Thanks for posting this incredible, simple lecture by a guy who I’m sure is a favorite where he teaches! I’ve already read disclaimers of the “global depression” based on U.S. spending in Iraq (Americans are so self centered and narrowly focused!) I’ll go with the saving the planet and making it cleaner and better for EVERYBODY!
After giving over twenty of Al Gores slide shows to groups in Mississippi, I’m still haunted by the conclusion of a small discussion group in the first presentation we made. It was a rural college honors class. After seeing the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, we asked their discussion group to answer the question, Will you be changing your life to avoid climate change?
The group answered no.
They have a lot going on in their life and there is nothing about climate change that is immediate or pressing to them. Like me, they had all gone through spending 12 hours recently getting blown away by Katrina. But they don’t make the connection. It apparently takes something much more powerful than Katrina, to let go of the safety of business as usual. Even though this guys argument is flawless, does it uproot an average person’s emotional and mental need for everything staying as normal and habitual as possible?
We would all be right, I think, to help spread his argument far and wide. Getting consensus on action to prevent climate change is not going to happen. Waiting for consensus will seal an undesirable outcome. Awaken as many as we can, as best we can, in the shortest time we can. Find personal and collective actions that reduce carbon emissions and make the change. The more of us that make the change, the easier it is for others to follow.
As a teacher, I hear comments like what Luke reports quite often and they also haunt me. But I don’t buy their excuses that they are too busy or that they don’t know what’s going on. They aren’t any busier than we were in the ’60s and it’s certainly easier for young people today to access information because most of them use the Internet.
We all get a handle on what’s important early on from our families. If young people are flippant about the environment, you can bet their parents are driving humers, or would if they could afford one.
We have to keep the issues of the environment in the forefront with young people until they do come around, and hopefully, some of them will.
Story Telling
December 20th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Thanks for posting this incredible, simple lecture by a guy who I’m sure is a favorite where he teaches! I’ve already read disclaimers of the “global depression” based on U.S. spending in Iraq (Americans are so self centered and narrowly focused!) I’ll go with the saving the planet and making it cleaner and better for EVERYBODY!
December 21st, 2007 at 3:48 am
After giving over twenty of Al Gores slide shows to groups in Mississippi, I’m still haunted by the conclusion of a small discussion group in the first presentation we made. It was a rural college honors class. After seeing the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, we asked their discussion group to answer the question, Will you be changing your life to avoid climate change?
The group answered no.
They have a lot going on in their life and there is nothing about climate change that is immediate or pressing to them. Like me, they had all gone through spending 12 hours recently getting blown away by Katrina. But they don’t make the connection. It apparently takes something much more powerful than Katrina, to let go of the safety of business as usual. Even though this guys argument is flawless, does it uproot an average person’s emotional and mental need for everything staying as normal and habitual as possible?
We would all be right, I think, to help spread his argument far and wide. Getting consensus on action to prevent climate change is not going to happen. Waiting for consensus will seal an undesirable outcome. Awaken as many as we can, as best we can, in the shortest time we can. Find personal and collective actions that reduce carbon emissions and make the change. The more of us that make the change, the easier it is for others to follow.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:05 am
As a teacher, I hear comments like what Luke reports quite often and they also haunt me. But I don’t buy their excuses that they are too busy or that they don’t know what’s going on. They aren’t any busier than we were in the ’60s and it’s certainly easier for young people today to access information because most of them use the Internet.
We all get a handle on what’s important early on from our families. If young people are flippant about the environment, you can bet their parents are driving humers, or would if they could afford one.
We have to keep the issues of the environment in the forefront with young people until they do come around, and hopefully, some of them will.