All language subtitles for Adam Ruins Everything s01e26 Going Green.eng

(man)
All right, let's do this.

Ah, okay.

Picnic day, Sammy.

Let's pack up.

Plates made from 100%
recycled leaves.

Spoons made
from 100% recycled plates,

and napkins made from 100%
recycled old newspapers.

Ooh.

"Dewey Defeats Truman."

(laughing)

♪

Sammy, don't be
a litterbug.

People like us started pollution
and we can stop it.

All it takes to save
the environment

is for each of us
to do our part.

Actually...
(screams)

(coughing, hacking)

Actually, that kind
of thinking will lead us

to a trash-tastrophe.

Oscar the Grouch!

No, I'm Adam the Conover.

Less a grouch,
more a cultural critic,

and this is
"Adam Ruins Everything."

♪

Look, trash man,

if you're here to lecture me
on going green,

put a lid on it.

That's a trash can joke.

If I use green products,
pick up my own litter,

and make small
sacrifices in my life,

I will stop
climate change.

No, you won't.

Those things will
never be enough.

And that personal
responsibility you feel

is just the result of
an old ad campaign.

(man)
Some people have a deep abiding respect

for the natural beauty
that was once this country.

And some people don't.

People start pollution.

People can stop it.

I remember that ad.

It was the moment I realized
it's everyone's responsibility

to keep the planet clean.

Well, everything
about it is wrong.

What you talking
about, Adam?

"Diff'rent Strokes."

First of all,
the "Indian" in the ad,

Iron Eyes Cody,

was actually an Italian man
named Espera de Corti.

This guy lied
for his entire life

about his heritage
and was basically

the Native-American
Rachel Dolezal.

How...

(Italian accent)
did I get away with this for so long?

(sighs)

And that's not even
the worst part.

The filthy truth is,
this message was designed

by the can-and-bottle industry
to shift the blame

from them onto you.

Come on, I'll show you.

For decades, we had an effective
system for reducing litter.

After people finished their
soda, they returned the bottles

and the manufacturers would
wash and reuse them.

Cutting production waste is
out of this world, Daddy-O.

But in the 1950s, a group
of greedy companies switched

to disposable cans and bottles
to cut costs.

One man's trash...

is that same man's treasure.

After they went disposable,
we started

going through twice
as many bottles and cans.

We can't have
this much trash.

The switch caused so much
outrage that in 1953,

Vermont introduced a law

that actually banned
disposable bottles.

Our farms are filling up
with bottles

and our big, beautiful cows
are eating 'em and dying!

(cow mooing)
(gasps)

This was actually
happening.

A disposable container ban
is utterly essential.

Ha!
He really milked it.

Oh, man,
I love dad jokes.

Their business model
threatened,

the container industry
whipped up a plan.

People are blaming us
for the litter problem.

Well, I won't stand
for it!

(crowd exclaiming)
Hear, hear!

Coca-Cola is tired of
making a bunch of garbage

and then getting yelled at
for making all that garbage.

Philip Morris concurs.

When you think about it,
it's the customer's fault

for throwing
our garbage away.

(man)
Dixie Cup agrees.

We'll blame
the customer.

(man 2)
I know a better word for them.

Litterbugs.

(cheering and applause)

And so, with the help
of over 20 companies,

they founded the original
anti-litter group,

Keep America Beautiful.

Wait, Keep America Beautiful was
founded by litter companies?

Yep, these companies
actually popularized

the term "litterbug"

and shifted the litter blame
from themselves onto you.

And all of this culminated

in Keep America Beautiful's
most famous ad,

the crying Indian.

No.
No, not that beautiful ad.

I'm afraid so.

The most famous PSA
in history

was actually a piece
of corporate propaganda.

And all of this
totally worked.

Bottle bans were struck down

and Americans started
blaming ourselves

for the litter problem.

Eating that can didn't kill
Bessie...

I killed Bessie!

I'm a litterbug!

And today, we're stuck
with disposables,

and every year,
over 100 billion

beverage containers
end up wasted,

either in landfills
or incinerators,

or yeah,
just plain littered.

Now, look,
I want to be clear.

If you litter,
you're a jerk.

But these companies threw out
an effective recycling system

and instead asked us
to pick up their trash,

and their marketing campaign
helped create

an entire green culture
that blames

individuals for pollution

rather than the companies
making it.

That's terrible.

Well, from now on, I'm going
to stop supporting companies

that pollute and I'll only
buy green products,

like my hybrid.

