Al Gore in Portland - It was amazing.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

I headed over right after work, got there at 6:20 and encountered a flood of disappointed people, no more seating! :( I perched myself outside in case they decided to open up an adjoining room, but by the looks of the crowd still standing at the door, I was sure there was no hope of getting a seat even if they did.
I kept my eyes open for fellow DU’ers, no luck – I hope they were already inside. :) Just as I was giving up all hope, a cheer arose inside, and happy people started leaving! :shrug: Gore promised a second speech at 8:30! :applause: While some people immediately got in line for the second speech, I trotted off to Burgerville for a little sustenance. After munching down a Tilli Cheeseburger and a Strawberry shake (heaven, I swear), I signed a petition for campaign finance reform, and chatted with a nice man selling “Bush in Hell” postcards for $1.
By 7:30, the line was 250 people long – a few guys in suits, lots of the T-shirt and business-casual crowd. I love Portland! They weren’t standing, they were sitting on the carpet in a formation that could loosely be described as a line. An interesting young man bummed a cigarette, and we discussed Thom Hartman’s radio show, and biodeisel (he kindly informed me how to make it myself).
I joined the line about 8pm, it had grown to at least 500. At 8:30 the first group started leaving and we started going in. At least 700 there for the second speech. Mr. Gore got a standing ovation when he entered, and another when the announcer told us about his chartering planes to get Katrina survivors to safety.

I took lousy notes during the speech – some of it is very scary.

Ya know, I never realized how funny the man is, when someone asked him if he was going to run for Pres. again he said. “Sorry, I’m a recovering Politician”.

By testing ice cores, they know that over the last 400,000 years, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have never risen above 300. Until now. Today we are at 400. At this rate, in 40 years we will be at 600.

They used to say that Hurricanes could not form in the South Pacific, that was true until last year, when the first ever formed there.

Some parts of the world are seeing increased flooding (the hurricanes are picking up more moisture, which translates to more rain during, hence more flooding; while just a few miles away they are having droughts – because so much moisture is being sucked up when hurricanes form.

There used to be an average of 225 “tundra” days per year in Alaska, now there are 75. This appears to be good news for ANWAR, as it will be very difficult to drill there if the snow is too mushy to drive the trucks on.

40% of the Arctic ice cap has melted in the past 40 years.

Scientists thought it would take 100 years for the Larsen Ice Shelf to melt. From the first signs of melting it took 35 DAYS.

If the West Arctic ice shelf melted, it would raise ocean levels by 20 FEET.

They are very worried about Greenland – if it continues the way it is, it will also raise ocean levels 20 feet.

Building the 3 Gorges Dam was “ridiculously stupid” (insert very loud applause)

All in all, a very informative and scary evening. I had to stop for a stiff one on the way home.

[mattclearing]

1. Excellent. Any chance a transcript will be made available? n/t

[rrrevolution]

5. Bigger Q - Why is No MSM publishing Gore speech today??

Is there any doubt that failure of MSM is intentional, not just negligent?

Given the fact Gore is former VP and the numbers that showed up for his speech, how could MSM ignore this as not being newsworthy? Intentional. period.

[mattclearing]

6. Maybe, maybe not, but the corporate media has no interest in debating

global warming.

[myrna minx]

2. President Gore is a true leader. n/t

[madmax]

3. Thanks for posting this report

::applause: :woohoo: ::applause: :woohoo:

[mshasta]

4. kick

[1932]

7. Why did Gore think 3 Gorges dam was stupid?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. Because by the time the river gets to the ocean....

It's barely a creek. All the irrigation and damming has messed with mother nature. Not to mention mountain snows are melting - so spring runoff no longer makes it to the ocean.

[1932]

13. But it's clean energy, and the irrigation is going to grow food for people

I agree that rule one is don't fuck with nature. But it's strange that he would talk so much about global warming and then criticize a project that supplies energy without burning fossil fuel. China was the poorest country in the world in the 19th century. They have a billion people. Bringing that country up to reasonable level of wealth is going to consume energy, and it's better than it's being done with hydropower than with fossil fuels.

I think this issue deserves a little fuller argument, and I wonder what people in the audience were thinking when they cheered.

[smartvoter]

27. This stuff always makes me so damned upset at our stupid-assed

"study it more" failure-in-chief. nt

[ThomWV]

8. I wrote and asked C-Span To Cover It

No luck.

Were there any cameras set up there at all? Maybe a tape exists somewhere.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. Review in the Oregonian today....

Crowd flocks to hear Gore's warnings
An overflow Portland audience for the former vice president's global warming talk results in a second show
Wednesday, September 07, 2005

JOE ROJAS-BURKE

With a message about the urgent need to combat global warming, former Vice President Al Gore drew unexpected thousands of Portlanders to the Oregon Convention Center on Tuesday night.

The crowds snaked around the corridors of the convention center, and those who were denied entry chanted and pounded on the doors until Gore agreed to do a second show.

The Democratic presidential candidate in 2000, who lost one of the nation's most controversial elections, has among other pursuits been busily touring the country with a slide show heavy on charts and graphs explaining global warming and its potential consequences.

More :) http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1126090517195010.xml&coll=7

[screembloodymurder]

11. Your figures are way off. Are you sure you heard him right.

35 days?
20 feet?
Are you sure?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. yep - he repeated himself -

showed graphs; how much land will dissapear if that happens. Half of Florida will be underwater.

I have to head off to work, but tonight I will track down some of the info and post it here. Everyone needs to be aware.

[trekbiker]

19. some good info on ice melt...

The main ice covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole, with about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). Antarctica is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). But the average temperature in Antarctica is -37°C, so the ice there is in no danger of melting. In fact in most parts of the continent it never gets above freezing.

At the other end of the world, the North Pole, the ice is not nearly as thick as at the South Pole. The ice floats on the Arctic Ocean. If it melted sea levels would not be affected.

There is a significant amount of ice covering Greenland, which would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted. Because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question473.htm

[doubleplusgood]

26. Greenland showing melting signs NOW

According to Gore's presentation, recent satellite observations of Greenland show that there are large pools of meltwater in the CENTER of Greenland, similar in appearance to the standing pools of water that formed on a huge (100 miles x 2-40 mile) ice shelf on the Antarctic penisula shortly before it collapsed.

[hatrack]

35. The 35 day figures refers to the Larsen B collapse in 2002

From the first cracks appearing on the surface of the shelf to the collapse of the shelf, it was 35 days. Obviously, melting had been ongoing for some time beforehand.

20 feet is also a figure I've seen repeatedly used in discussing WAIS and its potential effect on sea levels - NSIDC, IPCC, NOAA and articles in Nature, Science, etc. I'm sorry I don't have any sources right to hand, but I will look later today.

[BlueJac]

14. Very Good Work

It sounded like a good time.

[Left Brain]

15. Thanks so much for the recap!

Hubby and I had to miss it, but you did a great job of capturing the "flavor" of Portland and President Gore's visit. I chuckled at the "recovering politician" remark. Bittersweet.

What, no blackberry milkshake with your TillaCheese? 'Tis the season at BV!

Al Gore is a treasure. I really appreciate that you posted this.

[ThomWV]

16. It Annoys Me To See It Refered To As A "Show"

It was not a show it was a speach by the elected President of the United States of America.

[Mabus]

17. "We're entering -- have already entered -- a new phase of human history,"

source: http://algore-08.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=281&Itemid=78

He showed photos of melting glaciers around the world. He noted how the loss of Himalayan glaciers could lead to loss of drinking water for tens of millions of people across Asia. He explained elaborately plotted scientific data of rising ocean temperatures, increasing precipitation and intensifying hurricanes. He noted that when he started doing these talks two years ago, he predicted the melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's snows within 15 years. "It's virtually all gone now," he said.

"We're entering -- have already entered -- a new phase of human history," Gore said. "The fundamental relationship between our species and our home planet has been utterly transformed."


I wish I could find the whole speech.

[glitch]

18. When you do, pm me. Must have, and I want the mp3 too.

I'll do likewise if you want.

[libodem]

20. hold on now

Rush Limbaugh says there is no such thing as global warming...it only an invention of those crazy environmentalists to keep corporations from making all the money they deserve!!!!(sarcasm)

[Kurovski]

22. Are you in the habit of taking the word of every

pill-popping Weenie-Toad you encounter in life? :-)

[FreedomAngel82]

21. I'm glad he had a great turnout

I love Gore and I love how he is so passionate about the enviornment and cares about it so much. I wish people would stop using God as an excuse to be ignorant.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Thanks so much for this and for

signing that campaign finance reform petiton. :yourock:

------------------------------------------------------
Save the Gulf:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[StellaBlue]

24. Kick!

:kick:

[dodger501]

25. The Global Climate Change Presentation

I have some pictures, including some of the slides he used in one of my galleries when he was in St. Paul in July, if you want to look at them:

http://dodgerdigital.smugmug.com/gallery/655935

[doubleplusgood]

28. some more points that Gore made

One of his key points noted that there have been 928 peer-reviewed papers in the scientific community characterizing global warming as a serious problem, while there have been zero - ZERO - peer-reviewed papers saying it's not a problem. In contrast, however, a survey of newspaper articles over the past 15 years or so showed that 53% of the stories say that there are "conflicting" views in the scientific community about global warming, a disconnect explained by the efforts of the fossil fuel industry (Petroleum Institute, et al) to sow the seeds of doubt in the public mind. Very similar to the way in which the Tobacco Institute fought for years to obscure the health hazards associated with smoking.

He also mentioned an oil-industry guy (forget his name) who worked at spreading disinfo on global warming from 1995-2001. In Jan. 2001 he was appointed as - get this - Bush' science advisor on the environment (or such), although he had no science expertise whatsoever. After recently leaving the WH (after an embaraasing leak) he went to work for Exxon-Mobil. (Surprise, surprise !).

[Viva_La_Revolution]

29. Phillip Cooney was his name....

:hi:

You must have made it to the first presentation, I didn't see you at the second... Did Rose make it?

[Mein Bush]

31. So then why are there blizzards September?

Every time I hear someone from the right-wing-freak-show say something like this I want to give them a multiple knuckle sandwich.

Unfortunately with these dimwits everything is taken so literally. It would have been better to have called global warming "global weather chaos" instead.

[doubleplusgood]

34. I got there at 5:30

:hi:

but didn't see Rose or anyone else that I recognized. Great turnout, though, lots more than I expected. The line was already pretty long & when they opened the doors just before 6:00, I ended up on an aisle seat over on the left side (looking towards the stage).

[WeRQ4U]

30. DAMMIT. I miss that city.

Where I live now is just clueless masses of rethugs.

[nicknameless]

32. Given his rescue of the stranded NOLA hospital patients last week,

I'd have to say that he does damned well outside of the system.
Sure hope he stays vocal in his criticism of *'s policies.

[misanthrope]

33. All it took...

...to convince me of global warming was two facts.

One: the melting of glacial ice around the globe. Why? Because it takes glaciers so long to form.

Two: the melting of permafrost. Why? Because permafrost and tundra have been around so long that natural selection has had time to form whole ecosystems around it.

Everything else has been measured over such a short period of time that it's pretty inconclusive. But those two...