I'm blogging from Nashville, where I just spent two days hanging with Al Gore and shooting the sh-t about climate change. OK, it wasn't just me and Al -- there were about 200 other people there.
This meeting is part of Al Gore's effort to train 1000 people to go out and deliver his Inconvenient Truth talk.
The meeting started off on a low note when I found out that Cameron Diaz had been in the session before mine. Damn. My session was actually devoid of anyone well known. The closest we got was Dennis Kucinich's wife, who it turns out is actually quite a babe.
The first day was spent listening to Al go over his 250-slide talk slide-by-slide. It was more interesting than it sounds, but not by much. Most of the other participants were blown away by it, but since I already know most of the science, it made me very sleepy.
The second day was presentation techniques. I found that particularly useful, because most of my experience presenting is to audiences of other scientists. I realized here that I really need to organize my talks differently when I talk to the general public. And there needs to be more of an emphasis on connecting with audiences at an emotional level. That's something I don't worry about in my technical seminars.
A bunch of other people have blogged and commented about earlier training sessions (see here and here). I'll quickly agree with much of what they said:
- It was an impressive group of people. I suppose this type of thing attracts overachievers, so it makes sense that just about everyone I met had some interesting life story or experiences to relate.
- Gore's knowledge of the climate is quite impressive. In an answer to a question about the ice ages, for example, Gore correctly described the three ways the earth's orbit varies (eccentricity, obliquity, and procession) as well as the time scales on which the variations occur.
- I really respect his efforts to make people aware of global warming. When the final history of this subject is written, I hope he'll get the credit he deserves.
On the other hand, Gore pushes the science a little too hard for my taste. He says it is certain that hurricanes are stronger today than in the past and that the NAS hockey stick report supported the conclusion that today's temperatures are higher than 1,000 years ago. I would not be comfortable saying either of those things. That's all I'll say about this since we've already argued about it.
Finally, I think there's no way he'll run for president. (R.P.Jr.: any interest in adding me to the bet? You can take me and Lisa to lunch.) First, running for president would force him to moderate his views on climate change, which I don't think he'd be willing to do. Second, from talking to his staff, I think he's still smarting from the 2000 election. He doesn't want to go through that again.
Finally, I just don't think he's positioned for a strong presidential run. Don't get me wrong: I admire the hell out of what he's doing and think he has accomplished much more good since 2001 than our current president ... but climate change is his thing, and it's just not a big enough issue to base a campaign on.
I'm off to D.C. tomorrow for a Pew/AGU/AMS/AAAS briefing for new members of Congress on how science can contribute to policy. Look for a blog entry on that soon.
Bo Webb to Al Gore: come to Ground Zero in climate battle
Al Gore: Support this historic House energy bill today
Obama puts political capital on passage of climate bill
Comments
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KathyF Posted 4:51 pm
11 Jan 2007
I agree
Every instinct I have tells me he's not running either. He had a perfect opportunity to run in 2004 and he chose not to. Plus, as you say, he'd have to moderate his views and broaden his focus to other issues. Unless a tragedy happens--i.e., we end up with a Dem frontrunner bound to do even more damage--he won't run.
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caniscandida Posted 5:14 pm
11 Jan 2007
another presidential run?
Thanks, Andrew; I had been hoping for some time to learn something like this about the AIC phenomenon, beyond movie and book.
Have the contents of the slide show progressed or changed much? Surely there have been new and interesting data published since the movie's release: have they been included in these live presentations in any way?
On Gore as president: The Washington punditry likes to joke that the only known cure for a failed run for president is embalming fluid. But you may very well be right, of course, that Gore is not going to run, and understands he would have little hope of winning if he does. Still, as impressed as you are by his command of climate science, including details of climate history, I would be surprised if he is so tightly focused on that subject as to allow himself to become ill-informed on such matters of presidential concern as current foreign affairs.
Dennis Kucinich is married?! How did that news item ever slip by? The wife is English, according to the Wikipedia article -- presumably the Irish-American mother did not object. Is the wife vegan? What a wonderful dream: vegans in control of the White House kitchen! A golden age of vegan cuisine dawns!
I also love the sentence in Wikipedia, "He is a Catholic and an environmentalist." My hero!
Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!
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Zarkov Posted 5:39 pm
11 Jan 2007
Same old
>> Surely there have been new and interesting data published since the movie's release >>
LOL, how about a complete about face.
The scientific world has fallen in a hole, and I am told the only way to get out without having egg all over their faces, is to dig deeper !!
