Watch the entire Al Gore speech at We Can Solve It.

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On a more uplifting note than the one of balance-teetering dismay I struck the other day with a post – CNN’s Glenn Beck and Other Doubters Need More Faith – here’s why I think the green side of mankind may be moving in a good direction.

It cheers me to realize that “green” is a common term these days. Sure, it is arguably over- and mis-used as it’s become a buzz word for marketers. But we’ll get past that, around it, through it…whatever.

Walking on the bright side of life for a bit, I think the fact that environmentalism, global warming, recycling, alternative energies and so on are in the broader public discussion at all shows that the long-timers who’ve been making this argument for decades have gained some ground for us all.

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The movie title Gas Hole likely conjures varied humorous, if not-quite-sure-where-this-movie- is-headed, ideas in the minds of prospective viewers.

Maybe then it is highly suitable that the term came from the angelic mind of a child, simply trying to put a term to that hole-thingy where we insert gas pump nozzles to fuel our cars.

Suitable – and an unwittingly appropriate description of what has been happening in recent decades of oil pricing and auto manufacturing.

In Gas Hole , the girl’s uttering of the name that became the film’s title is one of the few that breaks the movie’s queasy sense of tension. It is an otherwise mind-boggling documentary of the history of oil prices, the attempts to develop alternative fuels and the related efforts of government and corporate interests.

The discomforting questions…

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Year after year, Bush has cut funding from the USFS, yet within this budget, more money is allocated for fire management and less for fire prevention.  In February, 2008, Bush proposed decreasing fire preparedness monies by 11 percent. Although the budget calls for a $150 million increase for extinguishing blazes, prevention funding is slashed by $77 million, including a $13 million reduction in small fuels removal. Similar cuts were proposed in 2007.  Casey Judd, business manager for the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association, a firefighter employee group explains, “The administration still has it backward. Preparedness should be the focus, not suppression.”   Norm Dicks, D-Wash., adds, “Common sense would be that if you put more money into fuel reduction, it’s going to have an effect on having less severe fires.”  The White House response was that money could be shifted between the agency’s firefighting and fire suppression accounts, as needed.  This is exactly what concerns USFS employees with the current California wildfires.

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The watchdog this week ruled The Great Global Warming Swindle unfairly portrays several scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that it broke rules in the Broadcasting Code.

Ofcom’s investigation found that the IPCC, the former government chief scientist, Sir David King, and Professor Carl Wunsch, were treated unfairly in the documentary that attempted to use a cast of the world’s top scientists to debunk the global warming theory.

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So what’s West Coast Green?  Well, when we covered it last year, the event was billed as a “residential building conference and expo.” This year, however, the program will expand to cover the wide range of issues and ideas surrounding green building and development, and the event’s being described as “…a feast of innovations and ideas — an educational smorgasbord designed to widen your vision and stimulate your mind with the latest best practices in green building.” Homebuilders, homeowners, policy wonks and ecopreneurs will all find plenty to keep them engaged.

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Al Gore has been all over the airwaves recently proposing a challenge for America to eradicate the use of fossil fuels by 2018.  I’m picking up what he’s putting down. It’s like dealing with that friend who’s always late by telling them to meet you 15 minutes earlier than when you plan to arrive.

Alternative energy is the top priority of the environmental agenda, and rightly so. It slightly dwarfs the significance of making snow globes out of baby food jars. However, after we all start driving electric cars and installing affordable solar panels on our roofs, more intense focus will turn to how stuff is made, and I think green crafting is worthy of a slide or two on Mr. Gore’s next Power Point presentation. That is, if we can get his attention.

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For more, see today’s post: 2018: The Year of Petroleum Independence?

Or get involved with wecansolveit.org.

Editor’s Note: This is Anthony’s first post as a contributor to Gas 2.0. Anthony works on sugar-based biofuels at the Raines Lab of Petroleum Alternatives, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I have a lot of admiration for Al Gore.  I was in the 7th grade when he lost his bid for the presidency, and even then I could feel that something awful was upon us.  Fast forward eight years and we find ourselves in a world where Al Gore is running a campaign to help mankind in a much more focused manner.  Instead of defecting to the private sector, Gore remains a public servant dedicated to the environment.  Recently, he called for the United States to lead the way to stop global warming, and now he is calling for the United States to be off of carbon based fuels by the year 2018.

