Pics from Gore's presentation on Climate Change 7/12

[bvar22]

Vice President Al Gore's presentation tonight inspiring, educational, and frightening.
Al looked fit, and presented his material with enthusiasm and deep passion. With the exception of a couple of opening jokes ("I used to be the Future President") he removed himself from his political life, and presented his material from the viewpoint of an educated and concerned World Citizen. He used a collection of 1st Rate Graphics to illustrate his points.






Vice President Gore and "The Blue Marble"

[tk2kewl]

1. anyplace to get video?

[bvar22]

4. There were "professionals" recording....

...the presentation for an upcoming documentary. I don't know the release date. There were other DUers there tonight. Maybe some of them will post a summary of the presentation.

I kept saying to myself, "I wish this man was my president. Why did so many people vote for the DUMB guy! I want a SMART president!"

[katinmn]

10. Please nominate so we can get this on the Greatest page

Thanks.

[tk2kewl]

13. done

;)

[tk2kewl]

14. if this gets cross posted to GD it will make the Greatest

[katinmn]

18. Did that , and also posted in the Al Gore Group

[CatholicEdHead]

2. Nice pics

thanks for posting them

[dodger501]

3. I got some, too

Check them out in my galleries here:

http://dodger501.smugmug.com/Events

Looks like you were close to where I was, bvar

[bvar22]

5. I was 3/4 to the back.

I am amazed that these came out as clear as they did using zoom and no flash.
Wish we had seen you.
Katinmn and dp were there too.

[katinmn]

12. Great shots, bvar!

Nice little reception they had, too.

[dodger501]

16. We were 1/3 the way back

Center section, left aisle, I counted 4 rows back from the "reserved" section . . . there was a point where they were actually checking names to sit in the first dozen or so rows.

[katinmn]

17. Ah, some reserved seating

But wasn't it cool how they just let people in without checking IDs and bags and such? I almost forgot what that was like.

[dodger501]

19. Yes, I noticed that

Kind of unusual, I always get my big camera bag frisked but not this time.

I also noticed how the media is miffed at not being invited. Can't find a link but it is in today's Strib in the B section.
Since he had nothing of substance to talk about, the reporter spent the whole article pointing out repeatedly that this was "invitation-only" -- as if we were screened like at a Bush event.

Well, my "invitation" came in as a mass-email from moveon and the DFL. Gee, I feel so exclusive!

No, what the deal is, is that the majority of the people who were there are more likely to take action on what they heard as opposed to opening it up to whoever walks in.

[bvar22]

6. Great Shots!

Go visit dodger51's site for some good Al Gore pics.


http://dodger501.smugmug.com/gallery/655935

[katinmn]

11. Great shots, Dodger!

We were looking for you. You must have come in earlier or later.

The images along with Gore's knowledge and passion on this issue combined to make it a fascinating presentation.

So cool that he got the most wondrous ones from Carl Sagan and later Carl Sagan's widow. I still miss Sagan. Glad you and Bob were able to capture some of them for us!

[Viking12]

15. Nice photo essay dodger!!!!

[ISUGRADIA]

7. Great pictures!

Mine were a bit blurry, cheaper digital camera I'm afraid.

Gore stayed for a good 45 minutes after the event talking with people and posing for people which was cool. I did hear him say that peak oil would be incorporated into the speech after someone asked him.

[dpbrown]

8. What a powerful presentation

Done clearly and with facts, not demagoguery, this showed as clear as a bell where we are going if we don't take our own advice to take care of the fragile world upon which we live to heart.

Wonderful pics!

I found myself mentioning afterward to kat that I hope this is packaged in some easily distributed manner.

[katinmn]

9. Gore did a great job last night. Scared the heck out of me, too.

The before and after satellite images he had clearly showed how rapidly the glacier ice caps are melting all around the world. Sounds like in 40 years if we keep at it we will create our own Armageddon.

What turns my stomach is that we were once leaders in enacting environmental standards. We once set a good example for the world. Gore explained that our environmental standards are now so poor that our automobiles don't meet China's environmental standards. That's right. American automakers cannot sell cars in China! The top standards are held by the EU, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, and the U.S. is at the very bottom.

More frequent and more horrific storms, new diseases, loss of animal and fish species, economic losses. It's all tied to CO2 emissions that cause the ice caps to melt and heat up the ocean.

