While I have been supporting Mr. Gore for many years and have spent the last six years advocating for his endeavors out of the confines of the beltway after supporting every campaign of his before that, it is not the primary reason why I applied with the Climate Project to go to Nashville to learn his slideshow.
While there is no doubt that my respect for this man runs deep, the primary reason why I applied for this program was because of the moral code I have in regards to respecting this planet. It is a code I have lived my life by and am now imparting on my own child, and one that I believe must guide us out of this crisis to a better day for us and our children. And yes, who better to guide us on this journey than a man who has already taken it?
This program to me however, is not about politics. It is not about seeking accolades. It is not about competition. It is a brilliant idea that can transform the grassroots of our nation and the world into action on this issue in the moral meaningful way we must approach this in order to seek positive change.
That ten year window discussed by Dr. James Hansen is not just an illusion. It is not just a number put out here to scare people. It is real, and it has now been corroborated by a consensus of scientists who claim that unless
we reign in the amount of CO2 and other gases
we are spewing daily into our atmosphere,
we will all reap the consequences of our actions, and that has already begun. And it is not only affecting humans, but species that had absolutely nothing to do with making the conditions that are now affecting their very ability to survive.
This is then
the moral issue of our time, for without a planet to sustain us we have nothing else. Our ability as a species to destroy ourselves and other species must be overcome by our ability to also create a beautiful sustainable planet in which we can all thrive, and one in which we begin to also respect other forms of life on this planet that make up the chain of life that also sustains us.
Again, we have to do this.Therefore, for me to be a part of a program that seeks to spread the word of warning, but to also spread with it a word of hope that we as a species can finally wake up to what we are doing and mitigate it in time is something I simply could not miss taking a chance on. I'm just an average working citizen who sees the urgency of this and yes would be a bit nervous about doing it. However, to me courage is not the absence of fear, it is the realization that something is more important than fear. This most certainly qualifies, and I actually find strength from that and in the conviction and love I feel for this Earth and believe it is now time to do what we have to do to get this done.
There were several thousand people who also felt as I do and took a chance on applying for this program. That action in and of itself shows something about the character of those who would take this on. It shows a commitment, but above all it shows that there is
hope. Fifty of those people are in Nashville this very weekend being given instruction by Mr. Gore and other scientists in the most important thing they will ever do in their lives...working to save other lives. For that really is in essence what this is about. Make no mistake about it, it is immoral to continue actions you know are affecting lives and this planet in a negative way, and the only way we will ever reach that transcendence that Mr. Gore recently spoke about at NYU is to take the responsibility upon ourselves to look that abyss back in the eye and refuse to enter it.
That is why thousands more took it upon themselves to now do what we believe must be done to save our planet. And for me, that is all the accolades I need. Whether I get to Nashville or not to learn this slideshow, I will still impart this message and continue to live my life as I always have in service to the planet that has given me so much.
You know, this morning I looked out of my window and saw a grey sky above with a slight breeze moving the trees, and a tear came to my eye. I thought about what kind of world we are making for our children and how we could ever reconcile that in the future by just sitting and hoping it will mend itself. And the answer is that we can't. That is why I applied to learn Al Gore's slideshow...for our future.
Good luck to those in Nashville this weekend. May this be the start of us getting back to our roots as a species and finally realizing our purpose on this planet: To take care of it, and each other.
The Climate Project
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