Al Gore in 24-hour broadcast to convert climate skeptics

[ProSense]

Source: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore will renew his 30-year campaign to convince skeptics of the link between climate change and extreme weather events this week in a 24-hour global multi-media event.

"24 Hours of Reality" will broadcast a presentation by Al Gore every hour for 24 hours across 24 different time zones from Wednesday to Thursday, with the aim of convincing climate change deniers and driving action against global warming among households, schools and businesses.

The campaign also asks people to hand over control of their social networking accounts on Facebook and Twitter to it for 24 hours to deliver Gore's message.

"There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change," Trewin Restorick, chief executive of the event's UK partner Global Action Plan, told Reuters on Monday.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/gore-24-hour-broadcast-convert-climate-skeptics-120952634.html

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. here's the link to the Climate Reality Project...

What can change in a day? Everything. On September 14, the world will focus its attention on the truth about the climate crisis. For 24 hours, we will all live in reality. Pick a faraway place or a city near you. Make it yours for one day. We’re hitting every time zone — but only once. 7 p.m. in your time zone. Choose a location and get involved.

http://climaterealityproject.org/

[separationcs]

2. EPA Approves Emergency Fuel Waiver for Pennsylvania

We will begin to see more of this as they continue to circumvent the EPA:

WASHINGTON – As a result of the shutdown of the Buckeye Pipeline due to severe flooding, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has exercised its authority under the Clean Air Act to temporarily waive certain federal clean gasoline requirements for parts of Pennsylvania. This waiver will allow greater flexibility for the fuel distribution system to support an adequate supply.

The waiver was granted by EPA in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), at the request of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson determined that extreme and unusual supply circumstances exist, which are likely to result in a shortage of gasoline compliant with federal regulations. The federal waiver will help ensure an adequate supply of gasoline in the affected area until normal supply to the region can be restored.

The waiver applies to 7.8 psi low RVP requirements that apply in the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley area. The waiver is effective for 20 days and allows the sale of 9.0 psi conventional gasoline in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland counties. As required by law, EPA and DOE evaluated the situation and determined that granting a short-term waiver was consistent with the public interest. To mitigate any impacts on air quality the Clean Air Act provides strict criteria for when fuels waivers may be granted, and requires that waivers be limited as much as possible in terms of their geographic scope and duration.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/caa/fuelwaivers/

[jwirr]

3. I do not see this as circumventing EPA. The original rules were set

up to allow this on a short term basis. It is actually part of the EPA law with strong limitations to its use.

[separationcs]

6. Sure.

Let's see how short term this turns out to be.

[HuckleB]

4. Uh, "climate skeptics" are not skeptics. They are "climate truthers or believers," ...

they are anything but true skeptics.

[get the red out]

12. Exactly!

They oppose accepting the realities of climate change either for reasons of $$$ or as a type of religious furvor. It isn't about education.

[SoapBox]

14. Ditto, Ditto...The De-nile Fundies could care less about this...

They have their heads stuck SO far up, well, in the sand, that Al doesn't even need to waste breath on them.

[iamthebandfanman]

17. the funny part is

that statement is true of anything they 'believe' in...

just take out some words, and you completely summed up their entire way of thought!

'they oppose realities either for reasons of $$$ or as a type of religious furvor'

that just described the view of every right winger ive ever met.

[SkyDaddy7]

54. YOU NAILED IT!!!

I have said basically the same thing talking to friends...I sit & think to myself about it because I do not like to be hyperbolic but exactly like you said Right Wingers entire platform is built off believing in BS! Especially the common Right Wing voter who knows ONLY what they hear at church, on talk radio & FOX "News"...The Right Wing leaders like RUSH & the Koch Bros. use religion as the primary tool to coral the sheep into voting the way they want! And I am a firm believer that religion opens one up to believing in almost anything without needing a shred of evidence. (Not all religious people but the trend is there) The Right Wing authoritarians know how powerful religion is & once you have someone on your side due to religious reasons they will believe almost anything you tell them to believe...For instance, the Republican Party has completely altered what Jesus actually taught in the Bible when it comes to helping your fellow man, the poor, the sick & so on...SAD!

