Column: Climate change is a star in some of Hollywood’s most popular movies
I never saw the 2017 film “Justice League.” But if I had, I would have been treated to a scene in which Batman (Ben Affleck) tries to persuade Aquaman, Protector of the Oceans (Jason Momoa) to join his band of superheroes by referencing the climate crisis.
“Mankind’s melting the polar ice caps, destroying the ecosystem,” Batman warns.
“Hey, I don’t mind if the oceans rise,” Aquaman responds.
“How about if they boil?” Batman asks ominously.
That scene is a great example of how Hollywood movie and TV studios can keep climate change and clean energy solutions top of mind for audiences — and thus motivate people to take action — while also telling entertaining stories, according to a new report from Colby College’s Buck Lab for Climate and Environment and the nonprofit consulting firm Good Energy.
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The report — shared with The Times ahead of its release Tuesday — examined 250 of the most popular films of the last decade, based on quantity of IMDb ratings. Researchers at Maine’s Colby and the University of Utah applied the newly developed Climate Reality Check — which measures whether a film and its characters acknowledge the existence of global warming — to the most frequently rated fictional movies set in present-day or near-future Earth and released from 2013 through 2022.
One key finding: Just under 10% of the 250 movies passed the Climate Reality Check.
Is that a lot, or not very many?
Personally I was encouraged, especially after a previous USC analysis found that just 2.8% of scripted films and TV episodes from 2016 through 2020 included any mention of climate change, or a long list of related keywords. The number of movies passing the Climate Reality Check went up over time, from 5.6% during the first half of the decade to 13.6% during the second half.
Things are moving in the right direction. Still, there’s a lot of room for improvement.
“Given the stakes of the climate crisis, and the incredible urgency of this issue, it’s hard to say 10% is a positive number,” said Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, an English and environmental studies professor at Colby and the report’s lead author.
Keeping the heat waves, wildfires, storms and droughts of the climate crisis to (relatively) manageable levels will require cutting carbon pollution from fossil fuels, agriculture and other industries more than 40% in the next six years, scientists say. That won’t happen unless we start building a lot more solar panels, wind turbines and other climate solutions a lot more quickly — and that won’t be possible without unprecedented political support, even following President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act.
The entertainment industry, which plays a powerful role in shaping our cultural norms and values, could help bring it about.
Fortunately, there’s a growing movement within Hollywood to get directors, writers and producers on board.
The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Rewrite the Future team works with major studios, including NBCUniversal and Netflix, to tell more and better climate stories. NBCUniversal’s GreenerLight Program aims to incorporate sustainability themes in films released by Universal Pictures, Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation. NBCUniversal recently hosted a Hollywood Climate Summit “pitchfest” at its Universal Studios lot, bringing together screenwriters to pitch their stories to development executives.
Just this month, the Walt Disney Co. made headlines by promising to convert the polluting gasoline vehicles at Disneyland’s classic Autopia attraction to electric cars by 2026, prompted by a series of L.A. Times stories and pressure from climate advocates.
The climate crisis is “an incredibly exciting story, replete with drama, comedy, tragedy, horror, adventure, love, conflict, real-life villains, massive stakes, and a million potential heroes from all walks of life,” the Colby College report says. “Storytellers can help us face and respond to the existential crisis that is unfolding around us — and in doing so, they might just help save the world.”
Schneider-Mayerson , the report’s author, didn’t spend much time thinking about global warming in movies and TV shows before he started working with Good Energy to develop the Climate Reality Check, despite climate being his academic focus.
“Like everybody else, I turn to entertainment for some distraction,” he said.
But now that he’s paying attention, it’s like an energy-efficient light bulb switched on in his head. He sees huge opportunities for scenes like the one in “Justice League” to keep people focused on climate when they otherwise would have lost the plot.
Crucially, movies and TV shows don’t need to be all about climate to pass the test. In fact, it’s often better if they aren’t exclusively climate-focused. Many people find doomsday stories such as “The Day After Tomorrow” or “Extrapolations” depressing. And other potential viewers consider those types of productions political propaganda and want nothing to do with them.
