I saw “An Inconvenient Truth” last night, and it left me feeling doubly depressed, first because we’re all doomed due to global warming, and secondly because I couldn’t help but imagine what the world might be like if Al Gore had been president of the United States for the past 6 years instead of Bush.
The movie is largely footage of Gore giving his “slide show” on Global Warming, with which he’s been touring the globe for the last few years (I find it difficult to imagine GWB preparing and giving a talk wherein he skillfully navigates scientific and moral arguments for something he’s passionate about). I won’t bother to take you through the argument here except to note that there’s a pretty tight correlation between the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and global temperature over the last 600 million years, and that carbon levels are currently higher now than they’ve ever been (and are climbing). He investigates several of the effects of this: from the melting polar ice cap (to the point where Polar Bears have been drowning) to increase in hurricanes and floods and droughts, to the possible breakup of western Antarctica that would cause global sea level to rise 20 feet and displace a few hundred million people.
My only real complaint was that after laying out the problem, his proposed solutions (walk more, use energy efficient appliances, etc) seem rather futile. Admittedly, he does note that to address this issue properly will require “political will”. He also takes issue with the common assertion that “We can have the economy or the environment, but not both”, which one often hears from those with a vested interest in staying rich.
Reminds me of the New Yorker cartoon in which a businessman addressing some corporate board-room says, “The bad news is, the world is about to end. The good news is, the period right before the end will contain huge profits!”.
See it if you get the chance. The showing I went to was sold out.