An Inconvenient Truth
At the request of a family member, I rented and watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."
In my opinion, the entire theme and purpose of the film was revealed in the first opening scene, when Mr. Gore introduced himself to the audience by saying, "I'm Al Gore and I used to be President of The United States." I'm sure he was trying to be "funny" (Huh? Al Gore funny?), but his anger leaked out around the edges.
His whole presentation, for me, at least (and one other observer) seemed like a school teacher on a personal ego trip. Many of his "facts" were unsupported, for example, "... based upon a study in Sweden" Who did the study ... Never stated. (Maybe a high school student.)
When he got to the part about major cities being underwater because of his "facts," I just swooned!
Several times he referred to the "Kyoto Protocol" and the failing of President Bush (which he referred to as "the current administration") to sign on. It was obvious that Gore didn't like that and that HE would have signed up. Needless to say, there was no explanation for the reasons why the US didn't ratify Kyoto. (If you don't know why - you should educate yourself and find out why.)
At several other times in the film, he referred to "the current administration's" failings ... in his opinion.
BOTTOM LINE: Mr. Al Gore still thinks the "current administration" cheated him and stole the election from him. He is using his interest in the environment and the Global Warming issue to flog George Bush. "An Inconvenient Truth" is simply his vehicle.
NOTE: Global warming is certainly an issue, but one that has both supporters and detractors. Do your own research, make your own decisions and avoid "authorities" with an mission and unsupported facts.
posted by Roger Daisley @ 1/18/2007 07:15:00 PM
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3 Comments:
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Only the hunter has forward vision. Their prey cannot see what is in front of them and cannot discern how near real danger lurks.
To be honest, I haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth. I saw a similar two hour special on TV hosted by a former news anchor. I'm sure it was pretty much the same thing.
And I am certainly understanding of your frustration with the political overtones of the movie. I really don't think an issue as important as man-made climate change should be used as an opportunity to make petty political points.
But the issue here is climate change, not Al Gore. And in regard to the issue, I really don't think there are any credible detractors. There may be many differences of opinion on elements of global warming, like how fast it's happening and what to do about it; but not whether it's actually happening. I mean, there are still people (some of them leaders of countries) who don't believe the holocaust happened. Some people don't believe man landed on the moon. Some people deny the obvious. There will always be detractors, but not credible ones.
Among the people or organizations who have publicly acknowledged man-made climate change, you will find George Bush, Exxon Mobile (and most other top oil companies), and major publications like The Economist. In each passing week, more public figures and businesses are acknowledging what scientists have been observing for years. I give them credit--they waited until the evidence was clear. It hasn’t always been.
I think average Americans have passed the tipping point on this issue. And of course, I think it is terrific news. As you and I discussed over the phone, the solution to man-made global warming can be the same as the solution to terrorism: reduce dependence on fossil fuels (foreign and domestic). We have an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and unite a divided country toward a common goal.
Is there any country more powerful than ours when this is the case?
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