And pretty soon,
I'm going electric

with a brand-new Tesla.

Wait, you already have
a hybrid

but you're gonna buy
a brand-new electric car?

That choice can actually hurt
the environment.

Hurt the environment!
Yay!

Oh, she learns quick.

You serve me well,
hybrid.

But still, you burn
some gas and so...

you disgust me.

Soon, I'll be slashing
my carbon footprint

with a sexy new Tesla.

400,000 preorders
can't be wrong.

I cannot wait!

Huh.
Ah!

You can and should wait.

If you're selling that
perfectly good car

to buy a brand-new Tesla,
you're not doing a good deed.

You're just buying
a bright, shiny,

ecologically problematic...

toy!

What just happened?
Where are we?

We're in your
daughter's toys.

I know, it's a little forced,
but I really like stop motion.

Adam, how could
a Tesla be bad?

It's electric.

Boogie-woogie-woogie-woogie!

Yep, electric cars
like the Tesla

are the sexy new thing.

Ooh, wow.

Check out his brand-new
electric car.

That's hot.

Like our planet.

And a big part of their appeal
is that car companies

have marketed them as greener

than a pocket square
on St. Patty's Day.

(man)
A road trip completely sponsored

by the power of the sun.

(man 2)
100% electric Nissan Leaf.

Innovation for the planet.

Innovation for all.

Wow! If I buy a Nissan,
polar bears will love me!

Yeah, turns out that message
is pretty sketchy.

Look, electric cars are more
energy-efficient than gas cars,

but where do you think
that energy comes from?

It comes from nature.

As soon as I get
a Tesla,

I'll drive with
all the colors of the wind.

"Pocahontas."

Nope, it comes
from the energy grid.

If you buy
an electric car today,

you're just shifting
your fuel source

from the gas pump
to a power plant.

And if those power plants
burn coal,

driving an electric car
can actually put more C02

into the air
than a hybrid.

According to one study,

even if a third of all drivers
switch to electric cars,

the carbon savings
could be tiny.

But that's just
right now.

Soon, all electricity
will come from solar,

wind, water,
and... heart.

Go planet!

Yeah, but that dream is
a long way off.

In fact, your new Tesla
will probably break down

before that happens,

and in the meantime,
you're gonna be pumping out

a ton of CO2
from everything

that goes into just
making the car.

Wait, what?

Aren't electric cars
made from plants

and old Ralph Nader
stickers?

You wish.

Building an electric car
requires steel, copper,

and aluminum,
just like a regular car,

but worse, their batteries
are made of rare metals

that take intensive mining.

Hey, stop that!

The floors are bamboo!

And even the mere act of
putting the car together

produces greenhouse gases.

Add that up and if we all
ditched our trusty old cars

in favor of brand-new
electrics,

we'd actually end up
increasing our carbon footprint.

Wayne, meet Mike Berners-Lee.

He's an expert
on carbon emissions

who's written extensively
on this subject.

That's an expert?
Looks like a toy.

Oh, you just have
to pull his lever.

Hello, Wayne.
Adam is right.

While electric cars are
more efficient,

manufacturing typically adds
about 50%

to the total carbon footprint,

so if you buy a new car
too often,

you could completely undo all
the carbon savings

that you might get
from buying an electric car.

If you really...
(voice slows, stops)

Whoops,
needs another yank.

If you really want to help save
the environment,

the best thing you can do is
to reduce the amount you drive

and to drive your current car
as long as possible,

provided it's reasonably
efficient.

But if your car is beyond repair

and you absolutely need
to buy a new one,

then go ahead, buy yourself
a nice small electric car,

perhaps even a used one.

I never thought
of it that way.

Anything else
I should know?

The cow says...

(cow mooing)

Oh, guess that's it.

Wayne, when it comes
to saving the planet,

the efficiency of your car's
engine is small potatoes.

The real problem is
that Americans bought 17.5 million cars last year

and drove a total
of 2.7 trillion miles.

I'm sorry, but buying another
car just isn't gonna fix that.

But I just want a Tesla!

And I want to help
the environment.

Well, you can't
have both.

And if you're not careful,

these companies will
use that desire

to help the planet
to sell you more stuff

that's hurting the planet.

Buying green products won't
solve the problem,

because buying stuff is
part of the problem.

We need to reduce what we buy
and reuse what we have.

We can't shop our way
out of this.

Fine, I won't buy
a Tesla.

