By Craig Rucker

May 18, 2017 - When it comes to pushing radical environmentalism, no one does it with more vigor than Hollywood.

Such is the case with their latest gem, “From the Ashes,” which purports to showcase the evils of America’s use of coal to generate electricity.

As we’ve done in the past, CFACT sent in an undercover operative to a special sneak preview earlier this week to get the early scoop on how the filmmakers are trying to snooker the American public with yet another slick presentation of one-sided facts.

What our operative found was no surprise: A bunch of hype very short on substance.

The movie, produced by (appropriately named) “RadicalMedia,” is being distributed through National Geographic and makes no pretense of being even remotely unbiased.

During an “invite only” reception before the special movie screening, a prominent Sierra Club member was overheard saying there are roughly 350 U.S. Sierra Club members funded by the Bloomberg Foundation (the same Left-wing foundation that bankrolled this film) “who wake up every day with the sole purpose of shutting down coal mines.”

The film itself launched into a number of diatribes against coal use, all bordering on the preposterous:

• Claim: Coal companies don’t care about their workers: Uh-huh, that’s why Trump spoke to large crowds of enthusiastic miners and belted Hillary in coal mining areas during the last election.

• Claim: Coal use is killing thousands each year: While of course there’s accidents in every industry (there were 9 coal mining deaths last year), the truth is coal actually saves far more lives than it takes, not to mention fuels economic growth, creates jobs, and improves living standards for millions around the world.

• Claim: Coal is dying and never coming back: Say what!? If coal is dying, try telling that to China, India, Japan, Germany etc., all of which are bankrolling the construction of new coal-fired plants with many coming on line each passing week.

• Claim: Coal is fueling catastrophic climate change: Again, are these people for real? With climate models all failing miserably and no significant warming in nearly 20 years, this theory is becoming more and more suspect with each passing day.

Fortunately our operative informed us the film dragged on for about 75 minutes, which seemed to tax even this dedicated crowd of true believers’ attention spans. One suspects it will have even less success with general audiences during its upcoming limited release.