Inconvenient Truth

By Daniel O'Connor of Integral Ventures, LLC

Last night, Karen and I saw Al Gore's new movie, An Inconvenient Truth.  It is, in my opinion, a very clear, compelling, and heartfelt documentary that profiles one man's authentic effort to educate people around the world about the need to deal with the global warming crisis. 

   

Thanks to the superb direction of Davis Guggenheim, the film offers an unexpectedly pleasant balance and interweaving of technical and factual analysis, moral and ethical challenges, and personal introspection and disclosure, with Al Gore speaking through all three of these voices in a manner that sounds completely authentic and genuinely above the deplorable politics of this controversial issue.  In philosophical terms a la the universal pragmatics of Jurgen Habermas, there is in this film a very effective differentiation and integration of validity claims in the three domains of what is true, what is right, and what is sincere--the critical ingredients of the shared understanding and coordinated action that is the apparent goal of this film.

What is True?

For example, the truth claims are presented, one big mind-full at a time, by watching Gore make what has evidently become his trademark multi-media presentation to real audiences around the world.  In this role, he is speaking much like a seasoned professor with the apparent expertise that comes from a great deal of background reading and conversation with scientists, as well as the clarity that comes from years of practice in distilling the essentials into a form that lay-people can readily understand.  I have been a fairly-well-read student of ecological sustainability since 1993, yet I was very impressed with Gore's ability to explain such complexities as the potential impact of the Arctic ice melt on the Atlantic conveyor and its second-order consequences for the European climate.  He's a gifted teacher.

What is Right?

These powerful truth claims are then generously seasoned with Gore's moral imperatives and ethical challenges, either within the context of the formal presentations or in the voice-over narration that accompanies his back-stage preparations and travel.  According to Gore, but in my own terminology, what makes these truths so damned inconvenient is that they represent prima facea evidence of the overwhelming need for a change of course in our socio-economic development to one of ecologically sustainable economic growth and social development.  Such change is at the root of it a question of values--not espoused values, but subconscious value systems that govern the way we see, think, feel, judge, act, and learn in the midst of the world in which we live.  However, it was not clear in this film how well Gore understands the depth and tenacity of these subconscious value systems and their inherent capacity to defend their hosts against all manner of inconvenient truths and moral imperatives that might otherwise compel them to learn in the second-order sense.

What is Sincere?

Nevertheless, as compelling as these inter-related positive/normative arguments are, it is the third facet of Gore's three-fold presentation that might ultimately be the key to the sort of personal, social, and technological transformation required to deal with the ecological crisis.  This is the voice of sincerity, of personal reflection and self-assessment, that comes through in the series of more private vignettes that are woven between the public claims of what is true and right.  Through these glimpses of what we are to regard as the real Al Gore, we can infer that he has climbed his own learning curve and that all of us might therefore be forgiven for our own participation in the creation of the present crisis--a necessary step, I believe, before we can really get on with the work of resolving it. 

Perhaps I am reading too much into this facet of the film, but I do think that Gore probably has climbed a very steep and painful learning curve, not so much in the realm of truth and rightness, but in the realm of personal authenticity.  For a man like this to succeed in a political system increasingly characterized by the systematic distortion of truth, justice, and sincerity--where facts are considered irrelevant or unknowable, political opinions have taken the place of sound moral judgment, and personal sincerity is a punch line--he must have felt the constant need to distort his own honest perspective as the unfortunate means to the greater end of making a real difference in the world.  When does an inconvenient truth become a moral imperative that need not be unduly coerced?  When an individual sincerely owns the light and the shadow of that truth and that judgment and begins to act authentically from that center in a manner that facilitates a similar process of learning in others.  Al Gore seems to be doing this now, perhaps better than he ever could have done as President.

What Now?

Such is the pattern that repeats itself several times throughout the film, with each new round of facts, values, and stories building on the previous rounds until the overall substance of the multi-faceted message really sinks in.  Naturally, it is the task of each and every viewer to assess the extent to which Gore's validity claims are indeed valid and therefore the basis for the kind of second-order learning that would be necessary for one to take effective action to help avert this obvious/potential crisis.

