all over, on every continent.

    As far the airliners are concerned, 90% of them should be broken up for scraps, together with the military planes, before they do more damage to the environment to satisfy the artificially induced traveling hysteria of the public.

    We also still have B52 flights over our heads, here in central BC, every day, probably carrying H bombs, fouling up the air with their pollution, with the same idiots flying over Russia on similar missions, guarding our "freedoms" to serve the dictatorial dreams of the multinational corporate mafia, licencing environmental destruction with the perceived power of imaginary capital enslaving us.

    Ed Deak.

  • vankam

    2 years ago

    where?

    a "generic metropolis"... I like that, just like all the B movies filmed here. please just call it Vancouver.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    Climategate: a Godsend, and the perfect tool…

    What is the most beautiful thing about climategate, the greatest scientific hoax of all time and referred to by many as the “elephant in the room”?

    Individuals and media who ignore it are totally exposed.
    Individuals and media who defend are totally exposed.

    All one has to do is sit back, relax, observe the commentary, and take note of all the shills who have their pants draped around their ankles.

    One could not ask for a more effective tool to distinguish friend from foe.

  • Intention Pure

    2 years ago

    If they knew . . . .

    But, my friend soleprobe (I love your posts) if the sheeple knew the truth they would not be foe. Very few people (if you can still call them that) at the top of this pyramid know the truth and create massive and criminal lies to assert mind control to propel their sick agenda. We must give our absolute effort to educating all the regular souls in BC to the truth. The only true foes are the small and powerful and creepy and evil murders who have brainstormed these massive deception tools for centuries. We the people are all innocent at our root, we have been corrupted to propogate the lie in our daily lives for the oligarchy. They (Illuminati) want us to divide into friend and foe when really we would all be on the same side (friends) if we were explained the truth by those who have done the research. Climategate is an excellent tool to determine the resilence of the general public and scientific crowd that has been douped by these schemes, for when we see who quickly recovers from the deception and starts to embrace the truth, we see the omnipotent power of our spirits to heal. And the same could be said for the nearly as large and possibly more evil lie of vaccination as a public health measure in today's day and age. We are all friends down here in the anthill, it is just a matter of how quickly we can educate everyone to the truth. And yes, there are those who will hang on to the lie like their life depended on it, and they try to be our foes, but all they really do is provide us with a sounding board to practice and perfect our ability to NOT CARE WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT US AND TO FORGE AHEAD WITH THE TRUTH TELLING. And your posts do make perfect sense! Thank you.

  • Fiat lux

    2 years ago

    Climate change impacts in

    Climate change impacts in Europe. 132 pages. Of course, all this is a hoax, isn't it, to stop "wealth creation" ?

    Ed Deak.

    JRC Scientific and Technical Reports, November 30, 2009

    Final report of the PESETA research project

    http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC55391.pdf

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    Thank you Tyee

    and thankyou Miss aware-beware for your kind words.

    I would sincerely like to thank the editorial staff at Tyee for posting this article. As most all of us, they knew for quite awhile now about climategate but like all the other mainstream press they could not report on it lest they offend the political views of some of their backers. Posting this article, however, enables those who still have a living soul to get around this political obstacle knowing that the climategate crisis would be brought up.

    This may confirm my revelations about Canadians after spending 14 months in southern California back in 98. I came to notice that there was one thing that I missed about Canada that was absent in Southern California: People with souls.

  • Hotaru

    2 years ago

    do the research

    I'm tired of trying to convince people the problems with global warming, most just say that it is a natural cycle and everyone is just overblowing it into a panic. They don't realise how we are speeding things up and how this will effect us all. A good article on the side effects of the warming trend:
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091130112421.htm

  • Chris Keam

    2 years ago

    Science and Skeptics

    A good link that explains why the science of climate changeis about more than just rising temperatures. Unfortunately, if climate change skeptics were interested in the science they wouldn't be skeptics, as the science is pretty unequivocal in pointing the finger at humans as part and parcel of the problem.

    There's a reason they rely on Al Gore's electricity bill and David Suzuki's airline tickets, not to mention the completely unproven assertions regarding vast global conspiracies between big business, gov't and reverse vampires. It's not because the facts are being suppressed by a complicit media and scientific community.

  • mikev

    2 years ago

    climategate

    Whoop dee do, so some climate researchers are jackasses. I'm sure if we spelunked into the cess pool of information that would come from a similar hack into say the Fraser Institute, we would all be astounded at their totally unbiased non partisan saintliness.

    It's not just climate deniers we're dealing with, it's the entire mindset. We can use our oceans as a toilet, because what else are we supposed to do, destroy our economy by paying hard earned money to dispose of toxic waste properly? We can ravage our lands for resources al la the tar sands, because if we don't do it someone else will so why turn down the money. We can drive to the store in under a minute instead of taking 5 or 10 to walk, because we work hard for the money so why shouldn't we spend it living in ridiculous luxury. We can get a DVD player for $25 because they are built to be disposable, why put any investment into building it to last - we can always build more.

    And so with that whole mindset fully in force, it's so easy to say look at those ivory tower scientists - they are trying to take something away from you! As if they get a royalty cheque every time you turn off a light. As if that's not the complete opposite to the way things really work in this world - it's the drivers of the climate denier campaigns who LOSE a royalty cheque every time you turn off a light, or every time you decide to walk instead of drive, or every time you decide to purchase locally creafted merchandise instead of the consumerist schwag mass produced who cares how far away as long as the plebes there dont get a living wage and the scramble to the bottom can carry on.

