I have to start out this diary with a confession-When I was 13 I volunteered for Ralph Nader in Minneapolis. This was in early August of the 2000 elections, but by election time I was losing my interest in Nader, and by the time he rejected the call to tell his supporters to vote for Al Gore I was gone. In the end I came back to Al Gore, but I felt for the sake of full disclosure, I has to get that off my chest. Volunteering for Nader was certainly not wasted time, it taught me a lot, and at the time it felt like the right thing to do. If I had been volunteering for Nader in Florida I'd feel a whole lot different though.
I've come full circle on Al Gore, and here I am in 2007 hoping he will be our presidential candidate in 2008. The reason for my unhesitating support for Al Gore is really very simple, but for me it's very compelling. He gets it. He gets that climate change thing. He understands the SINGLE most important issue to me, and to so many people my age who are wondering if the world we are entering will be inhabitable, and when we want to have kids, what are we leaving them?
I'm certainly no single issue voter, and I am no saint when it comes to energy use. I drive too much for one. Not too much when I am at school, but I drive the hour one way to visit my girlfriend too much when I am home from college. I am also conscientious in my power use, and careful not to be wasteful. When it comes to the issues in 2008 I care a whole lot about the war in Iraq. How can I not? Kids my age are dying, and it's tragic. Members of my family have died in Iraq. Al Gore stood against the war in 2003 when it was not popular to, when it was "dishonest, cheap, low...hollow...wretched...vile...contemptible...a lie...a disgrace" to stand against the war. He offered more than simply words against the President's he offered an entirely different dialogue, framed in a rational and significant manner that put quite simply, no one else in the mainstream was willing to do. What Al Gore offered was a radically different strategy,
Nevertheless, by contrast, the war against terrorism manifestly requires a multilateral approach. It is impossible to succeed against terrorism unless we have secured the continuing, sustained cooperation of many nations.
and a radically different paradigm for understanding the world, one that did not call for the fearful, shortsighted tactics that ruled in America. A paradigm that stifled dissent and covered our nation in faux patriotism and shallow bravado. In short, Al Gore offered citizenry in place of the dominant jingoism of the time, something no one else in the mainstream was willing to do.
I support the push towards universal healthcare, and have ever since I was old enough to understand our healthcare system. And let's face it, climate change presents a whole host of health issues that our healthcare system is ill prepared for. Global climate change of course increases cancer rates, and
Global warming may also increase the risk of some infectious diseases, particularly those diseases that appear only in warm areas.
The thrust of this diary is not about his electability, his media influence, his tremendous revitalization as both a media figure and as an elder statesman, the war, or any of the other candidates. The focus of this diary is climate change. Perhaps I am exaggerating if I said that it was one of the most important issues to young people today, and it would be an exaggeration because it is not as glamorous, but it is also where I see people my age pouring their time and passion into. Friends of mine working on campus policy initiatives to improve energy efficiency in campus housing, studying to become mechanical engineers to work on alternative energy projects, and contributing to renewable energy self-sufficiency projects. Since Al Gore was my age he has cared deeply about global warming and energy issues. Has been publicly ridiculed for it, and of course George H. W. Bush famously called him ""Ozone Man"
Yesterday "Ozone Man" was tragically vindicated, as 'Smoking gun' report to say global warming here
Human-caused global warming is here -- visible in the air, water and melting ice -- and is destined to get much worse in the future, an authoritative global scientific report will warn next week.
"The smoking gun is definitely lying on the table as we speak," said top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who reviewed all 1,600 pages of the first segment of a giant four-part report. "The evidence ... is compelling."
Andrew Weaver, a Canadian climate scientist and study co-author, went even further: "This isn't a smoking gun; climate is a batallion of intergalactic smoking missiles."
Sorry guys, all other campaign issues pretty much go out the window for me here, and Al Gore is at the absolute forefront on this. He always has been. I don't want to convince you of his electability, I want to convince you he is right on the issue(s) that matter, and he is here. He has become the public face of the most important issue of our time.
Many scientists are now warning that we are moving closer to several “tipping points” that could — within as little as 10 years — make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable damage to the planet’s habitability for human civilization.
If you can find me another candidate who has spoken at such length and with such passion, then maybe we'd have a level playing field for the 2008 nominee, but until then my support, and so many other young people's will be with Al.
There are solutions to the global warming crisis,
The serious debate over the climate crisis has now moved on to the question of how we can craft emergency solutions in order to avoid this catastrophic damage.
And Al Gore is the one I trust to carry out the emergency measures this country and this planet desperately need.
Our children have a right to hold us to a higher standard when their future — indeed the future of all human civilization — is hanging in the balance. They deserve better than the spectacle of censorship of the best scientific evidence about the truth of our situation and harassment of honest scientists who are trying to warn us about the looming catastrophe. They deserve better than politicians who sit on their hands and do nothing to confront the greatest challenge that humankind has ever faced — even as the danger bears down on us.
We as a nation deserve the best candidate who can give us any hope for a viable future, and my children who I hope are a good 15 years away, if at all, deserve someone who understands the true crisis facing this country.
Plus, let's face it-He is just funny.
I have to tell you that I did some research about the vice presidency and found that quite a number of my predecessors did not really fully appreciate the job, and some of them resigned. Just to give one example before I get into my speech here, John C. Calhoun actually resigned the vice presidency in 1825 to become a senator from South Carolina. And as many of you know, he subsequently lost that seat to Strom Thurmond . . .