OUR CHOICE to provide blueprint for solving the climate crisis

EMMAUS, PA, and NEW YORK, NY, March 24, 2009—Today Vice President Gore announced that his next book, Our Choice, will be published by Rodale in the US and by other publishers internationally on November 3, 2009.

Picking up where An Inconvenient Truth left off, Our Choice utilizes Mr. Gore’s forty years of experience as a student, policymaker, author, filmmaker, entrepreneur and activist to comprehensively describe the real solutions to global warming. A co-recipient of the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 for his environmental work, Mr. Gore continues to make sense of the pressing issues we face and Our Choice will unquestionably inspire and rally those ready to fight for solutions that were deemed impossible only a short time ago. (more…)

Below is Al Gore’s speech that he gave January 29, 2009 at the Senate panel on climate change that was organized by Senator Kerry. Sentences are put into bold by MW.

We are here today to talk about how we as Americans and how the United States of America as part of the global community should address the dangerous and growing threat of the climate crisis.

We have arrived at a moment of decision. Our home – Earth – is in grave danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, of course, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.

Moreover, we must face up to this urgent and unprecedented threat to the existence of our civilization at a time when our country must simultaneously solve two other worsening crises. Our economy is in its deepest recession since the 1930s. And our national security is endangered by a vicious terrorist network and the complex challenge of ending the war in Iraq honorably while winning the military and political struggle in Afghanistan.

As we search for solutions to all three of these challenges, it is becoming clearer that they are linked by a common thread – our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels. (more…)

In starkem Gegensatz zu Angela Merkels Regierungserklärung von gestern, gebrauchte President-Elect Barack Obama eindeutigere Worte bei einer Pressekonferenz letzten Dezember. Eingerahmt von dem zukünftigen Vize-Präsidenten Joe Biden, und dem ehemaligen Vize-Präsidenten Al Gore, meinte er - was Al Gore schon lange gepredigt hat: Die Zeit der Verzögerung und Ableugnung ist vorbei. (more…)

CleanEnergy Project author Maiken Winter posted this note live from the U.N. conference in Poznan:

Below are the exact words from Al Gore’s speech at Poznan. By the way, press was allowed to this event. A part of Al Gore’s speech can be seen on 350.org

Speech as Delivered at the Conference of Parties - 14, Poznan, Poland, December 12, 2008

Introduction by Yvo de Boer.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The man that I have the honor of introducing to you today really needs to introduction. He is well known in all corners of the world for his tireless work on bringing climate change to people’s attention. He is known for transforming the complicated calculations, methods and projections of climate changescience into something real, something tangible, something that everybody can comprehend, digest and integrate. And he did so at a time when a large part of the world didn’t think it mattered, when the climate change skeptics still had their heyday but he persevered.

(more…)

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while will understand how excited I am. 350 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere is a goal that we urgently need to work towards to avoid a climate catastrophe (see previous 350 articles on this blog). For months many of us have urged Al Gore to include 350 ppm in his message to the world.

Today he did. He did so in front of the entire world, at the UN Climate Confrence in Poznan. In his words “450 ppm is ineadequate. We have to toughen up and reach 350 ppm.” (more…)

Leider wurde nach Al Gore’s Rede bei der öffentlichen Wasserwirtschaft in München letzten Freitag hauptsächlich darüber berichtet, daß Journalisten nach 5 Minuten herausgeworfen wurden (Süddeutsche hier und hier). Der Ärger ist verständlich, jedoch hilft er nicht, einen Weg aus der Klimakrise zu finden. Stattdessen wird abgelenkt auf persönliche Frustrationen, die langfristig nicht weiterhelfen. Und übrigens, die Beschuldigungen, daß Al Gore immer wieder die gleiche Rede hält, stimmt nicht. Ich hörte ihn diese Woche 3 mal, und jedes mal lernte ich etwas anderes dazu.

Ganz egal, wie sehr man sich über die schwer nachzuvollziehende Bestimmung Al Gore’s ärgert, es bleibt doch Faktum, daß wir ganz kurz vor einer Katastrophe stehen, die sich keiner wirklich ausmalen kann oder will. Es geht um viel mehr als um frustrierende Regulierungen. (more…)

Während einem Treffen von Al Gore’s Climate Project in Amsterdam wurde von mehrerern Sprechern, inklusive Al Gore, Jean Pascal Ypersele vom IPCC, und der holländischen Umweltministerin Jaqueline Cramer,  klar herausgehoben: Die derzeitige Finanzkrise ist eng mit der Klimakrise verbunden. Diejenigen, die behaupten, daß wir im Moment kein Geld oder Zeit für die Klimakrise haben, haben die grundsätzlichen Ursachen beider Krisen noch nicht ganz verstanden.

Beide Krisen basieren auf unserem kurzzeitigen Profitdenken, welches langfristige Investitionen verhindern. “Kurzzeitiges Denken ist die wichtigste Ursache für die Finanz - und die Klimakrise”, so Al Gore. Wie weit sich solch ein kurzzeitiges Denken schon eingebürgert gat, wurde an einem traurigen Beispiel beschrieben: (more…)

Bei einer Telefonkonferenz mit Al Gore, Mitgliedern des Klimaprojektes und der WeCanSolveIt Kampagne, rief Al Gore uns dazu auf, 10 Millionen Mitglieder für die We Kampagne zu erwerben; bis November, der Wahl des neuen US Präsidenten.

10 Millionen US Amerikaner, die dafür einstehen, daß effektive Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz umgehend durchgeführt werden sollten. Ein hohes Ziel.

10 Millionen Amerikaner, die durch einen Mausklick Ihre Bereitschaft verkünden, den Klimaschutz ernst zu nehmen. Aber - reicht dazu ein Mausklick? (more…)

On July 24, in just 5 days, Barack Obama will meet Angela Merkel in Berlin. Let’s take this meeting as a historical chance to encourage both of them to step forward courageously and independently of the pressure from fossil fuel industries to develop an electricity future based on 100% renewables as Al Gore recently suggested.

We do not have time to wait for the world. What is needed are courageous steps of a few countries to show the world that 100% renewables ARE possible. (more…)

Al Gore’s speech today is way too important to try to rephrase it in my own words. Please take the time to read it yourself - and see how it might apply to your own country. Al Gore is giving us great material to pressure politicians all over the world for immediate actions to end coal. You can also watch the entire speech on YouTube.

Ladies and gentlemen:

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more - if more should be required - the future of human civilization is at stake. (more…)