4 ms·

Very much indeed. It frustrates me to no end to look back 20 years in the past and see that Al Gore ran on an anti global warming platform in the 2000 president

Very much indeed. It frustrates me to no end to look back 20 years in the past and see that Al Gore ran on an anti global warming platform in the 2000 presidential election, and lost to an oil baron. While in the 2020 presidential election the democratic candidate hardly mentions the climate disaster while the western parts of the country is literally on fire. Over the years we have tried to solve the climate disaster with some (but very limited) success. Methods including carbon tax, international agreements and green infrastructure. However these efforts have always stopped short of being implemented on a necessary scale (international agreements especially). It is a hard problem only because modern politicians are unwilling to implement any of the necessary policy to tackle it (even though most voters generally want it; green infrastructure especially).

eanzenberg 6y ago
>> the western parts of the country is literally on fire. Currently under investigation as arson.
feralimal 6y ago
Yes but none of the imminent dangers he warned about came to pass did they? We're still waiting. So, perhaps the right choice was made. 20 years later, you should watch that film again and see the manipulative fear mongering that is in play. And let's not forget that Al is heavily invested in 'green' tech.
- tpnCC 6y ago
  If U may tell, which specific imminent 'dangers' did not come to pass?
  - feralimal 6y ago
    I'd have to watch the film again (no thanks!) to provide more detail, but it was a tirade of fear. Eg: No snow on Kilimanjaro? but: https://glacierhub.org/2018/04/04/greatest-snowfall-on-kilimanjaro-glaciers-in-years/ https://glacierhub.org/2018/04/04/greatest-snowfall-on-kilim... 20-foot rise in sea levels caused by melting ice caps? shutting down of the ocean conveyor? Hurricanes are getting stronger? Pacific Islands drowning?
    - abrichr 6y ago
      Hurricanes getting stronger: https://www.livescience.com/climate-change-hurricanes-stronger.html https://www.livescience.com/climate-change-hurricanes-strong... Islands drowning: https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-stunning-photos-sea-levels-way-of-life-climate-2020-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-stunning-pho... Ice caps melting: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warmin... Oceans rising: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html Ocean conveyor slowdown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circulation?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circu... (Courtesy of Google.)
      - feralimal 6y ago
        I'm not going to get in to a link war. All I'd ask is: in your personal experience, what have you observed? Are the seas higher than when you were a child? Are you struggling to breathe for all the C02?!? Stripping away the news coverage, what real life effects have you experienced personally? Unfortunately, I'm not prepared to trust what I think are politicised governance authorities. At least not if they go against or do not cohere with my personal experience.
    - runarberg 6y ago
      You are missing the forest for the trees. This is 20 years ago, and Al Gore was (even then) not a leading climate activist nor a climate scientist. Our knowledge of both the nature and the scope of the climate disaster has change in the meantime. Heck, we used to call it the greenhouse effect or global warming back then. Since then we’ve gotten a better understanding and are able to make better predictions and construct better policy to tackle it. Saying: “Al Gore was wrong about prediction A and B”, reminds me of creationists saying: “Evolution is wrong because Charles Darwin said the origin of organism A was environmental condition B, when in fact it wasn’t”. I really don’t even believe Al Gore would have saved us from the Climate Disaster. I’m guessing he would have had a similar success as Obama giving health care for all. The point is that Al Gore could run on an anti-climate change platform with the Democratic party 20 years ago. Today even a train-loving Biden is hard against investing in the green infrastructure we needed 20 years ago, even though the majority of his voters desperately want it. The crux of my frustration is that 20 years ago there was a political will to do something about this, while now—as the west coast is literally on fire, the gulf states are being bombarded with unprecedented hurricanes and the east coast just lived through horrible heat waves—solving the climate crisis is a hard problem because politicians are unwilling to take the necessary actions.

eanzenberg 6y ago

>> the western parts of the country is literally on fire. Currently under investigation as arson.

feralimal 6y ago

Yes but none of the imminent dangers he warned about came to pass did they? We're still waiting. So, perhaps the right choice was made. 20 years later, you should watch that film again and see the manipulative fear mongering that is in play. And let's not forget that Al is heavily invested in 'green' tech.

tpnCC 6y ago
If U may tell, which specific imminent 'dangers' did not come to pass?
- feralimal 6y ago
  I'd have to watch the film again (no thanks!) to provide more detail, but it was a tirade of fear. Eg: No snow on Kilimanjaro? but: https://glacierhub.org/2018/04/04/greatest-snowfall-on-kilimanjaro-glaciers-in-years/ https://glacierhub.org/2018/04/04/greatest-snowfall-on-kilim... 20-foot rise in sea levels caused by melting ice caps? shutting down of the ocean conveyor? Hurricanes are getting stronger? Pacific Islands drowning?
  - abrichr 6y ago
    Hurricanes getting stronger: https://www.livescience.com/climate-change-hurricanes-stronger.html https://www.livescience.com/climate-change-hurricanes-strong... Islands drowning: https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-stunning-photos-sea-levels-way-of-life-climate-2020-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-stunning-pho... Ice caps melting: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warmin... Oceans rising: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html Ocean conveyor slowdown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circulation?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circu... (Courtesy of Google.)
    - feralimal 6y ago
      I'm not going to get in to a link war. All I'd ask is: in your personal experience, what have you observed? Are the seas higher than when you were a child? Are you struggling to breathe for all the C02?!? Stripping away the news coverage, what real life effects have you experienced personally? Unfortunately, I'm not prepared to trust what I think are politicised governance authorities. At least not if they go against or do not cohere with my personal experience.
  - runarberg 6y ago
    You are missing the forest for the trees. This is 20 years ago, and Al Gore was (even then) not a leading climate activist nor a climate scientist. Our knowledge of both the nature and the scope of the climate disaster has change in the meantime. Heck, we used to call it the greenhouse effect or global warming back then. Since then we’ve gotten a better understanding and are able to make better predictions and construct better policy to tackle it. Saying: “Al Gore was wrong about prediction A and B”, reminds me of creationists saying: “Evolution is wrong because Charles Darwin said the origin of organism A was environmental condition B, when in fact it wasn’t”. I really don’t even believe Al Gore would have saved us from the Climate Disaster. I’m guessing he would have had a similar success as Obama giving health care for all. The point is that Al Gore could run on an anti-climate change platform with the Democratic party 20 years ago. Today even a train-loving Biden is hard against investing in the green infrastructure we needed 20 years ago, even though the majority of his voters desperately want it. The crux of my frustration is that 20 years ago there was a political will to do something about this, while now—as the west coast is literally on fire, the gulf states are being bombarded with unprecedented hurricanes and the east coast just lived through horrible heat waves—solving the climate crisis is a hard problem because politicians are unwilling to take the necessary actions.