The world is polluted to its eyeballs, and therefore the quality of thought and analysis by the end of the food chain has sunk to incredibly low levels, IMO.
See my website omegafour.com for a continuing up-to-date UNBIASED analysis.
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KathyF Posted 6:51 pm
11 Jan 2007
caniscandida:
Yes, Dennis K. is married, and she is quite striking in appearance. Tall, with long red hair, and extremely articulate too. I think she is vegan, but I'm not sure. I saw a film clip of them in Lebanan after the recent bombings there.
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EliRabett Posted 8:10 am
13 Jan 2007
Banned in Seattle: Inconvenient Truth
Well, well, well, this is almost too good to believe. Inconvenient Truth is religiously incorrect.
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hank Posted 8:50 am
15 Jan 2007
How are updates to the slide show handled?
What I most wished for when I saw the movie was footnotes and cites -- not 'proof' (this isn't math), but as hints, often updated I'd hope, for more reading.
Is the slideshow being updated incrementally?
Does a 'presenter' mention differences when showing slides with which he or she has knowledge and is prepared to differ?
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caniscandida Posted 6:21 pm
15 Jan 2007
hop hop hop like a bunny!; hank
Cute site, Eli Rabett.
I loved this comment, from one of your readers, regarding the Frosty Hardison Inquisition:
<<
As a teacher, I've worked with lots of high school students over the years and many if not most of them seem quite capable of rational thought.
So my question is this:
At what point do potentially rational high school students become the idiotic adults who seem so prevalaent in this country?
>>
As a teacher myself, I can definitely support his/her observations on students in their teens. They do not know very much about the world, whether locally or distantly; but they are reasoning as well as. if not better than, the majority of so-called adults.
Hank, you ask exactly the kind of questions that I am asking. The issue is so far not serious, but a certain amount of history and transparency would be in order.
Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!
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Andrew Dessler Posted 2:39 pm
16 Jan 2007
there are periodic updates
Hank-
Yes, they issue updates to the presentation every so often through their web site. I have not been involved long enough to know how often, but my sense is they stay on top of it.
You can personalize your talk by taking out or adding slides as you see fit. I am uncomfortable with much of the hurricane section, for example, so I'll probably take that out. And I'll probably add some slides on climate change and Texas, in order to bring the debate close to home. So the answer is that you have quite a bit of latitude in customizing the talk to fit your tastes.
The only thing they ask you NOT to do is change the order of the presentation. Apparently, they feel that's really important.
Thanks!
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Andrew Dessler Posted 2:44 pm
18 Jan 2007
Here's another report from the Gore training
mp3 here: here.
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dbaker Posted 6:12 am
04 Feb 2008
The solution to climate change
this is stolen (from me) nuclear technology!
Canada-Israel Opportunity Fund????????????
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/010/0001/0001/0012/0002/0008/s ...
Wednesday, March 27 1996
The radiolitic decomposition of organic materials generates hydrogen gas.
Hydrogen gas is a very useful energy course; burns clean with water as the emission by- product. Humans generate a phenomenal amount of organic waste. The United Nations is very concerned about oceanic contamination by organic waste. Human organic waste could be treated to prevent methane generation, then exposed to nuclear waste to generate hydrogen gas. The potential solving of three issues with one action.
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/010/0001/0001/0012/0002/0008/s ...
NUCLEAR WASTE UPDATE
A free service from Nuclear Waste News | January 14, 2008
First Plasma-Waste Treatment Facility Slated for Romania
An Israeli company has announced plans to build Romania's first plasma-waste treatment facility.
Under a $30 million, 25-year build/operate/transfer (BOT) contract, Environmental Energy Resources (EER) will build a plant that uses plasma gasification melting technology. The system -- developed by Israeli and Russian scientists at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology -- sorts municipal and solid waste in a reactor, where metal particles are separated by magnets, with the remaining waste broken down by high heat.
That organic material is converted into gases, and the remaining waste becomes black gravel suitable for use in infrastructure projects. EER said the system also can break down medical and radioactive waste, thereby providing a waste treatment solution for nuclear power stations.
EER's shareholders include Urdan Industries Ltd. (TASE: URDN), Shrem Fudim Technologies Ltd. (TASE:SFKT), Makoto Takahashi's Tokyo Financial Group, the Canada-Israel Opportunity Fund, Leon Recanati and Shlomo Nehama.
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because I think what you are doing is very essential for the survival of the planet, and anybody who is hindering that needs to be pushed aside.
because I think what you are doing is very essential for the survival of the planet, and anybody who is hindering that needs to be pushed aside.
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