The Yes Men Are Revolting (2014) Movie Script
Please get back.
Please move back
to a safe distance.
We're very concerned
with safety.
These are the solution
to climate change
that america's corporations
has come up with
and has in mind
for their top C.E.Os.
I don't see what that has to do
with the survival of people,
and the fact that the C.E.Os
are responsible
for the situation --
but the market always comes up
with the best solution.
And in this case,
the problem is climate change,
and that's the solution that
corporations will come up with.
Hi. My name's mike.
That's me.
And that is andy.
The reason we're all dressed up
is because we're launching
a protest.
Just across the river
is the united nations.
The world's most powerful
leaders are meeting there
to discuss climate change,
and everyone's hopeful
that our president will do
the right thing.
We must seize the opportunity
to make a significant step
forward
in the global fight
against climate change.
But would all these guys
go along with obama?
We wanted to show them just what
was in store if they didn't.
Okay, what you're seeing here
are survivaballs.
They are self-contained units
that will allow somebody
to survive
no matter what happens
to the climate.
They can survive six months
of drought,
category-four hurricanes,
any kind of tornado,
they're fully equipped
for anything.
We're launching a flotilla
of 100 survivaballs
to the united nations,
and we're gonna say that if you
don't come to an agreement
to reduce greenhouse gases,
this is what the future's
gonna look like.
Right now the current
is just right
to take these survivaballs
to the united nations.
No one is expecting them...
except for that coast guard
and, uh, police boats.
But it's small,
and that probably isn't
a machine gun
mounted on its front end,
so there's probably
nothing to worry about.
At first I was afraid,
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never
live without you by my side
so, go towards the machine gun
and then left,
and you'll be at the u.n.
Everything will be fine.
And I learned
how to get along
And so you're back
from outer space
I just walked in
to find you here
With that sad look
upon your face
I should have changed
that stupid lock
I should have made you
leave your key
If I had known
for just one second
You'd be back to bother me
Go on, now go,
walk out the door
Just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome
anymore
Weren't you the one who tried
to hurt me with goodbye
Do you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down
and die?
Oh, no, not I,
I will survive
Oh, as long as I know
how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got
all my life to live
And I've got
all my love to give
And I'll survive
I will survive
Hey, hey!
It took all strength I had
not to fall apart
Kept trying' hard to mend
the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry...
the survivaball protest
didn't survive long.
Minutes after wading into
the water,
the survivaballs were
in retreat.
One of the two main "yes men"
was cuffed and taken away.
Do you want us to send
somebody, or...?
Uh, sure.
I think it'll be okay, though.
We don't usually get arrested,
but ever since the 1990s,
mike and I have been dressing up
in second-hand suits
and impersonating big
and powerful people.
Hello, uh, this is
reggie lamprey calling,
I'm from
the yes bush can campaign.
Hi, uh, this is
kennithrung sprat from the wto.
My name is francisco guerrero.
My name is fred,
I'm from halliburton.
We weasel our way
onto center stage.
At least for a little while.
Mr. Oswin, you're not even
on the directory of h.u.d.,
you're not even listed,
you don't even have
a phone number.
It's come to that, has it?
The hoax was an elaborate one...
for the first time,
dow is accepting
full responsibility
for the bhopal catastrophe.
The prank, which briefly
knocked 3% off dow's shares...
when the jig is up,
it makes the news.
It's a group of pranksters who
call themselves "The Yes Men"...
an activist group
called "yes men"...
it's not the way
most people protest,
but it's our way
to say no to corporate greed.
Ooh.
This is the archive, man.
This looks really water damaged,
whatever it is.
Here's a little love note.
What do we do with this?
We have to get rid of
some of this crap.
Whoa!
Jesus christ, look at that.
Oh, this is
a domino's pizza shirt.
This is so that you can deliver
a pizza --
"deliver a pizza" to any event.
They'll always
let a pizza delivery guy in.
I remember that.
Wow, that's a lot of books.
Why don't we sell them?
Well, because --
We're trying to sell them,
but nobody wants them.
you want her?
You want her?
You want to take her?
Andy and I met in 1996.
I opened the door,
and it was like looking into
a funhouse mirror.
It's so weird --
When we met we were like,
"oh, my god.
You're my other half.
Oh, my god. Somebody
as mischievous as I am."
you know, we'd get up
in the morning
and do some weird action
and then just keep doing it.
16-, 18-hour day.
We'd kind of egg each other on
and, you know, "let's
just try something crazy."
it was all fun, so why stop?
Like, if I had a crazy idea
that I would never have
the guts to do by myself,
mike would egg me on and say,
"hey, why not make it
even crazier?"
And then I'd think of something
even crazier than that.
We were each other's
perfect enablers,
and it was a great,
little codependency.
Strangely enough, that also
broke up my former relationship.
My girlfriend dumped me
because of this new obsessive
work thing that I was doing.
I was supposed to drive
across the country with her,
and instead,
I drove across the country
with the new relationship --
Andy.
Things were harder now and
not just because we were older.
There was a new problem --
A problem so huge, it made
everything feel hopeless.
I'm talking about
global warming.
We all know what's up.
Our carbon emissions are
making the planet get hotter,
and the weather
is going bonkers.
That's scary enough, but if
we keep doing what we're doing,
scientists tell us that our
whole climate system
will likely
spiral out of control.
Food systems will collapse,
and civilization will crumble.
That's crazy,
but what's truly insane
is we could fix it.
Within our lifetime,
we could replace all fossil
fuels with renewable energy.
So, why aren't we doing this?
Because the fossil fuel guys
have hijacked
our political system.
They spend millions every year
to convince us that there's
no alternative to oil and coal.
There isn't even one study
that can be produced
that shows that carbon dioxide
is a harmful gas.
The notion that co2
causes global warming
is probably the greatest hoax
ever perpetrated
on the american people.
These guys got elected
with help from
the u.s. chamber of commerce,
which sounds like a government
agency, but it's actually
the largest lobbying
organization in the world.
The chamber is heavily funded
by big oil,
and spends huge amounts
fighting on their behalf.
I'm all for green jobs,
but we still need
20 million barrels of oil
every day in this country
and a lot of natural gas
and a lot of coal.
Now the chamber
was trying to block
an exciting new climate bill
that obama was supporting.
What could we do to stop them?
I wanted to help
take down the chamber,
but there were a few
little things
I had to take care of first.
Yeah, okay.
You want some more?
Where are you going out to?
I'm going to work.
I'll see you
on thursday morning.
Mwah!
Dada, dada.
Aah!
Today's momentous decision
indeed comes after
a difficult period.
In business --
I'm gonna change this slightly.
Oh god.
Seriously?
What does that mean?
I'm supposed to do this alone?
We had rented a room
at the national press club
so that d.c. journalists
would show up
for our big announcement.
This is the, uh...
About twentieth time
I've done this, probably,
and, uh,
just as nervous as ever.
Thank you for coming today.
Today, the chamber's announcing
a decisive step forward
for the future
of american business
and the free-enterprise system
itself.
To speak to this issue,
I'd like to introduce to you
mr. Hingo sembra,
chamber spokesperson
and speaking on behalf
of president donahue.
Thank you very much, sheila,
and a good day to everyone.
In business, as in life,
we sometimes don't look ahead.
Climatologists tell us
that if we don't enact
dramatic reductions
in carbon emissions today,
we could begin facing
the propagating feedback loops
of runaway climate change,
which would mean a disruption
of food and water supplies
worldwide
with the result
of mass migrations, famine,
and death on a scale
never before imagined.
Needless to say,
that would be bad for business.
There is only one sound way
to do business,
and that's to pass
a strong climate bill quickly.
What we need
is simply a carbon tax.
Mother nature means business,
and we do, too.
In a reversal on climate change
from the u.s. chamber
of commerce...
the u.s. chamber of commerce
is now getting ready
to throw its weight behind
strong climate legislation.
And... wants a carbon tax,
if you will.
Andy was impersonating
the chamber
at the national press club.
But since I was running late,
I went to distract them
at their actual offices.
They're calling for a squad car
now for some reason.
With who?
Well, we'll call him.
Why don't you
just go on outside?
Come on.
Dave garble
from the washington post.
Is there a sense from you guys
that this is an inevitable thing
and so you should get in
to try to make...
okay, I'm eric wohlschlegel.
I'm with
the u.s. chamber of commerce.
This is not an official
u.s. chamber of commerce event.
I don't know
what pretenses you're here,
but this is a fraudulent
press activity and a stunt.
Who are you really, sir?
Do you have a business card?
Are you with the u.s. chamber?
- I-i do.
- Can I see your business card?
Can I see yours?
Are you here representing
the u.s. chamber of commerce?
Yes, I am.
Okay, well I work there,
and you do not look familiar
to me at all.
Could I see your business card?
Is this a stunt?
- Are you interrupting a press --
- Yes I am. Yeah.
Uh, this guy does not represent
the u.s. chamber of commerce.
- Can we finish the --
- No.
If you would like to have
a press conference,
you can have
your own press conference, sir.
What is your position?
I just spoke my position.
What is your official title
in the u.s. chamber of commerce?
I'm the assistant
to mr. Donahue.
Okay.
This guy is a fraud, he's lying.
Um, this is, you know, a stunt
that I've never seen before.
So, if you'd like
to actually talk
to the legitimate
chamber of commerce,
I've got my business cards
outside.
This gentleman I will assure you
does not have any business
cards, and he's not legitimate.
"Show me your business card."
"no show me yours."
they both look like imposters.
Do you got a business card?
'cause you don't look familiar.
Actually,
this sign-in sheet here.
I'm sorry. Excuse me, sir.
We rented this room.
You're gonna have to refund us.
Fraudulently. It's fraud.
It's illegal.
All right, so the
u.s. chamber's denying it now.
All right, so... maybe not.
The u.s. chamber of commerce
says it was victimized.
Victims of a hoax
by environmental activists.
Apparently, it was a hoax.
Either there is a group
or some people or a person...
is there any involvement
of the white house whatsoever?
What happened today was fraud,
and I believe is illegal.
And to misrepresent
an organization, an institution,
for the purposes
of trying to advance
climate-change legislation,
it seems very disingenuous
and very extreme.
You guys The Yes Men?
Hmm... who?
What was the point
that you were trying to make?
Without a strong climate bill,
the u.s. will be behind
the rest of the world,
we'll be the laughingstock
of the world,
and we'll be dooming the planet.
Does it get to the point
where you almost need
to do something like this
to get the attention
for something you think
is legitimate otherwise
the story won't be told?
No, I don't think
it's the only way to do it.
When thousands vote
with their feet
and put pressure
on government...
how stupid is it
not to address climate change?
This stupid is it not
to address climate change.
I think this is our country.
Aah!
The survivaball will protect us!
It also protects you
against arrest, I think.
I'm not really sure.
Just today the chamber
of commerce changed positions.
Not courtesy of The Yes Men
with that stunt in washington
a few weeks ago,
but they're now saying, uh,
surprisingly to me,
and I'm glad about it,
that they want to solve
the climate crisis.
They want to get legislation.
Every week, I drive
about three hours north
of new york city to troy
because for the last 15 years,
I've had a job there
as an art professor.
My students know I'm a yes man,
and they know
we go by fake names.
I'm really igor and andy
is really jacques.
The university's lawyers
advised me
not to talk about The Yes Men
in class,
but students are always
asking me how we got started.
Jacques was one of
the original programmers
who were working on
the simcopter,
and that's the game that he
altered 'cause he was so bored.
It all involves
the unexpected appearance
of some gay, kissing musclemen
every friday the 13th.
So he was fired,
but then a wired writer asked,
"well, isn't this gay activism
because you put gay content
in the video game?"
And jacques was like,
"yes, it is -- gay activism."
He got in touch with me
because I had done
this barbie liberation
organization project.
Their mission -- to free barbie
and her very male
plastic counterpart, gi joe,
from sexual stereotypes
by reversing their voices.
Mike and I have been working
together for about 15 years now,
and it's really kind
of taken over my life.
I also haven't
really prioritized employment,
so I've lost a lot of jobs
that I've had --
Gone through them
like toilet paper.
Umm... gotten fired, sometimes
gotten fired on purpose.
This one is actually the first
one that I've wanted to keep.
This is where I work.
I am a professor.
Yeah. Yeah, me.
They hired me to be
a professor of design.
I love it.
Another great thing in my life
is that I, for the first time,
have a boyfriend that I actually
want to spend my life with.
But work I find easier
than people.
I get engaged in projects,
and he gets frustrated.
Okay, so,
this is what just happened.
We were sitting here,
a guy came up
and handed andy an envelope,
and it turned out to be
a process server.
We're being sued
by the u.s. chamber of commerce.
"With this complaint
against jacques servin
aka andy bichlbaum
aka hingo sembra,
igor vamos aka mike bonanno"...
apparently we are engaging
in "commercial identity theft
masquerading
as social activism."
"Defendant servin
is also engaged
in the business
of making movies."
Not a very good business.
They seem really upset
about this commercial thing.
Business, commercial,
commercial, business.
They've written a prayer
for relief.
- What?
- Yeah.
