Got back a little while ago from an event sponsored by HSBC Bank at the Four Seasons in San Francisco, where about 100 of us got to see Al Gore’s remarkable presentation about global warming. (That’s a file photo above.)
I got to shake hands with the former vice president and introduce myself, but the first thing I asked was whether I could videotape his presentation. He said no, “but a DVD is in the works.”
For those who haven’t heard, “An Inconvenient Truth” is the name of a new movie appearing in select theaters May 24. See the ClimateCrisis.net website. Participant Productions will be working on this campaign as well as part of a broader coalition.
Some quick takeaways:
• Yes, the presentation is as powerful as has been rumored.
• Yes, the changes in weather patterns that we all sense does seem to be real, and more scientists are now leaning in the direction that last year’s record hurricane season is related to global warming — in both number and intensity — with more on the way.
• The most alarming part of this is the rate at which the polar ice caps are melting. Gore showed computer animations in which a modest rise in ocean levels would devastate major cities, causing dislocation for tens of millions of people in China and India and flooding lower Manhattan and most of South Florida.
There was a Q&A following the slide show, and I asked the final question. What should we, as citizens, be doing about this? Only 2 percent of the public believes that global warming is a serious problem. But this isn’t a liberal or conservative issue, it’s an issue that cuts across ideological lines. (Who, besides the coal and oil industries, can possibly argue in favor of melting ice caps?) What, Mr. Vice President, can we do to take action and create a new political movement to make the public aware of the consequences of doing nothing?
Gore has been asked this before, but he was eloquent in his response, touching on our civic responsibilities, on the fact that “this is a moral, an ethical, a spiritual issue,” and one that is the most serious ever faced by humankind. But then he turned to Chinese culture and the Chinese symbol for crisis, a symbol that epitomizes tragedy on one side but opportunity on the other. Combating global warming will be a boon to businesses and entrepreneurs. We will prevail, he said, because we must.
He received a standing ovation.
See previous coverage of Gore’s global warming campaign here.
By the way, I’ll be offline and not blogging for about two weeks — as of now — while vacationing in Italy and traveling to Cannes.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
wow….
you are living a charmed life JD!
I have sent details to some scientists of a potential solution to the problem of quickening ice melts at the icecaps; It is quite easy. I surmise that it would only take a cooling of a few degrees in the atmosphere above the icecaps over a few year(s) period to begin to reverse the entire warming and severe melting process. To achieve that few degrees of cooling I would install ice/snow making machines around the continent(s) (perhaps 1000 of them; if we can spend 1/2 a trillion on a pre-eminent/needless war we should have money to invest 1/500 of that to put these machines in use and save our planet). During the coldest times of the year for 5 to 6 months at a time I would layer the ice/snow to tens of feet high. As the depth became higher and higher it would compress into hard ice over time. Slowly some ice would begin to stay, although much would melt (no loss, just keep at it). In time the atmosphere would change a fraction of a degree, then more and eventually the air above the continent would be a few degrees cooler. In turn this would alter or begin to restore the icecap. I have had much interest in this idea. I have tried to send this to Mr. Gore but to no avail. Do you know his email address?
What do you think
I just heard today that Al Gore has announced he will not run for President in 08 because he feels his call is too enlighten people about the Global Warming issues in his new Movie. While I agree that it is a serious Issue what better position to effect change than in the White House! We elected him and got Robbed of a Good President by Bush! I think it is time we all rally around the flag and Kick the current President in the Butt and send him on his way and give the seat to the man we elected. Al Gore Jr. We need to elect him again in 08 cause I don’t think many American’s are going to be dumb enough too put another money hungry republican into office. Just my opinion. I could be Wrong. But I would of given anything too Meet the former vice president as you did. It would be a priveledge.
I have heard Gore holds up China as having better emission standards than the United States. This is a joke.
China is an environmental disaster and it is not because of its laws. It is because of the lack of enforcement of the laws. China’s care emission laws may be better than the United States’, but that is basically irrelevant because there are a huge number of cars there whose emissions would probably not meet anyone’s standards.
My family saw the movie last evening and have been haunted by the absolute stupidity of the government. Ever since the Honorable Mr. Gore presented his well-researched information to them, they have tried to make him and his research irrelevant and incorrect. What more do they need to see? How much more selfish and greedy can they get? Don’t they have families, children, loved ones? How can a society ignore the facts and the evidence? My mind raced all night with alternating nightmares and visions of hope. I agree that it will be up to indivduals, entrepreneurs and ethical businesses to stand up to the selfish arrogance we see today and change the course of the climate and human condition. We are telling everyone we know about this film and are planning community forums to begin a change in our own small town.
Al Gore is a lightening bolt of hope. I wish there were more that I could do to help.
Sharon
Ilive in Victoria B.C Canada where everything is lush and green all the time but other parts of the world are not as lucky .Global warming is here to stay and we might have already reached the saturation point of no return .Global warming is everybodys elses problem not ours-yah right,we are so smart here in north america.To show you what I mean about lip service on global warming I have undertaking a project on water evaporation and how best to save or slow down the problem this is the most valuable resourse we have in the world,even more valuable than gasoline.A university [retired] professor has patented a process that will save water evaporationfrom 31-50% who cares nobody.Ihave sent this information to the top 50 players in north america nobody but nobody CARES .Ileave you with this phrase ”’water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.”’ Ihope MR.GORE will read this and we extend a invitation to him to evaluate what we have….. we have the answer to reduce water evaporation and change the directional path of a hurriane by 10%.Everybody in the world can benifit from this. do you really CARE