OPINION
Ok, so maybe the Veep doesn’t have to die. But what about getting some skin in the game? We think he’s dined out long enough on his Oscar for Inconvenient Truth and it’s time for him to take action.
A recent — and presumably unsolicited — Financial Times columnist sought to impart advice on the Apostle of Climate Change. It suggested Veep Gore could take a page or two from the non-violent examples set by the towering figures of Ghandi, Mandela, and Luther King Jr. Granted, they were fighting for very clear action in their societies, but Gore’s stature could still be an influential force in shaping US domestic and international policy on Climate Change.
So, Mr. Veep, what will be your legacy? An Oscar for film that raised awareness about Climate Change? Or a leadership role in changing the United State’s glacial pace of action on the issue?
Lessons for the green movement
By Simon Kuper
Published: November 26 2010 21:44 | Last updated: November 26 2010 21:44
In Aspen, Colorado, a while ago some wonks were agonising about climate change. They just couldn’t get many ordinary people to care. Al Gore bashed his fist into his hand, and intoned: “We have 90 months left, and if we don’t get this right” – and Gore pretended to choke himself.
Kumi Naidoo, the South African head of Greenpeace International, interrupted Gore. That day Naidoo happened to be wearing a Martin Luther King T-shirt. He said that movements like King’s, or women’s suffrage, or anti-slavery, had succeeded only “when decent people put their lives on the line for the cause”. Naidoo confronted Gore: was he willing to be jailed or risk his life to fight climate change?
“I haven’t been asked this question before,” Gore replied. “I have to reflect on it, but in principle my answer is yes. But first I’d have to talk to Tipper [then still his wife].”
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