How do we continue to power modern civilization without destroying it?
Pandora's Promise, a documentary by director Robert Stone, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19th. It features several of a growing number of environmentalists who are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that nuclear power is probably our greatest hope.
The reactor meltdowns in Japan in March 2011 ignited passionate worldwide debate about energy and the future of nuclear power. Pandora's Promise is a feature-length documentary that explores how and why mankind’s most feared and controversial technological discovery is now passionately embraced by many of those who once led the charge against it. The film is anchored around the personal narratives of leading former anti-nuclear activists and pioneering scientists who, in the face of considerable controversy, are directly challenging the anti-nuclear orthodoxy that is a founding tenet of the mainstream environmental movement. Pandora's Promise stars Stewart Brand, Gwyneth Cravens and Mark Lynas. Their stories and ideas are brought to life through a combination of incredible archival footage from 1945 to the present and original filming across the globe.
Operating as history, cultural meditation and contemporary exploration, Pandora's Promise aims to inspire a serious and realistic debate over what is perhaps the most important question of our time: how do we continue to power modern civilization without destroying it?
Pandora’s Promise was three years in the making, filmed on four continents. It may be the most consequential film on the future of our environment since Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Pandora's Promise is due to be in theaters this summer. Watch for updates on this site.
Robert Stone on Pandora's Promise - an interview with Robert Stone.
If You Care About the Environment, You Should Support Nuclear Power
By Tim Wu
Nuclear power reactors in Saint-Vulbas, France.Photo by Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP
Photo by Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP A good, politically charged documentary often seizes on what the audience already believes and throws fuel on the fire (see, e.g., the work of Michael Moore). A better such documentary tries to convince its audience that what it takes for granted is flat-out wrong. Pandora’s Promise, which premiered at Sundance, does just that. It makes the utterly convincing case that anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist or takes climate change seriously should favor more nuclear power. Read more on Slate
The Science Council for Global Initiatives is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.