The White House Effect
Unfolding like a political thriller, this riveting documentary reveals how a pivotal moment in George H.W. Bush's presidency altered the course of US climate-change policy. Discussion follows.
White House intrigue and political one-upmanship abound in this brilliantly constructed documentary, woven together with an astounding array of archival footage. This unprecedented peek behind the closed doors of institutional power focused on the clashes between EPA-head William Reilly and John Sununu, George H.W. Bush's Machiavellian chief of staff—a conflict with truly planetary repercussions.
Concern grew in the 1980s over the implications of the "greenhouse effect," and George H.W. Bush promised that it would be no match for the "White House effect." But as the world prepares for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Bush faces mounting pressure to make a decision that will change the course of history—culminating with the U.S. undermining a global agreement to set hard limits on emissions, setting the stage for the increasingly hot, dangerous and polarized future we all now face.
Premiering at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival, the film will grab the attention even of audiences who think they've seen it all when it comes to impending global disasters. And, if we can understand the mechanisms of obfuscation and delay, maybe we can counter them?
D: Bonnie Cohen, Pedro Kos and John Shenk, US, 2025, 1h37m
Programmed in collaboration with the League of Conservation Voters, the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, the Dartmouth Sustainability Office and the Osher Summer Lecture Series.
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