Al Gore: Don't Despair, Mood Shifting

[RestoreGore]

Recognition of the problem seen as the first step … Al Gore in Sydney yesterday.
Photo: Sahlan Hayes

Al Gore-Don't Despair: Mood Is Shifting

Stephanie Peatling
November 21, 2006

PEOPLE are caught in the headlights of the global warming crisis - so much so they are in danger of being run over, the former US vice-president Al Gore says. The climate-change campaigner said people were startled at the extent of their impact on the environment."There has been a slowness to recognise how swiftly we have changed the relationship between the human race and the ecology," Mr Gore told the Herald yesterday. "We're in danger of outstripping the environmental niche that sustains us … We have acquired the ability to change the Earth's atmosphere." That, he said, was a huge challenge to the imagination.

But Mr Gore is not depressed that people are not moving faster; he believes the message is getting through. He sees public opinion in Australia shifting quickly towards demanding more action from politicians."I have had the clear impression that in a lot of minds there has been a very powerful change in public opinion on the issue of the climate crisis," he said. "I think that the role of business leadership in bringing about that shift has been significant." Mr Gore was last in Australia in September for the premiere of his documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

This time he is visiting Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane to hold workshops on how to give the presentation on which his film is based. During that time the latest round of United Nations-sponsored talks on the Kyoto Protocol have taken place. While it is a slow process, Mr Gore remains committed to multilateral action, and expects the next stage of the international agreement to be brought forward from 2012 to 2010. Mr Gore said the way to persuade high emitters such as China and India was to lead by example.

He also believes that the Kyoto model, cumbersome as it may be, is the best chance the world has for taking action on climate change. "The business about Australia going its own way and writing its own little treaty and waiting for the rest of the world to join up one by one - that could be a long, long time."

More at the link above.
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So true. PM Howard has admitted there is a problem, but remember, there is an election coming next year and a majority of his people now believe this is a crisis that must be faced now. From my readings regarding PM Howard, he seems to now be looking for a way to have the best of both worlds in order to appease his constituents and also the coal industry which Australia relies on, and will more than likely rely on more now that their economy is in a bit of trouble due to the most serious drought in over 100 years. Quite ironic actually, isn't it? The very type of fuels Australia sells to save it's economy is part of the problem causing their drought. (You can read more about that on my other blog, Water Is Life ( http://water-is-life.blogspot.com )

It would then seem to me that PM Howard has to see his environmental epiphany through a bit more than just acknowledging it exists. Acknowledging then should lead to moral action. The next step is for him to look beyond "clean coal technology" (which to me is an oxymoron) to also putting funds forth to see alternate energy sources liks solar power become more prevalent, and working with his people to educate them on this problem and arm them with the tools necessary to meet the challenge.

And while I truly do not respect him regarding his stance on the illegal war in Iraq, if he were to take real measures regarding this crisis I would give him credit where credit is due. I think he should also be grateful that Mr. Gore has come down to his country to train people and give them those tools. This by no means will be a small task, and will involve getting the entire world to see the urgency and danger of it, but also to see the hope in working together for a more sustainable future.

I also read yesterday that Mr. Gore's slideshow training is coming to Britain, and I am happy about that. I really, really hope to someday see it come to Africa. The people there are starving for this knowledge as many of them starve for food and water. The area that includes, Somalia, Niger, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, etc. has been especially hard hit by severe drought and now floods that are displacing thousands of people with stagnant water causing cholera and other diseases. They need to know how to manage these castastrophes and manage the resources they have more efficiently and effectively.

We also have a moral duty to teach them how to do so as this country is the top emitter of greenhouse gases, while Africa is near the bottom of that list. Their people who are very poor do not deserve to suffer the consequences of our behavior without us taking any steps to help them deal with it. To do any less is immoral.

[marmar]

1. I'd have less despair if Al Gore would announce his run for the presidency...

:patriot:

[RestoreGore]

2. That isn't what this is about

This is about people like you and me acknowledging this crisis and taking action.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. That Scorpions song is playing in my mind...

..."Winds of Change" :)

[RestoreGore]

4. Unfortunately, it is taking longer for it to blow over here

But yes, good to see it starting. And we have the best ambassador for the planet to help us with that in Al Gore.