With just a little over a month to go before An Inconvenient Truth is released, I think it is only fitting that those of us who truly care for this issue and for Mr. Gore do all we can to make sure that as many see this movie as we can possibly get out to the theatres. However, we have to face the reality that so many people neither know enough about this issue to care, think it is all BS, or believe it to be too overwhelming to even try to understand it. That is the biggest obstacle we face, and if we can get people in to see it we may surely change hearts and minds on this issue and really begin to face it on a united front.
With just a little over a month to go before
An Inconvenient Truth is released, I think it is only fitting that those of us who truly care for this issue and for Mr. Gore do all we can to make sure that as many see this movie as we can possibly get out to the theatres. However, we have to face the reality that so many people neither know enough about this issue to care, think it is all BS, or believe it to be too overwhelming to even try to understand it. That is the biggest obstacle we face, and if we can get beyond that to get people in to see it, we may surely change hearts and minds on this issue and really begin to face it on a united front. And that is the challenge that lies before us.
We need to relay to people that this is not a scare tactic, this is reality. Also, I believe many people have been brainwashed to believe that global warming (the global climate crisis) is a partisan political issue and indeed, some on the Democratic side treat it as though it were "their" issue. Of course, the Democratic Party leadership itself doesn't see it as an issue at all, so that might be a good point to raise in your discussions. Many people then think if they go to the theatre to see it, the ticket price is supporting a "Democratic" issue, and therefore, people not into politics won't be interested in seeing this movie. Especially if they see it as a "political campaign" movie, and that hurts the environmental cause.
This is why I responded to the Washington Post as I did this week when it intimated that all that Mr. Gore has been doing is a set up to run in 2008. We simply cannot diminish the importance of this by making Mr. Gore the center of it, or spreading suppositions not based on fact. He has not done that at all. He has not gone on television news shows and said, "Hey look at me, I'm the global warming king, so see my movie and buy my book so I can make tons of money so I can dupe you by really using it to run for president." He has not sought accolades for this. He has not done anything to indicate that this movie is in any way related to partisan politics or politics at all in the sense of "campaigning."
And, all profits from this movie and the book of the same name are going to environmental causes, not campaign coffers. In other words, he is passionate and sincere about getting this message out to people because it needs to get out to them. That is then what the message should be, as well as to educate as many people as we can on our own to what the repercussions of their indifference on this topic are and will be should we not act promptly. But then, the question then is, how much do you really know about this to be able to relay it to someone else?
How many people do you think would know what the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment is? How many know what causes global warming? That it is trapped greenhouse gases (mainly but not exclusive to CO2) that cannot escape the upper atmosphere and are building up because we keep burning them? How many would even know what CO2 is? My neighbor didn't, and he drives the biggest gas guzzler on the block. So therein lies the problem. This is why I believe the media also doesn't report on it... well, one reason of course, is that they are shills for this administration and the corporations that run them. However, I also believe it is out of their own ignorance on the topic that they do not go as deeply into this to really teach people about what it is and how we contribute to it. Perhaps once it is released they will get an education as well.
And also, once this movie has been released and is out of theatres the task is not complete, it is only the beginning. We must continue to educate and empower people about what they can do to join in this fight, and we must then initiate that fight! I am even thinking of making a flyer about global warming and how they can change their lives in small ways to start this healing process and handing it out outside the theatre as they walk in. I would be willing to do that for every showing if I had to, because then they have something to take with them when they leave. I've already written my theatre and asked them to show this movie and they responded that they would and thanked me. There are other things we can then do as well to help get the word out about it. Write LTE, write to your school boards, local papers, put up flyers, word of mouth, etc. In essence this is a campaign, but a moral campaign to wake people up to what we are doing to our only home and that it is time to stop, take stock in our responsibility for it, and find our true moral compass to be accountable for it. Personally, I can't think of a more important campaign.
I truly believe this movie will be the catalyst to awareness for many, but I also know that Al Gore cannot do this alone, nor should he have to. There are so many others out here besides him working very hard to educate people with facts. As supporters of this man and also as people who love this planet, we owe it to him and them to help him in this cause. Mr. Gore has said that political will is a renewable resource in regards to those who lead this country in the halls of Congress and other positions... well, that may be so if you have people not beholding to other interests and their own. However, I don't see too much of that these days, and in my mind that political will can then not be tapped unless we out here show that we have the moral will to speak out for our Earth and then take the action we say needs to be taken to implement it.
I hope this movie will then give us that voice. And if it does, it will be the greatest thing Mr. Gore could have ever done for this planet, for it would start a chain of events that could finally lead us to the Renaissance we need to bring not only this planet back to balance, but ourselves as a species. So please, don't dismiss this as hype. Please take this seriously and spread the word about this issue and this movie to all you can. For a prosperous, clean, peaceful world is the greatest gift we could ever leave our children.
Thank you.