“I don’t really consider this a political issue, I consider it to be a moral issue.”
—Al Gore
Many people do their best to educate the public about global warming and climate change. Some are famous (David Suzuki is Canada’s best-known example), and some aren’t so well known (like me). But every one of us is doing his or her part to make sure that people are aware of the facts and not just the ideologies attached to this very important issue for our planet.
One group hard at work in this regard consists of those connected to The Climate Reality Project. Founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore, it now has more than five million members worldwide. From its website, it points out its simple mission: “The climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it.”
All told, the organization has over four thousand dedicated volunteers who have been personally trained by Mr. Gore “to educate the public about the science and impacts of climate change as well as solutions to address the climate crisis.” So far, 7.3 million people have heard talks through this non-profit organization from the 4,000 dedicated volunteers who have been personally trained by Mr. Gore to deliver these presentations.
The Canadian segment of this organization is known as The Climate Reality Project Canada. Their particular mission is as follows:
- Train a diverse range of citizens from numerous geographic regions and walks of life, who will then communicate to the public about the urgency and impact of climate change.
- Engage the public through presentations, news media and individual conversations as well as grassroots advocacy and activism so that they will make informed choices about public policy matters related to climate change.
- Promote personal, local, domestic and international initiatives to solve the climate crisis.
Between 2006 and 2007, Mr. Gore met an initial goal of training about 1,000 Americans (and 21 Canadians thrown in for good measure!) to go out and give an adapted version of his talk which which was the basis of the Oscar-winning film titled “An Inconvenient Truth.” In May 2007, five of those Canadians from the initial training session formed The Climate Reality Project Canada and it has been growing strong ever since.
Their first goal was to bring Mr. Gore to Canada specifically to train Canadians. This happened in April 2008 when Mr. Gore came to Montreal to train the first 250 Canucks. David Suzuki—well known for his long-standing commitment to the environment and global warming—was also on hand to help with the education for that initial training session.
Those who are trained are asked to commit to giving ten climate talks within the first year of their training. To date, 440,000 Canadians have participated in Climate Reality Project presentations.
If any of you have followed my blog for any length of time, you might anticipate that I would love to be part of such an organization and its efforts, since we’re definitely on the same page. And you’d be absolutely right. Which is why I’m very happy to let you know that on August 21-23, I’ll be in San Francisco gaining this valuable training from Mr. Gore and other Climate Reality Project staff.
I’ll be one of about a thousand new trainees, so I don’t expect there will be much opportunity to hang out with Al and shoot the breeze about all things climatic, but I feel very fortunate that my efforts to help educate the public have been recognized, and that I’ll be able to continue these efforts in a new and different platform, hopefully one that is on a much larger personal scale than those I have experienced so far.
Glad to have come across your site and hope we (Les Hook & Nova Kim) might have the opportunity to join you in San Francisco in August.
Kitanigha!
Nova and Les
http://www.WildGourmetFood.com
http://www.wildfoodgatherersguild.org
I hope so! Thanks for stopping by the website, and I’ll look for you when I’m in San Fran!
Hi Dr. Dibble, I’m curious as to whether you know that animal agriculture (the livestock sector) accounts for 51% of greenhouse gas emissions (Goodland and Anhang, 2011) …and that Al Gore does not include any slides in his presentation about this fact or tell his enormous audience about the importance of reducing meat and dairy in the diet – the number one personal action we all can take beginning right now. What are your thoughts on this?
Hi Marilyn, thanks for your comments. I am aware of this issue. In my book, the topic is addressed at four different times, in sections that address the problem (livestock and their emissions), and the solutions (i.e. cutting back on consumption). You might want to get a copy of my book because I certainly tried to cover all aspects of global warming. I’d be interested in your thoughts on it. The e-book is only $3.99 for the Kindle—a real bargain!
As to it being neglected by Al Gore, I’ll find out more about this next week when I’m in San Francisco, because I’m one of the new presenters being trained by him. I’ll let you know what I learn. I can tell you it is always in my presentations on the subject.
Hi Dr. Dibble, I’m very pleased that you include it in your presentations, and I would LOVE to learn what you find out! I’ll be there tomorrow, holding a sign to create awareness among the trainees, perhaps I’ll meet you!
I will look up your book, thank you!
Marilyn, I’m sorry we didn’t get to cross paths in San Francisco but there was so much to do once I was there I never even stepped foot outside to see any of the signs, but I heard about them.
There was some good discussion about agricultural emissions during the sessions. Mr. Gore’s facts pointed out that fossil fuel combustion was the number one cause of greenhouse gas pollution from human activities, but the contribution of methane from livestock was also substantial. He clearly recommended that reducing meat consumption is another method to tackling the global problem, a comment that garnered a round of applause from the trainees. Also, I believe that most of the trainees were already well aware of this point and like myself, I expect they will also address it in their own slides. Mr. Gore’s new deck did have a couple of slides addressing it, albeit not as much as for fossil fuel combustion.
I’d like to point out one interesting observation, and that is that probably close to half of the attendees were either vegetarian or vegan, indicated by green stickers on their name badges. And after discussions around the table I think more people (such as myself) are going to reduce their consumption even more than they already have. I think you’d be pleased with the attention the issue got at the meeting. (I’ll address this all with a blog in the near future because some recent interesting evidence suggests we may be forced to reduce meat consumption as a species – more on that soon!)