'An Inconvenient Sequel' Wide Release Pushed Back, Will It Be Updated With New Info?
Al Gore's documentary sequel An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to plenty of acclaim, despite the depressing subject material focusing on the continued threat that global warming poses to our planet, especially coastal cities and countries. Now we have word that the film will arrive a little bit later than expected.An Inconvenient Sequel had been slated for a wide release on July 28, but now that wide release has been pushed back to August 4. It's only a week delay, but with two months left before the film hits theaters and headlines today revealing Donald Trump's plan to pull back out of the Paris climate accords, will the movie be updated with new details?
What is The Paris Agreement?
To understand how An Inconvenient Sequel might be impacted by today's news from Washington DC, we must first explain what the Paris Agreement is.
In 2015, a total of 195 countries around the world agreed to gradually reduce harmful emissions that have been proven to influence climate change over the years in order to prevent any further damage that might cause an increase in global temperature ( raising sea levels in some areas while creating extensive droughts in others) and causing more intense, dangerous storms that could wreak havoc on coastal nations and their cities.
The agreement came about after The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change concludes with 95% confidence that the emissions humans have been creating were "extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century."
The goal of the Paris Agreement was to keep the planet from warming by more than 2 degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheint), which is the increase that scientists believe could start to have irreversible consequences on the planet and its population.
What Does This Have to Do with An Inconvenient Sequel?
So why does this matter when we're talking about a documentary that's already finished? Well, obviously the documentary itself is about global warming, and this news will greatly impact how policy makers deal with this problem in the coming years. But more specifically, the primary focus of An Inconvenient Sequel is Al Gore convincing several other influential nations to agree to the Paris climate accords. The ultimate agreement between the 195 nations is even celebrated as a victory in the fight against global warming.
Since the documentary came out nearly three months after Donald Trump won the presidency of the United States, the victory in the documentary was short-lived as the game show host turned politician vowed to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency and end the government spending on preventing global warming, including possibly pulling out from the Paris Agreement.
With Donald Trump officially announcing that the United States would pull out from the Paris Agreement today, this changes the game entirely, and it's conceivable for the documentary to explore what the future looks like with the United States officially pulling out from the agreement. Since the cut shown at Sundance already ended with a call to action, I wouldn't be surprised to see a more passionate push for people to tell their representatives to ensure that we still meet the guidelines that would have been set forth by the Paris Agreement. Clearly the citizens of the US need to make their voice heard as the country continues to suffer the foolishness of a complete buffoon sitting in the Oval Office.
Al Gore issued this statement on the matter today:
My statement on Today's Decision by the Trump Administration to Withdraw from the Paris Agreement: https://t.co/eDEFv5b1nS pic.twitter.com/SzHJU3D0Mr
— Al Gore (@algore) June 1, 2017
Just for the record, we don't care if you prefer us to stay out of politics. Not only is this is about a feature film documentary that focuses on a problem that will be part of all our lives, regardless of what side of the aisle we're on, but this is about ensuring that the world's population is safe from natural disasters that are becoming all the more threatening due to the changes we're forcing on our environment. In short, this isn't about politics. It's about saving lives. Deal with it.
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes – in moments both private and public, funny and poignant — as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
An Inconvenient Sequel will get a limited release July 28 and expands wide on August 4.