Let's -- shall we pray?
"Plaintiff prays for judgment."
Oh, this means
what they're asking for.
We can't publish
or distribute videotape.
An award of all our profits.
That's easy.
Yeah.
They'll owe us some money.
Yeah, okay.
This is actually really exciting
'cause it's the first time
we have ever been sued.
I mean we have gotten lots
of threats of lawsuits.
We've gotten maybe 20 of those.
So, should we be worried
about this?
Let's see.
It turns out we
did
have to worry.
If we lost the case,
we might owe the chamber
of commerce millions of dollars.
We could lose
everything we owned.
Worst of all, losing this suit
would set a legal precedent
that wouldn't just affect us,
it could make
all kinds of activism illegal.
If nobody can speak out, the bad
guys can get away with anything.
This came at a really bad time.
In just a few months,
we were heading
to the united nations climate
conference in copenhagen.
All over the world, people were
hatching ambitious plans
to pressure world leaders
to address climate change.
The maldives held
a cabinet meeting underwater.
The maldives could be submerged
by rising sea levels.
We were wondering
what we could do
when we got a call
from kodili chandia,
a climate activist
with actionaid in uganda.
Kodili wanted us
to visit her in uganda
to help plan an action
in copenhagen --
Something so bold, it would
force the world to acknowledge
what she called "climate debt."
here's how kodili explained it.
People like andy and me
who live in the usa
consume a massive amount.
But people in places like uganda
consume very little.
In fact, an average american
creates 170 times more co2
than the average ugandan.
But even though people
like kodili consume very little,
they get stuck with the bill.
When climate change hits,
the rich can try to rebuild
or even relocate.
The poor can't afford that.
And currently,
400,000 people die every year
from the effects
of climate change.
Climate debt means
that rich countries
need to compensate poor ones
to help them adapt.
Hey!
Hi!
How are you?
Good, how are you?
How was your journey?
Fine. Very easy.
Wow. The Yes Men are in uganda!
Kodili wanted to take us
on a road trip
so we could see what
climate change meant for uganda.
So, it's morning in kotido.
It's just an incredibly
beautiful place,
but life is increasingly hard.
In the us or europe,
a flood or drought means
prices go up a little bit
for most people.
Here, it means people die.
Has climate change
affected your life at all?
In recent years,
farming in northern uganda
had become almost impossible.
But people were fighting back.
We sketched out a plan
to get the climate debt
solidly on the world's radar
in copenhagen.
But climate change wasn't
the only problem in uganda.
There was a bill going through
the ugandan parliament
that called for the
death penalty for homosexuals.
The professor does
have to tell you.
Go ahead, professor.
It's just an awkward subject
in uganda.
It's
really awkward.
No, but it's fine.
Um, yeah so, um...
Yeah, it's 'cause I'm gay.
So, yeah.
What we know about uganda
in the west
is pretty much
the kill-the-gays bill.
And we came here to talk about
climate change of course,
and all that,
but then I was like,
"I can't not do something
about it."
To elucidate?
Which part of gay?
Well, let's see,
the concept is...
Man, man.
Mm...
These kids are just about
the age of my kids.
Do you ever feel like
giving up hope?
Giving up?
Before we could
go to copenhagen,
we needed to visit a place
that was in large part
causing
uganda's climate problems.
Canada, a country known
for its natural wonders,
its universal healthcare,
and its really polite people.
It's also home to the tar sands,
a toxic zone the size of england
where oil is strip-mined
by destroying old-growth forests
and pumping the earth
full of chemicals.
Wow.
Besides causing cancer
in surrounding communities,
producing tar-sands oil
emits three times more carbon
than producing regular oil.
But canada and the u.s.
Are intent on
massively expanding production,
and on building new pipelines
to help get all this oil
to big markets abroad.
Our guide was gitz crazyboy,
whose ancestors lived here
for thousands of years before
the oil companies arrived.
And there's hundreds
of companies, right?
Oh, there's tons of companies.
Wait, so this
was all indigenous land?
Yeah, all of...
All of north america was.
So, this is, uh...
This is a pond?
Yeah, this is a pond of sludge.
This used to be the forest here.
Fuck.
Where does it stop?
I mean, you look over there, and
you can't actually see it stop.
There are bigger ponds
than this.
This is not
one of the biggest ones.
And it's just gonna
keep expanding and expanding.
But then in the end, when
they've extracted the last drop
that they needed,
they're gonna leave.
And when they leave,
they're gonna leave nothing
but toxicity
in the land up here.
Are we dropping bombs
on other people? No.
Are people's lives at risk?
Yeah.
We've lost everything up here.
Walking out here is like
being on the moon or something.
Scientists are saying that
if we want to avoid catastrophe,
80% of the fossil fuels
that corporations plan
to exploit
have to stay in the ground.
Otherwise, it'll be game over
for the climate.
The copenhagen climate
conference was coming up soon,
and we didn't have
much time to lose.
This is being called
the most important
climate-change conference
in the history of this world.
Nearly 200 nations are on hand
for the two-week conference.
The goal there -- a plan to save
the planet from global warming.
The plan for copenhagen
was really coming together.
I was kind of neglecting
my boyfriend,
and he was getting more
and more frustrated.
I didn't know what to do.
After two years of negotiation,
the time has come to deliver.
Roar!
We're at the cop15.
It's, uh, the big protest day.
Everybody's
trying to do their part.
Some are working
inside the negotiations
trying to influence
their delegations,
and some are working
on the outside
trying to influence the public.
I mean, that's
what's needed right now, right,
is to have
all of these different groups
coming together.
And I'm kodili,
I'm part
of a global change class,
and I'm a climate-debt agent.
I'm from uganda.
We introduced kodili
to canadian activists
who were pissed off
that their government
was destroying the planet.
We have been --
And this is also like, uh,
to be kept on the down low --
We've been working
with The Yes Men
for the past little while
to do a statement on behalf
of the government of canada.
Canada is one of
the main countries
that's blocking progress,
and it's because they sit
on the world's
second-largest oil reserve.
The plan was to impersonate
canadian and ugandan officials
and make a big announcement.
With nothing but websites,
duct tape, and pipe cleaners,
we got down to the high-tech
business of becoming canada.
What we're trying to do
is just recreate the pressroom.
These are the microphones.
They're supposed to look like
these really expensive ones,
and they're just pipe cleaners
and kitchen sponges.
We'll just prop this up like --
Here you go.
Let's see, is that high enough?
I don't think so.
No, it needs to be a bit higher.
Hmm, it's working. Okay.
Andy showed up
three days before the action.
There seemed to be
something wrong.
The night before I left,
my boyfriend dumped me.
He said he'd had enough.
And I need her number again.
Yeah. Yeah.
I was on a pretty short fuse.
And then I found out that mike
had completely neglected
the press releases
that the action depended on.
I thought mike was leading
the project,
but all he did was like say
"you do that, you do that,
you do that."
So, I figured,
"okay, great, he's managing it,"
but then he didn't follow up
with anybody to make sure.
And mike used to manage
before he was married
and before he had two kids.
Just come.
Yes.
When andy got there,
it wasn't depressed guy,
it was angry guy...
you clicked what?
Wait what?
...who was making it
very difficult
to pull together
a project because, you know,
we were working with a team.
I've got to get through here.
Want me to draw some lines?
Little bit of salt and pepper.
This is great.
Meet the minister --
Well, not the minister,
the assistant --
The deputy assistant secretary
to the minister
of the environment of canada.
Okay.
Okay, we rolling.
Dearest delegates and fellow
citizens around the globe,
this is the day
that will define our century.
Canada is fully acknowledging
its historical climate debt
and the legal responsibility
that follow.
Climate debt reparations
are not aid.
They are a legal framework that
sets everyone on equal footing.
But to us it's more than
mere economic issues.
It is about the droughts,
the famines, and disease.
The day began
with this press release
announcing the astonishing news
that canada would generously
pony up $13 billion
to the african countries.
Then, there was this article
on what looked like
the
wall street journal's
website.
Then, a news conference
purportedly
by the ugandan delegate,
posted on what looked like
the copenhagen conference
website...
dearest delegates...
it looked amazingly real
until the speaker
compared canada's oil reserves
to a loaded gun.
...ready to pull the trigger on
millions of us around the globe.
It was all a hoax.
Where is this?
It totally has worked.
I was in the plenary session
at the time that this happened,
and I really can't comment
any further.
You think it's a game,
but it's not a game,
it's a serious issue.
You're playing games,
I'm not playing games.
Absolutely.
Okay, so what's your name, sir?
My name is dick impala.
I'm with environment canada.
Well, I-i do, I represent them,
uh, better than they --
Well, after today, better than
hopefully we've had all day.
Okay.
Our feeling is that this
whole question of hoaxes
distracts from the actual fact
that the world's future
is in peril.
What is the message,
what the world wants to hear
is that the developed countries
should pay their climate debt.
Uh, well --
All of this happened,
the center of it was uganda,
and nobody covered uganda,
and this asshole --
they missed the fucking point!
Sorry, nice guy, didn't want
to talk about uganda,
even when they have it
in their face.
That is the whole story here.
Non-binding target,
weak targets, weak financing --
It speaks to the failure
of the negotiations.
Governments caved in
to the oil companies.
The climate talks failed.
If we're gonna ignore jobs
and growth
simply to address
climate change,
I don't think
anybody's gonna go for that.
I won't go for that.
Stephen harper did not have to
sign on to steep cuts
in canada's prodigious output
of greenhouse gas emissions,
and for him
that's mission accomplished.
- What do we want?
- Climate justice!
- When do we want it?
- Now!
The entire focus was on
changing people, these leaders,
on, like, getting these leaders
to do the right thing, you know?
Everybody was just thinking
like, we were thinking --
'cause I was
buying into completely.
I was like "oh yeah.
"Let's go make our bit of noise
in this bunch of noise,
"and, you know,
these leaders are gonna listen
and actually
do something right."
It just feels stupid.
There's even people
who are trying
who are part of the government,
and they just fucking
can't do it
because the government's
so corrupt.
So what do we do?
Yeah.
How was your event?
You should come to the next one.
We'll try to get
the bail money ready.
I've never even been arrested.
On, no, I take it back.
Yeah, you were arrested
in switzerland.
Oh, you're right.
That's true, mom.
I also got arrested in mexico,
now that I think of that.
I haven't been, but mom
has been in jail.
Where were you in jail?
Iran.
Why were you in jail in iran?
I didn't know that.
Well, because I was traveling,
and they couldn't read
our passport.
We had our sleeping bags,
and we said,
"we'll worry about it tomorrow."
And then they came out
to tell us that we could go,
we said "no, we don't want to go
now, we have to sleep now."
My parents really taught us
to question authority,
and I think that goes way back
to when they were kids
in the second world war.
My mom's from holland,
and she had to hide her dad
so he wouldn't be conscripted
by the nazis.
And my dad
is a holocaust survivor
who fled hungary
when he was seven.
This is what we called
"the land of yick."
It was really the most excellent
playground around.
It's like
a little mussolini balcony.
One of us would be mussolini,
and you go up on the balcony
and make a speech.
My fans.
When we started
working together,
armageddon was just a fantasy.
Now we've got this real
environmental-armageddon thing,
you know, climate change,
and governments aren't doing
anything about it,
and it just makes you
completely despair
and wonder why the hell
you're doing activism at all,
why you're doing anything.
That's why dropping out
becomes appealing too.
We decided to move to scotland
where my wife is from.
I finally got to spend more time
with the kids.
I don't have a camera person,
don't have any money,
so I'm just gonna have to
get the kids to be
the camera people, okay?
So, you hold it,
and you videotape it,
and this is what we do here.
Dad, I won't film your life.
Bye!
I'm not filming your life. Bye!
a dead bird.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
Dad, get me a spade.
Is there anything
that you want to say?
Sorry, bird, that you died.
That's it.
Life is just a bit simpler
in scotland --
There's good schools, and
there's national health care.
Gotcha!
See that?
That is soon to be filled
by another... baby.
Yep.
Another big reason
for being there
was that my wife, caz,
was pregnant again.
I didn't tell andy.
He wasn't thrilled
when I started having kids,
so I decided to keep this one
a surprise.
When mike moved to scotland,
I felt more adrift than ever.
I knew I had to keep going,
I just didn't know how,
or whether it would even matter.
Then a friend of mine
from greenpeace
invited me to have
a little talk...
About the arctic.
It turns out
the arctic is melting,
and it's melting
a whole lot faster
than anyone thought it would.
That's bad news for bears,
but it's even worse news for us.
For one thing, polar ice
reflects the sun's heat,
cooling the entire planet.
When the ice melts,
the world heats up even more.
But what's happening underwater
is even scarier.
Under the arctic seabed
are humongous frozen
methane reserves.
If they unfreeze,
trillions of tons of methane
will be released.
Since methane traps heat
much better than co2,
global warming will
go into warp speed.
We should be freaking out,
but instead, we're celebrating
the melting arctic
as a business opportunity.
The arctic is the scene
for a new kind
of international gold rush.
America, with its lands in
alaska, is seriously interested.
