Pandora’s Promise

Robert Stone’s first film was an anti-nuclear weapons documentary called Radio Bikini, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1988, and his more recent film Earth Days (2009) is about the rise of the environmental movement. So Pandora’s Promise may come as a surprise. In the detailed director statement on the film’s website Stone says, “It’s no easy thing for me to have come to the conclusion that the rapid deployment of nuclear power is now the greatest hope we have for saving us from an environmental catastrophe.” His reasoning is simple: While nuclear energy does have its own complicated environmental and social costs, it’s carbon neutral and, thus, doesn’t contribute to global warming. Stone’s newest film questions much of what we accept as fact about the negative side of nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels. Whether or not you agree with his premise, after seeing Pandora’s Promise, nuclear might be included in your future discussions about climate solutions.