Gore’s battle cry could not have come at a better time.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2008/07/18/2018-the-year-of-petroleum-independence/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/07/08/global-warming-kids-find-ways-to-cool-the-earth/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/07/08/global-warming-kids-find-ways-to-cool-the-earth/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:33:38 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/07/08/global-warming-kids-find-ways-to-cool-the-earth/ Can kids really take action on the environment? Can they influence their parents to reduce carbon emissions? Apparently so, says Cool the Earth, a new climate-change enrichment program, launched by a mom in Kentfield, California. The program has already saved more than 8 million pounds of carbon from going into the atmosphere and has influenced 6,000 households to take 10,000 positive actions to reduce carbon emissions. With additional funding in place and a web-based delivery system available this summer, this program—currently running in 25 Northern California schools–expects to expand to 100 schools in the fall (from Texas to New York) and is positioned to become a national model for positive environmental change.

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/07/08/global-warming-kids-find-ways-to-cool-the-earth/feed/ http://ecoscraps.com/2008/05/19/shades-of-green-global-warm-ups/ http://ecoscraps.com/2008/05/19/shades-of-green-global-warm-ups/#comments Mon, 19 May 2008 21:00:36 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://ecoscraps.com/2008/05/19/shades-of-green-global-warm-ups/

Hey, we should all laugh at ourselves once in a while, right? Thanks, as always, to Brad and Peter…

]]> http://ecoscraps.com/2008/05/19/shades-of-green-global-warm-ups/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/15/scientists-debating-an-inconvenient-truth/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/15/scientists-debating-an-inconvenient-truth/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:30:45 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/15/scientists-debating-an-inconvenient-truth/ It has been one of the most polarizing movies of cinematic history, and it didn’t even feature Brad Pitt. Rather, Al Gore, for the majority of An Inconvenient Truth, stood in front of a crowd of people – or journaled from the road – and told people that global warming was bad, and that we had done it.

From that moment on, the global warming debate waged hotter and longer than ever before.

Some have said that science plays no part in what Gore decided to impart to us. Others contended that while he may have put an emotional spin on it, there was still plenty of validated science in there. Regardless of what you believe, you can’t deny that global warming is now on everyone’s lips thanks to what Gore did.

So it’s nice to see scientists come out, not in heated attack of the movie, but rather, in calm scientific debate; the way it should be.

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/15/scientists-debating-an-inconvenient-truth/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/03/24/president-albert-gore-jr-in-a-parallel-universe/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/03/24/president-albert-gore-jr-in-a-parallel-universe/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:40:46 +0000 Timothy B. Hurst http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/03/24/president-albert-gore-jr-in-a-parallel-universe/ Very funny video clip from Saturday Night Live showing Al Gore giving a Presidential address. One of the best lines is when he says that there is no need to worry about hurricanes and tornadoes because of the “anti-hurricane and tornado machine I was instrumental in helping to develop.”

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/03/24/president-albert-gore-jr-in-a-parallel-universe/feed/ http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/15/incandescent-rage-at-an-end/ http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/15/incandescent-rage-at-an-end/#comments Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:42:40 +0000 Pem Charnley http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/15/incandescent-rage-at-an-end/ I re-watch Al Gore’s acceptance speech again and again – and I always choke back tears. I suppose I choke them back because I’m an Englishman – with that supposed stiff upper lip.

Massive change is his message. Though of course individual action is beneficial, action on a larger scale is what’s needed.

Political will.

Praise then goes to the Irish government who have decided on a complete ban of incandescent light bulbs as of 2009.

This ties in so strongly with Mr Gore’s speech where he demanded – and eloquently too – that change needs to happen.

Now.

Not beleagueredly in a few years.

But now.

So is my government concurrent with regards to light bulbs?

No.

