Sunday, August 17, 2008

an inconvenient truth (2006)


We are entering into a period of consequences.
- Winston Churchill


Al Gore was this close to becoming President of the most powerful country in the world - and then Florida happened. He stepped aside for George W. Bush after the Supreme Court made a ruling. Gore thereafter went on to gain weight, grow a beard, loll in sweat suits, and watch Bush send troops to Iraq.

Debacles happen. Gore could have chosen to perpetually stay glued in front of his plasma TV murmuring expletives at the Republicans but no, he came to the realization that he is meant for other things, that events of his life has been leading him to a purpose, that the Presidency could have helped him achieve that purpose but it was not the only avenue, and that the Presidency may even have waylaid him from such purpose given the political bargains one is constrained to enter into in the White House. And so Gore shaped up. And so we see him now in An Inconvenient Truth.

The documentary concisely shows the rapid degradation of the planet and at such an alarming speed never before seen in history. The film presents results of scientific studies, graphs, charts, and pictures to drive home the point that if we do not act now, in less than 50 years we will experience even more terrible hurricanes, flooding, droughts, extinction of species, warmer temperatures, askew seasons, food and water shortages, displacement of people, disappearance of land masses, and all other devastations which Gore equal to a walk through the pages of the bible’s Book of Revelation.

The film tackles head on two hot issues surrounding environmental efforts: (1) are scientists in agreement regarding the environmental concern? and (2) environment versus the economy.

On the first issue, the documentary shows the result of a random sample of scientific studies concerning the planet’s deterioration and not one study said otherwise. It appears that doubts on whether the impact of climate change is real and imminent have been systemically created by politicians and the media. On the second issue, results of studies showed that corporations which have adopted environmentally-friendly policies are way ahead in terms of corporate profits. Gore, for good measure, asks however the rhetorical question that even assuming that good environmental policies cut on corporate profits or slow down a country’s growth rate, what good will all these monetary gains be at the end of the day when there is no planet to speak of.

Gore has been making the rounds, giving basically the same talk on An Inconvenient Truth to heads of states, legislators, administrators, schools, lobby groups, and even small groups emphasizing that if the planet is to be saved, it will require the involvement of everyone.

Climatecrisis.net list down 10 things that we all can do which will make a tremendous impact in halting the declining state of affairs of our planet:

1. Change a light - Replacing one regular light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
2. Drive less – Walk, bike, carpool, or take mass transit more often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive.
3. Recycle more – You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.
4. Check your tires – Keep your tires inflated properly can improve a gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
5. Use less hot water – It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (250 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).
6. Avoid products with a lot of packaging – You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioixide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
7. Adjust your thermostat – Moving your thermostat just by 2 degrees will save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioixide a year with this simple adjustment.
8. Plant a tree – A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioixide over its lifetime.
9. Turn off electronic devices – Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of carbon dioxide a year.
10. Spread the word - Be a climate champion at home and at work. http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/pdf/10things.pdf


As Al Gore has shown, there are cooler things in this world than being President of the most powerful country.

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