Category: Blog

Former vice president Al Gore and the United Nations Panel on Climate Change were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today for their work educating the world about global warming and advocating for political action to control it.

“We face a true planetary emergency,” says Gore in a statement on his blog. “The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.”

In the spirit of activism, and because the absolutely necessary climate movement that Al Gore’s work has helped create is only in its infancy, I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to see “An Inconvenient Truth” briefing in person — if not by Gore then by someone he has trained.

Gore, via The Climate Project, has trained 1000+ people who, in turn, have given somewhere over 5000 presentations in less than a year’s time.

On the Climate Project site you can request a presentation or you can find out if any are already planned near you.

Al Gore has done some tremendous work educating the public about the defining issue of our time, and we wouldn’t be able to make the claim, as we so often do, that we have science on our side if not for the tireless work of the remarkable scientists that make up the IPCC. Congratulations to Al Gore, to the IPCC, and to everyone around the world working on climate change! This is a great day for the climate.

Something that I think best illustrates how important Al Gore’s work has been is this quote by film critic Roger Ebert:

“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: ‘You owe it to yourself to see “An Inconvenient Truth”. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.”

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The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has taken a stab at quantifying our region’s contribution to global warming, and the result is not pretty. A whopping 65.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted here in 2005. That was more than in all of Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Denmark or Switzerland, each of which has more people.

It’s not a surprise that we compete with entire countries in Scandinavia,” said Mike Tidwell. “What this data does is point out just how huge America’s contribution to climate change is…if our one capital region is emitting on par with other industrialized countries.

What’s to blame? According to the Washington Post, it’s our crawling traffic and our reliance on dirty coal-fired power plants.

So, as Arctic ice vanishes and scientists scream of a coming climate catastrophe, the DC region needs to step up up and address its spiraling carbon emissions.

First, there are things that you personally can do. There are a number of options for individuals–you can buy green power, either through Pepco Energy Services (where applicable) or from a group like Clean Currents. There are many ways to reduce carbon and save money. Use only compact fluorescent light bulbs, make sure any new appliances you buy are Energy Star certified and try to limit how much meat you eat. There are also incentives in your state to invest in renewable energy.

But — and I’m sorry to say this — voluntary personal actions just aren’t going to cut it. We’ll never solve the climate crisis one light bulb at a time. What we need, instead of the generic list of “ten things you can do,” are ten historic statutes that ban abusive and violent practices like the manufacture of gas-guzzling cars and inefficient light bulbs. That’s the kind of change we need. And we need it now.

So, after you’re done changing your light bulbs and switching over to wind energy, get involved in a CCAN campaign and demand that your state pass a law that will take a big chunk out of our runaway pollution.

In Virginia, we’re working to persuade the state to stop the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Wise County and instead invest in clean, renewable energy. Learn more here.

In Maryland, we’re working to make sure that Gov. O’Malley commits to reducing Maryland’s global warming pollution 20% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050. Get involved here.

And in D.C. we’re working hard to make sure the City Council passes a “Clean Cars Act,” which will strengthen the pollution controls on all new cars registered in the District. We aim to see the law passed in January and we need all the help we can get! Learn more here.

“Forget the Petraeus report — what historians will note about September 2007 is that the Northwest Passage was free of ice for the first time since humans started keeping track.” — Bill McKibben, Washington Post, Sept 29, 2007

If there is one good thing that came out of the administration’s “Climate Summit” this week it was that it solidified, for those who needed further proof anyway, that President Bush will do anything he can to avoid providing any leadership on climate change. This week’s solution to the mounting public pressure accumulating in Washington was to create a parallel reality, one where mock conferences are more important than international negotiations, and false solutions take precedent over real action.

Even the Washington Post seems to be picking up on this:

President Bust assured the rest of the world yesterday that he takes the threat of climate change seriously and vowed that the United States “will do its part” to reduce the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, but he proposed no concrete new initiatives to reach that goal.

As if that’s a surprise.

In a seeming rebuttal to this embarrassing turn of events, the Post also published a powerful op-ed by Bill McKibben — who chooses in dramatic fashion to not only confront the reality that Washington ignores, but highlight the competing realities between science and politics that has placed us in our current predicament.

Consider the news from the real world, the one where change is measured with satellites and thermometers, not focus groups: Arctic ice is melting on an unbelievable scale — an area the size of Britain disappeared each week in late summer as the record for minimum ice cover, set in 2005, was shattered by more than 400,000 square miles, meaning about a 27 percent loss.

Historically this tactic is not always a popular one. People don’t like to hear scary stories about what tomorrow may bring, and this reality is part of the reason why our politicians and even some of our fellow citizens have been so slow to acknowledge what civilization is facing.

But McKibben isn’t looking for a message that resonates, he — like many of us — is begging for an inkling of leadership, a shred of bravery from someone who isn’t discouraged by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but willing to believe that we can confront and defeat our adversary. We’ve had such leaders before.

What we need to know, and soon, is: What does reality look like to you? Can you close the gap between science and politics? Who will lead on the great issue of our day?

After 20 years of inaction the race is finally underway. Global warming has a huge head start; the sprint to catch up is the story of our time.

Story of our time indeed Mr. McKibben. Sounds to me like our search for a “leader” is over. Now we simply must convince those in Washington to follow.