"If you're in a bad situation, don't worry, it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry, it'll change."
-- John A. Simone Jr.
An Inconvenient Truth in Tokyo: Al Gore’s Appearance at Waseda
Was fortunate to catch Al Gore at Waseda University here in Tokyo on Wednesday. He was in town to accept an honorary degree and kick off their Global Ecology Summit.
He gave a variation on his Inconvenient Truth presentation on global warming with updated data. I’ve seen his presentation a couple of times and it keeps getting more convincing. To some degree that may be because of Mr. Gore’s considerable practice in delivering his message, unfortunately though, it has much to do with the ongoing changes in our environment that continue to lay frightening credence to his message. One thing that struck me deeply was his comparison of our current hothouse plight to that of the dinosaurs. I’ve heard and read this comparison before but, for some reason, the realization that we, like the dinosaurs, could well go extinct because of a polluted atmosphere making the planet inhospitable for much of what currently lives here cut me deeply.
My initial surprise at the strength of my reaction yielded to a deep, calm acceptance of the fact that life will go on. If we are trying to save the planet we are wasting our time-it and life will go on without us. I realized that what I believe we must do is to avert needless suffering, pain and loss.
We are living in a time in which instant karma is a reality. We can see like never before how the butterfly effect works in real time via our wired, hyper-interactive connectivity. The choices we’re making, the way we’re living now are the foundations of our future. We can see this if we are willing and courageous enough to see. If the predictions that Gore and his scientific support are making are true, we’re creating a nightmare of suffering for future generations.
Gore’s description of our cities as part of a pattern of wind and water also hit me in a similar way. Our cities deeply reflect our inter-relationship with the elemental forces that shape our world. Their location, shape, building style, core sources of economy and even the make up of citizens are inextricably related to the ecological context into which they are woven. If the actions we’re taking now are going to erase or alter the fundamental precedents for settlement (like no water in New Dehli or lots of sea water in Miami and Tokyo) we will be responsible for unimaginable pain, suffering and loss.
The presentation closed with the exhortation to make the jump away from fossil fuels and to renewable resources like solar and wind power. Invoking Abraham Lincoln, Gore referenced the following statement: “As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.” In Lincoln’s case he was talking about slavery and saving the US. In our case we are talking about dependence on fossil fuels and saving our selves, children and grandchildren from a miserable, dark and depressing future.
It isn’t a matter of technology now, the technology exists or is quickly coming on line. It is a matter of belief, hope, imagination, compassion, and will and courage.
I’ve asked this before and will keep asking anyone who will listen, what are you waiting for?
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, global warming, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
I wish I could have made it to see Gore speak, but couldn’t get the time last week. Anyway, I’ll take a stab:
It isn’t a matter of technology now, the technology exists or is quickly coming on line. It is a matter of belief, hope, imagination, compassion, and will and courage.
It’s also a matter of profitability.
Most “alternative” energies are still incredibly inefficient. Look at what happened to Denmark, where wind power has been heavily subsidized. It’s actually generating a negative ROI, which is a waste of taxpayer money (I’m inclined to believe that just about all uses of tax funds are a waste of taxpayer money, but hey). The technology to produce efficient alternative energies still isn’t good enough, though that has to change.
I’ve asked this before and will keep asking anyone who will listen, what are you waiting for?
What are we waiting for? Well, it would be nice if the banks would start lending again. Private funding is going to develop better solutions than government subsidies - it always has.
Hey Ken,
Definitely a matter of profitability. If we look at current mainstream power delivery systems (like internal combustion engines) we see startling inefficiencies, which when added to the actual costs for extracting, transporting and refining oil describe a system that is heavily in the red in terms of generating ROI.
Regarding waiting, I’m with you on the banks. Getting them to actually perform one of their key societal functions again would be nice, wouldn’t it!
Still there are a lot of us out there who still keep doing, buying and living as we always have, waiting for things to change or get “better”. We’ve got to find a way to get everyone on the metaphorical bus if we’re going to make the changes that need to be made.
Wind power is not a solution.
The whole truth about wind turbines is never told by lobbyists and governments.
How could the very weak and extremely unreliable initial energy source of a wind turbine ever produce a steady power of any significance, despite the fact that modern wind turbines are really sophisticated machines?
Please think!
And read: “Wind energy- the whole truth” at: http://www.windenergy-the-truth.com/
Thanks Alexander. The link you’ve attached makes some very important points. Time to pull together data from the pro-wind turbine side for comparison. I’ll see what I can do. This is exactly the kind of debate we need.
Very interesting and thought provoking.
I am watching “An Inconvenient Truth” for the 1st time. I have an environmental professor who contests the “science” Gore presents in the film, so I wanted to see for myself. I wanted to see the scientific info about global warming, which Gore does deliver on (even if one cannot be certain whether he is actually scientifically correct), but then he also mixes in all the political stuff. Why?? It makes him sound like an inconvenient sore loser - Gore lost; he should get over it already. Making this film political really takes away from Gore’s purported goal of focusing the public on the global warming problem. Gore’s lecture comes off more like a self-serving diatribe by a holier-than-thou preacher. This is actually ironic, considering that Gore lives in a 16,000 sq ft house - how much energy does it take to heat that mansion??? I am very disappointed.