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]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/15/incandescent-rage-at-an-end/feed/ http://environmentalnews.greenoptions.com/2007/12/14/environmental-news-al-gores-passionate-speech/ http://environmentalnews.greenoptions.com/2007/12/14/environmental-news-al-gores-passionate-speech/#comments Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:43:55 +0000 wyspa http://environmentalnews.greenoptions.com/2007/12/14/environmental-news-al-gores-passionate-speech/ Environmental News: Al Gore last night urged a climate conference to be ambitious in its attempts to check global warming and to ignore US objections because President Bush would soon be out of office.

]]> http://environmentalnews.greenoptions.com/2007/12/14/environmental-news-al-gores-passionate-speech/feed/ http://heidistrebel.greenoptions.com/2007/11/01/the-sarko-eco-show-part-i-guest-star-al-gore/ http://heidistrebel.greenoptions.com/2007/11/01/the-sarko-eco-show-part-i-guest-star-al-gore/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:37:39 +0000 Heidi Strebel http://heidistrebel.greenoptions.com/2007/11/01/the-sarko-eco-show-part-i-guest-star-al-gore/ The stage was set with a single podium, and beside it were two flags. The first flag was colored red white and blue, no stars and stripes, but three bands of red white and blue. The second flag was blue, and in its center was a circle of yellow stars. The keynote speaker stepped up to the mike. He was there to present a revolution. "A revolution in our way of thinking and in our decision making methods," he said, "a revolution in our behavior, in our politics, and in our goals." A green revolution.

The stage was in the presidential palace in the heart of Paris. The speaker was the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. And he couldn’t have chosen more illustrious guests for the occasion: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and, the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Mr Al Gore himself. After Sarkozy outlined the results of four months of negotiations on the environment, Al Gore spoke. "I want to offer my congratulations to the French people. This is the beginning of an historic process," he said. "We need a ‘Grenelle mondial,’ a Worldwide Grenelle."

In May 1968, a time of great social upheaval in France, members of opposing camps met to discuss possible solutions to the crisis. Government representatives, employers and union leaders gathered to negotiate on labor terms and conditions. The agreements signed at the outcome were later called the "Grenelle accords" after the place where the meeting was held, in the Ministry of Labor building on Grenelle street in Paris. Sarkozy launched the environmental Grenelle last Spring, using the name of the labor agreements to emphasize the multilateral democratic nature of the process.

The Grenelle, or "environmental New Deal" as it has also been called, was organized in three phases. During the first phase, six heterogeneous working groups drafted plans of action to tackle major environmental issues, including climate change and energy needs, the loss of biodiversity, and unsustainable modes of production and consumption. During the second phase the general public was invited to join in by commenting on the groups’ reports either on an Internet forum hosted by the official site, or by attending regional meetings. I wrote about the Grenelle here on Green Options, once at the beginning of the process, and a second time at the opening of the public debate.

The phase of public debate came to an end on October 14, and last week at the presidential palace Sarkozy presented the synthesis of four months of talks. But what were the results of these "unprecedented negotiations?" There were irreconcilable differences on a number of issues, but happily, agreements were reached on others. About a dozen measures will be voted on by the French parliament in early 2008. It seems as though the greatest strides were made in two areas, transportation and building. These two areas are, needless to say, chief contributors to air pollution and climate change.

For example, Sarkozy announced that the construction of new highways in France will be slowed considerably, almost ceasing altogether, while in contrast the railway network will be expanded considerably. 2000 kilometers, or around 1250 miles, of tracks will be laid, benefiting both passenger and cargo trains, and thereby eliminating around 2 million trucks from French highways by 2020.

By 2012 all new constructions in France will conform to norms of "low consumption," and by 2020 all new buildings will be net producers of energy. Regarding household electrical equipment such as televisions, stereos and kitchen appliances, as soon as alternatives are made available, the old generation inefficient models will be banned. A deadline is already set for 2010 when incandescent light bulbs and single-paned windows will be prohibited.

Sarkozy also promised that the State will lead the way by greening public buildings and government transports. So, for example, starting in 2008, all public buildings will have to increase their energy efficiency by 20%, and by 2009 all vehicles used by the state will run on cleaner energy. Those two measures may not sound very impressive, but when placed in context, they take on greater significance. Indeed, mocked by the French themselves and scorned abroad, the French administration is infamous for its unwieldy size and relentless inefficiency. But, given such dimensions, just think of what a positive impact those otherwise modest goals for energy efficiency and clean vehicles will have by reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution. Why at this rate, Paris will be on its way to becoming the cleanest capital city in the world!