Gore reminded us of the recent incident where Bush's environmental secretary was caught re-writing scientific reports about global warming. When he was caught last month, instead of getting fired and jailed, he went to work for Exxon the next day. Grrr.

Not only did Bush renege on his promise to regulate CO2 immediately after the 2000 inauguration, he's also paid spin masters to position global warming as a theory and not fact, while National Academies of Sciences of all countries that have them issue the alarm that it must be dealt with immediately. It's a crisis and the Bush Administration is hell bent on sacrificing the world's -- not just the U.S.'s -- environment for the sake of profit for a few.

It occurred to me that this must pain Gore personally since he was the US's point man responsible for getting other countries to sign on to the Kyoto treaty.

In closing he reminded us that we have the technology and know-how right now to make a difference and turn back the tides. He used the example of when the US led world efforts to eliminate CFC emissions and the positive effect it had on lessening further damage to the ozone layer. We can do it again.

I took notes throughout the talk. We should put a summary together with yours and Dodger's photos for Indy Media and the Pulse. Do a little call to action.

[bvar22]

21. Do you remember the 3 .....

....major points (bullet points) the Al Gore used to organized his presentation ?

The 3rd one was: "We need to change our way of thinking!"
That we CAN do something....That with technology that is already on the shelf, we can reduce CO2 emissions to pre-1970 levels.

Do you remember the first 2 points?

[katinmn]

22. No, sorry. Was it on one of the slides?

[bvar22]

23. Yes

It was one of the first slides. White typface on black background.
It was three things we need to do if we are going to successfully deal with the problem.

Ithink #2 dealt with the fact that there was NO DOUBT that the man (CO2 emissions) was a factor in global warming. 100% agreement in the in the scientific community .

Someone help us out here.

[goodhue]

20. It was a great event.

The presentation was very powerful and well produced I thought. I was reminded once again of the impressive intelligence of Al Gore, and what a great president he would be. Looking forward to a possible feature length documentary on climate change staring Al Gore.

For those who missed event, here is an article from Grist magazine that details a similar presentation he gave last month.

http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/06/09/little-gore/

Esprit de Gore
Gore is transforming into fiery climate evangelist
By Amanda Griscom Little
09 Jun 2005

Al Gore, once derided by the right as a stiff, wooden Ozone Man, is now recasting himself as the fiery, headstrong Climate Avenger -- a blunt and passionate spokesperson about what he calls "a collision between our civilization and the earth." He is currently in negotiations to play a starring role in a big-budget, feature-length documentary on climate change.

Last Saturday in San Francisco, the self-described "guy who used to be the next president of the United States" delivered an hour-long multimedia presentation on the scientific evidence of global warming to hundreds of guests crammed into a tent for the culmination of the city's five-day-long U.N. World Environment Day celebration. The audience, peppered with celebrities, members of Congress, U.N. officials, and dozens of mayors from around the world, erupted into a standing ovation when Gore wrapped up his quasi-evangelical call to action.

Thrusting his fists skyward, he rattled off the seemingly insurmountable challenges civilization has overcome in the past -- slavery, communism, restricted suffrage, segregation, disease, apartheid -- and roared, "So now we are called to use our political institution, our democracy, our free speech, our reasoning capacity, our citizenship, our hearts, and talk with one another, reason with one another, see the reality of this problem, act as Americans, and understand that it's a different issue than any we've ever faced." Then the crescendo: "We have to make our stand!" he thundered. "This is our home! We must keep our eyes on the prize! Help solve this problem!"

* * *

http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/06/09/little-gore/

[katinmn]

24. Thanks for posting this article, goodhue!

This is fairly close to what I observed. I would not consider Gore's passion "histrionic" however.

[Larkspur]

25. Sounds like Al is test piloting a major environmental speech before giving

it to the public at large.

I can't wait to see it in it's entirety.

[DLAR]

26. Earth in the Balance - the book!

"Earth in the Balance" is Al's very serious and very long tome on the subject. It took me a while to get through it, but it is worth it. Al makes you think hard about everyday choices. I now have this guilty feeling using any of our precious resources in a cavalier manner.

[hermetic]

27. Welcome to DU DLAR!!

:hi:

If everyone just made wise decisions, there would be no need to feel guilty.

[pdxamy]

28. Gore speech in Portland

You can read a summary of Gore's speech in Portland at: http://sstnbl.blogspot.com

[KitchenWitch]

29. Welcome to DU pdxamy!

:hi: