Oscar Win Would Complete Gore 2000 Transformation

[RestoreGore]

Yes, Mr. Gore is now a global activist with so much more at his disposal worldwide than any candidate could have. His options now are unlimited regarding methods to continue spearheading a global grassroots effort to mitigate the climate crisis, which is the most crucial challenge humanity has ever faced. With an Oscar win tonight for An Inconvenient Truth, it will bring this crisis into the consciousness of millions of people, many of whom may not even have known this movie existed until tonight.

I think that should AIT win it will also bring The Climate Project into the forefront more and hopefully with it too going global (especially in Africa and in other countries where the poor need the tools to fight the affects the most) and catapult Mr. Gore into a rare category of citizens that can use their resources, influence, experience, and vision in so many arenas simultaneuously, unrestricted by political rhetoric and red tape.

Looking at this global crisis in its entirety, one does begin to see how running for president in this media/poll driven soundbite system really seems like small potatoes compared to being on the cusp of a global movement to save our world for future generations. I couldn't wish more luck to this movie and the producers than I do, because it will not only shape our future, but solidify the destiny of a great man who for far too long was ignored on this issue.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbc...12/1014/OPINION

Al Gore, Academy Award winner?
With an Oscar, Gore would complete post-2000 transformation

By CHUCK RAASCH

Marla Romash remembers those days nearly 20 years ago when reporters would "chortle" as Al Gore hauled out his global warming slide shows and flip charts. "Those people are not laughing now because, guess what? He was right," said Romash, a longtime Gore adviser who, like her ex-boss, has moved away from elective politics.

The transformation of Al Gore from the bitter, disputed defeat to George W. Bush in 2000 to the global warner Al Gore could be complete tonight if, as odds makers suggest, Gore wins an Academy Ward for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." But the moment would not surprise Romash, a professional caterer whose last contact with Gore was to send a batch of Valentine's Day cookies.

"I do truly believe he is at a place where this issue is bigger than anything else, and bigger than a political campaign," Romash said.

The Oscar would solidify Gore as the newest member of a small realm of global super activists, players who have broken past their primary identities in politics, business or entertainment. The circle might include rock star Bono, Virgin Airways philanthropist Richard Branson, Microsoft-founder-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates and ex-President Jimmy Carter.

snip

Gore may be a prototype of the new global activist who has re-emerged through multiple platforms of modern media and politics. While his movie lit up theaters and DVD rentals, he sparked even more interest through Internet town hall meetings. He traveled the country giving speeches, often shunning local news coverage - an ironic twist for an ex-reporter for his hometown newspaper, The Tennessean in Nashville.

snip

"Right now, Gore is sort of the combination of Bono and Richard Branson," Rutgers' Baker said. "There is now a sort of small, charmed circle of the super- famous and super-rich, and I would put Gore in that category at this point. ... You are talking about a half-dozen or fewer people, worldwide."

End of excerpt

[RestoreGore]

1. Business As Usual Is Over, Warns Gore

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=1615fbc8-634e-45fd-be79-193e535429fe&k=30828

Again, using his influence to effect change in how business is done. That is key to having positive affects for our Earth trickle upward. This is the meat of what we need to accomplish within the next I would say, two to three years to see a shift in not only how business is done, but how people see the world in order to make their investment choices morally sound and also beneficial not only to the enviroment but also to spur economic growth. Mr. Gore knows from where to best address this crisis, and he is doing it and we are seeing positive results from it. We can no longer remain the frogs sitting in the pot as the temprature goes up with us thinking it is subtle while it is not.

[RestoreGore]

2. Another good interview: The man behind the film

http://www.newconsumer.com/interviews/with...ehind_the_film/

Wendy Martin writes

After 2000 was there a temptation for you to keep away from public life?

AG: Sure, yeah. And I could easily have made that choice but this issue has felt like a mission to me.

One of the themes of the film is that this is a moral issue rather than a political one. Was that important to get across?

AG: Yes. These issues have to be reframed and understood as moral issues. We are the largest force of nature now, and we have to take that into account in the way we relate to the environment.

Why a film? Why not, say, a TV series?

AG: The movie as a medium also makes it much easier to tell the story. And I see this as the ultimate action movie because it encourages the audience to take action.

I know you have said it many times, but would you ever run for political office, for the Presidency, again?

AG: I have no plans to do so. I don’t expect to do so. I have found other ways to serve and I’m enjoying them.

How urgent would you say it is?

AG: It is by far the most urgent and dangerous crisis ever faced by world civilisation. Some leading scientists are now saying that we may have less than ten years in which to act. I’m optimistic because I know that the political system has one thing in common with the climate system, it’s non linear, it can seem to be moving at a glacier’s pace but then it can cross a tipping point and suddenly shift into high gear and change rapidly and dramatic.

One of the things I liked about the film was that it revealed some of the things that have shaped you as a man and a politician. Did you have any reservations about those more personal revelations?

AG: I didn’t expect it to involve my personal story, but Davis Guggenheim (the film’s director) persuaded me. As he pointed out, the slide show has a built in connection to the audience because a real life person is in front of them, even if it’s me , on-stage. But on-screen, that doesn’t automatically happen - it has to be created. Davis pointed out that people connect to people, so you have to provide a narrative to allow them to connect.

I believe your daughter Kristin is a writer and is responsible for the segment from Futurama in the documentary.

AG: Yes, she worked for Matt (Groening) for three years and if she were here she would quickly say it was a team effort. They sit around the table you know, in the animation business and they write as a team, but she has heard my slide show since she was a little girl and she was an integral part of that team if not a central player in that episode.

I like the way that the film offers up things for people to do. Sometimes the subject is so overwhelming that you really feel helpless.

AG: I know, and instead of being motivated, they are paralysed. So giving the specific things that each person can do is very important and also when people do them they become much more likely to play an active role in advocating larger changes that we have to do together.

Do you believe that big business is beginning to get the message?

AG: I do. There were the insurance commissioners from all 50 States gathering in New Orleans to talk about the impact of global warming on hurricanes. And I was to give my slide show at that gathering and three days before the hurricane hit they already saw it coming and they cancelled the meeting. Davis had a film crew, we had tickets and a hotel room and it’s terribly ironic. So he filmed me watching the events on the television screen when we were supposed to be there. It was really amazing.

What environmentally friendly things do you do at home?

AG: We switched to a hybrid car, we switched the light bulbs. We use clock thermostats, we have done all of those things we recommend. In addition, we took the unusual step a couple of years ago of becoming carbon neutral – at home, but also with the movie, promotion, distribution, tour and, most recently, my new book. Next up, I’m training a thousand people to go out and deliver my slideshow across the world in their own voices.

And you will continue your involvement?

AG: Absolutely.

[RestoreGore]

3. After last night, it is only beginning

We now have the entire world to reach regarding solving this crisis. I am so grateful that through my work I know Al Gore will continue to lead this grassroots movement for our planet!