Interview with the Sun: Gore says laws must change

[cal04]

By CLODAGH HARTLEY
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/special_events/green_week/article1065876.ece

AL GORE wants to make a sequel to his Oscar-winning documentary on global warming – and despite Earth’s “rising fever” he is still hopeful for a happy ending.

We are, he says, all players in deciding the outcome.

Despite the success of his film An Inconvenient Truth and last year’s Live Earth concerts in raising awareness, the former US Vice President believes little has changed where it counts and the situation is even more urgent.

And he warns that while individual efforts such as changing to low-energy lightbulbs are important, it is more significant for world leaders to change laws to stop pollution pouring into the atmosphere and affecting the climate.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Mr Gore – hailed as the world’s leading green campaigner – said recent polls had found that while people rate climate change as a “serious problem”, some ranked it lower than clearing up dog mess.



In a question-and-answer session with TV host Clive Anderson to be aired on Sky on Friday, Mr Gore is asked if he thought he could have done a better job than Mr Bush.
Also talks about the presidential race.

[XemaSab]

1. Our environmental problems are not going to be solved with a consumer response

I went to Earth Day today in Santa Barbara, and about 2/3 of the booths were selling cars or solar panels. The remaining third were nonprofits, which was cool, but it was sort of a vulgar celebration of consumerism.

[gear_head]

2. why speak in riddles?

Gore should ask for he wants.

[seasat]

3. Love the title to this OP, I can see the "sun" interviewing Gore

Sun: You know Al, I get blamed for a lot of this climate change stuff. I mean have my mood swings but I've been pretty consistent over the years.

Gore: Well, sun. You're definitely a bright spot in our day and I'm pissed about the slander you have to endure from the fossil fuel industry.

Sun: Yeah, I mean I even gave everyone a direct link to man's CO2 input into the atmosphere by creating carbon 13 isotopes but they kind of ignore that.

Gore: Well sun, I appreciate everything that you do and we'll get it turned around.

[yodermon]

4. Is this the same Clive Anderson from the original Whose Line is it Anyway?

"This is Clive Anderson saying good night: good night."

:rofl:

[ananda]

5. It's too late for a happy ending..

.. of any kind.

Even Gore should know that. It makes
him appear like a smarmy salesman to
imply that there could be a good outcome.

There can be a less drastic outcome, but
that's about it.

[GliderGuider]

6. Laws cannot be changed enough to make a difference before TSHTF

Our culture is locked into a growth paradigm. Its underpinnings are: man's view of himself as separate from and superior to the natural world; our belief that the world is ours (there are just humans and resources); and our belief that we may and must conquer the natural world to manifest our ownership.

This is the memetic underpinning of our culture. No matter what differences you may see in local political, economic or social structures, the entire world marches to the beat of this drum. The drummers are the large cultural institutions that defend and communicate our cultural story. Because we've been bathed in this message for the last 10,000 years, it seems self-evident that this is the only way things could possibly be.

Our opportunity to compose a new cultural story, one that is more integrated and sustainable, will only come once those defending institutions have started to dissolve under the onslaught of peak oil, climate change, food shortages, the death of the oceans and massive human migrations. Then an opening will be created for a new memetic fabric to be woven -- one that matches human culture to the new and obvious realities.

Until that happens, dreams like Al's will remain no more than forlorn hopes.