In fact,
I'll do you one better.

I'll walk everywhere.

Yeah, walking.

A surefire way
to stop climate change.

Oh, this one's actually
really interesting.

In many cases, walking can
actually increase

your carbon footprint.

If I wasn't a pacifist,

I would pass my fist
through your face.

We'll walk
to the grocery store, Sammy.

That way, we'll reduce
our carbon footprint

and be guilt-free.

Ahh, ahh!
Ah, yes.

People today are obsessed

with reducing their carbon
footprints, but the fact is,

that's a lot harder
than you probably think.

What are you talking about?

It's everyone's
responsibility

to use as little
fossil fuel as possible.

I even won the low footprint
competition at work.

And all because
I love to walk.

Walking is the greenest
thing you can do.

Not always.

In fact, our carbon system
is so complex

that a lot of what
we think will reduce our carbon footprints

actually makes
things worse.

Let me explain.

Ugh!

I gotta stop hanging out
in trash cans.

Anyway, let's say you and Sammy
go to a fast food place.

You each ate a burger
and went for a walk,

so the burger fueled
your walk,

but that burger
came from a cow

and the cow got most
of its fuel from grain

and cows need a lot of
grain to survive,

and producing all that grain
takes a ton of energy,

which often comes
from coal, gas, and oil,

AKA fossil fuels.
(cow mooing)

You have to burn
54 calories of fossil fuel

just to make one calorie
of beef protein.

And because we have
so many cars and farms,

agriculture accounts
for up to one-third

of all greenhouse
gas emissions.

Add all that together
and this fuel can actually have

a larger carbon footprint
than this fuel,

so if your walk to work
is powered by burgers,

you're not a hybrid,
you're a gas guzzler.

Hey, well, joke's
on you, Al Bore.

I'm a vegetarian.

Asparagus powered
my walk today,

and made my pee
smell fantastic.

Well, asparagus can actually be
one of the most wasteful foods.

Wait, what?
This was likely flown

a long distance to get here,

and air-freighting produce
is a hundred times worse

for the environment
than shipping by boat.

Get your asparagus!

An exotic delicacy
from a faraway land!

And when they're out of season,
the same is likely true

of baby corn, baby carrots,
snap peas, small green beans,

okra, shelled peas, lettuce,
blueberries,

raspberries, and strawberries.

The truth is,
when you grab a vegetable,

it can be almost
impossible to tell

how big its carbon footprint
really is.

Even in a fancy
organic store,

the produce aisle is full
of carbon landmines.

(explosion)

There has to be something
carbon-free in here.

Oh, what about bananas?

I read that they're
shipped by boat,

they pack a ton
of nutrients,

and they come
in their own packaging.

Yep, all true.

Yes!

From now on, my "shh" is
bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Gwen Stefani.

But even bananas
aren't perfect.

But you just...

Ahh!
They're still part of the same system

that's destroying
our planet.

If you really want to calculate
your carbon footprint,

you have to look
at the whole picture.

Think about the banana company's
corporate offices,

which create
their own emissions,

like the coffee they supply
to their employees,

coffee that required water
and energy to grow and ship

and that shipping company
provided uniforms

for their drivers,
uniforms that required zippers,

zippers made out of metals

which needed to be mined
from the earth.

And during lunch at the zipper
mine, what did they serve?

Bananas.

(beep)

We live in an infinite web
of carbon pollution.

The number of variables at play
is so vast,

they're impossible for a single
person to even calculate,

let alone reduce.

Tell me, stock boy.

Is the zinc on the zippers
of the factory workers

who drove the trucks
that shipped the coffee

to the banana corporate
offices mined

in an eco-friendly manner?

Tell me!

You're hurting me.
Ah!

I'm sorry, Trent.
Let's go.

Why are you
doing this?

I'm just trying
to help.

And that is commendable,

but the fact is,
this problem is way too big

for our individual
consumer choices to solve.

Our entire way of life
is the problem.

Some time ago, humanity
discovered vast deposits

of fuel buried deep
within the earth.

We learned to extract it,
burn it for energy,

and release it
into the air,

and about 150 years ago,

we rebuilt our entire
civilization

around that energy source.

We burn it to travel,
we burn it to eat,

we burn it to live.

Fossil fuels brought about
one of the greatest increases

in standard of living
in human history.

We could never go back.

But by burning
this incredible fuel source,

we are also inexorably
heating the earth.

2015 was the hottest year

since we started
keeping records in 1880.

