Tuesday, January 23, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth

I watched Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, twice in the last week. Melissa and I watched it the previous weekend, and I watched it with my daughter on Saturday night as part of a public screening. She has been asking questions about global warming over the last month, so it seemed like a good time to watch the film with her.

I found the movie to be well made, considering that most of it is simply him talking and illustrating his points with photographs and charts. It is apparent that Gore has plenty of passion for the subject. I'm sure he was disappointed that he couldn't do more by being president. However, I am thankful that he has focused his energies in getting this film out and speaking.

The end of the film presents us with a list of different things we can do. Although this was not specifically mentioned, I am considering getting TerraPasses for both driving and flying this year to help cancel out my contribution to producing greenhouse gases.

There were parts of the movie that my daughter did not understand, but she did get that this is a serious issue. It was a bit tough watching it with her, as I definitely feel that I have a role as steward for the planet and as her father. I want to do as much as is possible to help hand over the reins of leadership to her generation knowing that we as a global community have worked earnestly to solve this problem.

Tags: global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, environmental stewardship, Al Gore

2 comments:

TerraPraeta said...

One of these days, I will have to see this film...

Friends that have watched it seem to be of mixed opinion... first they tell me there is nothing I won't know included in the film (which I kinda figured, thus the 'no-rush' attitude). Some are really thrilled that these issues are being raised so close to the mainstream (finally!), others are afraid that he leaves the impression that all of our problems are fixable with very simple and basic actions (ie switching lightbulbs)... and that this will have the effect of making people less concerned in the long run

I dunno. I can see what both sides are saying, but I spose until I see the film, I won't know what I think!

tp

Joe Erjavec said...

I didn't feel a rush to see it, as I'm on board with Gore's message.

However, I am glad that he stressed that some of this is fixable with simple actions. Some will do much, others will do a little. Either way, if some people watch it and make just one or two simple changes in their lives, I think the movie is effective.

It inspired me to take more action.