My bottom line on the movie?  It is not without flaw, but it is arguably peerless even among documentaries because of its universal message (and universally pragmatic messaging).  It is certainly Oscar-worthy and I hope it does win an Oscar because it deserves to be seen and discussed to the point where a critical mass of people worldwide can situate themselves in the center of the dialogue and speak with authenticity their own three-fold perspective on the situation--not just in conversation, but through each and every decision, exchange, gift, transfer, and vote.

© 2006 by Daniel J. O'Connor.  All Rights Reserved.

See Also:

• The Political Economics of Stephen Colbert
• The Three Lenses of Threat Perception

Comments

[Karen Sella]

I couldn't have said it better myself... I hope that more folks see this film...

xoxo, k

[Bill Sefcik]

Even otherwise intelligent people, when not smart, get duped. Al Gore is merely the pontiff of a real-time mythological movement. Every preacher needs a choir to feed from, but the FACTS

http://www.environmentalism.com/
http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm

ARE still FACTS regardless. The ominous global warming scare is dogmatic junk science. Nothing more.

[Daniel O'Connor]

Thanks for setting us all straight, Bill.

[Daniel O'Connor]

Thanks to Michele Costa, here's a link to a relevant AP article:

"WASHINGTON - The nation's top climate scientists are giving "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming, five stars for accuracy."

...

"While more than 1 million people have seen the movie since it opened in May, that does not include Washington's top science decision makers. President Bush said he won't see it. The heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA haven't seen it, and the president's science adviser said the movie is on his to-see list."

"'They are quite literally afraid to know the truth,' Gore said. 'Because if you accept the truth of what the scientific community is saying, it gives you a moral imperative to start to rein in the 70 million tons of global warming pollution that human civilization is putting into the atmosphere every day.'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060627/ap_on_sc/gore_s_science

[Daniel O'Connor]

These shameless political commercials are too good to miss:

"The Competitive Enterprise Institute has produced two 60-second television spots focusing on the alleged global warming crisis and the calls by some environmental groups and politicians for reduced energy use."

http://streams.cei.org/

I've always thought the CEI was better than this... and if this was the full extent of their response to Gore's movie, then I'd say they were conceding defeat in the real debate.

Fortunately, they offer some perspective worth considering:

http://www.cei.org/sections/subsection.cfm?section=3

Judge for yourself.

[Daniel O'Connor]

Greg Hoke has published a transcript of An Inconvenient Truth, complete with links to other sources:

http://www.hokeg.dyndns.org/AITruth.htm

What a gift.

[Dan MacGugan]

I'ts all bullshit! History has shown that the earth undergoes these changes and there is nothing anyone can do about it. this is a lot of liberal bullshit! Al Gore is a complete asshole and too stupid to lead a nation, let alone a small family.

[Mr. Willie McDonald]

