On Call with Al Gore: Talking Movies, Global Warming and the Truth
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.12.06
Yesterday afternoon, Al Gore and MoveOn.org's Executive Director, Eli Pariser, sat down for a conference call to chat about An Inconvenient Truth, climate change and how to enable a cooling globe, and TreeHugger was on the call. It was great to have the opportunity to engage the man behind the slideshow, and get in to some of the details surrounding his slideshow, the film, and what to do about it all. Among the more poignant things he said was that the necessary force to change the way the world works must come from the grassroots level, and that climate change has moved beyond just being a political issue; it is instead a moral issue that we must all be responsible for handling. He is proudly "climate-neutral" (meaning that he's bought enough "green tags" or renewable energy certificates to offset whatever carbon emissions he's responsible for) and encourages everyone, from individuals to businesses to governments, to do the same. He has advice for those of us who can't offset everything, or are too young to vote:
"Arm yourself with the knowledge. Go to the movie. Read the book. Go to the website. Find out how to be a part of the solution. Bear in mind that often in America, young people have led the way to social change...". He'll also be working in Tennessee this summer to train over 1000 people to do his slideshow (with their own personal touches), so that they can follow in his footsteps and take it on the road. Until then, be sure to get yourself to his movie. ::MoveOn and ::An Inconvenient Truth
How is Gore finding those 1000 people? Hand-picked? A search? Browsed the movie's website and didn't find much info...
--Author's response--
Dan,
He mentioned that they're working on getting a website going to help coordinate the effort. Until then, you can snail mail his office:
The Office of the Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
In the "what to do about it" part at the end of the film, I was very dissapointed that they did not say anything about sustainable food purchasing or eating local. It may be that adjusting eating habits is most significant single thing that most people can do about the problem. And eating local has enormous general sustainability benefits, aside from addressing the global warming (unlike, say, driving a hybrid which is better but is still driving).
Al Gore Tells All on Larry King Live Tuesday
Former Vice President Al Gore will appear on CNN’s Larry King Live on Tuesday, June 13, at 9 p.m. (ET). Gore will discuss global warming and his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. He will also discuss his life after the 2000 presidential election and his future plans. He will take viewer phone calls.
GreenEngineer,
We have a web page that looks at the food side of climate change. Check out The inconvenient truth about what we eat.
I saw the film last night. The website that is recommended at the end of the film is:
http://www.climatecrisis.net.
I thought the film was fabulous in its explanations of the science behind the devastation. But the solutions were rather individualistic. Changing the oil and gas lobbies and U.S. corporate entities is more than daunting.
The individual tips were just part of it. Gore mentioned often that his goal is to educate people and create a grassroots movement so that any politician from any party doesn't have a choice but to address this problem that is on the mind of its constituents/voters.
New York Refeaf state conference 2006 community trees The Next Generation in Amerifca's first suburb
July 13-15 2006 C.W.Post Campus of Long Island University jBrookville, N.Y Email address at ilovegreatdanes@yahoo.com or releaf06@aol.com www.treesny.com Maybe someone woould like to attend this conferenced from al gore
"And eating local has enormous general sustainability benefits, aside from addressing the global warming (unlike, say, driving a hybrid which is better but is still driving)."
I'm told that that depends entirely on how efficiently the food was produced and shipped. For example, lamb grown in NZ and shipped to the UK is still more efficient than locally grown lamb in the UK.
So basically importing from NZ is more sustainable in terms of environmental costs of the raising/production and travel, than doing the same locally in this particular instance.