Former Vice President Al Gore asks three vital
questions during the course of his TED talk: Do we really have to change?; Can
we
change?; and Will we change? He explores these
questions through some anecdotes but mostly with a daunting barrage of statistical data from around the
globe. The statistics not only highlight
the need for change, as he lays out the predicate
in his opening remarks, but they also serve as a Call to Action as we are watching this TED talk. Gore then
goes to the more hopeful and relevant
points that list the ways we are changing. Not only is the reality of climate change not a political issue, nor is it
even a scientific question at this point, but it
has become a major economic issue and one
that even the greatest military force ever assembled,
the United States Military, has conceded is a real challenge.
So there are many hopeful elements listed in
this presentation from Al Gore. Gore has
made it his mission, since losing the Presidency in 2000, to tell us the Uncomfortable and Inconvenient
Truth about Climate Change. This is a way
of reaffirming his message, and also it serves as a challenge and a focal point for
those in the Resistance movement now
flourishing through the machinations of an Administration that has proved itself to be hostile to the
overwhelming truth of Climate Change in
our time.
There are no easy answers, as this was taped in
2016, and the Paris Accord is one of the
bright spots mentioned that lies in real jeopardy under the threat of the Trump Administration pulling
out of the agreement. However, the march
of inevitable statistics and overwhelming
data will not be stifled or pushed under the carpet, no matter the outcome of this government's attempts to
rollback and elude the truth about a
changing climate. This is why this particular talk matters now. This is not something to be put off
for a later date. The time for action has
arrived.
We were told in An Inconvenient Truth what we can do. And this is a particularly important topic to be held up as we move
into the next round of voting in American
elections and across Europe. The need for those
who vote to know the truth about climate change, and where politicians from both parties stand on these issues is
now more vital than ever before. This is
Recommended Viewing and should be Must See on
TV or any other device that you can beg, borrow or rent.
The point is that we need to keep working
towards the goals outlined from the Paris
Accords. It is the cause that Gore spoke about so passionately in An Inconvenient Truth, and even through
our own Environmental Protection Agency, we
now see the work of the past eight years
being gutted to be replaced by the entrenched interests of fossil fuel entities. That is the reason that all of
our work begins, the work of the
citizens, the moment the film ends. We are now the Keepers of the Flame and Guardians of the Galaxy, if
you will. The message is this: Arise
and accept the Challenge, fellow Planet Earth
Inhabitants. The die is cast and
the gauntlet has been thrown down. Now is the time to go forth and spread the
message….There is hope!
***The
TED Talk with Al Gore entitled: The case for Optimism on Climate Change will
be shown this Saturday at the
Clearwater Main Library at 1:00 pm. Please try to attend as there
will be a panel discussion afterwards featuring
Representatives Pat Kemp, Charlie Christ, and others who will answer your questions and work to fire up the
room as we go
forth and multiply in numbers!
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