Shell spent $4 billion dollars
lobbying the government
for permission to go drill
in the arctic.
Would obama's administration
sell us out?
Of course we are here
because of our shared concern
and commitment to the arctic.
The melting of sea ice,
for example,
will result in the possibility
to develop newly accessible oil
and gas reserves.
Since the government
was handing over the arctic
to oil companies,
the only way to stop shell
was to appeal directly
to public opinion.
They're going up and drilling,
and the best we can do, really,
is publicize that
and give them
an advertising campaign
worthy of their company.
We wanted real oilmen to show up
for what would be
an obscene corporate party.
We've been talking about
having a spigot that spews oil
that's symbolic of turning on
the oil in the north.
That drilling unit, what was
that called - the kulluk?
Kulluk is built by the company
that built
the deepwater horizon.
It was actually gonna be
scrapped before they decided
it should be sent to the arctic.
Our lead engineer
started building and testing
our very own kulluk.
This time,
we're gonna have 5 actors,
at least, plus 10 more.
It's gonna be like
this theater production.
We've never done
a theater production,
and mike isn't even here!
Mike is in london, scotland,
wherever -- he's far away.
But, you know, it's fine,
it'll be a different thing.
It just makes me nervous.
Um, yeah,
I just wish he were here.
The nice thing about
this kind of work,
when you finish it,
and it's done,
and, you know, you feel like
you got something done
at the end of the day
or end of the hour.
Whereas, like, a lot
of the stuff with The Yes Men,
it doesn't result
in anything concrete.
The kulluk was docked
in seattle,
so we decided
to throw our party there
at the iconic space needle.
We sent out invitations
to the entire
seattle business community.
Okay. Oh, boy. 7:05.
I'm so nervous even though
I'm not doing anything tonight.
I'm just walking on,
and I'm just hanging out,
but I'm incredibly nervous
as if I were performing.
My mind is so blank,
even the words
that have been scripted
and that I will have
in front of me...
I am somewhat concerned
that I will not be able
to read them.
Yeah, there's nothing
to be nervous about.
It's, um, people, uh...
What do you say
to build somebody's confidence?
It is insane how close it looks
to the real thing.
It's so realistic.
Uh... it's another one.
I'm googling
"temperature of birthing pool"
just to make sure
that I'm not doing it
at the wrong... temperature.
Uh, let's just put it up there.
Oh, sweet pea.
Oh, it's mike bonnano.
Hey!
- Hello.
- Oh hi.
I figured this baby
could talk to you.
Yeah, good.
That's very helpful.
I've kept this a secret
for a while,
but I have another baby.
You do not.
- I do.
- You do?!
I do.
Are you serious?
Yep.
- No!
- Yes.
What? Wow!
Are you serious?
Oh, my god.
That's insane.
Um... who here has not had
three babies?
Well, I wish to lodge
a complaint.
All right.
thank you very much.
Welcome to the launch for
shell's arctic-ready campaign.
It's been a long time coming.
Shell is very excited
to drill for resources
that are accessible
for the first time in history.
And to attempt feats
of endurance
that no machine
has attempted before.
For centuries men and dogs
have battled with the ice.
Now, finally, we're winning.
For the first time ever,
the ice cover in the arctic
has melted enough
that we can get those resources.
Oh, yeah.
It'll be tough, and it'll be
dangerous, but it is possible.
That's probably the main reason
that our friends
in the obama administration
were happy to approve our plans.
That's right. And we're glad
to have them on our side.
Of course,
climate change is scary.
The end of civilization,
I mean, that's bad.
But in life, as in business,
pragmatism trumps all.
Drilling in the arctic?
Let's go.
We're pumped. We're pumped.
This is a scale model
of the kulluk,
which in eskimo means
"thumbs up."
The miniature kulluk is designed
to kick off the festive part
of the evening,
uh, by delivering
another precious fluid,
uh, that we may imbibe.
So, we're gonna pour
a ceremonial glass here,
and I would like to be joined
by our special guest, so...
The widow of the late,
great designer of the kulluk,
mrs. Enid applebee.
We would like you to have
the first glass
poured from the little kulluk.
thank you. Thank you.
So, put your glass
right over here, enid,
and we'll fill you up.
Oh my goodness!
Aah!
On, no.
Oh, my god! Help, please!
Oh, please help!
Stop. Stop. Stop! Stop!
Oh my goodness!
Who is responsible
for this disaster?
There's a bit of a spill,
and I think --
this is cbs 12 news at seven.
This is all a hoax,
an elaborate hoax,
by a suspected
environmentalist group.
This video got a lot of play.
The activists are hoping
to point out
that if shell can't control
a drink dispenser,
how are they going to control --
so, this wasn't really
a shell party?
No. Well, that's why I said
it was a fake.
May I ask who I'm speaking to?
My name is dave schechter,
and I'm calling from cnn.
Please explain to me
who it is I have reached.
Our leaked party video
helped expose
what shell was really up to
in the arctic
and the huge risks
they were taking.
Shell could be opening up
the entire arctic to the world.
Are they ready?
Oil companies keep saying
they can conquer the arctic,
but the arctic keeps disagreeing
with the oil companies.
Shell oil is preparing to send
salvage crews
to the waters
in the gulf of alaska.
That's where one of its oil rigs
ran aground on new years eve.
The rig is carrying more than
140,000 gallons of fuel
and is sitting
in a fragile ocean ecosystem.
After shell's arctic rigs
ran aground,
the u.s. pulled their permit
to drill.
So what did shell do?
They teamed up with gazprom
to drill in the russian arctic
instead.
Gazprom,
russia's largest energy company,
already spills millions of tons
of oil per year.
But gazprom is
putin's pet corporation.
When activists intervene,
russia responds with bullets
and the gulag.
We needed to do something
almost as crazy
as what gazprom and shell
were doing.
But this time,
I needed mike's help.
Andy keeps trying to get me
to help with a new action,
and, well, he has a point.
This news about
what shell's doing with gazprom,
it makes the most basic instinct
about parenting --
Protecting your kids --
Into a huge dilemma.
Should I just raise them
in the safest place possible,
or should I try
to stop these maniacs
from destroying their future?
I agreed to help andy
with his plan
to attack shell
on their home turf.
People needed to know
about the partnership
between gazprom and shell,
the netherlands'
biggest company.
So we'd pose as gazprom,
and deliver to the amsterdam zoo
a spectacular gift
freshly kidnapped
from the russian arctic.
Jesus christ.
Want to see inside?
Who's in the ass
and who's in the head?
Eh, I was in the ass earlier.
okay.
I love it in here so far,
but when you're in,
I'm not so sure
I'm gonna love it.
My head is gonna be
right up your ass.
Ahh, shut up.
- God damn it.
- Shit!
Did you wash at all
today or yesterday?
Yes, I did!
- Okay.
- Ready?
Uh, left, right, I mean left...
I don't know how bears walk.
Okay, are we in the cage?
we're in the cage.
Should we fall down?
Okay, ready? All the way down,
and then we're falling.
Yep, one, two three.
- Ow!
- Oh sorry!
- Oh, right in the eye.
- Are you okay?
I was super relieved
mike was here.
It meant that this time,
I didn't have to coordinate
everything.
Wait, we're not playing
the tuba, though.
We're just standing around
like dopes, right? Or no?
No, you're in the band.
Oh, we're playing instruments.
So what else are we doing?
We're wearing costumes,
we have to get on the boat.
I was a little concerned.
I mean, I thought
this was andy's plan.
Oh yeah, I wanted to know
why you thought
it didn't make sense.
I was saying
that it's super complicated,
that's what I was saying.
Well, yeah,
but so is a lot of what we do.
It just
becomes simple,
doesn't it?
The boat shoves off,
and then the two --
The leo, the russian...
Andy. hi.
The actor playing our
gazprom representative arrived.
papa bear!
He was super enthusiastic.
There was just
one small problem.
My english is bad? Bad.
- Yeah, it's good.
- Yeah.
It's perfect.
It's perfect amount.
Yeah, but I know
not a lot of words.
I did my best to explain
what we were about to do.
So basically,
the bear is in the cage.
The barge is parading
through the canals
before the bear is presented
as a gift from gazprom
to shell and the people
of holland at the zoo.
And... action.
Gazprom is here help to shell.
To help shell.
Gazprom is here to help shell.
Oh.
And already we help
safely relovate reindeer.
Say "relocate" for me.
Relocate.
- Relocate.
- Shit.
We freed bear firmty...
Firmly... for...
C'mon.
What is funny?
Firmly for safely.
Safety.
Safety.
Firmly for safety.
It was time to launch.
Oh, it's so creepy.
Okay, and down.
We had tipped off some reporters
that a big announcement
was gonna be made at the zoo.
Now watch the poles!
Here we go, okay.
Okay, okay.
No go at the zoo.
But we could still
pull this off.
Ladies and gentlemen,
this not just a bear.
This... the heart of russia.
For me, very, very, very, very,
very important.
Important in my life,
important for my family.
And now, I give this for you,
for you company.
Shell and gazprom together!
For future!
And makey! Only!
Everybody! Funny!
No, sorry.
Fantastic.
Sometimes things don't work out
exactly right.
Sometimes
then afterwards you wonder,
"how did I not realize that was
not gonna work out quite right?"
Hmm.
Doesn't it seem pretty obvious
now that that wouldn't work?
Oh yeah, let's get some food.
Good idea.
You're not answering.
I dunno, it just seems like it
was prone to -- it was doomed.
Whenever we would do actions,
I would always think like,
"this is the one that's gonna
change everything."
I would convince myself of that.
And then afterwards there would
be this huge depression like,
"oh, it didn't change
everything."
I decided
to go recharge my batteries.
This is where we should get gas
gas is really good here.
It's, like, got
this special little kick.
Umm...
Oh fuck, it's shell.
Now that we have more daylight,
you need more energy
to enjoy the outdoors.
Come inside and grab your
favorite energy drink today.
That's true. No.
I just pressed "no."
rockstar energy drinks and
harley davidson motorcycles.
Hmm. no.
Now that I have
your attention --
- No.
- Buy any two rockstar...
no, no, no, no.
...16-ounce cans at our two --
mute.
This is my high school.
Oh, there's
a high school student. Hello.
They did not have that
when I was here.
That.
I was a jewish kid in arizona,
I was a little gay kid
in arizona,
I was the child of immigrants.
It was just a soup of weirdness.
My dad grew up in belgium
during the holocaust
and had to hide out on farms.
My dad's dad went to auschwitz.
If you grew up
fleeing the nazis,
it was pretty obvious, I guess,
that power didn't
always tell the truth,
And it couldn't
always be trusted.
This is the airplane graveyard
I used to come to in high school
when I needed to get away
from everything.
But then I rediscovered
how fun people could be
when I was a junior.
I told everybody that I was
the grandson
of the ayatollah khomeini
who was public enemy number-one
at the time.
That's me! I'm his grandson!
At first, nobody believed me,
and then eventually a lot
of people would come up to me
and say "are you really
the grandson
of the ayatollah khomeini?"
That was the first time
I realized
I could just make up
another identity for myself
in real life.
When mike and I started doing
this kind of work together,
it was the first time
in my entire life
that I was just doing something
and not questioning
whether it made sense.
And then when that broke down,
I was kind of in this pit
of, like, "what good is this?
Will anything ever change?"
an extraordinary act of daring
in the country of tunisia.
People took to the street
and forced out one of
the toughest dictators on earth.
In a three-week period,
a series of non-violent,
democratic movements
have toppled three governments
throughout the middle east.
Governments are worried
that a revolution by the people,
for the people might be headed
to their country next.
We watched spellbound
as people around the world
rose up against
overwhelming odds.
Tens of thousands
have voiced their fury
over unemployment
and the apparent indifference
of mainstream politicians.
And then in new york,
a protest erupted --
Not just against government,
but against everything
that was wrong with our system.
Occupy wall street --
The protest
to growing income inequality
in this country.
Environmental issues, health,
education.
Is this the french revolution?
Are they lenin and trotsky?
I don't know what they are.
And some are calling this
the us version of tahrir square.
- I am here from egypt...
- I am here from egypt...
- ...just to lend my solidarity.
- ...just to lend my solidarity.
We are a part
of the global revolution...
we are a part
of the global revolution...
...for social
and economic justice.
...for social
and economic justice.
Young people are aiming
to overthrow
the u.s. financial system.
And, I mean seriously,
there's like a real, you know,
chance for change here.
And because of them,
the entire world knows that
there's a major problem here.
It's incredibly effective.
Can anyone call
a general assembly?
Do you know?
- Our process...
- our process...
- ...is direct democracy.
- ...is direct democracy.
- There is no...
- there is no...
- ...hierarchy.
- ...hierarchy.
Who knew that so many people
felt the same way that we did?
I gotta pay bank fees like you,
and I see corporations
getting money handed to them,
and the C.E.Os making five,
six million dollars
after they took money
to bail them out --
That pisses me off, too, man.
C'mon.
Since even the cops were fed up,
maybe they should join
a protest.
Hey, are you using those pizza
boxes to sleep on or...?
- Yeah.
- Oh, okay.
we want to make signs.
