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Al Gore

Are we finally reaching a tipping point?

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Yesterday Al Gore gave a speech challenging the United States to produce all of its electricity from renewable energy within 10 years. This is one of the first examples I have seen that is truly a dramatic step toward change, versus the incremental policies and initiatives we have seen so far from North America's businesses and governments (small unreliable subsidy programs, greenwashing type products and services, etc).

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The Necessary RevolutionAnd, earlier this week I was introduced to a new book titled The Necessary Revolution, How Individuals And Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World, by Peter Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, and Sara Schley. The book describes real examples of collaborations that are happening around the world to create transformative change, leading to regenerative solutions, which are essential to the creation of a flourishing, sustainable world. I'm only about a third of the way through the book, so will report back once I'm finished. So far, I can say that the book is really inspiring, and I love the way it incorporates systems thinking to shake us out of our silos and see the bigger picture. I also really like their focus on creating a desired future, versus problem solving. This is a far more motivating and engaging approach.

We know that the world needs to seriously change, and only time will tell at what point humanity wakes up and not only takes notice but actually plants itself on a different path. The noticing part has been growing strong over the last couple of years, and maybe, just maybe, we're ready to take action in a serious way!

Gore’s $300 million gamble

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Former vice-president and eco-warrior Al Gore has just announced that the Alliance for Climate Protection, an NGO he founded, will spend upwards of 300 million dollars in an advertisement and citizen mobilization blitz ("we" campaign) during the upcoming presidential election campaign and beyond.

Here's an example of one of the ads:

Perhaps the largest and most expensive campaign of its kind, Gore hopes to mobilize enough support among average Americans of all stripes to force politicians to take climate change seriously. Such an effort was sorely lacking when the Clinton-Gore Administration watered down and finally walked away from Kyoto as it faced certain defeat in the House and Senate in the 1990s.

However, such a campaign faces huge hurdles that have derailed new environmental legislation in the past. Many of the most ardent opponents of environmental legislation are themselves insulated from democratic pressures due to the vagaries of American congressional system, where smaller states with low populations hold disproportional power (each of the fifty states is represented by two senators regardless of their population). Along with an industry-friendly administration over the past eight years, the US government's regulatory bodies have been gutted, environmental laws reversed, and scientists across the country demoralized due to the government's ideological intransigence.

The next president will need to repair the enormous damage, let alone advance a progressive environmental agenda. At the very least however, none of the frontrunners on both sides are climate change skeptics and Gore's groundbreaking strategy can be witnessed by his strange bedfellows ads:

A clip aired on CBS showed the Reverend Al Sharpton sharing a sofa with the conservative preacher Pat Robertson. The two men acknowledge they agree on almost nothing - barring the need to deal with global warming.

Other spots will feature the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, alongside Newt Gingrich, the conservative Republican who once held the same post.

The support from such conservative figures as Gingrich and Robertson marks a victory for Gore in his efforts to make global warming a cause for all Americans: evangelical Christians and fiscal conservatives as well as those on the left.

Incidentally, Gore will be in Montreal this weekend.

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