Patagonia’s new documentary Public Trust is shocking to say the least. It is also timely as it will hopefully reach millions of Americans in time for the most pivotal election of our lifetime.
The documentary shows capitalist greed enroaching again on nature— and this time attacking the last remaining wild areas of the USA—a story told through time and time again throughout the classics: be it Pocahontas, Avatar or the Lorax. However, this time it’s real. Not only that. But this time, we don’t have time. Selling off nature to the highest bidder isn’t an option anymore. The resource extraction and its emissions have already maxed out their caps.
Netflix is going green, sets target net zero by 2022
The documentary perfectly shows how the system is broken. When the President is overturning National Monuments—namely the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante—is dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency, is selling off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and giving copper mine rights in pristine Boundary waters, you know that capital has taken over Capitol Hill.
What is a future without public lands? Will our children have clean water to swim in? Will there be buffalos and cariboos left to roam? When will humans learn that it is more costly to fix the damage, than the profit they’re making in this immediate second?
