Hurricane Harvey is not featured in Al Gore’s important new film, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.” Ten years ago, when the Nobel Prize winner made “An Inconvenient Truth,” his first movie about climate change, a storm the size of Harvey was still theoretical. And there still seemed to be time to reverse the catastrophic effects burning coal and oil causes by sending billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

But as Harvey has shown, time is running out. And as Gore shows in this sequel to the original blockbuster, that’s not just true in the U.S., but all over the world.

Apart from understanding the forces – natural and man made – that turned Harvey into the worst storm America has ever experienced, “An Inconvenient Sequel” is worth watching for three riveting reasons.

Why “An Inconvenient Sequel” is Worth Watching

First, it lays bare the impact climate change is having on humanity.

See: How Climate Change Makes Poison Ivy Worse

In one of the most heartbreaking and powerful scenes in the film, workers in Pakistan, anticipating the hundreds and possibly thousands of people who will die from a coming extreme heat wave, dig early graves for the hundreds and possibly thousands of people who will die when the heat wave hits.

In another stunning clip, people in India can’t walk across the street without their hot shoes literally melting into the black top.

Footage of the spread of the Zika virus and the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy all further illustrate that climate change impacts are no longer a matter of “if” but of “how bad?”

Second, the film depicts just how viable getting energy from solar and wind has become. Says Gore, “If you look at what’s really happening in the economy, the economic argument actually is very strongly in favor of the Paris Agreement,” the international accord that encourages every country on the planet, including the U.S., to voluntarily commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

There are now twice as many jobs in the solar industry as in the coal industry, Gore reports. “Solar jobs are growing 17 times faster than other jobs in the U.S…. It’s one of the brightest spots in our economic revival.”

The single fastest-growing job over the next ten years, says Gore citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, is wind turbine technician. “If you take the efficiency jobs and the renewable energy jobs and add them together, they’re significantly more numerous now than all of the jobs in fossil energy,” he continues.

What does the Pope think about climate change? See: Pope Francis Climate Change Message Calls for “Revolution” 

In the film, Gore visits Georgetown, Texas, “the reddest city in the reddest county in the reddest state” in the U.S., Mayor Dale Ross proudly reports. And yet, they’ve committed to going 100% renewable because it’s cleaner, more economical and the wave of the future.

Declares Mayor Ross, “The less junk you put in the air, the better.” Dohhh!

Third, Gore shows some of the inside workings that led to the unprecedented success of the Paris climate agreements. He does not mask his disdain for President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from those agreements.

Gore credits one unexpected actor with having a particularly outsized role in helping to convince the public that climate change is real: Mother Nature.

“Mother Nature has entered the debate,” he says, which is obvious in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

“In the last seven years we’ve had 11 “One-in-1,000-year” downpours in the U.S. We have these floods, and droughts, and sea level rise events, and the melting ice, and tropical diseases. Every night now on the television news is like a nature hike through the book of Revelation.

“Even if some of the newscasters don’t connect the dots, people themselves are. People who don’t want to use the phrase “global warming” or “climate crisis” are saying, “Wait a minute. Something’s going on here that’s not right.”

“Mother Nature is persuading a lot of people who weren’t ready to believe what the scientists were saying.”

As Gore reflects on this, he projects the questions he expects future generations will ask:

“What were you thinking?!!”

“Couldn’t you hear what Mother Nature was screaming at you?”

An Inconvenient Sequel starts off a bit slowly, with a long focus on Al Gore himself and his day-to-day work networking, advocating, and the workshops he still gives to train climate change activists to carry his message into their communities.

There also could have been a much bigger focus on energy efficiency as another important solution to climate change.

While people argue about whether to use coal or wind, no one should be debating insulating their homes, pumping up their tires, or reducing the energy that’s lost when power is produced so many hundreds of miles away from where it’s actually needed that it needs to be sent along transmission lines that leak power all along the route.

But those are minor objections. Overall, this film does a terrific job showing the human impact of climate change while convincingly making the case for solar and wind to become the dominant sources of electricity.

Plus, its calls to action, though few, are eminently achievable. In “An Inconvenient Truth,” so many suggestions rolled across the screen that even my eyes glazed over. And besides, how many lightbulbs can one person change?

The recommendation at the end of “Sequel” is solid and unequivocal: Convince your town to go 100% renewable.

Yes. Absolutely.

Says Gore: “If President Trump refuses to lead, the American People will.”

So follow the recommendation of the film’s hashtag and “#beinconvenient.”

Al Gore – and Mother Nature – expect no less.

The post “An Inconvenient Sequel” Shows Hurricane Harvey Did Not Have to Happen appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I asked Maggie Fox, the Executive Director of the Climate Reality Project, an old friend, and a colleague from my days when we both worked for the Sierra Club, to explain why we all need to make climate change a personal and public policy priority.

* Maggie, when you and I met, you were working to
protect public lands in the Western U.S. for the Sierra Club. Why did you shift
your focus to climate change?