The Truth about Global Warming
By Willie J. McDonald
Non- Fiction
Dec-2007

I’m an expert in the subject of global warming. The real reason for global warming is the earth’s orbit around the sun is decaying, in other words the earth is moving closer to the sun. I’ve studied this phenomenon since July-1983, warning people of the coming destruction, and death. People called me crazy at first. I understand the weather was normal at that time, now the weather is beginning to support my finings. December- 2007: Houston, Texas is experiencing warm sunny winters, a record high of 81degrees. Eventually Houston’s winters will completely disappear, as time goes on. Houston is the perfect place to observe global warming, what’s occurring in Houston in winter will occur to the rest of the world. The sun is over the southern hemisphere now, and in the past the sun’s peripheral heat, and rays stayed within that part of the hemisphere, away from the equator, and the outer edges of the polar ice caps. The sun is thousands of times larger, than earth. The earth has moved, so close to the sun that it’s peripheral rays, and heat has spread over the equator from the southern hemisphere to the southern part of the northern hemisphere, where Houston, Texas is located, and the sun’s peripheral heat, and rays has spread over the outer edges of the south pole, and is melting the ice. The same thing will occur, when the sun reaches the northern hemisphere. The peripheral heat and rays will spread over the equator, and heat the northern part of the southern hemisphere, and melt the ice on the outer edges of the North Pole, Just ask the governments of Greenland, and Iceland about their melting ice packs. This trend will continue, until all the ice in both polar ice caps are melted, and until winter no longer exist in both hemispheres, back, and forth one polar ice cap at a time. There is enough ice in both polar ice caps to flood 90% of the existing land mass of this planet. The warmer the winters, the hotter the summers. The direct heat, and rays from the sun will intensify as the earth move closer, that’s the area of the earth the sun is stationed directly over. I grew up in Houston, Texas. I remember the hotter part of the day use to be 12:00 noon, now its 5:00 o’clock in the after noon. This is more evidence of earth’s orbit is decaying. December- 2007: The thunderstorm, and floods that occurred in the States of Oregon, And Washington was suppose to by a snowstorm, after all its winter, but the atmosphere was too warm to support a snowstorm, so a thunderstorm was created instead, the flooding was extraordinary. January-2008 tornadoes touch down in the mid-west of America, causing death, and destruction in the millions of dollars. The only different between a snowstorm, and a thunderstorm is the temperature of the upper atmosphere. The position of the sun to the earth determines the temperature of the upper atmosphere. This is the type of weather that will dominate in the future, floods, and tornados during the winter months, when these storms are not suppose to develop. The weather will go from one extreme to the other, from flooding to droughts in various parts of the United States, and the world. Food production will gradually come to a halt, because of the weather.