- Oh, you can take them.
- Yeah?
- We're done with sleeping.
- Oh, okay!
Huddle. Huddle, everybody,
huddle. Huddle. Huddle. Huddle.
All right, so this is the deal.
We are going
on a brokers' march.
We try to get police
to go with us.
As we walked,
more and more police showed up
to make sure
we didn't cause trouble.
It finally made sense to me
why we'd been doing stuff
for so long.
You're part of something,
and then boom --
Anything can happen.
Basically we had given up,
and then suddenly people were
there fighting for their future,
and they saw the connection
between the money system
and the environment.
Wall street's been occupying
the atmosphere
for 25 or 30 years.
We can never get anything done
because big oil
just puts the kibosh on it.
Everybody's finally just saying,
"enough.
Corporations don't get to
run everything all the time."
we are at a tipping point
for this environmental movement.
With enough pressure,
we can change history right now!
Today!
In every way, occupy was
exactly what I was looking for.
It felt like when I first
started working with mike --
It just flowed.
The entire way
that we got started
when we were doing
the anti-globalization stuff
was by working as a little cell
that contributed
to a big movement.
It was a global movement.
I hadn't felt part of something
like that in a really long time.
On occupy,
cities across the country
telling wall street protesters
time is up.
In the middle of the night,
new york city police raided
and cleared out the
occupy wall street encampment.
Move! Move!
What are you doing to her?!
You gotta move. Let's go.
Get back!
Let's go, sir.
It's that or you go to jail!
Let's go right now!
Move!
What you're doing now
is illegal.
You know what?
You know what?
It's within my rights
to videotape.
No, it's not.
Why are you pushing me around?!
Sir!
I'm not fucking with you.
Sometimes,
if you get pushed around,
you just want
to push back harder.
Can we get cameras
on them arresting?!
We decided to move back
to new york.
This is zucotti square
after the eviction.
Just feels like nostalgia.
Like, the center of intensity
is elsewhere now,
and that's normal 'cause
movements aren't just one thing.
Movements just, like, surface,
and something happens,
and then they sink and appear
in a radically different way.
It's definitely weird.
Like there's three storms
at once,
and they're all hitting here.
The east coast bracing
for a monster storm.
Hurricane sandy crashing
on shore,
winds now at 90 miles per hour.
It is chaos
along the jersey shore.
This is the time to try to
save yourself and your family.
6 to 12 feet of sea
and river flow,
fill low-lying areas
of manhattan like a basin.
It's like
the apocalypse has hit.
This is the new normal.
Climate change is a reality.
You see that city over there?
No, you don't.
That's because that's manhattan
without power.
I don't think
I can make it through there.
jesus christ.
It doesn't really end, does it?
Look at these.
These are from the '50s.
Oh, shit.
Old family photos
that have just drifted out.
The occupy wall street network
just went into, like,
full effect.
I mean, lower east side, um,
you have it in sunset park,
you know,
you have it in rockaway.
We went,
set up kitchens everywhere.
It was amazing.
It's amazing
that a community-relief effort
led by any volunteer
that could go
got here three days
before the national guard
and the red cross.
Occupy may have been kicked out
of wall street,
but the occupy networks
were alive and well,
and were busy trying to save
the city that had evicted them.
Why are you laughing right now?
'Cause --
It was just announced
that apparently our power
is gonna be out for four days,
and I live on the 19th floor.
Wait for me.
Hold on.
Here we go -- wine.
It was kind of weird,
what you did in, um, seattle.
When I was in seattle.
I withheld some information.
Yes, yes I did.
You didn't tell me
that you were having a child.
This is not
the way a friend behaves.
You
never once said,
"oh, congratulations
about your first child,
or your second child."
really?
I never said congratulations...
About child one or child two?
I... i don't --
No, I don't think so.
I'm probably, actually,
probably a bit jealous.
- Really?
- Yeah.
You have this thing
that you love,
and it loves you and --
Am I romanticizing it?
No, no.
It's exactly the way it is.
That's accurate.
I know you didn't have kids
to hurt me, but --
Like, it means that I haven't
had a partner to work with.
Okay, I should have...
I should have told you
about the baby.
I should have told you
about the baby.
You have three kids,
and we fly around in airplanes,
and we eat meat.
Yeah, we're hypocrites!
We grow up thinking
that you have to get ahead
by getting a better job,
thinking that you have to
accumulate as much wealth
as you can,
thinking about all these things
that become like breathing.
- Mmm-hmm.
- How do we change that?
How do we deal with that?
That's it, yeah.
You have to change
the whole culture.
That's what it is.
I mean, it's like,
it's revolution
'cause it's, like,
really changing everything.
You know why I stay optimistic
even though it's completely
kind of irrational?
There are so many struggles
that have won
that seemed
completely impossible to win.
And climate change
certainly seems enormous,
but it seems
when a lot of people decide
to do something, they succeed.
He's still sleeping.
He's still alive.
Power's still out.
Want a breakfast pear?
Yeah, awesome.
Mmm.
I made it.
I've become very good
at making pears.
- So, we have to work.
- Yeah.
We have to get back
in the saddle.
I mean, cheers.
Cheers.
To saddle.
Yes.
We knew there was a way
to pull the plug on big oil.
It was time for a showdown.
Ever since we'd met gitz, we'd
wanted to do something together.
Posing as government bigwigs,
we would infiltrate
a homeland-security conference
and announce that the u.s.a.
Was outlawing fossil fuels
and replacing them
with renewables.
And the best part?
The new wind
and solar power plants
would be owned by native tribes
as partial reparations
for genocide.
To actually have white people
wearing bands that say
"native headdress,"
and instead of a feather,
a windmill,
this is us making fun
of the american ideal
of what it is to be indian.
This would truly be
a second thanksgiving.
I told the conference
that I represented
general colin powell,
and they were pumped
to have him speak.
So, our speakers are running
just a tad late,
but we're not gonna worry
about it.
General colin powell is, uh,
coming to speak to us,
and he's bringing
a couple of colleagues.
General powell, of course,
would not show up.
But his colleagues
were nearly there.
Oh, my god. You guys!
Is this not gonna be
a total giveaway?
No.
Is there a way to like,
you know, maybe...
Make it a little less...
Like it is?
Who's the other presentation
you have?
Well, the admiral,
and e's followed by the deputy
of the secret service.
So, you've got two, like,
exceedingly senior people.
Okay. All right.
Well, I'm gonna just confirm
with them because he's so late,
I'm beginning to wonder
what's going on.
This is mr. Benedict waterman.
Hi, barbara alexander,
I'm so glad to meet you.
- Hello.
- Hi.
I'm nervous.
Me and tito are sitting down,
we're trying to make small talk.
These guys weren't exactly
tree-hugging eco freaks.
We had an aspiring republican
congressman, a two-star general,
lots of defense contractors,
and weird security guards
in trench coats.
How would they react
to an energy revolution?
Our first speaker is, uh,
undersecretary
of policy implementation
at the department of energy,
mr. Benedict waterman.
On behalf
of the department of energy,
I'm very excited
to announce today
a great new plan that will do
nothing less
than convert
the united states' energy grid
into one that's powered entirely
by renewable sources.
As the dire reality
of climate change
becomes more
and more inescapable,
people will take the future
into their own hands.
And historically we know
that popular resistance
is a force that can only, with
difficulty, be countervailed.
A revolutionary
energy program today
is easier than
a real revolution tomorrow.
By 2030,
america will produce 100%
of our energy from renewables,
establishing us once again
as a global leader
in confronting the supreme
challenge of climate change.
We're excited to be working with
the bureau of indian affairs
and some of the largest tribes
from arizona to the dakotas
to site major wind
and solar facilities
that will provide a large chunk
of america's power.
The tribes will own
these facilities,
they will provide an enormous
stimulus to the economy,
and great resilience
in the face of future threats.
It's time
for a second thanksgiving.
I am bana slow horse,
and the director
of industrial development
for the bureau
of indian affairs.
I am a member
of the wannabe nation.
Joining me is my nephew here.
He's a fire chief, a war chief,
a water chief,
and he's actually
also a midwife.
Helps young mothers.
There's a long, sordid history
between the americans
and indigenous peoples,
and it always hasn't been
a beneficial relationship,
at least not to us.
For the first time,
we have a voice,
and we will own, truly own,
this new energy production,
and that's progress.
And it will build us
a stronger economy,
a brighter future, it will give
something our children.
There was a lot of work done
on benedict's behalf,
just want to acknowledge
and honor that.
So, I actually went and killed a
deer, I tanned the hide myself.
I give you this gift.
To mark this grand occasion
between our two peoples,
um, we want to acknowledge this
with a round dance,
and I encourage everybody
to join us together.
We just...
form a circle around us
if it's possible.
All the way around.
Yeah,
we can do all the way around.
Ladies and gentlemen,
uh, excuse me.
I composed this song
for this occasion,
I made it a simple song
so we can sing it together
because it's not just my song,
it belongs to all of us.
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahay
Wayahay
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Waya-hohoho
Waya-hohoho
The sun gonna shine
The sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow
The wind gonna blow
That's all we need
That's all we need
To continue to grow
To continue to grow
Uh, it would be worthwhile,
I think,
to get an opportunity
to perhaps chat with you
or your staff or
whoever you deem appropriate.
Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
So, I have
a lot sisters and, uh...
Definitely, definitely.
That's fantastic. So excited.
Great.
I was surprised to see someone
from northrup grumman
acting so excited.
You weren't talking
about weapons,
you're talking about renewables.
You know, surprisingly enough,
most people are not
megalomaniacally insane,
even people who work
for northrup grumman.
And if they're given
the opportunity
to, uh, do what they
actually believe in their hearts
is the right thing,
they go with it.
The fact that we could get
all these people that we think
of as being from the dark side
to dance in support
of renewable energy
is that there are very few
people who actually want us
to continue
on this fossil-fuel path.
And we have to force our leaders
to actually do
what we need them to do,
and then people will follow.
Except for
a few oil-company execs.
- Good stuff.
- Thank you, thank you.
Don't forget that song now,
you sing it anytime.
Can getting a room
full of defense contractors
to dance for energy revolution
actually change the world?
Probably not on its own.
But what we've realized
is to keep going,
we've gotta be part of something
bigger than ourselves.
And that's the only way
we're going to win this fight.
What's this movie about?
Well, the movie's about
what we can do
to help make sure that things
are okay in the future,
you know, for you.
There's a lot of people
who are just,
like, making a lot of money,
sometimes in ways that aren't
very good for the world.
But why money?
It's just a stupid old piece
of paper.
That's a hard one.
But you know, there's also
a lot of people fighting back,
changing --
like you do, 'cause
you're making movies to stop it!
It's only a little part
of stopping it, what we do.
Wait a second.
This movie can't end that way.
Why not?
It's not a movie
about walking into the distance,
holding hands.
I don't see anything wrong
with that.
No, it's like a cowboy movie
or something.
It's nice. It feels good.
We want people to see this film
and go out
and do something themselves.
Like, maybe using our website.
Yeah, but you can't see people
participating through a website,
can you?
- No.
- Not very good for a film.
No. So here it is
at the end of a film though.
It's good for the credits.
Okay, take a look here.
This is a fake website,
and the victim of this hoax
is peabody energy.
The fake website says
the company would offer free
decorated inhalers to children.
It wants to make asthma cool by
making their inhalers look cool.
Get this,
a major american corporation,
out of the goodness
of its own heart,
donating billions of dollars.
Activists were behind this
to shine the spotlight on g.e.
For not paying any u.s. taxes.
I pay my taxes,
why doesn't g.e.?
If you are stopped and frisked
three times by the nypd
you get a free happy meal?
Fill out your name, ethnicity,
after three stops, you're in.
Exchange it
for a free happy meal.
Oh, and one more thing.
Remember that lawsuit?
Well, after four years,
just as it was about
to head to trial,
the chamber decided to drop it.
The chamber of commerce
is withdrawing their lawsuit
against us.
If this lawsuit
had gone to trial,
we would have had the right
to do our own investigation.
We would have been able to look
into the chamber's finances.
And we would have been able
to learn how they manage to be
the most heavily funded
lobbying organization
in the world to support
corporate rule without limits.
And we finally do have
business cards.
Yes, we finally have
some business cards.
Um, incidentally, the chamber
is offering a free lunch today.
They're having a conference
on how big business
can impact the measure
of government,
and it's listed
on their website.
ladies and gentlemen,
I don't know if any of you
...that you have a right
to a free lunch here
...are legitimate media,
if you just go and sign up.
Sorry.
Whatever he's told you,
at least as to lunches,
it's not true, so...
it does say so on the website.
Do you have a business card?
I do indeed.
- I have a business card.
- I know.
Are you sure you work
for the chamber?
Okay, thank you very much.
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind need to blow,
the wind need to blow
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
That's all we need,
that's all we need
In order to grow,
in order to grow
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Waya-hohoho
Waya-hohoho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
A mini-haha, now
A mini-haha, now
A mini-hohoho
Mini-hohoho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Please move back
to a safe distance.
We're very concerned
with safety.