[PSPS]

60. True. They are either paid shills or "dining room tables."

[immoderate]

72. I use "deniers."

Like holocaust and moon landing deniers.

They are also like birthers, in that no evidence can convince them.

To their face, I just call them "fundies." They may not believe in Jesus, but all their other beliefs are the same as fundies.


--imm

[FedUp_Queer]

78. Exactly. Next we will see "sphere earth skeptics."

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, ProSense.

[iamthebandfanman]

7. guess you wont be watching

along with all the apologist on DU... i mean, Al has spoken negatively about el presidente after all... so hes not a real democrat , and what not.

[sce56]

8. K & R & FB'd

[greiner3]

9. That's a great thing Al is doing;

I hope it raises a lot of people's awareness to this clear and present danger the whole of humanity, and all life on this planet.

However, I follow the money. Exxon and the oligarchy, the energy producing companies and many more will lose business if not go out of business completely if there were no 'climate deniers.' Imagine if the media outlets were to air nothing but the truth about climate change. How would the loss of Exxon, Sunoco, etc... ad dollars please the stockholders? It would be a good thing for the planet but would lose many a CEO's job. Like that would ever happen.

The stink of unfettered capitalism drives this corporate negativism and public relations effort to put up enough reasonable doubt in the uninformed John and Jane Doe's eyes has my grandchildren's very health and welfare in their greedy hands.

[rosesaylavee]

10. Wonderful.

I'll be watching. Thank you for the thread.

[Atypical Liberal]

11. Huge waste of time.

My mother is convinced that climate change is something Al Gore drummed up to get rich off of.

This sort of thing is a waste of time. It is a religion. The people who don't believe in climate change will never have enough evidence to convince them. Fire could rain from the sky and they would simply fall back to the position that it is all simply part of a natural cycle, or worse, god.

And that is pretty much where we are now. It's getting harder and harder to say that the climate is not changing. But the true believers will never believe that it could be affected by man, and consequently won't support any policy changes aimed at stemming climate change.

Honestly I can't think of any event that would change their minds on this. I think it could literally rain fire from the sky and they would take it in stride as a natural event.

[harun]

20. They need to stop calling it Global Warming and start calling it something

more appropriate like 'CO2 Expansion'. The real problem is humans pumping the CO2 levels WAY out of the norm. That may make some areas much colder, dryer, etc. Global Warming is too easy to refute by non-critical thinkers. There is a reason you hear Limbaugh in Feb. saying "Global Warming my ass". He can't say that about C02 Expansion. It was horrible marketing from day one.

[Atypical Liberal]

24. It doesn't matter what you call it.

Call it CO2 expansion and they will point to volcanoes or some shit.

Until their houses are washed away or they can't breathe the air these people are just going to live in denial.

[harun]

32. I wonder why they still believe it though? What do they get out of supporting

the lies of the Oil Industry?

[Ahpook]

43. I think its partly political as well?

They view these issues in a simplistic matter. If anyone besides their slave masters mention these things its bullshit.

How do you get around these thought processes? If its snows a few inches they call the idea crap. I've lived in and out of Tennessee since 87' and have noticed HUGE changes in our weather patterns. If I notice it, everyone around here damn sure does as well. Never will understand their passivity on these subjects.

Could it also be that some people don't want their "beautiful minds" disturbed by such things? It does change the way you view the world and just maybe some people are simply to wussy to think about it? :)

[mwooldri]

51. Needs a simple easy un-debatable name. I propose "Climate Damage".

Unscientific, yes. Easy to understand, yes. Easy to refute? No.

Rather than wishy washy "climate change" call it for what it is - damage.

[harun]

64. That would work as well.

[Hugabear]

55. There are DUers who feel the same way about Gore

Shouldn't take too long for a few Gore-bashing sub-threads to pop up.

[tblue]

13. He's a hero, Al Gore.

http://images3.cpcache.com/product/politics+-+government-peace-nature/157346923v5_225x225_Front.jpg

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[0rganism]

16. yeah, that'll work

Do Al Gore and his handlers presume that "climate change deniers" reached their conclusions due to lack of exposure to Al Gore? And the appropriate remedy is an AGW telethon?

It's Super Effective!

[Romulox]

18. He'll arrive in a private plane, of course. nt

[HuckleB]

31. And...?

:shrug:

[cherokeeprogressive]

53. And... He'll be driven from whatever airport he lands at in a fleet of SUV's

Either Navigators, Escalades, or Suburbans.

Come on, this stuff almost writes itself.

[HuckleB]

62. OK, then.

:rofl:

[Romulox]

67. Powerful stuff in defense of seemingly indefensible hypocrisy.

You've convinced me! :thumbsup:

[HuckleB]

68. Those in search of hypocrisy should spend more time in front of the mirror.

Perfection doesn't exist, and your need for it to exist gets in the way of actual improvement for mankind and the earth itself.

[Romulox]

70. Ol' Al sucks down the juice like a Prince of Saud and then points fingers at the peasants.

It's a ridiculous act.

[HuckleB]

76. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Nice, pointless Ivory Tower you have there. It's odd that you can't see that what you're doing is causing far more harm than anything you accuse Gore of doing.

[Romulox]

65. He's a hypocrite who uses 20x the energy of the average American

and then purchases "carbon offsets" from his own company.

Sorry I was being too subtle for ya. :shrug:

[HuckleB]

69. No, you weren't subtle at all.

Your pointless attack upon something aimed to improve the world was quite clear.

[Romulox]

71. Credibility: if Al wants it, he's gotta walk the talk.

Sorry. :cry: :shrug:

[HuckleB]

75. He has more credibility than those who refuse to work to make things better.

[Romulox]

80. But much less than those who actually DO what they tell everyone else to do.

:shrug:

[hatrack]

61. Yeah, and he lives in a HOUSE, and that house has a COMPUTER . .

And it has a FURNACE, too!!!! So THERE!!!!

:silly:

[Romulox]

66. I count THREE SUVs parked at Gore's mansion. I own zero.

[LanternWaste]

74. I would think that if the broadcast compels X amount of people...

I would think that if the broadcast compels X amount of people to reduce their carbon footprint by Y, then it becomes more than plausible the cost/benefit ratio would offset his "arrival in a plane... or course", thus illustrating greater rather than less efficiency.

[Romulox]

79. Ah, but Gore's personal overconsumption will naturally inspire a backlash,

and some will consume MORE, reasoning that they still have a long way to go to use as much as the Gores do.

No, in the long run, there is no coherent argument for a hypocrite spokesman.

[thetonka]

19. I believe the facts, I don't worship Al Gore

In my opinion Al and his arrogant campaign have done more to fuel the "deniers" obsession with hatred of anything to do with Human Societies influence on the environment than anything else.

But I am sure many on here will disagree, accepting everything Al says as fact is the same as accepting everything in the Bible as fact.

Al Gore is NOT a scientist!

[harun]

21. Wow, what's it like living in a Red State?

[tblue]

22. The deniers are his fault?

Okay.

[Uncle Joe]

23. 1. Please show a single post that said Al Gore should be worshiped.

2. Please show a single post that said Al Gore is a scientist.

Whether you wish to admit it or not Al Gore has done more to bring the issues of global warming climate change to the forefront of the American Peoples' consciousness than any other political leader.

The only reason Gore's warnings have carried so much traction is because the vast majority of the world's climate scientists support his political position on this issue.

Al Gore doesn't have to be a scientist to understand and carry the message of science.

