Planet Relief

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''Planet Relief'' was a proposed

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television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

dealing with the issue of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, originally scheduled for broadcast in January 2008. The programme, which had been in development for 18 months, was meant to be similar to previous BBC programmes such as ''

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

'' and ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

''. However, it was cancelled before it was broadcast, allegedly because the BBC was concerned that it would be "biased" towards promoting responses based on acceptance of mainstream

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

science.

Concept

The original idea for ''Planet Relief'' was to increase awareness of climate change. The show, unlike previous BBC specials such as ''Comic Relief'', was not planned to be a charity event, but to increase awareness, similar to ''

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...

''. It was mainly inspired by ''

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

'', with ''Planet Relief'' seen as its climate change counterpart. The programme would have involved an

electric power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

being shut down for one night, for which the BBC had spent over a year negotiating, urging viewers "to turn off all unnecessary lights and electric gadgets for the evening."

Cancellation

The BBC scrapped the idea for ''Planet Relief'' on 5 September 2007. Peter Barron, editor of ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' said, "It is absolutely not the BBC's job to save the planet."

Peter Horrocks Peter John Gibson Horrocks CBE (born 8 October 1959) is a broadcast executive and a former Vice-Chancellor (chief executive) of The Open University. He was educated at the independent King's College School in Wimbledon and at Christ's College, ...

, head of BBC television news said, "It is not the BBC's job to lead opinion or proselytise on this or any other subject." There were also concerns that the power station shutdown "might overload parts of the lectricity distributionnetwork." The BBC did not, however, say that the show was cancelled due to bias, stating rather that, "The BBC is committed to programmes about climate change but after ''Live Earth'' what audiences say is they are looking for programmes of a documentary or factual nature to explain the complex subject."

Right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

commentators opposed the idea of ''Planet Relief''. Complaints about the programme also came from

climate sceptics Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or the ...

such as Martin Durkin, who said, "The thing that disturbs me most is that the BBC has such a leviathan position … that if it decides that it is going to adopt climate change as a moral purpose, I have got a lot of trouble with that. I don't think it is the role of the BBC to spend my money on a moral purpose." For their part, climate change activists attacked the BBC for cancelling the programme. Author

Mark Lynas Mark Lynas (born 1973) is a British author and journalist whose work is focused on environmentalism and climate change. He is a contributor to ''New Statesman'', ''The Ecologist'', ''Granta ''and ''Geographical ''magazines, and ''The Guardian'' ...

said, "This decision shows a real poverty of understanding among senior BBC executives about the gravity of the situation we face. The only reason why this became an issue is that there is a small but vociferous group of climate '

sceptics Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

' lobbying against taking action, so the BBC is behaving like a coward and refusing to take a more consistent stance." Another critic, Friends of the Earth executive director

Tony Juniper Anthony Juniper (born 24 September 1960) is a British campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and environmentalist who served as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He was Vice Chair of Friends ...

, said, "This is a very disappointing decision considering the huge potential for the BBC in helping us more quickly make the shift toward a low-carbon society. The science of climate change is very clear and if approached in the right way taking up this very serious issue would not compromise the BBC's impartiality."

References

{{Italic title Unaired television shows Environmental controversies Media bias controversies Climate change controversies Television controversies in the United Kingdom BBC controversies

Concept

Cancellation

See also

References