Wednesday, October 29, 2025 - 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Memorial Union Building Theater I
The Carsey School of Public Policy, UNH Sustainability Institute, and The League of Conservation Voters present The White House Effect, an award-winning documentary that reveals how a pivotal moment in George H.W. Bush's presidency altered the course of US climate change policy.
The evening's schedule will consist of a welcome reception at 6 PM, a Film Screening at 6:30 PM, followed by a post-film discussion panel. Free admission.
The White House Effect (2024) explores the gripping drama that unfolded inside the George H.W. Bush White House after scientists warned the country for the first time that global warming was real and underway. Bush, who in 1988 ran as an environmental candidate, finds himself caught in the middle when his chief of staff, John Sununu, locks horns with EPA chief Bill Reilly over how to respond to the public’s growing environmental concerns. Ideological conservatives and industry power brokers line up behind Sununu as the forward-minded Reilly looks increasingly isolated. Meanwhile, Bush faces mounting pressure to make a decision that will change the course of history.
Using only archival materials, the film tells a harrowing political story about the consequences of presidential power and its impact on how we deal with the climate crisis today.
The White House Effect film does have a particular New Hampshire connection with the depiction of the undue influence of White House Chief of Staff John Sununu on national and global climate inaction at a time that was an inflection point in environmental history, especially in hindsight!