In my mind, the two are
one and the same: protecting our planet from climate change also means
protecting some of our most precious natural wonders. I have spent a happy
portion of my lifetime in the outdoors: mountaineering, leading expeditions,
and exploring some of the most beautiful and wildest places in the world. A few
years ago, I flew over Glacier National Park, a place where I have hiked and
climbed, and I could not believe the change I had seen. Where once there had
been deep, vast glaciers, the glaciers are now largely gone with only a few
small snowfields left. And this is both incomprehensible and frightening to me.
Despite all our technological advances, we are still deeply connected to the
natural world. Climate change affects our natural landscape, the ecosystems
around us, and ultimately all of humanity in profound ways. That makes it one
of the most pressing crises we face as a species and a planet. It is the
challenge that brings us all together to solve.

* I’m fascinated by the description of this
project as the Climate REALITY Project. What is that about? Do you think people
don’t take climate change seriously, or don’t consider it a real threat?

 Unfortunately, while the
science has long been settled on the fact that climate change is real,
happening now, and caused by human activities, there is still a loud and too powerful
denier industry out there. The Dirty Energy industry has spent hundreds of
millions to foment denial and doubt about whether climate change is even
happening. It’s the same playbook the tobacco industry used for years to hide
the health impacts of cigarettes. Our goal is to break through the fog and
shine a light on the reality of climate change and the available solutions.

In fact, these are
exactly our goals for 24 Hours of
Reality: The Dirty Weather Report, a worldwide, online live event on
November 14 and 15. We’re convening many of the world’s most powerful voices from
science, government, business, foreign policy, and culture, in a timely
dialogue about how climate change impacts all of us. You can learn more about
the event on our website, climaterealityproject.org.

* You and I both, along with many other
scientists, environmentalists, and citizens, have been trying to raise
awareness about climate change for decades. At this point, what are the biggest
obstacles that still prevent the public from embracing solutions to our climate
problems?

Climate change has been
a big, slow-moving problem. Its impacts at first seemed diffuse, far away in
time and place, and hard to pin down. But we’re seeing greater and greater
evidence of our warming planet and changing climate on a day to day basis, as
Dirty Weather — extreme heat, floods, storms, droughts, and fires — become more
intense, more destructive, and more local. In New York City, where I am this
week for 24 Hours of Reality, Superstorm
Sandy brought climate change into reality in particularly devastating ways —
affecting people’s lives, homes, and incomes.

This new reality requires
our communities and elected leaders to step up to take action on climate
change. That’s why during our event, we are inviting all our viewers to take the
Climate Reality pledge:

 “I pledge my name in support of a better
tomorrow, one powered by clean energy. I demand action from our leaders to work
on solutions to the climate crisis. I pledge to get involved. I pledge to share
this global promise. By uniting my voice with a million others, we have the
power to change the world.”

* What specific solutions does The Climate
Reality Project support for reducing climate disruptions? A carbon tax? More
investments in renewable energy? A more vegetarian diet?

There is no silver
bullet for solving the climate crisis. Instead, there are a broad array of
solutions, from individual choices we make every day that reduce energy
consumption, to broad, sweeping legislative changes that require serious action
at the state, national, and international levels. Every action at every level
that combats climate change is one we support. During 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report, we will be
dedicating a portion of nearly every hour to discussing the solutions people
all over the world are implementing right now, from the comprehensive climate
legislation passed in Australia and South Korea, to the groundbreaking program
to limit carbon pollution in California. These are some of the places that are
showing us the way forward.

* Do you have a particular message on climate
change that will resonate with women, who are the primary readers of my blog?

 Unfortunately, and
unfairly, women are particularly hit hard by the impacts of climate change. Not
everyone may realize this, but women make up a majority of the world’s poor. In
developing countries, they are most often the ones responsible for growing and
cooking food. And they depend on the farmland, forests, and sources of water
that are easily damaged by extreme weather and sea level rise.

But women are not just
impacted by climate change; they are critical agents of change. To quote
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change: “We are 50% of the population around the world and we
represent more than 50% of the solution.”

Around the world and across the
United States, women are standing up for their livelihoods, their communities
and their families. We are using our voices to call on the leaders of the world
to confront and solve this crisis. And we will be heard.”

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Unlike Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” “The 11th Hour” does not use slick powerpoint presentations, charts, and graphs to make its case. DiCaprio lets the footage of an earth under siege tell its own story, punctuated by commentary from fifty prominent eco thinkers and activists, including Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Says DiCaprio, “We face a convergence of crises…” and he wants to ensure his audience knows what those crises are.

It’s a dark, disturbing message, and would make for an unbearable film, if DiCaprio didn’t also extend some rays of hope to his audience. The film concludes with insights into new technologies that can help communities build a sustainable future, from “smart” cars to “green” roofs. “The time is now. The hope is you,” encourages DiCaprio through the film’s website, www.11thhouraction.com  “Let’s begin.”

To preview the film and find out when it will be shown in your area, visit www.11thhourfilm.com.

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