It is no secret that I’ve long been a political supporter of Al Gore. In 2007 and 2008 the only thing that kept me off of Barack Obama’s electoral bandwagon was the possibility that Gore might yet get in the race. I believe the United States Supreme Court made a ploitical decision to deprive Gore of the presidency in December 2000, and I’m still pissed off about it.
No, I’m not going to get over it.
Al Gore has published an article about climate change and this political moment in the Atlantic. It is very definitely worth a read. This stuff is real.
The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them.
Just as the oil companies told us that deep-water drilling was safe, they tell us that it’s perfectly all right to dump 90 million tons of CO2 into the air of the world every 24 hours. Even as the oil spill continues to grow—even as BP warns that the flow could increase multi-fold, to 60,000 barrels per day, and that it may continue for months—the head of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack Gerard, says, “Nothing has changed. When we get back to the politics of energy, oil and natural gas are essential to the economy and our way of life.” His reaction reminds me of the day Elvis Presley died. Upon hearing the tragic news, Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, said, “This changes nothing.”
Al Gore has published an opinion piece concerning climate change in Sunday’s New York Times. I am a Gore Democrat, and while I intend to vigorously support Barack Obama’s Presidency, I also mean to push forward with my support of Gore’s initiatives on Climate Change.
We need to look at the biggest picture here.
We humans can either get our act together or we can exterminate each other. For those of us who are artists, this is it. This is our chance to communicate. This is our day to simply join this glorious moment – to surrender to the necessity of a movement bigger than our egos.
I’m still angry that the Year 2000 Presidential Election was stolen from Al Gore. Clearly, the best thing those of us who are essentially Gore Democrats can do to honor Al Gore this fall is to help elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America.
After that, I think Al Gore still has some work to do.
This very recent talk at TED by Al Gore concerning the latest developments in the Climate Crisis is a must see. Our danger is acute, the situation is urgent, and Al Gore is at his very best here.
It’ll take about 27 minutes to watch the whole thing, but at least watch the first little bit. You’ll find time for the rest. (Click on the little TV icon in the upper right hand corner of the AudioDesk media player to go into full screen.)
Please watch, and share this link.
UPDATE: Per Gore’s statement, late in the talk, that we should go forward into this generational challenge with Joy, thankful that we are the generation that has been given an opportunity to do something truly momentous, worthy of the best in humanity, I am reminded of the theme of one of my songs, Rising Blue.
