Let me say that I am not a big Al Gore fan.  I thought when he was VP, he was essentially silent on the environment, and frankly, Clinton was a lousy president for the environment.

   But, that does lead to my question.

   Given the pressures from businees groups and the main stream media (who did a hatchet job on Gore), how does he think that change in America on issues like global warming can realistically happen in time to matter?  

   Or, how can any politician resist the pressures from business (including the media) against the kind of drastic changes that might make a difference?

   Have fun Dave!

Patrick

I would very much like to know how Al Gore would answer the question, "Is it true that the only cure for failed-presidential-campaign disease is embalming fluid?"  But no, please don't ask it.

I happen to be fond of Al Gore, and wish him well.  True, he and Clinton were rather feckless on a number of things they should have taken more seriously.  Clinton toward the end came through with some good environmental executive orders, but it was typically craven of him not to do it much earlier and risk political displeasure.

Ask Gore what he thinks about the importance or prominence of environmental issues in current politics, and how much attention Democratic politicians should pay to environmental activists.  I doubt that his answers would be all that reliably foresighted -- he is not exactly a political sage -- , but still they would be interesting.

It is said that by 2025 over one third of our world will not have water. Cliamte change is only but one factor in causing this, and currently 1 billion people worldwide do not have enough potable water for drinking, sanitation, bathing, agriculture, etc. Wars over water are also breaking out in places like Kenya, Somalia, India, and even in Mexico, with this problem even reaching into our own country. My question to Al Gore then is, what does he believe is the most efficient and effective way to handle this crisis in regards to providing enough clean safe water to meet the rising demands of rural communities and also countries like ours without the privatisation that has actually exacerbated this crisis? What steps should governments be taking to prepare for this crisis that is only getting worse in places like China, South Ameica, Africa, and the Middle East? We can surely do without oil, but we cannot live without water. Also, if you get a chance, please tell him what an inspiration he has been to me and so many others who consider his work on this issue to be where he should be now.
Thanks!
Jan

Please tell Mr. Gore that some of his most passionate believers have invested their hearts, their careers, and their fortunes in developing the first offshore wind energy project in this country, as a model for how we could create a sustainable renewable energy economy in this nation. The project is called Cape Wind. After years of investment and effort, jumping through every conceivable hoop, Cape Wind is about to be killed by some of the dirtiest tricks ever seen in American politics. The project needs Mr. Gore's strong, unequivocal, and outspoken support, not his ambivalence ("I don't really know the details" is what Mr. Gore said in the news last week). Mr. Gore, you should know the details. Standing by and passively watching this critical project be killed is a tragic crime. If Cape Wind dies it will be replaced by more coal-fired power plants. The lakes in New England are already full of mercury, and nothing spews CO2 like a coal fired power plant, not to mention the strip mining of the Appalacias for the fuel. We need you to take a stand, Mr. Gore. Please speak out on Cape Wind.

Ask him if he thinks it would be possible to take another run at the presidency without pulling back on his stance on global warming. If he really wants to be in a position to make a difference, it seems that the White House would be the ideal place from which to do it ... but is it realistic to think that a serious candidate could campaign on such "an inconvenient truth?"

If a twigg falls in the forest but nobody is there to hear it, it's probably best because there is bound to be cussing.

...or briefs?  

No, seriously, I'd be interested to hear his take on personal responsibility and how it fits into the prevention of global warming.  Presumably, he is not road-trippin' in a SVO-converted VW bus to all of his lectures... what does he do, if anything, to offset the carbon from his travels?  More globally, does he think this is an issue that can be "fixed" by government (assuming he could institute every reform he wanted to tomorrow) or will it primarily be encouraged by government with the basic action required by we-the-people?

Watch out for the papparazzi, Dave!

Kaela

Try pushing him a bit on the question of whether we really do need to take the sorts of more extreme steps, aiming to 70% reductions in greenhouse gasses over the course of a generation or two, that some are pushing for.  I'm afraid my boggled brain can't retrieve the name of the fellow who's been crusading for a more aggressive stance, just read a piece on him last week.  Al reviewed his book and took the stance that it was politically unrealstic, though his concrete proposals are about redirecting funding and priorities (eg taxing currency exchanges, shifting oil subsidies to renewables, etc), not frontal attacks on our "way of life" or similar politically impossible themes.  

Bottom line, isn't it too late for "first steps" (even big ones) and don't we need to get creative and aggressive with an ecologicially sound long term goal in mind, reframing some fundamental shifts in ways that are palatable to the mass public?

Here's one-

Given the current political environment in Congress, there are a lot of people out there working the other side (republicans) in order to make it OK for them to vote for global warming legislation.

Is he concerned at all that his high visibility on this issue will push global warming further into the liberal/radical camp, and make it even more difficult for moderates to support global warming action?

Good luck!