Better to slip references to climate and clean energy into stories about other topics — like “hiding the spinach in the popcorn,” as one production executive told me recently. Schneider-Mayerson cited “Triangle of Sadness,” a 2022 comedy with two quick, clever references to the fashion industry’s tendency to ignore the climate crisis, despite its major role in global carbon pollution.
“People don’t necessarily want to be hit over the head with sad climate stories,” he said. “Humor is important.”
A few other findings from the report: Among the 220 movies analyzed by researchers that were released in theaters, the 20 that passed the Climate Reality Check earned 10% more at the box office, on average, than films that failed the test.
That’s far from conclusive proof that climate-aware movies make more money. But it should signal to Hollywood executives that telling stories about the world we live in — a world on fire, a world getting hotter all the time, a world filled with solutions — isn’t a losing business proposition. There are certainly climate deniers, but not many. Surveys consistently find that a large majority of Americans support climate action, including younger Republicans.
Speaking of which, Schneider-Mayerson and his Colby undergraduates also found that the 250 films largely misrepresented who is most concerned about global warming. They noted that roughly two-thirds of the characters who showed any awareness of the climate crisis were white — and nearly 70% were male. Yale surveys have found that in the U.S., Latino and Black adults are more likely to be concerned about climate change, as are women. Hollywood should correct that portrayal going forwarding.
The Colby report also compared the performance of different production companies.
Streamers Amazon, Apple TV+ and Netflix scored the best overall on the Climate Reality Check, with 16.7% of their TV shows and movies passing the test. Among the five big traditional studios graded by researchers — Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney and Warner Bros. — the overall pass rate was 10.3%, with Warner Bros. leading the way and Paramount bringing up the rear.
Among genres, romances, biographies and animated films were some of the least likely to acknowledge global warming. Sci-fi, adventure, mystery, action and thriller films were the most likely. Schneider-Mayerson had a theory as to why.
“These genres tend to operate at epic scales at which the future of the planet is at stake,” he said. “In these contexts, filmmakers may feel more comfortable including climate change as an epic threat on top of the aliens that are already coming.”
Superhero films in particular seem to be ripe territory to raise the stakes — but not all studios are taking advantage of that.
Of the 13 Warner Bros. flicks based on DC Comics characters such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, 30.7% passed the climate test. But of the 24 films from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe — my personal favorite — just 8.3% passed.
“Climate change is the biggest story of our time, and the stage is set for Hollywood to accept its greatest role,” the report says.
Sounds like it’s time for the Avengers to assemble.
On that note, here’s what’s happening around the West:
TOP STORIES
It’s possible you’ve heard the saying that whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over. But you’ve probably never heard a story of water theft quite so spellbinding as this one, from my L.A. Times colleague Jessica Garrison, about an irrigation district leader who allegedly siphoned water from a federal government canal in California’s San Joaquin Valley for 23 years, to supply farmers and line his own pockets. It’s a doozy of a tale. In other news, California is increasing planed water deliveries to farms and cities to 40% of full allocations from the State Water Project — and the number would be higher if not for restrictions designed to protect native fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Details here from The Times’ Ian James.
New research from the U.S. Geological Survey finds the atmospheric rivers that hit the Golden State the last two winters were nothing compared to the monster storms that slammed ancient California — even before the climate crisis. We may have gotten really lucky during the 20th century, The Times’ Grace Toohey writes. I’m not scared, you’re scared. In a related story, some scientists say we may need to think about a Category 6 hurricane rating as storms get stronger due to rising temperatures. But they also say the simple ratings don’t convey the seriousness of the threat, my colleague Corinne Purtill reports. Researchers at the nonprofit Climate Central, meanwhile, released new research tracking the growing number of blackouts caused by extreme heat and wildfires, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jack Lee. Their work is a reminder that as much as we fret about keeping the lights on when there’s not enough wind and solar energy, climate change is a much bigger threat to reliable power.