These are the solution
to climate change
that america's corporations
has come up with
and has in mind
for their top C.E.Os.
I don't see what that has to do
with the survival of people,
and the fact that the C.E.Os
are responsible
for the situation --
but the market always comes up
with the best solution.
And in this case,
the problem is climate change,
and that's the solution that
corporations will come up with.
Hi. My name's mike.
That's me.
And that is andy.
The reason we're all dressed up
is because we're launching
a protest.
Just across the river
is the united nations.
The world's most powerful
leaders are meeting there
to discuss climate change,
and everyone's hopeful
that our president will do
the right thing.
We must seize the opportunity
to make a significant step
forward
in the global fight
against climate change.
But would all these guys
go along with obama?
We wanted to show them just what
was in store if they didn't.
Okay, what you're seeing here
are survivaballs.
They are self-contained units
that will allow somebody
to survive
no matter what happens
to the climate.
They can survive six months
of drought,
category-four hurricanes,
any kind of tornado,
they're fully equipped
for anything.
We're launching a flotilla
of 100 survivaballs
to the united nations,
and we're gonna say that if you
don't come to an agreement
to reduce greenhouse gases,
this is what the future's
gonna look like.
Right now the current
is just right
to take these survivaballs
to the united nations.
No one is expecting them...
except for that coast guard
and, uh, police boats.
But it's small,
and that probably isn't
a machine gun
mounted on its front end,
so there's probably
nothing to worry about.
At first I was afraid,
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never
live without you by my side
so, go towards the machine gun
and then left,
and you'll be at the u.n.
Everything will be fine.
And I learned
how to get along
And so you're back
from outer space
I just walked in
to find you here
With that sad look
upon your face
I should have changed
that stupid lock
I should have made you
leave your key
If I had known
for just one second
You'd be back to bother me
Go on, now go,
walk out the door
Just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome
anymore
Weren't you the one who tried
to hurt me with goodbye
Do you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down
and die?
Oh, no, not I,
I will survive
Oh, as long as I know
how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got
all my life to live
And I've got
all my love to give
And I'll survive
I will survive
Hey, hey!
It took all strength I had
not to fall apart
Kept trying' hard to mend
the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry...
the survivaball protest
didn't survive long.
Minutes after wading into
the water,
the survivaballs were
in retreat.
One of the two main "yes men"
was cuffed and taken away.
Do you want us to send
somebody, or...?
Uh, sure.
I think it'll be okay, though.
We don't usually get arrested,
but ever since the 1990s,
mike and I have been dressing up
in second-hand suits
and impersonating big
and powerful people.
Hello, uh, this is
reggie lamprey calling,
I'm from
the yes bush can campaign.
Hi, uh, this is
kennithrung sprat from the wto.
My name is francisco guerrero.
My name is fred,
I'm from halliburton.
We weasel our way
onto center stage.
At least for a little while.
Mr. Oswin, you're not even
on the directory of h.u.d.,
you're not even listed,
you don't even have
a phone number.
It's come to that, has it?
The hoax was an elaborate one...
for the first time,
dow is accepting
full responsibility
for the bhopal catastrophe.
The prank, which briefly
knocked 3% off dow's shares...
when the jig is up,
it makes the news.
It's a group of pranksters who
call themselves "The Yes Men"...
an activist group
called "yes men"...
it's not the way
most people protest,
but it's our way
to say no to corporate greed.
Ooh.
This is the archive, man.
This looks really water damaged,
whatever it is.
Here's a little love note.
What do we do with this?
We have to get rid of
some of this crap.
Whoa!
Jesus christ, look at that.
Oh, this is
a domino's pizza shirt.
This is so that you can deliver
a pizza --
"deliver a pizza" to any event.
They'll always
let a pizza delivery guy in.
I remember that.
Wow, that's a lot of books.
Why don't we sell them?
Well, because --
We're trying to sell them,
but nobody wants them.
you want her?
You want her?
You want to take her?
Andy and I met in 1996.
I opened the door,
and it was like looking into
a funhouse mirror.
It's so weird --
When we met we were like,
"oh, my god.
You're my other half.
Oh, my god. Somebody
as mischievous as I am."
you know, we'd get up
in the morning
and do some weird action
and then just keep doing it.
16-, 18-hour day.
We'd kind of egg each other on
and, you know, "let's
just try something crazy."
it was all fun, so why stop?
Like, if I had a crazy idea
that I would never have
the guts to do by myself,
mike would egg me on and say,
"hey, why not make it
even crazier?"
And then I'd think of something
even crazier than that.
We were each other's
perfect enablers,
and it was a great,
little codependency.
Strangely enough, that also
broke up my former relationship.
My girlfriend dumped me
because of this new obsessive
work thing that I was doing.
I was supposed to drive
across the country with her,
and instead,
I drove across the country
with the new relationship --
Andy.
Things were harder now and
not just because we were older.
There was a new problem --
A problem so huge, it made
everything feel hopeless.
I'm talking about
global warming.
We all know what's up.
Our carbon emissions are
making the planet get hotter,
and the weather
is going bonkers.
That's scary enough, but if
we keep doing what we're doing,
scientists tell us that our
whole climate system
will likely
spiral out of control.
Food systems will collapse,
and civilization will crumble.
That's crazy,
but what's truly insane
is we could fix it.
Within our lifetime,
we could replace all fossil
fuels with renewable energy.
So, why aren't we doing this?
Because the fossil fuel guys
have hijacked
our political system.
They spend millions every year
to convince us that there's
no alternative to oil and coal.
There isn't even one study
that can be produced
that shows that carbon dioxide
is a harmful gas.
The notion that co2
causes global warming
is probably the greatest hoax
ever perpetrated
on the american people.
These guys got elected
with help from
the u.s. chamber of commerce,
which sounds like a government
agency, but it's actually
the largest lobbying
organization in the world.
The chamber is heavily funded
by big oil,
and spends huge amounts
fighting on their behalf.
I'm all for green jobs,
but we still need
20 million barrels of oil
every day in this country
and a lot of natural gas
and a lot of coal.
Now the chamber
was trying to block
an exciting new climate bill
that obama was supporting.
What could we do to stop them?
I wanted to help
take down the chamber,
but there were a few
little things
I had to take care of first.
Yeah, okay.
You want some more?
Where are you going out to?
I'm going to work.
I'll see you
on thursday morning.
Mwah!
Dada, dada.
Aah!
Today's momentous decision
indeed comes after
a difficult period.
In business --
I'm gonna change this slightly.
Oh god.
Seriously?
What does that mean?
I'm supposed to do this alone?
We had rented a room
at the national press club
so that d.c. journalists
would show up
for our big announcement.
This is the, uh...
About twentieth time
I've done this, probably,
and, uh,
just as nervous as ever.
Thank you for coming today.
Today, the chamber's announcing
a decisive step forward
for the future
of american business
and the free-enterprise system
itself.
To speak to this issue,
I'd like to introduce to you
mr. Hingo sembra,
chamber spokesperson
and speaking on behalf
of president donahue.
Thank you very much, sheila,
and a good day to everyone.
In business, as in life,
we sometimes don't look ahead.
Climatologists tell us
that if we don't enact
dramatic reductions
in carbon emissions today,
we could begin facing
the propagating feedback loops
of runaway climate change,
which would mean a disruption
of food and water supplies
worldwide
with the result
of mass migrations, famine,
and death on a scale
never before imagined.
Needless to say,
that would be bad for business.
There is only one sound way
to do business,
and that's to pass
a strong climate bill quickly.
What we need
is simply a carbon tax.
Mother nature means business,
and we do, too.
In a reversal on climate change
from the u.s. chamber
of commerce...
the u.s. chamber of commerce
is now getting ready
to throw its weight behind
strong climate legislation.
And... wants a carbon tax,
if you will.
Andy was impersonating
the chamber
at the national press club.
But since I was running late,
I went to distract them
at their actual offices.
They're calling for a squad car
now for some reason.
With who?
Well, we'll call him.
Why don't you
just go on outside?
Come on.
Dave garble
from the washington post.
Is there a sense from you guys
that this is an inevitable thing
and so you should get in
to try to make...
okay, I'm eric wohlschlegel.
I'm with
the u.s. chamber of commerce.
This is not an official
u.s. chamber of commerce event.
I don't know
what pretenses you're here,
but this is a fraudulent
press activity and a stunt.
Who are you really, sir?
Do you have a business card?
Are you with the u.s. chamber?
- I-i do.
- Can I see your business card?
Can I see yours?
Are you here representing
the u.s. chamber of commerce?
Yes, I am.
Okay, well I work there,
and you do not look familiar
to me at all.
Could I see your business card?
Is this a stunt?
- Are you interrupting a press --
- Yes I am. Yeah.
Uh, this guy does not represent
the u.s. chamber of commerce.
- Can we finish the --
- No.
If you would like to have
a press conference,
you can have
your own press conference, sir.
What is your position?
I just spoke my position.
What is your official title
in the u.s. chamber of commerce?
I'm the assistant
to mr. Donahue.
Okay.
This guy is a fraud, he's lying.
Um, this is, you know, a stunt
that I've never seen before.
So, if you'd like
to actually talk
to the legitimate
chamber of commerce,
I've got my business cards
outside.
This gentleman I will assure you
does not have any business
cards, and he's not legitimate.
"Show me your business card."
"no show me yours."
they both look like imposters.
Do you got a business card?
'cause you don't look familiar.
Actually,
this sign-in sheet here.
I'm sorry. Excuse me, sir.
We rented this room.
You're gonna have to refund us.
Fraudulently. It's fraud.
It's illegal.
All right, so the
u.s. chamber's denying it now.
All right, so... maybe not.
The u.s. chamber of commerce
says it was victimized.
Victims of a hoax
by environmental activists.
Apparently, it was a hoax.
Either there is a group
or some people or a person...
is there any involvement
of the white house whatsoever?
What happened today was fraud,
and I believe is illegal.
And to misrepresent
an organization, an institution,
for the purposes
of trying to advance
climate-change legislation,
it seems very disingenuous
and very extreme.
You guys The Yes Men?
Hmm... who?
What was the point
that you were trying to make?
Without a strong climate bill,
the u.s. will be behind
the rest of the world,
we'll be the laughingstock
of the world,
and we'll be dooming the planet.
Does it get to the point
where you almost need
to do something like this
to get the attention
for something you think
is legitimate otherwise
the story won't be told?
No, I don't think
it's the only way to do it.
When thousands vote
with their feet
and put pressure
on government...
how stupid is it
not to address climate change?
This stupid is it not
to address climate change.
I think this is our country.
Aah!
The survivaball will protect us!
It also protects you
against arrest, I think.
I'm not really sure.
Just today the chamber
of commerce changed positions.
Not courtesy of The Yes Men
with that stunt in washington
a few weeks ago,
but they're now saying, uh,
surprisingly to me,
and I'm glad about it,
that they want to solve
the climate crisis.
They want to get legislation.
Every week, I drive
about three hours north
of new york city to troy
because for the last 15 years,
I've had a job there
as an art professor.
My students know I'm a yes man,
and they know
we go by fake names.
I'm really igor and andy
is really jacques.
The university's lawyers
advised me
not to talk about The Yes Men
in class,
but students are always
asking me how we got started.
Jacques was one of
the original programmers
who were working on
the simcopter,
and that's the game that he
altered 'cause he was so bored.
It all involves
the unexpected appearance
of some gay, kissing musclemen
every friday the 13th.
So he was fired,
but then a wired writer asked,
"well, isn't this gay activism
because you put gay content
in the video game?"
And jacques was like,
"yes, it is -- gay activism."
He got in touch with me
because I had done
this barbie liberation
organization project.
Their mission -- to free barbie
and her very male
plastic counterpart, gi joe,
from sexual stereotypes
by reversing their voices.
Mike and I have been working
together for about 15 years now,
and it's really kind
of taken over my life.
I also haven't
really prioritized employment,
so I've lost a lot of jobs
that I've had --
Gone through them
like toilet paper.
Umm... gotten fired, sometimes
gotten fired on purpose.
This one is actually the first
one that I've wanted to keep.
This is where I work.
I am a professor.
Yeah. Yeah, me.
They hired me to be
a professor of design.
I love it.
Another great thing in my life
is that I, for the first time,
have a boyfriend that I actually
want to spend my life with.
But work I find easier
than people.
I get engaged in projects,
and he gets frustrated.
Okay, so,
this is what just happened.
We were sitting here,
a guy came up
and handed andy an envelope,
and it turned out to be
a process server.
We're being sued
by the u.s. chamber of commerce.
"With this complaint
against jacques servin
aka andy bichlbaum
aka hingo sembra,
igor vamos aka mike bonanno"...
apparently we are engaging
in "commercial identity theft
masquerading
as social activism."
"Defendant servin
is also engaged
in the business
of making movies."
Not a very good business.
They seem really upset
about this commercial thing.
Business, commercial,
commercial, business.
They've written a prayer
for relief.
- What?
- Yeah.
Let's -- shall we pray?
"Plaintiff prays for judgment."
Oh, this means
what they're asking for.
We can't publish
or distribute videotape.
