Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems
and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.
--Isaac Asimov*
In this brand-new slideshow (premiering on TED.com), Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act.
Al Gore's message has matured from mere fear mongering in his early film, An Inconvenient Truth, to attempting to develop a plan to save the Planet from Mankind's Carbon fuels addiction.
Gore has been involved with environmental issues since 1976, when as a freshman congressman, he held the "first congressional hearings on the climate change, and co-sponsor[ed] hearings on toxic waste and global warming." He continued to speak on the topic throughout the 1980s and was known as one of the Atari Democrats, later called the "Democrats' Greens, politicians who see issues like clean air, clean water and global warming as the key to future victories for their party."
In 2004 he co-launched Generation Investment Management, a company for which he serves as Chair. A few years later, Gore also founded The Alliance for Climate Protection, an organization which eventually founded the We Campaign. Gore also became a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm's climate change solutions group. He also helped to organize the Live Earth benefit concerts.
Criticism
Gore's involvement in environmental issues has been criticized. For example, he has been labeled a "carbon billionaire" and accused of profiting from his advocacy; a charge which he has denied, by saying, among other things, that he has not been "working on this issue for 30 years... because of greed".
A conservative Washington D.C. think tank, and a Republican member of Congress, among others, have claimed that Gore has a conflict-of-interest for advocating for taxpayer subsidies of green-energy technologies in which he has a personal investment.
Data in An Inconvenient Truth have been questioned. In a 2007 court case, a British judge said that while he had "no doubt ...the film was broadly accurate" and its "four main scientific hypotheses ...are supported by a vast quantity of research," he upheld nine of a "long schedule" of alleged errors presented to the court.
He ruled that the film could be shown to schoolchildren in the UK if guidance notes given to teachers were amended to balance out the film's one-sided political views.
Gore's spokeswoman responded in 2007 that the court had upheld the film's fundamental thesis and its use as an educational tool.
Organizations including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) criticized Gore for not advocating vegetarianism as a way for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint. Gore agreed that meat production contributes to increased carbon emissions, but did not want to "go quite as far as ... saying everybody should become a vegetarian". He said that although he is not a vegetarian, he has "cut back sharply" on his consumption of meat.
Bill Clinton recently converted to the Vegan diet.
When asked by Bjørn Lomborg to debate whether spending on health and education should take priority over limiting carbon emissions, Gore responded that he would not debate because the “scientific community has gone through this chapter and verse. We have long since passed the time when we should pretend this is a ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ issue . . . . It’s not a matter of theory or conjecture."
T.E.D. Profile:
Al Gore always intended to get something done, and since leaving Washington, DC -- following the tumultuous 2000 election -- he's still at it. In fact, his campaign for alerting the world to the dangers of climate change has only gained momentum.
His Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth is the third most successful documentary ever released at the box office. Gore's famed Power Point presentation has drawn in a reluctant public, with its meticulously researched content and lucid style.
Meanwhile, Gore himself has found his footing as a communicator. The once "wooden" style has given way to a warmth and humor that reveal the depth of his experience as a soldier, congressman, senator, veep, TV executive, teacher and author.
Arguably, Gore is better positioned today than he has ever been to affect the future of our environment and world.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
"The only vice president ever to mock his stiff image by [imitating] a wax-museum figure, Gore turns out to be the best professor you never had -- easygoing, knowledgeable and funny."
- Rolling Stone
http://www.ted.com/speakers/al_gore.html
*http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/
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