The Biden administration finalized a bunch of regulations that will crack down on climate and air pollution from power plants, possibly forcing many coal plants to close — eventually. The Washington Post’s Maxine Joselow has a great rundown. Montana’s Colstrip plant could be in trouble, with the facility’s operators estimating $600 million in compliance costs based on a draft version of one of the rules last year, per Amanda Eggert at Montana Free Press. I bring up Colstrip in particular because I recently visited the coal-fired power plant, which supplies electricity to Oregon and Washington; check out my in-depth story, in case you missed it. See also my column from last week on the 32 coal plants still operating in the American West.
THE ENERGY TRANSITION
For much of March and April, California had enough renewable energy flowing onto its main power grid to meet at least 100% of electricity demand for at least 15 minutes a day. That’s a springtime phenomenon — not too hot, lots of sunshine — but it’s still a sign of remarkable progress. Details here from Politico’s Francisco “A.J.” Camacho. The flip side is that California has had lots of extra solar power flooding the grid during the middle of the day that we’re basically throwing away. Still, those solar panels continue to provide value later in the afternoon and evening, especially with more homes and utilities investing in batteries to store solar for after dark, as the Washington Post’s Shannon Osaka notes. The state just hit a milestone 10,000 megawatts of batteries, my L.A. Times colleague Melody Petersen reports — 13 times our battery capacity just five years ago.
The Biden administration finalized a plan to speed up construction of long-distance electric lines crucial for transmitting renewable energy from solar and wind farms to large cities. The plan includes centralized federal permitting — a notoriously difficult task for transmission developers who often grapple with opposition from rural landowners, conservationists and Native American tribes, as E&E News’ Jason Plautz and Peter Behr report. Federal officials also announced $331 million in funds for a power line that should help move wind energy from Idaho to the Southwest. The money could help spur development of Lava Ridge, a controversial wind farm that I wrote about in Part 4 of Repowering the West, an L.A. Times series exploring the energy transition.
Pacific Gas & Electric Chief Executive Patti Poppe got paid $17 million last year. As the San Francisco Chronicle’s Emma Stiefel reports, that’s less than the $27.4 million dished out to Jeffrey Martin, CEO of Sempra Energy (parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas) but more than the $14.9 million taken home by Pedro Pizarro, leader of Edison International (parent of Southern California Edison). By comparison, Janisse Quiñones, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ nominee to run the city’s Department of Water and Power, will earn $750,000, The Times’ Dakota Smith reports. That doesn’t mean everything is perfect at L.A.’s publicly owned utility; a leaked internal report found “a cliquey environment where employees received plum positions and promotions based on their relationships with top leaders, rather than their job performance,” as Dakota writes.
POLITICAL CLIMATE
Gov. Gavin Newsom will speak at a climate summit hosted by Pope Francis at the Vatican. “This year holds unprecedented significance for democracy and the climate, two intertwined issues which will define our future,” Newsom said, as my L.A. Times colleague Taryn Luna reports. Back home, meanwhile, we have a lot of work still to do. The American Lung Assn. just released its annual list of the nation’s most-polluted places, and seven of the 10 counties with the worst ozone pollution are in California, The Times’ Tony Briscoe reports. The $12 billion high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas that just broke ground should help, by reducing car and truck traffic. (Story by Karen Garcia and Rachel Uranga.) Hopefully the nation’s first commercial hydrogen fueling station for big-rig trucks, which just opened at the Port of Oakland, will help too. (Story by Russ Mitchell.)
California lawmakers blocked a bill that would have stopped monopoly utilities from spending customer money on what critics say are thinly veiled public relations campaigns, such as TV ads in which Pacific Gas & Electric brags about burying power lines to reduce wildfire risk. The Associated Press’ Adam Beam reports that the bill was voted down in the state Senate’s energy committee — whose chair is Sen. Steven Bradford, a former public affairs manager for Southern California Edison, which like PG&E opposed the bill. Legislators also rejected a bill that would have prevented new monthly fees on electric bills for Edison and PG&E customers, as Politico notes in its California Climate newsletter. I wrote about the monthly fee debate here.