Certain issues discussed during the Grenelle talks were inevitably highly controversial and often the cause of tension between the various delegates. In my next post, I’ll be taking a look at some of those hot topics. So tune in to Green Options again early next week for Part 2 on the Sarko Eco-Show.

Official Grenelle Website

President Nicolas Sarkozy

Le Monde

]]> http://heidistrebel.greenoptions.com/2007/11/01/the-sarko-eco-show-part-i-guest-star-al-gore/feed/ http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/14/al-gore-climate-activist-nobel-laureate-and-presidential-contender/ http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/14/al-gore-climate-activist-nobel-laureate-and-presidential-contender/#comments Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:47:21 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/14/al-gore-climate-activist-nobel-laureate-and-presidential-contender/ In a fight where political gain is seen as the prime motivator, and any actual fact seems to be spun out to support such a theory, Al Gore has been the voice for real climate change. It is a tough fight, and he’s been at it for a while, too. Attacked from the right for political bias, attacked from the critics for supporting a supposedly unproved theory, Al Gore now has reason to smile.

It’s been all across the news, and we won’t attempt to re-inform you on Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize win this past week. But we at Green Options do want to take this moment to congratulate the man who has done so much for the global warming cause (yes, I mean the cause against it …).

In addition, we want to offer our congratulations and heartfelt thanks to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for almost two decades of hard unthankful work and their co-win with Gore.

Our congratulations aside, though, what is the future looking like now?

Our Environmental Future

"We have to quickly find a way to change the world’s consciousness about exactly what we’re facing," Gore told reporters at a press conference. It was nine hours after the award announcement, and he appeared with his wife Tipper. He took no questions, especially none on running for President in the United States’ 2008 election.

And that is the most immediate question that is playing across everyone’s mind. Will Al Gore run for US President? Again?

If you were to shake the eight ball right now, it would say that "all signs point to no."

Michael Feldman, an advisor to Al Gore, backed up my magic eight ball. "He’s not planning a campaign for president,” he said. “What you saw today is a guy fully focused on the issue he’s been working on for 30 years. He’s trying to figure out a way to solve the climate crisis."

And in all reality, why would he run for president?

I’m a nerd at heart, and I’ve watched the Justice League cartoons many times. Lex Luthor — who is running for president in the series — said something that I believe really matches with Gore at the moment; “Do you know how much power I would have to give up to become president?”

And that is exactly the case. If Gore were to become president, he wouldn’t be able to take out the compost without it appearing to be a political maneuver. He would face restrictions as to where he could go, where he could speak and what he could do.

"He’s making no moves and no sounds to indicate to me that he’s going to run," said another Gore adviser, Carter Eskew.

And no bloody wonder! Who’d want to be the US president, when you’re actually liked?

Climate Change and Peace

A spokesman for Czech President Vaclav Klaus has said that the president was "somewhat surprised that Al Gore got the Peace Prize, because the relation between his activities and world peace is unclear and indistinct."

This is one of those moments you just need a moment of silence to shake your head. Has no one heard of the fights for water across the Middle East and parts of Africa? Can these critics not see the future of embattled nations fighting over the regions last underwater lake or other precious natural resource? Are they not willing to see the potential in bringing the world together in at least one endeavor?

"The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has today made it clear that combating climate change is a central peace and security policy for the 21st century," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Program.

And that is indeed the case. To believe otherwise is a naïve approach to a world that is — regardless of who caused it — sinking further in to a climate spiral every year.

An Inconvenient Truth indeed…

I mentioned earlier the point that "political gain is seen as the prime motivator." My bafflement aside, Al Gore’s win has sparked a renewed attack, especially on his Academy Award-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth.

According to British judge High Court Judge Michael Burton, the movie contains nine scientific errors or omissions. He added in his statement regarding a ruling made last month that Gore’s film "is substantially founded upon scientific research and fact. Albeit that the science is used, in the hands of a talented politician and communicator, to make a political statement and to support a political program."

