A friend sent me a link to the article “The Least Convenient Truth” posted on Whiskey and Gunpowder by Jim Amrhein. It’s interesting to read his take on global warming and his misguided proposal about what to do about it. If it’s not already clear, let me state for the record that I definitely disagree with him.

Mr. Amrhein is one of many people drawing political lines around the issue of global warming – lining the left up on one side of the field and the right on the other. I guess it’s inevitable that this happen with Al Gore as the messenger, and the country so deeply divided across political lines. In any case it’s important to remember that whatever the long term effects of global warming end up being, they will affect all of us, our children, and our children’s children with little respect for political affiliation.

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I caught the sneak preview of An Inconvenient Truth in Berkeley on Tuesday night a day before it opened. Given my true anal nature, I arrived over an hour early and was first in line. Maybe I’m a freak, but many people were turned away when they ran out of seats.

Al Gore did a great job in the film articulating the problem of climate change in a clear and articulate manner. Being enrolled in the Presidio School of Managements environmental MBA program, this was not new information for me, but the manner in which it was delivered was.

The charts, graphs, photos, and cartoons along with Al Gore’s surprising comfort and humor all served his purpose of educating people on the problem. I don’t think the film by itself will make people change their habits, as it takes more than a film to get people to change. But it will play a supporting role in helping people move one step further along the path.

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I was just reading on Treehugger how Fox News is gearing up the machine to debunk the new Al Gore documentary on Climate Change. On one side, it’s good the film is getting attention, but it’s interesting and predictable that they are shifting the discussion away from climate change to whether the film will put Al Gore in the White House – nice slight of hand to shift attention away from the more critical issue. I’m heading over to Berkeley tonight to catch a sneak preview of the film, more later.

I went to the movies last night and saw the trailer for the upcoming film, An Inconvenient Truth that’s coming out on May 24^th. The film is documentary featuring Al Gore, and has been adapted from his lectures on global warming.

The film promises to be a clear, comprehensive, and thoughtful articulation of the problem humanity is now facing in global warming. Bringing a clear understanding of this issue to everyone is something that I’m passionate about.

I want to ask all of you to see the film on opening weekend (May 24^th -28^th) to help create a buzz around the issue. Bring your friends and family – put the word out – this is a film everyone must see.

I’ve made a pledge to see the film on opening weekend, and want to ask you to do the same by going to www.climatecrisis.net. There you can also watch the trailer and get more background on global warming.

The following is a letter I wrote to the editor for Tikkun Magazine after reading an online article on Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ – A plea to Christians to Respond with a Gospel of Love and Hope in place of this new fundamentalism” You can find the original article here.
Michael,

Thank you so much for your article “Gibson’s the Passion”. I see the mainstream media’s portrayal of this movie as an effort to create controversy between Christians and Jews, to create a story that will drive ratings, with no thoughts to the consequences. I appreciate your efforts to try to channel this energy into a message of hope.

Jesus’ teachings were radical for their time – this created a fear based fundamentalist movement among the Jews that played a role in his crucifixion. The actions of the Christian fundamentalist in their persecution of Jews came from this same fear based worldview – just as now Muslim Fundamentalism strikes out around the world in acts of terrorism. These actions of small subgroups of any faith – never represent the feelings of the masses – and I believe the real evil portrayed in the movie is fundamentalism, not Judaism. (more…)