    And so it is twisted right around to where you have the people who support the status quo and all it's oppressive structure thinking of themselves as rebels with some kind of special insight fighting the establishment. "The man is trying to bring you down, you don't ever need to turn out any lights, come and let me show you some climate science debunking tripe, see the light, freedom is this way man!"

    It's just shocking really. And sad. Shockingly sad.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    Excluding “reverse vampires.”

    “no vast global conspiracies between big business [and] gov't…” regarding the up coming gathering in Copenhagen (COP15).

    Only 15,000 people from 192 nations will mingle with the representatives of major multinational corporations, including Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Heads of state and heads of government.

    Just six months prior key decisions and orientations on COP15 had already been wrapped up at the World Business Summit on Climate Change (WBSCC) held last May in Copenhagen which brought together some of the world's most prominent business executives and world leaders including Al Gore and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

    Oh no…, “no vast global conspiracies between big business [and] gov't…” here. “…completely unproven assertions…”

  • snert

    2 years ago

    Sorry Atom

    But Canada is far from being a "climate thug." We may be one of the highest per capita energy users but our energy foot print, as a nation, is much lighter than most people think. Our energy consumption per square kilometre probably puts us down in the bottom third of all countries on the planet.

    We do not have to have to panic nor do we need to start running around accusing our fellow countrymen of destroying the planet because as it stands right now we are not.

    If the rest of the world was in the same shape we are in the world would be much better off.

    Population growth is the issue, not energy consumption. That is not to say that there are not issues we should deal with, just that we are not as evil as people like to try and make us believe.

  • Bobby Peru

    2 years ago

    A Failure to communicate

    Are you global warming activists still preaching despite the damning evidence revealed by "Climategate"? Those emails were sent among some of the most prominent and active global warming researchers. They weren't just any kind of professors. If you activists would take the time to objectively read what has been revealed, you'd all drink your Kool-Aid out of humiliation and shame. You and all the governments have been fooled. So pursue the same truth that you are telling us to accept.

    I assume this silly piece of propaganda called the bear commercial was made awhile ago.

    Given the significance of climategate, I hope the Tyee will stop publishing drivel on global warming and consign it to junk science. It was yet another attempt by environmental activists to seize the social agenda. Back to the drawing board boys and girls.

  • Bobby Peru

    2 years ago

    A Failure to communicate

    Are you global warming activists still preaching despite the damning evidence revealed by "Climategate"? Those emails were sent among some of the most prominent and active global warming researchers. They weren't just any kind of professors. If you activists would take the time to objectively read what has been revealed, you'd all drink your Kool-Aid out of humiliation and shame. You and all the governments have been fooled. So pursue the same truth that you are telling us to accept.

    I assume this silly piece of propaganda called the bear commercial was made awhile ago.

    Given the significance of climategate, I hope the Tyee will stop publishing drivel on global warming and consign it to junk science. It was yet another attempt by environmental activists to seize the social agenda. Back to the drawing board boys and girls.

  • MichaelT

    2 years ago

    no, no it won't. Reality 1,

    no, no it won't.

    Reality 1, Propaganda 0.

  • soleprobe

    2 years ago

    "You and all the governments have been fooled."

    Bobby Peru:
    "Fooled" no.
    Exposed yes.

    Few are “fooled” here.

    The scientists in this matter are merely some of the foot soldiers along with their partners in media and government who are merely following orders to fulfill an agenda. The job of the scientist foot soldier is to create phony "science" to fit the agenda, the job of the media foot soldier is to promote the phony science (fear mongering) to fit the agenda, and the job of the government foot soldier is to pass repressive legislation based on the phony science to fit the agenda.

    The biggest culprits are those who mastermind the agenda, which is global governance through a massive carbon tax scheme. The most that may come out of this fraud may be similar to what took place in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal where only a few of those who carried out the acts of torture were prosecuted while those who gave the orders to torture remained in power.

    The agenda of global governance must go on. However, I don’t think the foot soldiers truly understand the ramifications that will result once this agenda is implemented. I believe they are delusional. They believe that there will be a place of prominence for them in this new global order. It‘s time for these foot soldiers to wake up and look their children straight in the eyes, or the children of their loved ones, and ask themselves what kind of hellish world are they going to hand over to them once this global governance is fully under the control of these psychotic despots.

    My advice to the foot soldiers with a conscience is to NOT abandon their posts but to hide a different color coat under the one they currently wear. Do precisely what those folks who had a conscience did at the CRU when they leaked the emails (evidence strongly suggest the data was leaked and not hacked).

  • Intention Pure

    2 years ago

    Climategate

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hftsk4gWqI&NR=1

  • Illahie

    2 years ago

    Flying Pigs not falling Polar Bears

    An Airbus A320 in its minimum passenger configuration carries 150 people in a two class configuration.

    A typical short haul flight might be of one hour duration during which the aircraft would travel about 800 km.

    The beast will burn about 2500 litres of fuel per hour of flying time which is about 16 litres of fuel per passenger. Kerosene weighs about 800 grams per litre, which is about 13 kg of fuel per passenger. The C02 produced would be about 40 kg per passenger well short of 400 kg.

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