Al Gore has been quite busy this past week. Many have been asking for him and wondering what he’s been doing, so I thought I would share some of what I have learned.
The week started out with two new videos being uploaded to Current.com
It actually took many days before it went viral and now one of the videos has become all the buzz.
I guess we could call these Rights. The first video, no doubt in honor of the anniversary of Roe V Wade, titled “Who Makes the Decision“, reaffirming his position that a woman should choose her medical decisions, including on abortion. And as important it is now days to reaffirm that right and position, it was the 2nd video that thrilled everyone, with Mr. Gore’s passion and detailed reasoning for why he believes that “Gay Men and Women should have the same rightsL” and endorses marriage. I couldn’t agree more. And having a politician, especially of Mr. Gore’s standing, advocate for same sex marriage was a breath of fresh air.
Then on to Sundance Festival where Mr. Gore was seen walking in with Bono to U2’s 3D film being showed.
Rock and politics at the Sundance Film Festival
Former Vice President Al Gore was seen walking into the U2 film sans entourage, then sitting with the band at the screening after being photographed by fans in the lobby amid screams of “We love you!”Hard to tell who was the bigger rock star that night — Bono or Gore.
Mr. Gore then borded his flights for Europe. First stopping off in Sweden to be presented an award by Crown Princess Victoria, who presented his award for “relentless commitment to put an end to the climate crisis by increasing public awareness about global warming.” The award was presented to Mr. Gore in front of near 6000 guests.
After accepting his award, Mr. Gore headed over to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he again attended with Bono the muchly anticipated dual conversation.
“Bono noted up front that there’s competition as well as combination: “We have noticed that interest from the media that had been so acute on issues of extreme poverty is not so acute now because of the climate crisis.”
Then again, Gore cited the League of Conservation Voters scorecard on how many times TV interviewers have asked presidential candidates about global warming. It’s currently 4 times out of 2,830 total questions asked, so that doesn’t seem like overwhelming media attention either.”
Any discussion on climate change at an event full of people with private jets is a bit cringe-inducing. Bono, to his credit, did not shy from his role as a major global polluter. He described having Gore over to his house: “Here’s the recycler, Al. I’ve got a posh car but it runs on ethanol, Al.”
Then he said Gore reminds him of an Irish priest. Bono would confess to him his Gulfstream-flying sins, and Gore would say, “What are you gonna do about it, son?” To which Bono would respond: “I’m trying to be good, Father Al, but to be honest oil has been very very good to me.”
After that sobering comedy routine, Gore said:
It’s important to try to move away from the idea that personal actions by each of represent solutions to this crisis. In addition to changing the light bulbs, it’s far more important to change laws. The one way to solve the climate crisis is to put a price on climate.
I think we need to put a price on carbon, and it needs to be effected globally so those who don’t pay a price for carbon don’t have an advantage over those who do.
Excellent point Mr. Gore. And who is going to make the necessary changes and laws?
One thing is for sure. I’m so happy we are able to call you our own.