Ok, I'm a little late getting to this posting, but Al Gore came by Google on the 7th and spoke about global climatic change. Gore was articulate, extremely well-informed, interesting, and witty. He delivered a well-honed presentation that was the basis of the upcoming movie, An Inconvenient Truth. I don't know if I need to see the film now, since he gave such an amazingly detailed and convincing analysis that I find it hard to believe the movie would add much. If you haven't seen the movie, I would recommend it highly. His presentation was chilling, relevant, and extremely engaging.
The synopsis: basically, we're doomed. Or put in a more palatable light: we are doomed if we don't start making the environment a political issue. Gore's most important contribution is not that global warming is a problem, but that there is something that Americans can and must do about it. He points out that the changes in the climate are already so dramatic that the only way to ensure our survival as a species is to take the environment seriously. Most of his presentation is not preaching to stubborn Americans who don't want to give up their Hummers, but rather a simple, logical, presentation of facts.
Only the spectres of disinformation (the Bush Administration, pro-oil industry pundits, and Exxon/Mobil's vast array of well-funded organizations [54, by Gore's count!]) continue to downplay the real threat of global warming to our world. One of my favorite statistics actually touches on the media, another topic of interest to Gore. He pointed out that the scientific community unanimously concurs (and has for the last several years) that human beings are the direct cause of global warming but that somewhere around half of major media articles
I've not always counted myself much of an environmentalist. I mean I send off my letters to my liberal congresspeople every time ANWR drilling proposals come up (which seems like every other week), and I participate in the whole BioGems effort set up by the NRDC. Easy stuff, but that's about it. I'm one of those concerned citizens who does very little beyond feeling guilty about getting my groceries packed in plastic. One strength of Gore's approach was not to make us feel more guilty, but to try to establish some ground for political action. He is interested in some of the things I've been interested in for a long time: the public sphere and a politically responsible and engaged public.
See the movie trailer here.
Ezra Klein's insightful essay on Gore's media savvy ways is worth reading. It is a great compliment to the film.
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