James Boyce says, in his article "2008: Only a Loser Can Win," (Huffington) that "The Republican Medusa Will Do Anything To Win." In the 2000 campaign we saw mainstream media distort facts, print, and reprint false information until the myths became ingrained as misconceptions that persist today. What would you do to counter that misuse of the public trust?

I would like to know why as VP, he refused to demand increases in CAFE standards, while technically feasible. Isn't it true that average fuel economy slipped back to 1980's levels during the Clinton administration?

I commend the former VIce President on his green investment firm. Indeed, consumer demand is an essential factor in movement of the market towards greener products. But govenment incentives provide a much broader motivation for shifts in supply patterns.

"I genuinely think [Bush] did a good job in the immediate aftermath of September 11 and up until Tora Bora," Gore recently told WIRED magazine.

What about Bush's faliure to reduce oil consumption in the aftermather - even purely for security issues.

With a gush of goodwill, Bush could have asked Americns to sacrifice, and put massive funds into alternative technology development to withdraw relations with dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, without reprecutions from the country.

Ask him about a new national park Dave.

Combining prairie restoration with wind power on a massive scale.  After about 40 years the wind plants can be dismantled and recycled.

Leaving a huge prairie carbon sink and wilderness area on the northern great plains. Canada might even want to hjoin in with a park on their side that borders the US park.  He could get this going.

What's better than an international wind energy wilderness area that promotes peace by replacing the oil that causes oil wars?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

Ask him about ice sheets becoming unstuck by melt water ponds draining to bedrock and greasing the skids.

Once the water gets trapped under the ice sheet, it can seldom refreeze as that would require expanding and the pressure is too great for that. So you get a cushion of water building up under the ice sheet. "Ice quakes" occur because the rough bedrock surface causes the glaciers to stick; they only accelerate when enough hydraulic pressure has built up to help float the glacier over the bumps.

So that aspect of global warming is, alas, irreversible. Even some cooler decades afforded by less heat from the sun wouldn't undo this instability, though it would prevent additional outlet glaciers from becoming unstuck. Greenland was once 5F warmer and it melted enough to raise sea levels 4-5 meters all by itself. And 5F is on the low end of estimates for 2100.

I was informed by the biographer of the King of Saudi Arabia that President Clinton told the King, "If you make oil plentiful and low cost then solar energy will not be supported.".  Will only the wealthy have the idle luxury to talk about Global Warming while the poor purchase the lowest cost fossil fuels available?

Saudi Royals told me that they support solar energy.  They do not want the world dependent on their oil. They want energy relief for poor countries. And,(as the sunniest place on Earth) they want to use solar energy after the oil is gone.  

It is an urban myth that oil interests do not like solar energy, a myth believed and reflected in both Clinton and Bush policies.  As President Gore, what would your policies be for carbon-based energy?  

I worry that understanding Global Warming (via hypnotic television) will not institutionalize low-cost solutions.  How do we get beyond education and find true and powerful charismatic leadership with the cultural capital to move mountains?

Anyway, as a consumer, can I buy a DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth" and will this video be on TV?

As a blogger in Canada recently pointed out, regardless of the facts, a great number of people on the right hand side of the dial simply won't open their ears to the discussion because to admit that climate change is happening would be to admit that Al Gore was right.  

How does Al deal with this prejudice? And how does he avoid the temptation to say "I told you so?" (Or does he?)

Would President Al Gore consider a Green Party run in 2008 and debate corporate oil/war candidates on TV?  

What do you believe are the chances of the next Administration (be it Democrat or Republican) taking seriously the inescapable need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?

Scruffy in Seattle

What does he think about the recent South Park episode (Manbearpig) and the apparent effort of Matt Stone and Trey Parker to convince people that global warming is a hoax?

Does he think that  South Park can fool fewer people -- despite it's popularity -- than companies like Exxon?

I don't know whether you noticed but the number of urban legends about you exceeds the number of falsehoods the Bush administration said about Iraq -- and it's really difficult to compete with that.

Why didn't you counter the mass media's obvious efforts in 2000 to convince the public that you were a phony arrogant liar who claimed he "invented the Internet" "inspired Love Story" etc.

Don't you think that your image built upon these myths and misquotes undermine your efforts to convince large number of Americans that man-made global is in fact a major problem as they will simply laugh at you no matter what you say?

What does he think the best method for weaning America off of their addiction to oil? Gas Tax? Emissions tax? Public Transit? Maybe a combination of these? Are there market solutions as well as government solutions?

Trevor Acorn
St. Peters, MO

1) Ask Al Gore to run in 2008.  
Let's see if we can get  all powerful democrats to endorse him, and let's have a presidency that will use science, not ignore it.

If Al Gore does not want to run at all, what green democratic ticket should we run in 2008?

If Al Gore does not want to run at all, how can we focus on getting our government to implement 'green' stationery and other consumer products?  One by one, across the board, nationally? Who might be the players in a successful scenario?

Please thank him for participating/making 'An Inconvenient Truth'!