In Which I Describe Seeing Al Gore In Person

Last night I attended Wired magazine's panel discussion on climate change at the Town Hall theatre in Manhattan with my friend Megan. It was, of course, connected to this week's release of "An Inconvenient Truth". Speaking were Al Gore, Dr. James Hansen (head of NASA Institute for Space Studies here in NY), Lawrence Bender (producer of Gore's film), and Laurie David (ditto). The panel was moderated by John Hockenberry, from Wired and from news divisions at NPR and NBC. Chelsea Clinton and Tipper Gore were in the audience.

It was a surprisingly captivating 2-hour discussion, beginning with Gore speaking on the historic threat posed by climate change. He used a military example... He said that in his days on the Senate Armed Services Committee, they looked at international conflicts occurring on three levels of significance- localized, regional, and global. He noted that environmental issues can be looked at the same way. Global warming is, of course, the latter of the three. He noted that we are nearing a tipping point, but that there's still plenty of time to change course. One example they used during the panel was the ozone layer crisis that was an issue in the late '80s and early '90s. Dr. Hansen noted that ozone depletion has slowed down considerably in recent years, due to greater regulation and bans on chlorofluorocarbons and other dangerous agents. He further noted that those changes occurred because of several factors- agreement in the scientific community, a reluctant acceptance by special interests, a media that worked to inform citizens, politicians who enacted change, and an informed public. With global warming, only the first factor is in place. The other factors- special interests who wage disinformation, media reluctant to enage the issue, corrupt politicians, and an understandably confused citizenry - lead to a crisis ignored.

These are the obstacles they hope the film will be able to knock down. After a question asking Gore about the 'debate' about whether global warming is real or if heating is just due to normal cycles, Gore insisted there was no debate within the scientific community. He said 15% of Americans believe the moon landing was faked on a sound stage, but that doesn't mean that there's a ''debate" as to whether man landed on the moon. He said the media is partly to blame for this confusion. He compared them to a pro wrestling referee, who conventiently looks the other way when the bad guys whips out the steel chair, because it's part of the storyline.

He spoke with a clarity almost no politician I've seen has, insisting that this is our moral obligation.

The most interesting response to me came from the answer to the final question- does Gore plan to return to political life? He said that, while he understands that as President of the United States, one would be in a unique position to enact change, but he doesn't see that as his path. He stated that he is averse to the current political/media climate, calling it "toxic". He said that his skills are not suited for political service in that climate. He said that he prefers to serve his country another way... the way he has been in the past few years. He concluded by expressing his wishes that whoever wins the '08 election will take the issue very seriously and that he hopes for a change in congressional control this year. It was probably the most strongly worded response I've heard to date indicating that he will not run for President.

Finally, contrary to the usual naysayers, Gore's lecture does not revolve around scaremongering and doom-and-gloom scenarios as if we're six months away from the Earth turning into the plot of "The Day After Tomorrow". In addition to the most riveting lecture on climate change you'll ever hear, the final message is one of hope, of personal responsibility, and of each individual's ability to make a difference.

I am going to see the film tonight, as well. I'll shut up about all of this now then.

UPDATE: The Rude Pundit gives his unique take on the discussion.

Oh yes- pictures...










[Related- Gore Warms Up (The Nation)]