[iamthebandfanman]

48. glad someone with a science related degree is here

to correct us all...


i mean, youre a scientist right?

[Enthusiast]

50. Who does worship Al Gore?

What Gore says about climate change isn't something he made up out of whole cloth. He never claimed to be a scientist. He is repeating what is the consensus scientific evidence.

Enjoy your visit. I recommend the administrators tomb stone your ass immediately.

We have too many frauds on DU as it is to put up with such an obvious one as you.

[fascisthunter]

56. sorry, but nobody here "worships" Al Gore... not here

we respect the man, but don't try to confuse that with worshipping.

[immoderate]

73. So do you listen to scientists?

:shrug:

--imm

[RedCloud]

25. Dumb it down so the Koch brother puppets can understand!

[glinda]

26. Won't work as well unless tons of media cover it. Conservatives limit their outlets.

[Overseas]

27. K&R. Yes please! Choose Reality!

[Bennyboy]

28. I hope Al has taken care of his end of the deal too..

One thing that people discredited him over was his own energy usage. Ad that was justified somewhat. You can preach from the mountaintop but if a heleicopter got you there, you are not going to be taken seriously.

I do hope he includes a segment of the changed he has made (if any at all) in his own life to discredit the discrediters.

[slackmaster]

29. Will the show be run in China and India?

Somehow I doubt it, at least for China.

[politicasista]

30. Kick

What did Gore do to people on Twitter. He has never attacked President Obama personally. :shrug:

[FedUp_Queer]

33. This is great and all.

I'm all for being a prophet and preaching truth in places people don't want to hear it, but really...aren't these the same people who believe this society discriminates against Protestant Christians? Aren't these the same people who every year hem and haw about "Defending Christmas?" Noble as it is, what's the damn point? I think he would do well to preach to decision-makers rather than the Glenn Beck followers of the world.

[Uncle Joe]

34. Why do you believe he's preaching to one and not the other?

Edit to add, The message is for and needs to be for everyone to have maximum efficiency.

[FedUp_Queer]

77. Good point.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Al Gore has no credibility with right-wingers

They consider him a laughing-stock.

They'll react the same way that Dems would react if G.W. Bush went on the air for 24 hours claiming that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11.

This would work only if a FORMER skeptic went on the air and talked about why he was wrong, and maybe not even then.

[Uncle Joe]

37. The problem with your analogy is in equating a myth or falsehood to science based facts.

Dems didn't and wouldn't attack G.W Bush for claiming that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 if the facts had warranted that belief but they didn't and don't.

I do agree a former skeptic changing his/her mind and speaking has value but that also has its' own set of baggage, are they being for real or just a Trojan Horse hoping to come in to power?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. And you don't get what I and others are trying to say

Sometimes the messenger makes all the difference.

Al Gore is a joke among right-wingers.

Do you ever read the online comments in your local paper? Every time it snows in Minnesota, the right-wingers come on and post things like, "Some global warming! Ha-ha-ha! Al Gore! Ha-ha-ha!"(I'm not kidding, every time it snows, even though snowfalls are fewer and lighter than in previous years.)

The only impact such a program will have is that AM radio and Fox News will spend the whole 24 hours making jokes about it.

[thetonka]

41. Get rid of Al and have Ed Begley Jr. make the presentation

more people would listen, and there were be FAR less for the deniers to use as "ammo" in their holy war.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. Yes, or some of the more environmentally conscious younger Hollywood types

or even some of the evangelicals who are environmentally conscious (yes, they exist--they're not all end-timers).

[thetonka]

45. Most would be better

it's the arrogant "do as I say, not as I do cause I know best" attitude that is impossible to get past. Someone like Ed can get up there and honestly tell people that his way of life is better, cause he lives it, and honestly explain the advantages from personal experience, as opposed to preaching from on top of his wasteful protected mountain where he refuses to talk with anyone who doesn't agree with him 100%.

He came out swinging and made a real mess of things. The movement needs someone down to earth that people can trust. Al just isn't that guy.