An award of all our profits.
That's easy.
Yeah.
They'll owe us some money.
Yeah, okay.
This is actually really exciting
'cause it's the first time
we have ever been sued.
I mean we have gotten lots
of threats of lawsuits.
We've gotten maybe 20 of those.
So, should we be worried
about this?
Let's see.
It turns out we
did
have to worry.
If we lost the case,
we might owe the chamber
of commerce millions of dollars.
We could lose
everything we owned.
Worst of all, losing this suit
would set a legal precedent
that wouldn't just affect us,
it could make
all kinds of activism illegal.
If nobody can speak out, the bad
guys can get away with anything.
This came at a really bad time.
In just a few months,
we were heading
to the united nations climate
conference in copenhagen.
All over the world, people were
hatching ambitious plans
to pressure world leaders
to address climate change.
The maldives held
a cabinet meeting underwater.
The maldives could be submerged
by rising sea levels.
We were wondering
what we could do
when we got a call
from kodili chandia,
a climate activist
with actionaid in uganda.
Kodili wanted us
to visit her in uganda
to help plan an action
in copenhagen --
Something so bold, it would
force the world to acknowledge
what she called "climate debt."
here's how kodili explained it.
People like andy and me
who live in the usa
consume a massive amount.
But people in places like uganda
consume very little.
In fact, an average american
creates 170 times more co2
than the average ugandan.
But even though people
like kodili consume very little,
they get stuck with the bill.
When climate change hits,
the rich can try to rebuild
or even relocate.
The poor can't afford that.
And currently,
400,000 people die every year
from the effects
of climate change.
Climate debt means
that rich countries
need to compensate poor ones
to help them adapt.
Hey!
Hi!
How are you?
Good, how are you?
How was your journey?
Fine. Very easy.
Wow. The Yes Men are in uganda!
Kodili wanted to take us
on a road trip
so we could see what
climate change meant for uganda.
So, it's morning in kotido.
It's just an incredibly
beautiful place,
but life is increasingly hard.
In the us or europe,
a flood or drought means
prices go up a little bit
for most people.
Here, it means people die.
Has climate change
affected your life at all?
In recent years,
farming in northern uganda
had become almost impossible.
But people were fighting back.
We sketched out a plan
to get the climate debt
solidly on the world's radar
in copenhagen.
But climate change wasn't
the only problem in uganda.
There was a bill going through
the ugandan parliament
that called for the
death penalty for homosexuals.
The professor does
have to tell you.
Go ahead, professor.
It's just an awkward subject
in uganda.
It's
really awkward.
No, but it's fine.
Um, yeah so, um...
Yeah, it's 'cause I'm gay.
So, yeah.
What we know about uganda
in the west
is pretty much
the kill-the-gays bill.
And we came here to talk about
climate change of course,
and all that,
but then I was like,
"I can't not do something
about it."
To elucidate?
Which part of gay?
Well, let's see,
the concept is...
Man, man.
Mm...
These kids are just about
the age of my kids.
Do you ever feel like
giving up hope?
Giving up?
Before we could
go to copenhagen,
we needed to visit a place
that was in large part
causing
uganda's climate problems.
Canada, a country known
for its natural wonders,
its universal healthcare,
and its really polite people.
It's also home to the tar sands,
a toxic zone the size of england
where oil is strip-mined
by destroying old-growth forests
and pumping the earth
full of chemicals.
Wow.
Besides causing cancer
in surrounding communities,
producing tar-sands oil
emits three times more carbon
than producing regular oil.
But canada and the u.s.
Are intent on
massively expanding production,
and on building new pipelines
to help get all this oil
to big markets abroad.
Our guide was gitz crazyboy,
whose ancestors lived here
for thousands of years before
the oil companies arrived.
And there's hundreds
of companies, right?
Oh, there's tons of companies.
Wait, so this
was all indigenous land?
Yeah, all of...
All of north america was.
So, this is, uh...
This is a pond?
Yeah, this is a pond of sludge.
This used to be the forest here.
Fuck.
Where does it stop?
I mean, you look over there, and
you can't actually see it stop.
There are bigger ponds
than this.
This is not
one of the biggest ones.
And it's just gonna
keep expanding and expanding.
But then in the end, when
they've extracted the last drop
that they needed,
they're gonna leave.
And when they leave,
they're gonna leave nothing
but toxicity
in the land up here.
Are we dropping bombs
on other people? No.
Are people's lives at risk?
Yeah.
We've lost everything up here.
Walking out here is like
being on the moon or something.
Scientists are saying that
if we want to avoid catastrophe,
80% of the fossil fuels
that corporations plan
to exploit
have to stay in the ground.
Otherwise, it'll be game over
for the climate.
The copenhagen climate
conference was coming up soon,
and we didn't have
much time to lose.
This is being called
the most important
climate-change conference
in the history of this world.
Nearly 200 nations are on hand
for the two-week conference.
The goal there -- a plan to save
the planet from global warming.
The plan for copenhagen
was really coming together.
I was kind of neglecting
my boyfriend,
and he was getting more
and more frustrated.
I didn't know what to do.
After two years of negotiation,
the time has come to deliver.
Roar!
We're at the cop15.
It's, uh, the big protest day.
Everybody's
trying to do their part.
Some are working
inside the negotiations
trying to influence
their delegations,
and some are working
on the outside
trying to influence the public.
I mean, that's
what's needed right now, right,
is to have
all of these different groups
coming together.
And I'm kodili,
I'm part
of a global change class,
and I'm a climate-debt agent.
I'm from uganda.
We introduced kodili
to canadian activists
who were pissed off
that their government
was destroying the planet.
We have been --
And this is also like, uh,
to be kept on the down low --
We've been working
with The Yes Men
for the past little while
to do a statement on behalf
of the government of canada.
Canada is one of
the main countries
that's blocking progress,
and it's because they sit
on the world's
second-largest oil reserve.
The plan was to impersonate
canadian and ugandan officials
and make a big announcement.
With nothing but websites,
duct tape, and pipe cleaners,
we got down to the high-tech
business of becoming canada.
What we're trying to do
is just recreate the pressroom.
These are the microphones.
They're supposed to look like
these really expensive ones,
and they're just pipe cleaners
and kitchen sponges.
We'll just prop this up like --
Here you go.
Let's see, is that high enough?
I don't think so.
No, it needs to be a bit higher.
Hmm, it's working. Okay.
Andy showed up
three days before the action.
There seemed to be
something wrong.
The night before I left,
my boyfriend dumped me.
He said he'd had enough.
And I need her number again.
Yeah. Yeah.
I was on a pretty short fuse.
And then I found out that mike
had completely neglected
the press releases
that the action depended on.
I thought mike was leading
the project,
but all he did was like say
"you do that, you do that,
you do that."
So, I figured,
"okay, great, he's managing it,"
but then he didn't follow up
with anybody to make sure.
And mike used to manage
before he was married
and before he had two kids.
Just come.
Yes.
When andy got there,
it wasn't depressed guy,
it was angry guy...
you clicked what?
Wait what?
...who was making it
very difficult
to pull together
a project because, you know,
we were working with a team.
I've got to get through here.
Want me to draw some lines?
Little bit of salt and pepper.
This is great.
Meet the minister --
Well, not the minister,
the assistant --
The deputy assistant secretary
to the minister
of the environment of canada.
Okay.
Okay, we rolling.
Dearest delegates and fellow
citizens around the globe,
this is the day
that will define our century.
Canada is fully acknowledging
its historical climate debt
and the legal responsibility
that follow.
Climate debt reparations
are not aid.
They are a legal framework that
sets everyone on equal footing.
But to us it's more than
mere economic issues.
It is about the droughts,
the famines, and disease.
The day began
with this press release
announcing the astonishing news
that canada would generously
pony up $13 billion
to the african countries.
Then, there was this article
on what looked like
the
wall street journal's
website.
Then, a news conference
purportedly
by the ugandan delegate,
posted on what looked like
the copenhagen conference
website...
dearest delegates...
it looked amazingly real
until the speaker
compared canada's oil reserves
to a loaded gun.
...ready to pull the trigger on
millions of us around the globe.
It was all a hoax.
Where is this?
It totally has worked.
I was in the plenary session
at the time that this happened,
and I really can't comment
any further.
You think it's a game,
but it's not a game,
it's a serious issue.
You're playing games,
I'm not playing games.
Absolutely.
Okay, so what's your name, sir?
My name is dick impala.
I'm with environment canada.
Well, I-i do, I represent them,
uh, better than they --
Well, after today, better than
hopefully we've had all day.
Okay.
Our feeling is that this
whole question of hoaxes
distracts from the actual fact
that the world's future
is in peril.
What is the message,
what the world wants to hear
is that the developed countries
should pay their climate debt.
Uh, well --
All of this happened,
the center of it was uganda,
and nobody covered uganda,
and this asshole --
they missed the fucking point!
Sorry, nice guy, didn't want
to talk about uganda,
even when they have it
in their face.
That is the whole story here.
Non-binding target,
weak targets, weak financing --
It speaks to the failure
of the negotiations.
Governments caved in
to the oil companies.
The climate talks failed.
If we're gonna ignore jobs
and growth
simply to address
climate change,
I don't think
anybody's gonna go for that.
I won't go for that.
Stephen harper did not have to
sign on to steep cuts
in canada's prodigious output
of greenhouse gas emissions,
and for him
that's mission accomplished.
- What do we want?
- Climate justice!
- When do we want it?
- Now!
The entire focus was on
changing people, these leaders,
on, like, getting these leaders
to do the right thing, you know?
Everybody was just thinking
like, we were thinking --
'cause I was
buying into completely.
I was like "oh yeah.
"Let's go make our bit of noise
in this bunch of noise,
"and, you know,
these leaders are gonna listen
and actually
do something right."
It just feels stupid.
There's even people
who are trying
who are part of the government,
and they just fucking
can't do it
because the government's
so corrupt.
So what do we do?
Yeah.
How was your event?
You should come to the next one.
We'll try to get
the bail money ready.
I've never even been arrested.
On, no, I take it back.
Yeah, you were arrested
in switzerland.
Oh, you're right.
That's true, mom.
I also got arrested in mexico,
now that I think of that.
I haven't been, but mom
has been in jail.
Where were you in jail?
Iran.
Why were you in jail in iran?
I didn't know that.
Well, because I was traveling,
and they couldn't read
our passport.
We had our sleeping bags,
and we said,
"we'll worry about it tomorrow."
And then they came out
to tell us that we could go,
we said "no, we don't want to go
now, we have to sleep now."
My parents really taught us
to question authority,
and I think that goes way back
to when they were kids
in the second world war.
My mom's from holland,
and she had to hide her dad
so he wouldn't be conscripted
by the nazis.
And my dad
is a holocaust survivor
who fled hungary
when he was seven.
This is what we called
"the land of yick."
It was really the most excellent
playground around.
It's like
a little mussolini balcony.
One of us would be mussolini,
and you go up on the balcony
and make a speech.
My fans.
When we started
working together,
armageddon was just a fantasy.
Now we've got this real
environmental-armageddon thing,
you know, climate change,
and governments aren't doing
anything about it,
and it just makes you
completely despair
and wonder why the hell
you're doing activism at all,
why you're doing anything.
That's why dropping out
becomes appealing too.
We decided to move to scotland
where my wife is from.
I finally got to spend more time
with the kids.
I don't have a camera person,
don't have any money,
so I'm just gonna have to
get the kids to be
the camera people, okay?
So, you hold it,
and you videotape it,
and this is what we do here.
Dad, I won't film your life.
Bye!
I'm not filming your life. Bye!
a dead bird.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
Dad, get me a spade.
Is there anything
that you want to say?
Sorry, bird, that you died.
That's it.
Life is just a bit simpler
in scotland --
There's good schools, and
there's national health care.
Gotcha!
See that?
That is soon to be filled
by another... baby.
Yep.
Another big reason
for being there
was that my wife, caz,
was pregnant again.
I didn't tell andy.
He wasn't thrilled
when I started having kids,
so I decided to keep this one
a surprise.
When mike moved to scotland,
I felt more adrift than ever.
I knew I had to keep going,
I just didn't know how,
or whether it would even matter.
Then a friend of mine
from greenpeace
invited me to have
a little talk...
About the arctic.
It turns out
the arctic is melting,
and it's melting
a whole lot faster
than anyone thought it would.
That's bad news for bears,
but it's even worse news for us.
For one thing, polar ice
reflects the sun's heat,
cooling the entire planet.
When the ice melts,
the world heats up even more.
But what's happening underwater
is even scarier.
Under the arctic seabed
are humongous frozen
methane reserves.
If they unfreeze,
trillions of tons of methane
will be released.
Since methane traps heat
much better than co2,
global warming will
go into warp speed.
We should be freaking out,
but instead, we're celebrating
the melting arctic
as a business opportunity.
The arctic is the scene
for a new kind
of international gold rush.
America, with its lands in
alaska, is seriously interested.
Shell spent $4 billion dollars
lobbying the government
for permission to go drill
in the arctic.
Would obama's administration
sell us out?
Of course we are here
because of our shared concern
and commitment to the arctic.
