Film screening: Merchants of Doubt

What: Movie screening and discussion.

When: Saturday, February 13, 2016 from 1:30 to 3:50 pm.

Where: Brookfield Public Library, 3609 Grand Blvd, Brookfield IL 60513.

Cost: Free, but Please RSVP at the Eventbrite page.

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt is a darkly satirical documentary. The film uncovers a shadowy network of front groups whose business is to mislead and confuse the public about science that threatens their clients’ interests. From smoking to asbestos to flame retardants, and now chiefly to climate science, director Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) shows us how a small cadre of well-funded con men have been flooding media outlets and the halls of Congress with misinformation for decades.

Eventually they lose, whether it’s on the connection between smoking and lung cancer or fluorocarbons and the ozone hole, but then they pop up again with self-serving subterfuge on another scientific issue. The latest is climate change.

Kenner likens these tactics to the sleight of hand used by professional magicians to entertain audiences. The big difference is that there is nothing entertaining about the damage done to public health and safety.

Can they continue to get away with it? Only if American citizens don’t pay attention. Pay attention. Come see this movie and stick around for a short discussion period afterward.

Sponsored by Citizens’ Climate Education Corporation