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The Case for Optimism: Al Gore's TED Talk




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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