Beyond the CFL bulb: Al Gore's new slideshow

"You know, if you dyed your hair black, you'd look just like Al Gore." That, says Gore, is what one kind-looking older woman told him. Has enviro-activism's aged the Nobel prize-winner a bit? Perhaps -- but Gore's keeping busy, and is back with a sequel of sorts to "An Inconvenient Truth."

This new slideshow -- which Gore debuted at the TED conference -- shows the drastically shrunken north polar ice cap. Yet Gore remains an optimist -- and encourages you to be too:

Sometimes I hear people respond to the disturbing facts of the climate crisis by saying, "Oh this is so terrible -- What a burden we have." I would like to ask you to reframe that. How many generations in all of human history have had the opportunity to rise to a challenge that is worthy of our best efforts, that has a challenge that can pull from us more than we knew we could do?

Can you face the challenges posed by the climate crisis with "profound joy and gratitude"? That's what Gore encourages you to do -- even though he's quick to point out the many problems and obstacles facing us. The solution he proposes sounds simple: "Put a price on carbon." Politically, however, this has been difficult to do -- which is why he's encouraging Americans to get more engaged.

"In order to solve the climate crisis, we need to solve the democracy crisis," Gore says. "Be an active citizen. Change the lightbulbs, but change the laws."

Watch the video, be inspired, and take action.

Comments

[Leon Wasser MBA, P.Eng.]

The polar caps are melting, it's real...and it's tragic. Most of all it's scary, largely because it is difficult to anticipate all the possible impacts of this unprecedented rapid environmental transformation. Unlike most of the world's ecosystems, the polar caps have been unique in thier stability, until now. The changes in play can't be stopped, but they can be slowed down, but only with concerted global efforts. Happy Earth Day!

Leon Wasser, MBA, P.Eng.
Global Warming Prevention Technologies
www.GWPT.com