The PBS program “Frontline” is premiering a new two-hour documentary about global warming on Tuesday night: Heat, produced by Martin Smith.
Though it kicks off with discussion of melting icecaps, it’s way more heavy on the political side of the issue than the scientific. It puts the presidential candidates’ rhetoric on climate change into the appropriate historical and consequential context, and gives an unsparing view of the special interests to which both candidates are beholden (for McCain, it’s nuclear power and oil; for Obama, coal and ethanol).
The film examines the factors on the Hill that have held Congress back from action for so many years and looks at the debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act in June. It also covers everything from the rapid industrial expansion in China and India, to the death of the electric car, to the resurgence of hype around nuclear power. All told, it’s an impressive piece — and timely, hitting voters two weeks before they go to the polls.
It will debut on PBS affiliates around the country on Tuesday, Oct. 21; check local listings for times. In the meantime, here’s the trailer:
