Gore says laws must change

[DixieBelle]

AL GORE wants to make a sequel to his Oscar-winning documentary on global warming – and despite Earth’s “rising fever” he is still hopeful for a happy ending.

We are, he says, all players in deciding the outcome.

Despite the success of his film An Inconvenient Truth and last year’s Live Earth concerts in raising awareness, the former US Vice President believes little has changed where it counts and the situation is even more urgent.

And he warns that while individual efforts such as changing to low-energy lightbulbs are important, it is more significant for world leaders to change laws to stop pollution pouring into the atmosphere and affecting the climate.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Mr Gore – hailed as the world’s leading green campaigner – said recent polls had found that while people rate climate change as a “serious problem”, some ranked it lower than clearing up dog mess.

“When politicians walk down the pavement, four or five of every ten people they meet ask, ‘What are you doing to solve the climate crisis?’ he said. “If you ask people their opinion, more than two thirds will say, ‘It’s a very serious issue, we’re responsible for it. We need to take action’.

Offender

“But then if you give them a list of 25 or 30 issues and ask them to rank them in order of seriousness, climate change comes at the bottom or near the bottom.

“I remember one poll where it came under dog litter. People are more likely to respond to problems that can be felt – terrorism, traffic jams, anything that activates the responses in an immediate way.

“We think, ‘If it’s never happened before maybe it won’t ever happen in the future’. That’s a rule that can work but the exceptions can kill you. And global warming is one of the exceptions.”

Mr Gore, 60, reveals he no longer has his sights set on becoming a political leader. Instead, since losing the race for the White House to George W Bush in 2000, he has found “a much more important job to do” – saving the planet.

He has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his clarion call on the catastrophic fate awaiting the planet but admits “most of the work remains to be done.”

He plans to lead a “grass roots” movement of ten million people to press for change in the US – the world’s worst offender in the crisis.

And he says that until America acts, the rest of the world, including the UK, will not follow.

Only when his own country moves in the right direction will countries such as China and India take action on climate change.

Mr Gore said: “When the US does change on this issue it will have a tremendous impact on the rest of the world. It’s hard to imagine China and India changing their position if the United States does not.

“Those countries look to the US as an excuse for not acting.” Later this year, China will surpass the US as the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution.

But Mr Gore is hopeful that if neighbouring Japan together with Europe and the US are moving in the right direction “China will have a very difficult time moving in the opposite direction”.

He said governments need constant pressure and that is what he will devote his life to.

Mr Gore added: “I have to say the situation has not improved since I made the movie in 2006. Sure, awareness has grown and more people are concerned since scientists said we had just ten years to take action to halt rising sea levels.

“But the situation has got worse. The entire North Polar ice cap is melting and could be gone in some areas in as little as five years.

“You have to ask what would it take to set off the alarm bells to make this a top-of-mind priority in the body politic. If you had told me a few years ago that we would be facing a situation where the entire North Polar ice cap was going to imminently disappear, I might have thought we’d certainly get people’s attention, and yet only to a limited degree.”

So if it’s all down to governments, is there any point in people “going green”? “Absolutely”, he booms. “I believe that while it’s important to change lightbulbs, it’s far more important to change laws.

“The idea that individuals in their own activities are going to change this is wrong.

“But when they do change they are likely to get behind the movement and that is very important because it is going to be changes in law that will ultimately solve this problem.”

The man who is now as much part of the Hollywood Establishment as he was a political player with the Democratic Party is very careful not to upset any of his celebrity friends.

He wouldn’t dream of suggesting that their lavish jet-setting and gas-guzzling lifestyles could be reined in for the good of the environment.

When we point out that David Beckham has recently been given the dubious title of having the worst carbon footprint in history – clocking up enough air miles to fly to the moon and owning 15 gas-guzzling cars, Mr Gore shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

He knows what is coming next.

When asked what he would say to the football icon – a hero to millions – about his impact on the environment, Mr Gore refuses to be drawn.

He gives a huge belly-laugh at the notion that Posh and Becks could invest in an environmentally-friendly hybrid car such as a Toyota Prius.

He careful considers his answer before saying: “I don’t think that’s my place. I don’t want to get into personally criticising anyone.”

And what about the credit crunch? As ordinary people in the US and Britain worry about meeting mortgage repayments and putting food on the table, are they more likely to worry less about the global environment and more about their own home environment?

Mr Gore says going green is a thrifty measure which can save money in belt-tightening times. He points to the “oft-patched” old cowboy boots he is wearing under his sharp suit and jokes: “You know, we all recycle.”

He added: “More seriously, I believe that the opportunity to save money by conserving energy and by paying more attention to the most efficient appliances and automobiles and consumer products available provide a double benefit of less pollution and more savings.

“Long-life lightbulbs, recycling, window treatments, extra insulation – these things can all help.

“I appreciate they cost money to begin with but they will save money in the long run.

“But the main benefit of people going green is that they will join a movement to pressure their governments.”

Mr Gore believes the incoming US President – whether it is either of the Democratic candidates, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, or the Republican John McCain – will be a force for change on environmental issues.

And he claims no one could be worse than George W Bush in actively working AGAINST the cause.

The US has failed to live up to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions.

In a question-and-answer session with TV host Clive Anderson to be aired on Sky on Friday, Mr Gore is asked if he thought he could have done a better job than Mr Bush.

He answers: “Yes. I have to confess that I’ve recently begun to fear that I’m losing my objectivity on President Bush.

“So, I’m loath to answer the question, lest I betray a bias.”

Mr Gore refuses publicly to endorse either Obama or Clinton despite admitting both have sought his support.

As a “superdelegate” he could have an important casting vote in deciding who wins the Democratic nomination in August, and Obama has vowed to include him in his administration.

But the former statesman told The Sun he will not take up a formal role in government.

“I don’t intend to be a part of any administration,” he revealed. “I’ve been Vice President, I ran for President twice, so I don’t have any interest in being a cabinet member.

“I think my best use is in building grass-roots support.

I will, of course, give advice to whoever asks me for advice on this and will work to help but not in a formal way.” But if time is running out – how will his film sequel have a happy ending?

“There is a continuing movement towards a political tipping-point,” Mr Gore said. “That day will soon come and the political system will begin to work in a very different way.

“I think we are not far from that. Because people care about their children, they have to act. I heard a great quote recently. ‘Because we don’t think about future generations, they will never forget us.’

“I do believe that one of the most powerful motivations for us today is to use our moral imagination to realise that, not too long from now, the next generation will ask one of two questions.

“They will ask: ‘What were they thinking?’ Or: ‘How did they find the courage to rise and solve a crisis so many said was impossible to solve?’

“That choice is ours and we must make it now.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/special_events/green_week/article1065876.ece

 

[Chris_]

If they only had a brain:


 

[delilahmused]

What a fricking egotistical, socialist blow hard. The guy has all the charisma of a pencil eraser. The left chooses the most pathetic religious icons on the planet. Maybe that's why they're such losers. When your idols are as pansy-assed as you are there's nothing to aspire to.

Cindie

[Mr Mannn]

Now how can I make another billion dollars outa Global Warming?

[Airwolf]

**** you Al. Your time came and went. The fact your craving attention like this is to just piss people off.

[PatriotGame]

Guck Fore!
Liberal elitist hypocrite.

[Ptarmigan]

Here is an Inconvient Truth for Al Gore. You had ties with Fred Phelps.