Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
It's too bad weasely answers can't somehow be converted into clean energy, because Martin Smith, the "Frontline" producer and reporter, elicits a lot of them in "Heat," his savvy investigation of global warming and our chances of stopping it. ...
Kevin McDonough, United Features Syndicate
Nobody watches "Frontline" for the comedy, but I found it amusing to see publicists squirm under vigilant grilling. ... Students of evasion, double talk and nondenial denials should not miss this.
Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant
... [P]eerless Martin Smith looks into the main issues of global pollution, the ambivalent role of the U.S. industry and the prospects of environmental change given a new administration. Its typically clear delineations of the issues, it turns out, makes it a perfect choice for pre-election consideration.
Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times
... Thorough and wide-ranging, "Heat" takes us from India's cement factories ... and the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali to the international empire that is Exxon and the chambers of the Congress. ...
It's enough to make a person turn off all the lights, pull the covers over her head and weep. But that, of course, is the problem. This is exactly what Americans have done for far too long. Or at least this is what "Heat" argues, and it does so quite persuasively. ...
Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe
When it comes to climate change, the official word on the campaign trail is optimism. ... "Heat," the "Frontline" documentary that premieres tonight, ... functions as a big wet blanket, a sad reminder that, in this country and many others, the sort of change the planet needs has never come easily. This is an in-depth look at the impediments to climate change solutions, with a focus on the political system that has, so far, resisted anything more than tiny, piecemeal efforts. ...
Ellen Gray, Philadelphia Daily News
... [C]orrespondent Martin Smith takes viewers on a tour of the roadblocks that currently stand between 6.5 billion Earthlings and any serious attempts to halt global warming. ...
Watching "Heat" won't stop money from talking. Chances are, nothing will. But understanding the complex issues behind all those talking points might at least move more of us to demand a say in the future that seems to be coming, whether we're ready or not.
John Doyle, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ont.)
... dead serious and disheartening, if you care about the issue of global warming. ... Correspondent Martin Smith and a team traveled the world to assess how the issue is being faced in various countries. Bluntly, what they found isn't pretty. ...
Kate Sheppard, Grist Environmental News and Commentary
... The film examines the factors on the Hill that have held Congress back from action for so many years and looks at the debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act in June. It also covers everything from the rapid industrial expansion in China and India, to the death of the electric car, to the resurgence of hype around nuclear power. All told, it's an impressive piece -- and timely, hitting voters two weeks before they go to the polls. ...
Ronald Bailey, Reason Online
... Heat does a good job illustrating the interplay between politics and economics that drives and stymies global and domestic energy and climate policies. But there is one glaring flaw. Heat treats cutting greenhouse gases as the only way to deal with climate change. There is another strategy -- adaptation. ... The big question that Heat does not attempt to answer is: Is global warming worse than what governments might try to do about it?