5.28.06: Ally G and Global Hotness

Saw Al Gore on a Wired Magazine-sponsored panel discussion at Town Hall last week. He was good, though not as thought-provoking as James Hansen, a scientist on the same panel. Gore timed this appearance to coincide with the film on global warming made around his slide talk called An Inconvenient Truth. I saw the film last night and it is devastating — and incontrovertible. At Town Hall Gore mainly speechified — his comments were like live excerpts from the filmed slide presentation — but although some spontaneity was lost what he has to say was real, important, and he’s justifiably passionate about it. In the movie, for some reason, there was more emotion in his voice. Maybe it was the editing and the juxtaposition of the background images. Sometimes what you see changes what your hear, and vice versa. But regardless of who was saying this, or how, it needs to be heard.

The movie theater (Sunshine) was packed, there was applause at the end of the movie and Paramount asked those leaving to fill out a card — which to me implies a possible wider release. It is something everyone in this country should see. Gore mostly avoids political harping, so even Republicans might give a listen, although I overheard the man behind me as I was exiting say to his companion “propaganda”.

Propaganda it may be, but it’s reality based propaganda at least. I think Gore presents the facts in an orderly and understandable way, interspersed with moments of pure and personal emotion — well, if you can extrapolate from scientific facts to obvious personal and social consequences then it is indeed deeply emotional. And the images — even the graphs and diagrams — tap some potent buttons, as they should.

It was not all doom and gloom — the ending presents a ray of hope, but hope only if there is the political will to implement change. (Which scientist Hansen pointed out was indeed the case with fluorocarbons — the ozone hole problem is being turned around! So it can be done) I won’t go into details on all of it, it’s all on their website — but all the usual criticisms — “green policies will wreck the economy” (gee, Bush has been doing pretty good at wrecking the economy without being green at all!) — “it’s just a “theory” — “it’s a normal cyclical event”…are all dealt with.

Props to my friends at Wired for supporting this — Chris Anderson proposed a branding — “neo-green” — which, even if the wording changes, seems viable — it leaves behind the images of spaced out hippies, kooks and freaks and replaces them with possible remedies that are economically sound and technically hip. Re-branding green makes everyone who denies that global warming is human induced and is going to be devastating seem like a bunch of losers headed for the human landfill.

Example: Here is Florida (green part) after a 6 meter rise in water level (Greenland ice sheet slips off, as it seems to be doing frighteningly quickly). Maybe that Miami real estate wasn’t such a good idea?

Of course, by the time this happens all kinds of other shit will be going down, so the refugees from South Beach will be a minor issue. This could happen within our lifetime.

I hope this movie triggers some serious thought and action on this issue, otherwise…I have just finished the Jared Diamond book, Collapse, and, yes, it could happen here.

Eve, below, might still be around after a global collapse, though her batteries would have run down. Nice eye contact, Eve.

May 15, 2006—She can hold a conversation, make eye contact [uh huh], and express joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. These school-age tots seem to be making friends with EveR-1, a female android that made her debut this month in South Korea. The robot was built by Baeg Moon-hong, a senior researcher with the Division for Applied Robot Technology at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH). Fifteen motors underneath her silicon skin allow her to express a limited range of emotions, and a 400-word vocabulary enables her to hold a simple conversation.
The android weighs 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and would stand 5 feet, 3 inches (160 centimeters) tall—if she could stand. EveR-1 can move her arms and hands, but her lower half is immobile.
KITECH scientists are now working on EveR-2, which they say will have improved vision, a wider range of facial expressions, and the ability to stand and move all four limbs.