Can someone please let me know what political program there is being pushed in this movie? I’ve watched it, and I loved it! And I’m dead set sure that unless Mother Nature is soon to be running for US President — and she’d know better than that — An Inconvenient Truth has no political agenda whatsoever. It is about what we have done to the earth, and what is happening to the earth.

The judge described some of the scientific theories in the movie as "alarmist." In addition, Burton said that there was insufficient data to support the claims that Hurricane Katrina, the evaporation of most of Lake Chad, and the melting of the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro were caused by global warming.

There’s insufficient data to conclude that we built the pyramids too, but that’s pretty much the general consensus nowadays (unless you are a fervent supporter of the alien theories, in which case, meet me later). In fact, in all of the sciences, "evidence" is a truly subjective word.

Even now, Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity and his Theory of Relativity are coming under threat. These are theories that have stood up against the tests of almost a century. Nothing is ever ultimately certain in science anymore.

The simple fact is that, even if you do not want to believe you had anything to do with it, global warming is happening.

Gore named his movie correctly. The politics that people see in the movie is actually scientific fact that they are unwilling to believe; it is, at its heart, an inconvenient truth.

They call it political, because the biggest advocates are "Democrats" or "liberal." In reality, it is what the Americans love to call a "bipartisan" problem, and held up on both sides of the aisle. How can the scientific theories held by both liberals and conservatives be political?

As for the errors and omissions that Burton spoke of? Let us let Kalee Kreider, spokeswoman for the former U.S. vice president answer that one.

"The ruling upheld fundamental pieces of the film and the scientific consensus that global warming is real and caused by human activities," she said. "Of the thousands of facts in the film, the judge only took issue with just a handful. And of that handful, we have the studies to back those pieces up."

Back to Work!

Gore finished his press conference by saying that he was "…going back to work right now. This is just the beginning." And it is just that: the beginning! Everything up until this point has been research before the debate, the calm before the storm, and the prelude to the book. Climate change and global warming are now issues linked to peace by the preeminent group that is the Nobel awards committee. From here on in, and starting with the Bali summit this December, everyone has to step up to the plate.

ENN - Nobel Peace Prize ups pressure for climate action

MSNBC - Gore, U.N. climate panel win Nobel Peace Prize

ENN - Will Nobel mean Gore will run for president?

MSNBC - U.K. judge: Gore’s climate film has 9 problems

]]> http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/14/al-gore-climate-activist-nobel-laureate-and-presidential-contender/feed/ http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/08/climate%e2%80%99s-nobel-prize-award/ http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/08/climate%e2%80%99s-nobel-prize-award/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:44:54 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/08/climate%e2%80%99s-nobel-prize-award/ Oslo, October 12, 2007, could see the Nobel Peace Prize – sometimes noted as the highest accolade on Earth – awarded to campaigners against climate change. In line for this according to Nobel experts are Al Gore and Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

The winner for the Nobel Peace Prize carries away $1.5 million, but more than that, if a climate change advocate succeeds in winning, it could further shift the momentum towards actual climate change; especially in light of the UN Climate Summit being held in Bali this December.

Stein Toennesson, director of Oslo’s International Peace Research Institute (PRIO) and a Nobel Peace Prize expert believes that the North American pair are likely candidates.

"It will certainly be tempting to the committee to have two North Americans,” said Toennesson, “one the activist that personifies the struggle against climate change, raising awareness, and the other who represents some of the victims of climate change."

Al Gore is an obvious candidate, author of the bestselling book and Oscar award winning movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian born Inuit activist, is in the running for her work in illuminating the effects that climate change is having on the Arctic people. The pair was nominated to share the prize by two Norwegian parliamentarians.

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, believes that if this pair was to win the award, it would also establish a link between peace work and the importance of the environment. A link that has not been as direct. A previous winner, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, has begun such a shift of thinking.

"I think the whole issue of climate change and the environment will come at some point and reflect in the prize," Egeland told reporters last week.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will not disclose names of nominees in advance of the awards, but names tend to leak out. And while there is the possibility that Al Gore would be too much of a political choice for the award, the general consensus seems to be that the award will go to Gore.

ENN - Climate Campaigners Tipped for Nobel Peace Prize

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