An Inconvenient Truth

Ah . . . Memorial Day.  Barbeques, sunshine and movies.  I enjoyed all three this weekend, particularly the part about movies.  I hadn't been to a movie in such a long time, I was just really excited to get out and go see anything.  I saw two movies this holiday weekend, but I am really here to write to you about one: An Inconvenient Truth.

I am sure you have heard it all before. How important this movie is and how right on he is. I am not here to say anything different.  It was by far one of the best movies I have ever seen.  A movie that will no doubt linger in my mind for a long time.  A movie that I will see again and bring friends to and god-willing show my children.

Al Gore is funny, warm and doesn't take anytime to shoot the shit.  He breaks down what is happening to our earth in clear, concise animated graphs. And when he thinks it's still not clear, he had some friends make some animations for us the viewer. 

One of the many things I took away from this movie is the idea of how do you want to use your time and power.  Al Gore spent his years as a US Senator and as a Vice President to become an environmental guru.  He has spoken with the top scientists in the world and seen first hand the ice caps melting in Antarctica.  Even with all of that power and time spent focusing on the environment, few things have changed.

It is only with this movie that he is going to start reaching a larger audience.  Which makes me wonder about my generation and the generation younger than me.  We don't read newspapers.  We rarely read at all.  We spent so much time on-line and watching American Idol.  Is this the new way of grabbing our attention? Is this the new forum for sharing problems and concerns with people 25 and younger? If so, how do you differentiate between this movie and The Day After Tomorrow?

In the Day After Tomorrow, Dennis Quaid plays Jack Hall, a climatologist who has been warning the world of global warming for years.  Granted, the movie was made to show off some fancy special effects, but it shares the same message that Al Gore wants you hear:  We are killing our planet.  And the scarier part is that the changes we will see in the next 50 or so years will be staggering if we don't do something about this.

This morning, I have been playing around on climatecrisis.net, the website associated with the movie.  It gives you a long list of things that we can do everyday to stop the CO2 emissions problem.  Many of them are very small, yet can make a big impact:

• Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them:  Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for 5 percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!

• Plant a tree:  A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.

• Switch to green power:  In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. The Green Power Network is a good place to start to figure out what’s available in your area.  (NOTE: LA has such a program through DWP.  Click here for more information.)

At the risk of writing forever, I will step off my soap box and tell you (firmly) to see this movie and do something about the world you live in.

Comments

[ed hardy clothing]

I do not understand what you mean.