Polling data leading up to last week’s summit of The Climate Project wasn’t exactly inspiring. The widely respected Pew Forum says the share of Americans who believe the Earth is warming is stuck at less than 50 percent, while Rasmussen Reports—often accused of Republican bias—shows that the number has fallen to 34 percent. Both polls have proven track records from the 2008 Presidential election.
As one of some 2,500 volunteers trained by former vice president Al Gore to present his Inconvenient Truth slideshow, I was discouraged to learn more than half of all Americans still deny the science that links human activities to global warming….While the polls suggested failure, the mood at the summit—a reunion of 600 global warming foot soldiers in Nashville, TN, from May 14 through 16, 2009—was positively celebratory.
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On the other hand, I spent much of the three-day gathering trying to reconcile these frustrating results with the self-congratulatory tone that filled Hutton Hotel’s sixth floor. Gore invited a number of global authorities on climate change to reinforce his message that we were responsible for the Congressional committee working on a bill at that very moment that would cap greenhouse gas emissions. “It seems incredible that we could change enough minds and put it on the agenda,” Gore told us. “It was really was An Inconvenient Truth that galvanized everything,” insisted Canada’s arch-environmentalist, David Suzuki. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, declared us “missionaries,” who, “Collectively and individually can bring about change.”
These messages were well-received in a room filled with activists wearing T-shirts bearing slogans like, “My carbon footprint is smaller than yours,” who all signed a contract vowing to give no-admission slideshows in return for nothing more than a lapel pin. There were those that drove and flew long distances—from as far as Nigeria and Macedonia—to hear our heroes remind us that what we’re doing is important.
They are only now agreeing to give no-admission slideshows? Were they oxymoronic paid volunteers before?
…Is there any evidence the Climate Project is actually changing minds?
I managed to put that question to Gore himself, in the buffet line. “There are a lot of polls out there that do show progress,” he said, seeming a little surprised to be on the defensive by one of his own supporters. I asked if he could be more specific, and he replied without skipping a beat, “Mark Mellman just wrote something, I think”….
Of, course Gore was “surprised to be on the defensive by one of his own supporters”. He goes through his life surrounded by a protective cocoon of “yes men” that don’t dare confront The Goracle with thorny questions.
Gore might have told me that my fixation with polls misses the point as changing public opinion is no longer the prime directive of The Climate Project. As part of the project’s “Phase Two” stage, as it’s officially called, we were later informed of a new mission: to write letters to editors, organize phone banks, and to do whatever it takes to convince Congress to support the Waxman-Markey bill.
LikePossibly Related Posts:
- Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, July 15 2010
- Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, July 8 2010
- Cartoon: Gore in the balance…
- Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, Jun. 25th 2010
- Losing faith? Environmentalist tweets: ‘Dear Al #Gore: Now with this #environmental crisis is not the time to let your dick flag fly. We need ya to be credible buddy!’
Gosh, the retirees and so forth who give a derivative Albert powerpoint presentation in church rec halls etc aren’t getting the results that the group expects.
This is a very sad situation.
Maybe they could liven up the show a little – with some strip-tease pole dancers, people dressed in Polar Bear outfits telling off-color jokes, and maybe do a little Elmer Gantry type of sermonizing about what sinners that people who don’t care for cap-and-trade are!
People who do these little skits for Al Gore should consider themselves VERY LUCKY that I have yet to hear one of their little sermons – because if I was in the audience, the presenter would hear some very strong language in a very srrong voice from me about their topical subject – and not of what they heard would sound very nice to them, either!
One thing is for sure – they would THINK TWICE before going off and giving another presentation somewhere!
They wouldn’t let you in, Brian. They only let the CP volunteers preach to the choir. That way, it’s so much easier to convince themselves that they are right.
Indeed, you’d be their worst nightmare.
Hah – I can fool them – I’ll come disguised in a Polar Bear outfit
I would start right out with a bang:
“Hey Folks – You’re NOT AS STUPID as Al Gore thinks you are, right?
You’re NOT STUPID ENOUGH to hang yourselves to feed Al Gore’s greed, right?
When was the last time you thought you could PAY SOMEBODY to change the weather?
It’s time to STAND UP and SHOUT what you know to be right:
ALBERT GORE, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FRAUD AND A CRIMINAL!!!”
In fact Albert that’s all you have ever amounted to in your life.
[...] 5K on the Isle of Palms, SC. It’s a well run event in a pretty location with friendly people, While polls show waning belief in man-made global warming, Climate Project volunteer at the group’… – algorelied.com 06/01/2009 James Hrynyshyn reports for Seed: Polling data leading up to last [...]
[...] 5K on the Isle of Palms, SC. It’s a well run event in a pretty location with friendly people, While polls show waning belief in man-made global warming, Climate Project volunteer at the group’… – algorelied.com 06/01/2009 James Hrynyshyn reports for Seed: Polling data leading up to last [...]
You guys are all afraid of science, and instead are caught up in partisan celeb bashing. Perhaps you should dare to do what I have just done… do some research on what the other side is really saying and challenge your own biased constructs. You might be surprised. If you do not have the desire for real research, then go to “Climate Change Crock of the Week” at Utube, and watch it with an open mind (if you cannot do that you must be afraid of something, ya think?).