Climate politics are also the politics of human health — and affordable living. Two examples. First, my L.A. Times colleague Laurence Darmiento reports that home insurers, which have been fleeing California, could start returning if state officials adopt rate reforms that take into account the reality of wildfire risks worsened by climate change. But some consumer watchdogs say the proposed rate reforms are basically an excuse for higher premiums. Second example: As the planet heats up, mosquitoes are spreading diseases to new places. The Times’ Lila Seidman wrote about a fascinating effort to limit Southern California mosquito populations. It involves releasing sterile males to breed with females, spoiling their eggs. If you’re looking to stay safe during the heat this summer, the federal government has a new tool called HeatRisk that can help. Details here from Karen Garcia.
AROUND THE WEST
Painted Canyon, in the Mecca Hills east of the Coachella Valley, is one of my favorite places, and basically where I learned to love hiking. I didn’t know it when I first visited, but it’s part of a larger landscape sacred to the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and it would be at the heart of the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, as my L.A. Times colleague Tyrone Beason reports in a beautiful story exploring the area’s cultural and environmental significance. In Oregon, meanwhile, Indigenous tribes and conservationists hope President Biden will establish an even larger national monument protecting the Owyhee Canyonlands, as Kylie Mohr writes for High Country News. And off the California coast, tribal leaders reached a compromise with offshore wind energy developers on plans for a Pacific Ocean marine sanctuary, per the San Luis Obispo Tribune’s Stephanie Zappelli.
Did the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park launch a “trophic cascade” that helped restore the beloved park’s ecosystems? Scientists used to agree that was the case, but now some researchers aren’t so sure, the New York Times’ Jim Robbins reports. In other wildlife news, federal officials are planning to reintroduce grizzly bears to North Cascades National Park. The hard part will be limiting conflicts with livestock, hikers, wolverines and salmon, the Seattle Times’ Isabella Breda writes. Here in Southern California, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose a plan to reduce the size of Catalina Island’s invasive mule deer population by shooting deer from helicopters. Details here from my L.A. Times colleague Andrew J. Campa.
California is opening its first state park in nearly a decade, near the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers in the heavily farmed San Joaquin Valley. “The park will give visitors a glimpse of what the valley’s waterways were like before the arrival of agriculture, but it will be a while before the site offers many activities,” as The Times’ Christopher Reynolds writes. About 85 miles north, Apple Inc. is helping fund a floodplain restoration project at the confluence of Sacramento and Feather rivers near Sacramento International Airport, which supporters hope could eventually become a state park, the Sacramento Bee’s Ari Plachta reports. And as a reminder that successful conservation requires sustained political follow-through, see this column by The Times’ George Skelton, lamenting California’s failure to save to save steelhead trout in the Ventura, Santa Clara and Santa Ynez rivers.
ONE MORE THING
I was lucky to spend some time this weekend at Jepson Prairie Preserve in Northern California’s Solano County. The wildflowers were gorgeous, the vernal pools fascinating. And perhaps best of all (for me, an energy geek), there was a wind farm within sight, hundreds of spinning blades generating climate-friendly power, some of it almost certainly passing through the electric wires that ran above our heads, generating a low buzz but otherwise not disturbing the preserve’s flora and fauna, so far as I could tell.
Did building a power line through the ecosystem cause some damage? I’d have to do more research, but I’m sure it wasn’t pain-free. Are some wind and solar projects proposed for places where the damage would be far worse than others? Absolutely.
But as for this wind farm, and this power line? It hasn’t been so bad for Jepson Prairie.
“It’s pretty copacetic,” said Nicole Braddock, executive director of Solano Land Trust, which operates the preserve.
ACTUALLY, JUST ONE MORE
I had a great time chatting with my L.A. Times colleague Judeh the Sheep Puppet (aka Safi Nazzal) about why Disneyland made the great decision to convert Autopia to electric vehicles — and why EVs won’t solve all our problems, either. You can watch the video on Instagram. You can also catch on my reporting — which helped prompt Disney’s Autopia decision — here.
This column is the latest edition of Boiling Point, an email newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. You can sign up for Boiling Point here. And for more climate and environment news, follow @Sammy_Roth on X.
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