As I said in the past global warming has nothing to do with C02 gases, R-12 gases, CFC gases, a hole in the ozone, the sun going nova, nor methane gases leaking from the ocean’s floor, as you will see in the future. Global warming will not be reverse by riding the atmosphere of these gases. Some of these gases have polluted the atmosphere since the industrial revolution in America, and Europe. In the early 20th century, before emission devices were installed on automobiles, and trucks the air in many cities was, so polluted it blotted out the sun, And cause breathing problems. There was no global temperature increase during this time period. Global warming is in its beginning stages, and will gradually get worse. It will not occur over night, and the winters will diminish gradually, over the decades. June-1978: I went to the mountains of Big Bear, California. It over looks the city of Los Anglesite greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, trucks, and industrial activity was, so bad a very noticeable thick haze formed reducing visibility by 40%.There was no noticeable spike in temperature in Los Angeles, California, during that period. Carbon dioxide is poisonous to all animals, including humans. If the levels of C02 gases are, so high why there haven’t been reports of carbon dioxide poisonings, such conditions require hospitalization. The reason the earth is moving closer to the sun the molten core of the planet is cooling, because it’s not getting enough crude oil (fuel). The oil companies drill into an oil well to extract the crude oil. These oil wells are actually self- pressurizing fuel cells, and over time the crude oil extraction process used by the oil companies releases the pressures needed to force the oil into the outer core. All oil wells (self pressurizing fuel cells) must be capped off, and the pressure within them brought back to normal, so the crude oil can be forced into the outer core. This will raise the temperature in the core, and strengthen the earth’s magnetic field, and push the earth away from the sun. The higher the temperature in the core the stronger the earth’s magnetic field, and the cooler the temperature in the core, the weaker the earth’s magnetic field. The core is cooling, because it’s not getting the fuel (crude oil) it once did, before man discovered crude oil, and new uses for it. Everything that generates energy, or expends energy needs fuel, and the earth is no different from any other machine. Animals derive their energy from food, plants derive their energy from water, and sun light, automobiles from gasoline, rockets from rocket fuel, thunderstorm, snowstorms, hurricanes, and tornados derive their energy from electricity, because these storms are electro- magnetic phenomenon. The earth generates a magnetic energy field, and it is derived from combustion of crude oil in its outer core. This is a man made situation, not the will of God. People take the earth’s magnetic field for granted, because it’s invisible, and silent. The magnetic field holds people, object, and the oceans to the surface of earth; it keeps the air we breathe from escaping into space. It protects life on this planet from the harshness, and radiation of space, it protects life on the surface of this planet from sun flares, and it locks the earth in orbit around the sun, locks the moon in orbit around the earth, and keeps the earth at a safe distance from the sun. Contrary to popular belief the electro- magnetic energy in thunderstorms, winter storms, hurricanes, and tornados are not generated by sunspots, neither sun flares, nor energy flares from deep space. The energy in these storms is generated by the earth magnetic field. The earth acts as a generator’s armature. The earth turns at a thousand miles per hour, its magnetic field brushes against the magnetic field of the surrounding universe. The energy is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, and dispersed throughout the earth’s atmosphere, and that’s just some of the things earth’s magnetic field does.
The earth is a self-contained biosphere. These fuel cell (oil wells) can be re-pressurized by igniting the methane gases in them. In fuel cells thought to be empty, such as spindle top in Beaumont, Texas. It will be necessary to pump in a mixture of air, and methane gas, and ignite the mixture. The gas will expand, when ignited creating the necessary pressure to force the remaining oil into the core. These fuel cells extend for thousands of miles, from the upper crust down to the outer core of the planet.The oil companies can only drill less, than ten miles down. There are millions of gallons of crude oil remaining in these fuel cells, and they are located all around this planet for even heating of the core. Uneven heating of the core will result in a shift of the earth’s axes. Normalizing the flow of crude oil to the core will increase the temperature in the outer core, and the outer core heats the inner core, which generates the earth’s magnetic field. If left alone the temperature in the outer core will stabilize. This is the only way to save all life on this planet. The evidence that large quantities of crude oil is combusted, and sustain the high temperatures in the core. Every conceivable by-product of crude oil is ejected from volcanoes all around this planet, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide, etc. There is a point of no return, because it will take decades to reheat the core back to normal temperatures. Volcanoes are the means by which the outer core rids itself of spent fuel, and volcanoes regulate the pressures in the outer core.Volcanoes extends from the surface of the planet down to the outer core.Volcanic eruptions in the past occurred more frequently, and they occurred in various parts around the planet, and were much more powerful, than volcanic eruptions in present days. This is more evidence the core is cooling. The more violent, and frequent the eruption, the higher the temperature in the core, and the cooler the temperature in the core, the less frequent, and the less violent the eruption. Many volcanoes are lying dormant, and haven’t erupted in centuries. Crude oil is capable of generating temperatures found in the core, after all crude oil is a hydro- carbon, and hydro-carbons are used to melt, and manufacture steel There are three types of hydro- carbons, crude oil- a liquid, methane- a gas, and coal- a solid. The tremendous pressures ejected from volcanoes are due to the combustion of crude oil in the outer core. The gases in all hydrocarbons expand, when ignited, and will create pressure in an enclose vessel, such as the core of this planet. I pray someone read this letter, and is intelligent enough to see the truth. There are two different diagnoses, but only one right solution. My solution is the only correct one. The leading scientists are wrong about everything. Cleaning the air will not reverse global warming. Please keep an open mind. If we choose the wrong solution we will leave our grandchildren and great grandchildren a future that doesn’t exist. It will be a hellish existence. The leading scientist will think of another excuse for global warming, when they realize they are wrong, and their plans are not working. Please don’t let them do that, times is running out! Remember there is a point of no return.

Mr. Willie J. McDonald
4640 Main St. #221
Houston, Tx. 77002
713-987-4841
Mcdnldw6@aol.com

[Charlie]

"Last night, Karen and I saw Al Gore's new movie, An Inconvenient Truth. It is, in my opinion, a very clear, compelling, and heartfelt documentary that profiles one man's authentic effort to educate people around the world about the need to deal with the global warming crisis. "

I couldn't agree more with this comment, with one exception. This film is more of a sales pitch than a documentary. It is riddled with misleading statements and images as well as several errors.

[Daniel O'Connor]

Charlie,

I think it's still a documentary even if some of the claims in the movie prove to be invalid or incomplete. As I wrote above: "Naturally, it is the task of each and every viewer to assess the extent to which Gore's validity claims are indeed valid and therefore the basis for the kind of second-order learning that would be necessary for one to take effective action to help avert this obvious/potential crisis."

I think this documentary has been effective in expanding the conversation about climate change and I hope that the long-tail of the blogosphere can help us sort out the many claims being made by all the participants in this conversation. Feel free to direct us to any corrections or critiques you consider helpful.