My Daily Inquirer

Climate crusader gets warm welcome

MANILA, Philippines—Al Gore’s latest pitch in his international crusade against climate change included images from the Filipinos’ environmental nightmare that was “Ondoy”—and a congratulatory note to the Philippines for leading the world in developing geothermal power.

The Nobel Prize-winning environmentalist also cited the Philippines’ first wind farm in Ilocos Norte province and the promotion of the use of bicycles as exemplified by the decision of the Metro Rail Transit on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) to accommodate passengers with foldable bikes.

The former US vice president, who has been hot news since last week with the cooling of his 40-year marriage, drew a warm revering welcome from a Filipino audience Tuesday that included President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The 62-year-old anti-global warming campaigner presented what was promoted as an update of his acclaimed 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” this time with a focus on the perils faced by Asia, at the SMX Convention Center in the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

Though shocked and awed by his multimedia presentation—parts of which may be familiar to those who have seen the movie made about the documentary three years ago—the estimated 4,000 paying spectators were, in a guilty pleasure-seeking kind of way, sort of disappointed.

No personal questions

Asked by the open forum host, Che-che Lazaro, whether he would open himself up to “personal questions” in view of the “news” that broke shortly before his Manila visit, Gore—often caricatured for his stiffness as a politician—simply quipped: “No, I do not.”

Lazaro did not even mention “divorce”—but everyone in the nearly packed hall undoubtedly had the same things in mind: How’s Al after that surprising split with wife Tipper? What really happened?

As captured by press cameras, Gore was still wearing what appeared to be his wedding ring.

Though basically weaving the same urgent cautionary tale and messages of hope, about a third of Gore’s almost two-hour presentation presented material not found in the 2006 documentary.

These included images and references as fresh as May this year, like that on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and massive, unprecedented floodings in urban America and Asia.

Drawing sighs from the hometown crowd were photos taken in various areas of Metro Manila and nearby provinces at the height of killer Storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana), which struck the country in September last year.

“Here in the Philippines you had a series of storms,” Gore said, adding that he purposely did not include more images since they may be too painful to bear for his local audience.

“When you see images of the Philippines alongside (that of other devastations) around the world, how long will it take for us as a civilization to connect the dots and demand our political leaders to act?” he said.

Gore lauded the Philippines for being one of the two leading developers, along with the United States, of geothermal power and for taking advantage of the archipelago’s location in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

Gore was the keynote speaker in the 3rd Leadership Conference Series, with the theme “The Leader as Environment Steward,” sponsored by SM Prime Holdings.

SM Prime President Hans Sy introduced the VIP guest as the man “who has forever changed how the world sees the environment.”

It was Gore’s second time to speak in Manila as a green advocate. In February 2006, he warned an SRO crowd that included political and business leaders that rising sea levels could turn over 2 million inhabitants of Metro Manila into climate refugees.

He began Tuesday’s presentation with the same disarming line from the 2006 documentary: “I’m Al Gore. I used to be the next president of the United States.”

“I’m here not to lecture you but to ask you to be part of the solution,” he said. “(I hope) to somehow connect from my heart to yours my passion and sense of urgency.”

For the next two hours, Gore held the SMX viewers in rapt attention with images and charts hammering down apocalyptic warnings: ancient glaciers receding if not totally vanishing in a matter of decades, lakes and rivers drying up, stronger storms, droughts in areas where there used to be none, and flooding in towns where residents were too complacent to think about getting a “flood insurance.”

The melting polar ice caps, if not slowed down, will raise sea levels to the point where “the map of the world will have to be redrawn,” he said.

On a subtler but still ominous scale, global warming and resulting “shifts in the seasons” have led to the resurgence of diseases that were once declared under control, and the emergence of new viruses, as in the case of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

“I was told by an agricultural expert in the Philippines that it has become more difficult here to predict when to plant,” Gore added.

Humankind, whose population has quadrupled within just a century, has become a “force of Nature” whose lifestyle choices are responsible for increasing concentrations of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“We now have to lessen our impact,” Gore said. “The next generation would look back at us and ask: What were you thinking? Was it so complicated (for you to solve)? Were you told by the carbon polluters that it was okay for you to relax?”

In the open forum, Gore conceded that while he was glad to see “huge changes in thinking and awareness” of his advocacy, “the changes that I’ve been working for have been slow in coming.”

This was because “the policies and laws have not been changed” to make significant emission cuts or reduce the so-called carbon footprints of individual consumers or entire industries, he said.

Moral obligation

Politically, the anti-global warming campaign is still proving to be a hard-sell for many leaders because of the “illusion that we still have the luxury of time; we think there’s a long period between the cause and the consequences.”

“I’m still waiting for that threshold,” he said. “I’ve not succeeded but I’m not done yet.”

More than just a political or economic challenge, stemming climate change is a spiritual and moral obligation for this generation, he said. ”It goes into the heart of who we are as God’s children.”

With accompanying photos from the Philippines, Gore called for heavier investments in renewable energy sources like wind, natural gas and solar power.

With some more research and development, the cost of solar panels will come down the way microchips have become more affordable, he said.

Nuclear power

As to whether it’s wise to go nuclear, Gore said “I’ve become skeptical over the years” and that he now finds it “risky” partly because of the waste disposal issue. “But it’s still one of the options.”

He also noted that the cost of building nuclear plants has been rising by 15 percent a year.

But is the march to global environmental catastrophe irreversible? Gore replied: “Most of the scientists I trust have said ‘No, not yet.’ We have a decade or so to begin changing the trends or else we will make them irreversible.”

Ms Arroyo sneaked in a meeting with Gore at the convention center and discussed climate change issues with him before she flew to Shanghai for an overnight visit.

Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Source: News

Posted by Jessie James