An Inconvenient Truth
"Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy...if we are successful in establishing a controversy at the public level, there is an opportunity to put across the real facts about smoking and health."
The above quote was found in a memo discussing how to counter the "anti-cigarette forces" back in 1969. It's also a quote that appears in the film "An Inconvenient Truth" and it's the same strategy used by the industries that have the most to lose if we take global warming seriously.
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I was fortunate to see an advanced screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" this evening. The film opens officially in Salt Lake City at the Broadway Theatre on Friday. The opening screening will include a panel discussion hosted by KCPW which can be heard live.
Al Gore is the central figure of the film, which follows him as he gives lectures with a slide show on global warming around the globe. Interwoven are stories from Al's life and how that plays into what he's doing now -- trying to educate us to save ourselves and our planet.
As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I've been following the global warming issue for some time, but it wasn't enough to prepare me for seeing this film. It came together in such a real and powerful way, and I found myself with a stomachache from fear, but at the same time getting pumped up to go make some instant changes as soon as the credits rolled. For me, the most powerful aspect of the film was to see how much we could reduce the planetary threat if we are all willing to make a few sacrifices for the good of the whole world. I had almost come to the belief that even if we changed things now, we were still doomed, so there was some relief for me to see how we as a society could somewhat easily bring down our atmospheric CO2 levels to 1970 levels (which while not perfect, is far preferable to what they are now).
I ran through a list of things I could do or things I could do better as I walked next door to Mr. Z's where a discussion was to be facilitated by former Mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson and Salt Lake Tribune columnist Holly Mullen. There were about 20 of us there at the discussion, including Geralyn Dreyfous of the Salt Lake Film Center, Dr. Louis Borgenicht, Salt Lake County councilwoman Jenny Wilson, David Berg from UARC and several people whose names I didn't catch, but included a reporter from KCPW, a woman who works with helping set energy goals, someone from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
I'm glad David Berg was at the discussion, because one of the main things missing from this film's suggestions of things to do (mostly shown during the credits) is to go meatless (or at the very least have several meatless days a week). Dave mentioned that the fossil fuels needed to produce one hamburger could power a car for 20 miles. A recent study that I posted about shows that vegan diets are the best diets to reduce global warming, but the article also mentions that by cutting down from "two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."
Holly Mullen talked about the difficulty in journalism of always having to balance out points of view. In the case of global warming, there are really no other non-corporate funded scientific points of view out there, which makes trying to balance out the discussion disingenuous.
What I got most out of the discussion is that this truly has to be change from the grassroots. The necessary force of will to make the needed changes is not going to come from the top down.
At the top of my new list of "things to do my part to reduce global warming" is to get as many people to see this film as possible. I'm offering to any one I personally know to take them to this film and then out to eat (or coffe or dessert) afterward, my treat. Since I'm fairly poor, I have to limit this, so I'll try to come up with a different incentive for those I don't know but read this blog to go see it (suggestions on what this could be are welcome, just comment to this post).
More info: www.climatecrisis.net
The above quote was found in a memo discussing how to counter the "anti-cigarette forces" back in 1969. It's also a quote that appears in the film "An Inconvenient Truth" and it's the same strategy used by the industries that have the most to lose if we take global warming seriously.
___________________
I was fortunate to see an advanced screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" this evening. The film opens officially in Salt Lake City at the Broadway Theatre on Friday. The opening screening will include a panel discussion hosted by KCPW which can be heard live.
Al Gore is the central figure of the film, which follows him as he gives lectures with a slide show on global warming around the globe. Interwoven are stories from Al's life and how that plays into what he's doing now -- trying to educate us to save ourselves and our planet.
As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I've been following the global warming issue for some time, but it wasn't enough to prepare me for seeing this film. It came together in such a real and powerful way, and I found myself with a stomachache from fear, but at the same time getting pumped up to go make some instant changes as soon as the credits rolled. For me, the most powerful aspect of the film was to see how much we could reduce the planetary threat if we are all willing to make a few sacrifices for the good of the whole world. I had almost come to the belief that even if we changed things now, we were still doomed, so there was some relief for me to see how we as a society could somewhat easily bring down our atmospheric CO2 levels to 1970 levels (which while not perfect, is far preferable to what they are now).
I ran through a list of things I could do or things I could do better as I walked next door to Mr. Z's where a discussion was to be facilitated by former Mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson and Salt Lake Tribune columnist Holly Mullen. There were about 20 of us there at the discussion, including Geralyn Dreyfous of the Salt Lake Film Center, Dr. Louis Borgenicht, Salt Lake County councilwoman Jenny Wilson, David Berg from UARC and several people whose names I didn't catch, but included a reporter from KCPW, a woman who works with helping set energy goals, someone from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
I'm glad David Berg was at the discussion, because one of the main things missing from this film's suggestions of things to do (mostly shown during the credits) is to go meatless (or at the very least have several meatless days a week). Dave mentioned that the fossil fuels needed to produce one hamburger could power a car for 20 miles. A recent study that I posted about shows that vegan diets are the best diets to reduce global warming, but the article also mentions that by cutting down from "two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."
Holly Mullen talked about the difficulty in journalism of always having to balance out points of view. In the case of global warming, there are really no other non-corporate funded scientific points of view out there, which makes trying to balance out the discussion disingenuous.
What I got most out of the discussion is that this truly has to be change from the grassroots. The necessary force of will to make the needed changes is not going to come from the top down.
At the top of my new list of "things to do my part to reduce global warming" is to get as many people to see this film as possible. I'm offering to any one I personally know to take them to this film and then out to eat (or coffe or dessert) afterward, my treat. Since I'm fairly poor, I have to limit this, so I'll try to come up with a different incentive for those I don't know but read this blog to go see it (suggestions on what this could be are welcome, just comment to this post).
More info: www.climatecrisis.net