The melting of sea ice,
for example,
will result in the possibility
to develop newly accessible oil
and gas reserves.
Since the government
was handing over the arctic
to oil companies,
the only way to stop shell
was to appeal directly
to public opinion.
They're going up and drilling,
and the best we can do, really,
is publicize that
and give them
an advertising campaign
worthy of their company.
We wanted real oilmen to show up
for what would be
an obscene corporate party.
We've been talking about
having a spigot that spews oil
that's symbolic of turning on
the oil in the north.
That drilling unit, what was
that called - the kulluk?
Kulluk is built by the company
that built
the deepwater horizon.
It was actually gonna be
scrapped before they decided
it should be sent to the arctic.
Our lead engineer
started building and testing
our very own kulluk.
This time,
we're gonna have 5 actors,
at least, plus 10 more.
It's gonna be like
this theater production.
We've never done
a theater production,
and mike isn't even here!
Mike is in london, scotland,
wherever -- he's far away.
But, you know, it's fine,
it'll be a different thing.
It just makes me nervous.
Um, yeah,
I just wish he were here.
The nice thing about
this kind of work,
when you finish it,
and it's done,
and, you know, you feel like
you got something done
at the end of the day
or end of the hour.
Whereas, like, a lot
of the stuff with The Yes Men,
it doesn't result
in anything concrete.
The kulluk was docked
in seattle,
so we decided
to throw our party there
at the iconic space needle.
We sent out invitations
to the entire
seattle business community.
Okay. Oh, boy. 7:05.
I'm so nervous even though
I'm not doing anything tonight.
I'm just walking on,
and I'm just hanging out,
but I'm incredibly nervous
as if I were performing.
My mind is so blank,
even the words
that have been scripted
and that I will have
in front of me...
I am somewhat concerned
that I will not be able
to read them.
Yeah, there's nothing
to be nervous about.
It's, um, people, uh...
What do you say
to build somebody's confidence?
It is insane how close it looks
to the real thing.
It's so realistic.
Uh... it's another one.
I'm googling
"temperature of birthing pool"
just to make sure
that I'm not doing it
at the wrong... temperature.
Uh, let's just put it up there.
Oh, sweet pea.
Oh, it's mike bonnano.
Hey!
- Hello.
- Oh hi.
I figured this baby
could talk to you.
Yeah, good.
That's very helpful.
I've kept this a secret
for a while,
but I have another baby.
You do not.
- I do.
- You do?!
I do.
Are you serious?
Yep.
- No!
- Yes.
What? Wow!
Are you serious?
Oh, my god.
That's insane.
Um... who here has not had
three babies?
Well, I wish to lodge
a complaint.
All right.
thank you very much.
Welcome to the launch for
shell's arctic-ready campaign.
It's been a long time coming.
Shell is very excited
to drill for resources
that are accessible
for the first time in history.
And to attempt feats
of endurance
that no machine
has attempted before.
For centuries men and dogs
have battled with the ice.
Now, finally, we're winning.
For the first time ever,
the ice cover in the arctic
has melted enough
that we can get those resources.
Oh, yeah.
It'll be tough, and it'll be
dangerous, but it is possible.
That's probably the main reason
that our friends
in the obama administration
were happy to approve our plans.
That's right. And we're glad
to have them on our side.
Of course,
climate change is scary.
The end of civilization,
I mean, that's bad.
But in life, as in business,
pragmatism trumps all.
Drilling in the arctic?
Let's go.
We're pumped. We're pumped.
This is a scale model
of the kulluk,
which in eskimo means
"thumbs up."
The miniature kulluk is designed
to kick off the festive part
of the evening,
uh, by delivering
another precious fluid,
uh, that we may imbibe.
So, we're gonna pour
a ceremonial glass here,
and I would like to be joined
by our special guest, so...
The widow of the late,
great designer of the kulluk,
mrs. Enid applebee.
We would like you to have
the first glass
poured from the little kulluk.
thank you. Thank you.
So, put your glass
right over here, enid,
and we'll fill you up.
Oh my goodness!
Aah!
On, no.
Oh, my god! Help, please!
Oh, please help!
Stop. Stop. Stop! Stop!
Oh my goodness!
Who is responsible
for this disaster?
There's a bit of a spill,
and I think --
this is cbs 12 news at seven.
This is all a hoax,
an elaborate hoax,
by a suspected
environmentalist group.
This video got a lot of play.
The activists are hoping
to point out
that if shell can't control
a drink dispenser,
how are they going to control --
so, this wasn't really
a shell party?
No. Well, that's why I said
it was a fake.
May I ask who I'm speaking to?
My name is dave schechter,
and I'm calling from cnn.
Please explain to me
who it is I have reached.
Our leaked party video
helped expose
what shell was really up to
in the arctic
and the huge risks
they were taking.
Shell could be opening up
the entire arctic to the world.
Are they ready?
Oil companies keep saying
they can conquer the arctic,
but the arctic keeps disagreeing
with the oil companies.
Shell oil is preparing to send
salvage crews
to the waters
in the gulf of alaska.
That's where one of its oil rigs
ran aground on new years eve.
The rig is carrying more than
140,000 gallons of fuel
and is sitting
in a fragile ocean ecosystem.
After shell's arctic rigs
ran aground,
the u.s. pulled their permit
to drill.
So what did shell do?
They teamed up with gazprom
to drill in the russian arctic
instead.
Gazprom,
russia's largest energy company,
already spills millions of tons
of oil per year.
But gazprom is
putin's pet corporation.
When activists intervene,
russia responds with bullets
and the gulag.
We needed to do something
almost as crazy
as what gazprom and shell
were doing.
But this time,
I needed mike's help.
Andy keeps trying to get me
to help with a new action,
and, well, he has a point.
This news about
what shell's doing with gazprom,
it makes the most basic instinct
about parenting --
Protecting your kids --
Into a huge dilemma.
Should I just raise them
in the safest place possible,
or should I try
to stop these maniacs
from destroying their future?
I agreed to help andy
with his plan
to attack shell
on their home turf.
People needed to know
about the partnership
between gazprom and shell,
the netherlands'
biggest company.
So we'd pose as gazprom,
and deliver to the amsterdam zoo
a spectacular gift
freshly kidnapped
from the russian arctic.
Jesus christ.
Want to see inside?
Who's in the ass
and who's in the head?
Eh, I was in the ass earlier.
okay.
I love it in here so far,
but when you're in,
I'm not so sure
I'm gonna love it.
My head is gonna be
right up your ass.
Ahh, shut up.
- God damn it.
- Shit!
Did you wash at all
today or yesterday?
Yes, I did!
- Okay.
- Ready?
Uh, left, right, I mean left...
I don't know how bears walk.
Okay, are we in the cage?
we're in the cage.
Should we fall down?
Okay, ready? All the way down,
and then we're falling.
Yep, one, two three.
- Ow!
- Oh sorry!
- Oh, right in the eye.
- Are you okay?
I was super relieved
mike was here.
It meant that this time,
I didn't have to coordinate
everything.
Wait, we're not playing
the tuba, though.
We're just standing around
like dopes, right? Or no?
No, you're in the band.
Oh, we're playing instruments.
So what else are we doing?
We're wearing costumes,
we have to get on the boat.
I was a little concerned.
I mean, I thought
this was andy's plan.
Oh yeah, I wanted to know
why you thought
it didn't make sense.
I was saying
that it's super complicated,
that's what I was saying.
Well, yeah,
but so is a lot of what we do.
It just
becomes simple,
doesn't it?
The boat shoves off,
and then the two --
The leo, the russian...
Andy. hi.
The actor playing our
gazprom representative arrived.
papa bear!
He was super enthusiastic.
There was just
one small problem.
My english is bad? Bad.
- Yeah, it's good.
- Yeah.
It's perfect.
It's perfect amount.
Yeah, but I know
not a lot of words.
I did my best to explain
what we were about to do.
So basically,
the bear is in the cage.
The barge is parading
through the canals
before the bear is presented
as a gift from gazprom
to shell and the people
of holland at the zoo.
And... action.
Gazprom is here help to shell.
To help shell.
Gazprom is here to help shell.
Oh.
And already we help
safely relovate reindeer.
Say "relocate" for me.
Relocate.
- Relocate.
- Shit.
We freed bear firmty...
Firmly... for...
C'mon.
What is funny?
Firmly for safely.
Safety.
Safety.
Firmly for safety.
It was time to launch.
Oh, it's so creepy.
Okay, and down.
We had tipped off some reporters
that a big announcement
was gonna be made at the zoo.
Now watch the poles!
Here we go, okay.
Okay, okay.
No go at the zoo.
But we could still
pull this off.
Ladies and gentlemen,
this not just a bear.
This... the heart of russia.
For me, very, very, very, very,
very important.
Important in my life,
important for my family.
And now, I give this for you,
for you company.
Shell and gazprom together!
For future!
And makey! Only!
Everybody! Funny!
No, sorry.
Fantastic.
Sometimes things don't work out
exactly right.
Sometimes
then afterwards you wonder,
"how did I not realize that was
not gonna work out quite right?"
Hmm.
Doesn't it seem pretty obvious
now that that wouldn't work?
Oh yeah, let's get some food.
Good idea.
You're not answering.
I dunno, it just seems like it
was prone to -- it was doomed.
Whenever we would do actions,
I would always think like,
"this is the one that's gonna
change everything."
I would convince myself of that.
And then afterwards there would
be this huge depression like,
"oh, it didn't change
everything."
I decided
to go recharge my batteries.
This is where we should get gas
gas is really good here.
It's, like, got
this special little kick.
Umm...
Oh fuck, it's shell.
Now that we have more daylight,
you need more energy
to enjoy the outdoors.
Come inside and grab your
favorite energy drink today.
That's true. No.
I just pressed "no."
rockstar energy drinks and
harley davidson motorcycles.
Hmm. no.
Now that I have
your attention --
- No.
- Buy any two rockstar...
no, no, no, no.
...16-ounce cans at our two --
mute.
This is my high school.
Oh, there's
a high school student. Hello.
They did not have that
when I was here.
That.
I was a jewish kid in arizona,
I was a little gay kid
in arizona,
I was the child of immigrants.
It was just a soup of weirdness.
My dad grew up in belgium
during the holocaust
and had to hide out on farms.
My dad's dad went to auschwitz.
If you grew up
fleeing the nazis,
it was pretty obvious, I guess,
that power didn't
always tell the truth,
And it couldn't
always be trusted.
This is the airplane graveyard
I used to come to in high school
when I needed to get away
from everything.
But then I rediscovered
how fun people could be
when I was a junior.
I told everybody that I was
the grandson
of the ayatollah khomeini
who was public enemy number-one
at the time.
That's me! I'm his grandson!
At first, nobody believed me,
and then eventually a lot
of people would come up to me
and say "are you really
the grandson
of the ayatollah khomeini?"
That was the first time
I realized
I could just make up
another identity for myself
in real life.
When mike and I started doing
this kind of work together,
it was the first time
in my entire life
that I was just doing something
and not questioning
whether it made sense.
And then when that broke down,
I was kind of in this pit
of, like, "what good is this?
Will anything ever change?"
an extraordinary act of daring
in the country of tunisia.
People took to the street
and forced out one of
the toughest dictators on earth.
In a three-week period,
a series of non-violent,
democratic movements
have toppled three governments
throughout the middle east.
Governments are worried
that a revolution by the people,
for the people might be headed
to their country next.
We watched spellbound
as people around the world
rose up against
overwhelming odds.
Tens of thousands
have voiced their fury
over unemployment
and the apparent indifference
of mainstream politicians.
And then in new york,
a protest erupted --
Not just against government,
but against everything
that was wrong with our system.
Occupy wall street --
The protest
to growing income inequality
in this country.
Environmental issues, health,
education.
Is this the french revolution?
Are they lenin and trotsky?
I don't know what they are.
And some are calling this
the us version of tahrir square.
- I am here from egypt...
- I am here from egypt...
- ...just to lend my solidarity.
- ...just to lend my solidarity.
We are a part
of the global revolution...
we are a part
of the global revolution...
...for social
and economic justice.
...for social
and economic justice.
Young people are aiming
to overthrow
the u.s. financial system.
And, I mean seriously,
there's like a real, you know,
chance for change here.
And because of them,
the entire world knows that
there's a major problem here.
It's incredibly effective.
Can anyone call
a general assembly?
Do you know?
- Our process...
- our process...
- ...is direct democracy.
- ...is direct democracy.
- There is no...
- there is no...
- ...hierarchy.
- ...hierarchy.
Who knew that so many people
felt the same way that we did?
I gotta pay bank fees like you,
and I see corporations
getting money handed to them,
and the C.E.Os making five,
six million dollars
after they took money
to bail them out --
That pisses me off, too, man.
C'mon.
Since even the cops were fed up,
maybe they should join
a protest.
Hey, are you using those pizza
boxes to sleep on or...?
- Yeah.
- Oh, okay.
we want to make signs.
- Oh, you can take them.
- Yeah?
- We're done with sleeping.
- Oh, okay!
Huddle. Huddle, everybody,
huddle. Huddle. Huddle. Huddle.