And thanks to rising
ocean temperatures,

average sea levels
have already risen

about eight inches.

And we're in
for a lot worse.

This is Dale Jamieson.

He's a professor of
Environmental Studies at NYU.

Wayne, we've already done so
much damage to the atmosphere

that we'll be lucky
if we can hold the warming

to two degrees
Celsius.

Two degrees?
Well, that's just the difference

between a jacket and a slightly
lighter jacket.

Not to the earth,
it isn't.

Just two degrees of warming
could cause huge draughts,

massive wildfires,
the loss of many species,

the collapse of
our agricultural productivity,

and the rising sea levels

could make our coastal cities
uninhabitable.

And remember,
two degrees of warming

is the best we can
realistically hope for.

The question isn't,
will warming happen?

The question is,
how bad will it be?

That's terrible.

Isn't there something
I can do?

The sad truth is
that we've already put

so much carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere

that we're more
than halfway towards

that two-degree
centigrade limit.

And right now, companies
and countries already own

enough fossil fuel
in reserves

to meet that limit
five times over.

Five times over?

To keep it in the ground,

they'd have to give up
trillions of dollars

and we'd have to change
our entire way of life.

And what happens
if we burn it?

What happens
to our planet then?

I don't know, but it won't be
our planet anymore.

♪
(birds chirping)

Oh, Sammy...

everything I've done,

all the green products I buy,
the trash I pick up...

even the car I drive...

it wasn't enough.

I guess the only thing left
to do is... to prepare you

for the post-apocalyptic
"Mad Max" future.

Wayne, listen to me.

The world is not ending.

Despite everything,

there are still tremendous
reasons for hope.

Come on,
I'll show you!

(engine revving effect,
tires screeching effect)

Come on,
Okay, buddy, spit it out.w you!

Can I stop the climate
apocalypse or not?

By yourself, no.

We have to do it together.

Buying greener stuff
and walking to work is great,

but it's not enough.

The entire world has to come
together to solve this problem.

That's never
gonna happen.

Well, it already is.

In 2015, nearly every country
in the world met as one

and for the first time,
signed a treaty

to curb carbon emissions.

It was called
the Paris Agreement.

You know, we could stop
Saran-wrapping

our croissants
individually.

That would be real nice
for New Orleans.

And we could stop burning tires
just to pass a good time.

Yeah.
(chuckles)

New Orleans isn't
a country.

Eh, my writing staff
loves Cajun jokes.

What can I say?
Oh, hey, Dale.

Each country agreed
to be accountable

for reducing its emissions
every five years.

That's a big deal.

It proves that
international cooperation

on climate change
is possible.

That's amazing.
So the planet is saved?

No, the Paris Agreement
is just a first step.

Its emissions limits are
non-binding and by itself,

it won't stop us from exceeding
two degrees of warming.

(sighs)
So we are doomed.

I feel like Miles Teller
I got so much whiplash.

Wayne, you're missing
the point.

This isn't pass/fail.

This isn't about
saving the planet

or destroying the earth.

No matter how tough
things are now,

we can always make things
better for Sammy

and for the kids
that come later,

and the Paris Agreement is
a big step on that road.

Just... tell me
what I can do to help.

Well, in addition
to reducing and reusing

and all those good things,

you have to take
individual action

to encourage
collective responsibility.

You can tell your politicians
to uphold the Paris Agreement

and build on its success,

and you can raise
your voice

and encourage others
to do the same.

And most importantly,
you can teach Sammy

to take responsibility
and to continue the fight

when she grows up.

Humans have changed the earth
in profound ways,

and we're gonna
keep changing it.

But it's up to us what kind
of earth we're making.

Thanks, Adam.

That makes me feel,
well, kinda sad.

But also kinda hopeful.

Like a Demi Lovato song.

Hmm, not familiar,
but I trust you.

I should probably
get her to bed.

Of course.

Sammy...

I know we messed up a bit.

But we built all this.

So that means we have
the power to change it.

And I promise to do
everything I can

to leave you a better world.

Adam, tell us again

about how we can't measure
our carbon footprints!

No! I wanna hear about
how prescription drugs

are the real epidemic!

Guys, I already told you
all those things.

No!
Again, again!

We wanna hear 'em again!

We love your facts,
they never get old.

Yeah, Adam.

You're just such
a fascinating guy.

I feel truly lucky
to be your friend.

I should go, right?

Yeah.

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0