Gore's Global Warning

By Andrew Griffin
Red Dirt Reporter (originally posted on Slice O' Life)
Posted: March 2, 2007

NORMAN -- It was an exciting afternoon in Norman over at OU's Lloyd Noble Arena where former Vice-President Al Gore was the featured guest, there to discuss the growing crisis of global warming, as featured in his Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

I arrived in the parking lot an hour or so before the doors opened and while I waited in line, a group of OU freshman, presumably College Republican types from Enid, joked about Gore and his "globaloney."
"Hey, if this is true and the seas do rise," said one young man. "Then I may have some beachfront property in Enid."
Yeah. "Ha-ha."
Keeping us entertained in the meantime was a guy (or gal) in a "Climate Change" polar bear suit (as pictured up top). The polar bear danced around and held signs, including this one which read: "My home is MELTING." How sad is that? In fact later, Gore would feature some despondent polar bears clutching to a small iceberg, looking forlorn ...

At about 3 p.m., the doors suddenly opened and there was a mad dash to the entrance, making me think that this is the sort of mob that led to that horrible event in Ohio in 1979 when people were killed at a Who concert.
So, I found a pretty good spot down front, great view. I was pretty pleased that I got such a great spot, since security didn't even bother to determine if I was student or faculty. Well, I figured, I'm a journalist, so I could get in and get a decent spot. In any event, I was in.Instead of cheering "Go Big Red," students chanted "Go Al Gore." This guy is a borderline rock star now. It's really quite incredible.

Before long, Gov. Brad Henry and his wife and several state senators, including "progressive" Andrew Rice, showed up and were recognized by OU President (and Bonesman) David Boren, who told the crowd that the numbers for Gore's visit were bigger than those for Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher. Boren's best line was when he told the crowd that Gore was "the man who received 500,000 more votes" than Bush. The crowd went wild.

Boren went on about all the environmentally sound projects that the campus was engaged in, including wind power. Goodness knows there's no shortage of wind in Oklahoma.
Gore, meanwhile, got a standing ovation when he was introduced by his former congressional colleague - "A person truly dedicated to this country and to public service - Vice-President Al Gore."

Having recently seen "An Inconvenient Truth," Gore's presentation was pretty much along those same lines. Using an Apple-powered PowerPoint-type presentation on a big screen, Gore's information on how the climate is rapidly changing for the worse was quite compelling. And he was somewhat self-deprecating, "I am Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States." Or this little gem: "I'm a recovering politician. I'm on step nine - you win some, you lose some ... and then there's that little known third category." WILD APPLAUSE!!!
"Climate crisis," Gore intoned, "Is the most dangerous situation we've ever faced." He made statements such as these while images of the planet Earth, graphs and charts were featured and the snows of Kilimanjaro were down to a mere 15-foot-tall icicle.

"Virtually every mountain glacier is melting," added Gore. He then noted how numerous rivers in Asia begin in the Himalayas and how "Forty-percent of the world's population depends on water from the Himalayan watershed."

Gore noted that critics/skeptics of global warming note how there have argued that there was a warming trend in the Middle Ages and that such warming events are evidence that "global warming" is really "cyclical."

Gore's info proves otherwise and shows how CO2 emissions are incredibly high. He continued showing how warming seas, due to global warming, is increasing the number of hurricanes, floods, storms and droughts across the planet. Indeed, this appears to be occuring. He showed the high number of hurricanes that have come from the Atlantic and how a first-ever South Atlantic hurricane struck Brazil in 2004.

"Climate refugees," he said, will flee flooded or drought-stricken areas and seek shelter in other areas. This has already happened in East Africa, he said, and has led to conflicts in Sudan and the genocide in the Darfur region.

As more animals die off, more diseases and pests will flock to regions they've not been known to visit. And then there were the manatees that are showing up in areas like Cape Cod and the mid-Mississippi River region.

"Nature is on the run," Gore said glumly. "On the run."

Indeed it appears to be. But Gore offered hope, noting how human ingenuity has faced incredible odds before and has overcome serious obstacles. Reversing the climate crisis, he said, is possible.
Global warming and climate change, Gore said emphatically, "Is is a moral, ethical and spiritual issue. This is the moral challenge of our lifetime."

All in all, Gore's presentation was one of the most interesting and inspiring I've heard in some time. If you get a chance to see him in your town, make sure you do so.

p.s. If you've listened to the likes of neocon talk radio hosts like Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh, you may have noticed that they've ridiculed Gore left and right. No surprise.