June 04, 2006
Very Inconvenient, But By No Means Hopeless
Al Gore sees the big picture, and he shows it to us -- so that we can bear to see it. He leaves us with urgency and moral determination, informed, but still hopeful, primed for action. No mean trick. Al Gore is surely the King of the PowerPoint presentation.
He is very psychologically sophisticated. In fact, he tells us that for many years he has been studying ways to communicate this information so that others can hear it. He, himself, was very impacted when he first learned about climate changes in college (he doesn't, of course, mention WHICH college-- Harvard, Vanderbilt Divinity School [no kidding], and Vanderbilt Law School). He was also stunned by the indifference with which he was met when he presented the information to Congress in the 70's. (Must have been before PowerPoint.) Ah, the dilemma of a true visionary.
Since his loss of the presidential election in 2000, (or should we say the coup d'etat?), Gore has sharpened his down home skills His southern accent is a bit more pronounced than I remembered, and, in the film, he shows lots of pictures of growing up on the family farm, as well as the small apartment in a Washington hotel where his family stayed for eight months out of every year when his father was in Congress - (making it seem more torturous than privileged).
In "The Inconvenient Truth" , Gore provides examples of people making difficult changes, in the light of new scientific information. His own father stopped growing tobacco when Gore's only sibling, Nancy, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Without flaunting his own, Gore shows us how scientific knowledge and education can offer guidance. He provides us with an inspiring example of a "willed moral achievement" with the regeneration of the ozone layer after the ban on fluorcarbons in aerosol products. He consults with experts. He labels the use of fossil fuels and war "outdated", rather than "bad". HE THINKS, and he does it right in front of us. What's more, he makes us yearn for leadership that thinks.
The image that came to my mind after watching the movie was one of children scrapping, and jumping from trees on top of a minefield that is threatening to blow up from the impact -- it's right on the verge. The kids want to continue playing, even though they have been warned that it is very dangerous to do so. They need to be called to attention, organized, and helped to tiptoe quietly off the minefield.
Gore is able to show us how we have participated in the creation of global warming without shaming or blaming. We are left with the feeling that we can participate in a positive solution to our current dilemma. Environmentally sound actions are cleverly embedded in the credits, accompanied by the inspirational music of Melissa Etheridge, so that you find yourself eagerly playing a game of searching the credits for ideas about how to take action. Since you can't quite absorb everything as it morphs before you, you simply have to run home and look it up. And then, at the very least, change lightbulbs like crazy.
Just so that you don't have to wait to see the movie, here are 30 actions you can consider taking in the meantime. If you can, that is.
Really, Al Gore has done everything that Peter Sandman recommends on his wonderful risk communication website. Gore's wise, informed, empowering style of leadership is a welcome relief to the fear mongering, hysteria frothing tactics that have been used by our leadership for malicious purposes since 9/11.
Photo note: A thing of beauty , withering, but not quite gone.
Addendum: Just in case you missed this story about Gore's activity during Katrina
Addendum: Roger Ebert's review even though he spoils the plot, which I tried not to do.
Addendum #2: Global warming means more ticks, mosquitos and poison ivy too.