Reader Eric Brooks has brought some information regarding the palm oil industry to my attention. Biofuels is in fact a small but growing part of the industry, problematic because it leads to more deforestation.

Although food and cosmetics accounts for 70% and 18% of global palm oil use respectively, use of palm oil for biofuels is growing, especially in the EU, where it now accounts for over half of all palm oil imports.

This means biofuel is a bigger part of the palm oil problem than I realized, so I’d like to update that part of my article.

However, I would still argue that Planet of the Humans does not give fair treatment to this issue. It doesn’t acknowledge the use of palm oil in food and cosmetics at all, nor does it make the connection between biofuels and destruction of orangutan habitat clear.

And it doesn’t even begin to consider the alternatives to using palm oil as a biofuel, or to any sort of biofuel at all. The obvious alternatives are 1) electric vehicles that don’t require liquid fuel, 2) public transportation that’s also electric, 3) safe sidewalks and bike paths, 4) building cities through infill rather than urban sprawl so cars are not required, 5) building high-speed rail between cities, which reduces flying for short- and medium-haul trips.

All of these policies and programs have long been advocated for by the very environmentalists this film condemns. And rather than exploring any of these solutions, the movie either ignores or condemns them so it can whip up misplaced rage. It’s another way Planet of the Humans does a disservice to efforts to address the climate crisis — and even to address the problem of using palm oil as a biofuel, which the movie itself brings up.