All right, so this is the deal.
We are going
on a brokers' march.
We try to get police
to go with us.
As we walked,
more and more police showed up
to make sure
we didn't cause trouble.
It finally made sense to me
why we'd been doing stuff
for so long.
You're part of something,
and then boom --
Anything can happen.
Basically we had given up,
and then suddenly people were
there fighting for their future,
and they saw the connection
between the money system
and the environment.
Wall street's been occupying
the atmosphere
for 25 or 30 years.
We can never get anything done
because big oil
just puts the kibosh on it.
Everybody's finally just saying,
"enough.
Corporations don't get to
run everything all the time."
we are at a tipping point
for this environmental movement.
With enough pressure,
we can change history right now!
Today!
In every way, occupy was
exactly what I was looking for.
It felt like when I first
started working with mike --
It just flowed.
The entire way
that we got started
when we were doing
the anti-globalization stuff
was by working as a little cell
that contributed
to a big movement.
It was a global movement.
I hadn't felt part of something
like that in a really long time.
On occupy,
cities across the country
telling wall street protesters
time is up.
In the middle of the night,
new york city police raided
and cleared out the
occupy wall street encampment.
Move! Move!
What are you doing to her?!
You gotta move. Let's go.
Get back!
Let's go, sir.
It's that or you go to jail!
Let's go right now!
Move!
What you're doing now
is illegal.
You know what?
You know what?
It's within my rights
to videotape.
No, it's not.
Why are you pushing me around?!
Sir!
I'm not fucking with you.
Sometimes,
if you get pushed around,
you just want
to push back harder.
Can we get cameras
on them arresting?!
We decided to move back
to new york.
This is zucotti square
after the eviction.
Just feels like nostalgia.
Like, the center of intensity
is elsewhere now,
and that's normal 'cause
movements aren't just one thing.
Movements just, like, surface,
and something happens,
and then they sink and appear
in a radically different way.
It's definitely weird.
Like there's three storms
at once,
and they're all hitting here.
The east coast bracing
for a monster storm.
Hurricane sandy crashing
on shore,
winds now at 90 miles per hour.
It is chaos
along the jersey shore.
This is the time to try to
save yourself and your family.
6 to 12 feet of sea
and river flow,
fill low-lying areas
of manhattan like a basin.
It's like
the apocalypse has hit.
This is the new normal.
Climate change is a reality.
You see that city over there?
No, you don't.
That's because that's manhattan
without power.
I don't think
I can make it through there.
jesus christ.
It doesn't really end, does it?
Look at these.
These are from the '50s.
Oh, shit.
Old family photos
that have just drifted out.
The occupy wall street network
just went into, like,
full effect.
I mean, lower east side, um,
you have it in sunset park,
you know,
you have it in rockaway.
We went,
set up kitchens everywhere.
It was amazing.
It's amazing
that a community-relief effort
led by any volunteer
that could go
got here three days
before the national guard
and the red cross.
Occupy may have been kicked out
of wall street,
but the occupy networks
were alive and well,
and were busy trying to save
the city that had evicted them.
Why are you laughing right now?
'Cause --
It was just announced
that apparently our power
is gonna be out for four days,
and I live on the 19th floor.
Wait for me.
Hold on.
Here we go -- wine.
It was kind of weird,
what you did in, um, seattle.
When I was in seattle.
I withheld some information.
Yes, yes I did.
You didn't tell me
that you were having a child.
This is not
the way a friend behaves.
You
never once said,
"oh, congratulations
about your first child,
or your second child."
really?
I never said congratulations...
About child one or child two?
I... i don't --
No, I don't think so.
I'm probably, actually,
probably a bit jealous.
- Really?
- Yeah.
You have this thing
that you love,
and it loves you and --
Am I romanticizing it?
No, no.
It's exactly the way it is.
That's accurate.
I know you didn't have kids
to hurt me, but --
Like, it means that I haven't
had a partner to work with.
Okay, I should have...
I should have told you
about the baby.
I should have told you
about the baby.
You have three kids,
and we fly around in airplanes,
and we eat meat.
Yeah, we're hypocrites!
We grow up thinking
that you have to get ahead
by getting a better job,
thinking that you have to
accumulate as much wealth
as you can,
thinking about all these things
that become like breathing.
- Mmm-hmm.
- How do we change that?
How do we deal with that?
That's it, yeah.
You have to change
the whole culture.
That's what it is.
I mean, it's like,
it's revolution
'cause it's, like,
really changing everything.
You know why I stay optimistic
even though it's completely
kind of irrational?
There are so many struggles
that have won
that seemed
completely impossible to win.
And climate change
certainly seems enormous,
but it seems
when a lot of people decide
to do something, they succeed.
He's still sleeping.
He's still alive.
Power's still out.
Want a breakfast pear?
Yeah, awesome.
Mmm.
I made it.
I've become very good
at making pears.
- So, we have to work.
- Yeah.
We have to get back
in the saddle.
I mean, cheers.
Cheers.
To saddle.
Yes.
We knew there was a way
to pull the plug on big oil.
It was time for a showdown.
Ever since we'd met gitz, we'd
wanted to do something together.
Posing as government bigwigs,
we would infiltrate
a homeland-security conference
and announce that the u.s.a.
Was outlawing fossil fuels
and replacing them
with renewables.
And the best part?
The new wind
and solar power plants
would be owned by native tribes
as partial reparations
for genocide.
To actually have white people
wearing bands that say
"native headdress,"
and instead of a feather,
a windmill,
this is us making fun
of the american ideal
of what it is to be indian.
This would truly be
a second thanksgiving.
I told the conference
that I represented
general colin powell,
and they were pumped
to have him speak.
So, our speakers are running
just a tad late,
but we're not gonna worry
about it.
General colin powell is, uh,
coming to speak to us,
and he's bringing
a couple of colleagues.
General powell, of course,
would not show up.
But his colleagues
were nearly there.
Oh, my god. You guys!
Is this not gonna be
a total giveaway?
No.
Is there a way to like,
you know, maybe...
Make it a little less...
Like it is?
Who's the other presentation
you have?
Well, the admiral,
and e's followed by the deputy
of the secret service.
So, you've got two, like,
exceedingly senior people.
Okay. All right.
Well, I'm gonna just confirm
with them because he's so late,
I'm beginning to wonder
what's going on.
This is mr. Benedict waterman.
Hi, barbara alexander,
I'm so glad to meet you.
- Hello.
- Hi.
I'm nervous.
Me and tito are sitting down,
we're trying to make small talk.
These guys weren't exactly
tree-hugging eco freaks.
We had an aspiring republican
congressman, a two-star general,
lots of defense contractors,
and weird security guards
in trench coats.
How would they react
to an energy revolution?
Our first speaker is, uh,
undersecretary
of policy implementation
at the department of energy,
mr. Benedict waterman.
On behalf
of the department of energy,
I'm very excited
to announce today
a great new plan that will do
nothing less
than convert
the united states' energy grid
into one that's powered entirely
by renewable sources.
As the dire reality
of climate change
becomes more
and more inescapable,
people will take the future
into their own hands.
And historically we know
that popular resistance
is a force that can only, with
difficulty, be countervailed.
A revolutionary
energy program today
is easier than
a real revolution tomorrow.
By 2030,
america will produce 100%
of our energy from renewables,
establishing us once again
as a global leader
in confronting the supreme
challenge of climate change.
We're excited to be working with
the bureau of indian affairs
and some of the largest tribes
from arizona to the dakotas
to site major wind
and solar facilities
that will provide a large chunk
of america's power.
The tribes will own
these facilities,
they will provide an enormous
stimulus to the economy,
and great resilience
in the face of future threats.
It's time
for a second thanksgiving.
I am bana slow horse,
and the director
of industrial development
for the bureau
of indian affairs.
I am a member
of the wannabe nation.
Joining me is my nephew here.
He's a fire chief, a war chief,
a water chief,
and he's actually
also a midwife.
Helps young mothers.
There's a long, sordid history
between the americans
and indigenous peoples,
and it always hasn't been
a beneficial relationship,
at least not to us.
For the first time,
we have a voice,
and we will own, truly own,
this new energy production,
and that's progress.
And it will build us
a stronger economy,
a brighter future, it will give
something our children.
There was a lot of work done
on benedict's behalf,
just want to acknowledge
and honor that.
So, I actually went and killed a
deer, I tanned the hide myself.
I give you this gift.
To mark this grand occasion
between our two peoples,
um, we want to acknowledge this
with a round dance,
and I encourage everybody
to join us together.
We just...
form a circle around us
if it's possible.
All the way around.
Yeah,
we can do all the way around.
Ladies and gentlemen,
uh, excuse me.
I composed this song
for this occasion,
I made it a simple song
so we can sing it together
because it's not just my song,
it belongs to all of us.
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahay
Wayahay
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Waya-hohoho
Waya-hohoho
The sun gonna shine
The sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow
The wind gonna blow
That's all we need
That's all we need
To continue to grow
To continue to grow
Uh, it would be worthwhile,
I think,
to get an opportunity
to perhaps chat with you
or your staff or
whoever you deem appropriate.
Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
So, I have
a lot sisters and, uh...
Definitely, definitely.
That's fantastic. So excited.
Great.
I was surprised to see someone
from northrup grumman
acting so excited.
You weren't talking
about weapons,
you're talking about renewables.
You know, surprisingly enough,
most people are not
megalomaniacally insane,
even people who work
for northrup grumman.
And if they're given
the opportunity
to, uh, do what they
actually believe in their hearts
is the right thing,
they go with it.
The fact that we could get
all these people that we think
of as being from the dark side
to dance in support
of renewable energy
is that there are very few
people who actually want us
to continue
on this fossil-fuel path.
And we have to force our leaders
to actually do
what we need them to do,
and then people will follow.
Except for
a few oil-company execs.
- Good stuff.
- Thank you, thank you.
Don't forget that song now,
you sing it anytime.
Can getting a room
full of defense contractors
to dance for energy revolution
actually change the world?
Probably not on its own.
But what we've realized
is to keep going,
we've gotta be part of something
bigger than ourselves.
And that's the only way
we're going to win this fight.
What's this movie about?
Well, the movie's about
what we can do
to help make sure that things
are okay in the future,
you know, for you.
There's a lot of people
who are just,
like, making a lot of money,
sometimes in ways that aren't
very good for the world.
But why money?
It's just a stupid old piece
of paper.
That's a hard one.
But you know, there's also
a lot of people fighting back,
changing --
like you do, 'cause
you're making movies to stop it!
It's only a little part
of stopping it, what we do.
Wait a second.
This movie can't end that way.
Why not?
It's not a movie
about walking into the distance,
holding hands.
I don't see anything wrong
with that.
No, it's like a cowboy movie
or something.
It's nice. It feels good.
We want people to see this film
and go out
and do something themselves.
Like, maybe using our website.
Yeah, but you can't see people
participating through a website,
can you?
- No.
- Not very good for a film.
No. So here it is
at the end of a film though.
It's good for the credits.
Okay, take a look here.
This is a fake website,
and the victim of this hoax
is peabody energy.
The fake website says
the company would offer free
decorated inhalers to children.
It wants to make asthma cool by
making their inhalers look cool.
Get this,
a major american corporation,
out of the goodness
of its own heart,
donating billions of dollars.
Activists were behind this
to shine the spotlight on g.e.
For not paying any u.s. taxes.
I pay my taxes,
why doesn't g.e.?
If you are stopped and frisked
three times by the nypd
you get a free happy meal?
Fill out your name, ethnicity,
after three stops, you're in.
Exchange it
for a free happy meal.
Oh, and one more thing.
Remember that lawsuit?
Well, after four years,
just as it was about
to head to trial,
the chamber decided to drop it.
The chamber of commerce
is withdrawing their lawsuit
against us.
If this lawsuit
had gone to trial,
we would have had the right
to do our own investigation.
We would have been able to look
into the chamber's finances.
And we would have been able
to learn how they manage to be
the most heavily funded
lobbying organization
in the world to support
corporate rule without limits.
And we finally do have
business cards.
Yes, we finally have
some business cards.
Um, incidentally, the chamber
is offering a free lunch today.
They're having a conference
on how big business
can impact the measure
of government,
and it's listed
on their website.
ladies and gentlemen,
I don't know if any of you
...that you have a right
to a free lunch here
...are legitimate media,
if you just go and sign up.
Sorry.
Whatever he's told you,
at least as to lunches,
it's not true, so...
it does say so on the website.
Do you have a business card?
I do indeed.
- I have a business card.
- I know.
Are you sure you work
for the chamber?
Okay, thank you very much.
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayaho
Wayaho
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind need to blow,
the wind need to blow
The sun gonna shine,
the sun gonna shine
The wind gonna blow,
the wind gonna blow
That's all we need,
that's all we need
In order to grow,
in order to grow
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey, hey, now
Wayahey, hey, now
Waya-hohoho
Waya-hohoho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
A mini-haha, now
A mini-haha, now
A mini-hohoho
Mini-hohoho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey
Wayahey
Wayaho
Wayaho
Wayahey