I was lucky enough to snag an invitation to see Al Gore's speech on climate change this past Thursday. The talk was organized by Mayor Nickel's office as part of a weeklong series of climate-related policy announcements, mostly focused on Nickel's U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and the release of the City of Seattle's Green Ribbon Commission report. Gore was here to show support for the role Nickels and Seattle have taken in addressing climate change. I think Al did an amazing job. He was funny, passionate, enthusiastic, and inspiring.
I've been convinced that global warming is a major threat for years. However, I have to say that after seeing Gore's presentation, it feels like climate change will be THE defining issue facing our entire civilization for the next 100 years. It affects everything. The "tipping points" that he explained so brilliantly are what we really need to be concerned about, and I couldn't help but think that the way this problem is framed will determine whether or not we are successful in addressing it. I think Gore is dead-on to characterize climate change as a moral issue, and I also feel like all of us need to make a concerted effort to characterize it as a patriotic issue as well. Something like, "cutting out carbon is patriotic!"
Eric De Place has a great summary of the speech here.
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