Al Schmore

I think we might be getting suckered. By Al Gore. Whom everyone seems to think is some kind of hero because he's the star of the supposedly eco-friendly documentary "An Inconvienient Truth." I hate this movie. Not because its boring (which it is) or because it lacks flashing editing (which it does), but because it just doesn't make sense.

Al Gore drives around in an SUV. He jetsets across the world. Talk about two polluting forms of travel. Heck, his family money comes tabacco and cattle farming, two of the most environmentally invasive crops (well, if cattle are grown) known to the world. hello methane! Although he talks the talk, he does very little walking. What I would have loved to see is him jumping in his hybrid, or, heaven forbid, taking public transit. If he's going to set an example, he could at least do so for the span of the movie. Now, I know you are going to say that's he's been involved with this cause (cause?) for decades. I don't care. It means even less to me if someone preaches and then keeps on sinning.

Also, dude, what's with those graphs? They don't even have axis labels! It means nothing without values! Please. I've taken intro to statistics. I know my shit. Also, its lovely to present temperature graphs for the last millenium (which is, I know, all we've got) but seriously. The world is what? Billions of years old? Its a little difficult to conclusively prove anything with such limited scale. I get it, its the best we can do. But still. I know, I am making myself sound like a sceptic. I am not. I truly believe that human beings are doing terrible things to the planet. I really do think that we need to lessen the impact of our foot prints. I do think that we are going to end up killing our species and probably take along a lot of other species with us. Deep down, I'm even terrified that this is going to happen within the next couple of generations. Or our generation. Or tomorrow. What I dislike are silly graphs that don't really reflect anything. Graphs are just too easy to manipulate.

But I am really sick that Al Gore gets all the credit for being some kind of environmental advocacy genius when there's tonnes of hardworking Americans/Canadians who have spent lifetimes dedicated to actually living what they believe. They are the examples. Not the man who "used to be the next president of the United States." Which is a line that should have been absolutely hilarious and which he couldn't even pull off. I know I was supposed to laugh, but I just couldn't.

Now, all that being said, at least this movie has gotten people talking. Which is so much better than nothing at all, especially if it leads to greater awareness and to more action towards reduction. Even more so if it leads to cleaner energy sources. I mean, we aren't all bad. Life expectancy is high, diseases are being cured, technology is rampant...we just need to work on creating more balance. And no, I have no idea how that will actually happen.