I personally think he does the environmental campaign for personal reasons, he is greedy and selfish. Ed is not, and does not preach like Al.

[Uncle Joe]

46. What or who is preventing Ed from doing so?

:shrug:

[thetonka]

47. He does have his show, and leads by example

I'm tired of people discounting people like Ed without even giving him a chance. And most of the people who do use Al and all the propaganda against him as an excuse. Too much of it is impossible to argue against.

[Uncle Joe]

49. To the contrary I don't discount Ed, the more voices the better and kudos to Ed for what he does.

Having said this timid acquiescence to corporate media, right wing propaganda and demonization of a if not the leading voice in regards to the growing threat of global warming gets tiring as well.

Al Gore isn't perfect, no one is but he's made tremendous positive impact in regards to this issue and for him to be silent just because he's wealthy and yet progressive is a dead end path to meaningful reform of any type.

I wonder if the Declaration of Independence and/or U.S. Constitution could have ever been written or passed with such thinking?

[Enthusiast]

52. Right wingers are a joke among me.

:rofl: :patriot: :popcorn:

[fascisthunter]

57. nodoby has credibility with folks who "believe" rather than know anything and everything

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. You know what the real reason behind climate skepticism is?

Love of cars.

About 1/3 of America's CO2 emissions come from cars, and a lot of sad and sorry Americans derive part of their identity from their cars and think that anyone without a car is a loser.

That's also why they're against public transit and facilities for bicycles and pedestrians. Anyone who can't or won't drive, for whatever reason, they see as a loser, and in the conservative mindset, losers' lives should be made as miserable as possible, so they'll shape up and stop being losers. (cf. the unemployed, people on welfare or disability, those who have been foreclosed on, etc.)

Only white evangelical Protestant suburbanites deserve anything in this life (or so they think), and since that lifestyle depends on every family having multiple cars, making it possible to live without driving (as any serious climate proposal must) is just catering to the non-virtuous losers.

[Uncle Joe]

38. I agree with the love affair of cars as being an obstacle whether that be emotional or logical but

that doesn't necessarily mean fossil fuel powered cars.

I believe electric cars will take over, we're just going through the transition period now, but to make that work we need more emphasis from the government placed on subsidizing renewable, sustainable forms of energy and developing/building a smart grid.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. In the meantime, we could create non-exportable blue collar jobs

(and administrative jobs after construction was over) by building high-speed rail and mass transit and retrofitting suburbs to make them more pedestrian friendly. No need to wait for new technology.

[fascisthunter]

59. Lydia, there was some study done on why...

..."men" in particular are attracted to owning bug, gas-guzzling vehicles, and unfortunately, it gives credence to a stereotype, that cars and other materialistic needs are seen as an extension of the male penis. It's not exactly true, but close... and very eye-opening.

PS. - I'm male and can agree with the temptation of owning a muscle car. There is something to it...

[izquierdista]

44. With facts?

I'll bet I could buy all the new converts a beer -- and not have to open a second case.

[fascisthunter]

58. Good, the more he does this the Better

some may claim it won't help, but knowing how shit is repeated so it sinks in works very well, if it didn't, FOX would never repeat a Think Tank meme the way the do.

[No Elephants]

63. The crucial link to prove is the link between human activity and climate change.

OF COURSE there is a link between extreme weather events and climate change. DUH.

No one disputes that. The world's necons, however, claim it is cyclical, having occurred and recurred before any emissions to speak of existed.

Reuters wrote a bad lead and a bad news story.

"Former Vice President Al Gore will renew his 30-year campaign to convince skeptics of the link between climate change and extreme weather events this week in a 24-hour global multi-media event."

The crux of the story is never clearly stated in the story and only the last paragraph even hints at it:

"Concern about climate change in the United States, the world's second biggest emitter, has fallen steadily to 48 percent in 2011, from 62 percent in 2007, an opinion poll showed in August."