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Is Al Gore right?

September 12th, 2006 by mhjones

Al Gore’s PR machine has hit Australia. He’s in the paper and was on ABC’s Enough Rope last night. He had some good arguments about climate change, and as you might expect, the anti-climate change people are responding in kind.

Debates about CO2 are a worthy discussion. What caught my attention was how the failed US presidential candidate seems to have got his head around social media. A good quote from the Enough Rope transcript.

ANDREW DENTON: How do we break that nexus between corporate interests and the way political decisions are made?

AL GORE: Well, I think that focusing on the role of money in politics is part of it. But I think that it’s really addressing one of the symptoms rather than the cure. I think that the larger challenge is to democratise the dominant medium, and fortunately, there are now new affordable digital video cameras and laptop editing systems, and young people particularly are learning how to use them. I have started a new television network called ‘Current TV’, and it’s on cable and satellite in 30 million homes in the US, and you can get a training course. We give a free training course to anybody in the world on how to make television. Then they stream the TV to us on the Internet, we post it, and let people vote on what they think the most compelling material is. Now, 30 per cent of our programming is made by the viewers. And if individuals in a nation or in a society are empowered to take part in the conversation, the key is having a meritocracy of ideas so that the people who are part of the conversation themselves decide which of the contributions from all these individuals merit more attention rather than less.

Tagged: Television
Comments: 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Is Al Gore right?”

  1. Caitlin Says:
    September 12th, 2006 at 4:47 pm

    I am yet to see the movie but I am keen to do so, partly because it’s an important issue and partly because I hear a rumour that Al Gore has, shock horror, charisma.

    What caught my eye was your comment, “as you might expect, the anti-climate change people are responding in kind.” Yes, I’d forgotten it would be like that in Australia. Still. How depressing.

    In Britain and indeed Europe there is political and social consensus about climate change and the fact that it is cause by human activity. (I don’t mention scientific consensus because that is global – the only scientists who question this are either not actually scientists (ie they don’t have a science degree and they don’t publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals) or they are scientists in the pay of the energy or manufacturing industry).

    That hasn’t been the reaction to the film in Britain at all. Every review I’ve read of the film, whatever the political stance of the publication, has simply made the point that this is made for an American audience and therefore spends most of the film talking about the evidence and trying to persuade us tht it is happening and not enough time talking about the solutions (apart from a few platitudes about turning off lightbulbs). The reviews point out that as far as British audiences are concerned, the fact that it’s happening is a given, the question is what are we going to do about it. Perhaps the answer is a truth too inconvenient even for Al Gore?

    I do hope the film has some effect. The doubters are clearly wrong and will be proved to be so. My fear is that we will move directly from obstructionism based on ‘it’s not happening’ to obstructionism based on ‘it’s happening but we can’t do anything about it’. We have to try.

  2. Scott Pettet Says:
    September 13th, 2006 at 3:59 pm

    Gore was impressive on Enough Rope, but I was dissappointed he did not tougher his ‘friend’, John Howard with regard to Kyoto.

    Yes, Kyoto will likely cost Australian jobs, but it is a decision that should be based on an environmental imperative, not an economic one. If Howard had backbone, he’d sign Kyoto and find solutions to the economic implications.

  3. Sandra Hanchard Says:
    September 14th, 2006 at 9:28 am

    Astute pick-up on Gore’s observation on the potential effect of consumer generated media on political and environmental politics.

  4. Caitlin Says:
    September 14th, 2006 at 5:19 pm

    Nicely noted, yes, but it’s not that surprising. Al Gore’s a smart guy and absolutely everyone is rabbiting on about social media these days.

  5. R. Palm Says:
    September 19th, 2006 at 9:22 am

    Hello,

    I saw Al Gore give a presentation this noon at New York University. It was a well-crafted speech; he spoke about the need to address CO2 and how addressing nonpoluting energy needs is a promising area for growth that must be pursued, ASAP! Throughout this dire topic (He stated this this month’s Scientific American will have an article that says the ‘case is closed’ as to whether there is a climate crisis) Gore gently led to themes of vision, hope, and concrete ways of addressing polution and dependence on oil. He encouraged people to work together, to join small groups, to act, to learn. I felt, when I left, that he was deftly building a strong platform on which to launch a campaign of some sort! to make large-scale change, to run for President . . .for something. He appealed to young adults in particular, but then he was at NYU. After it was over I felt such remorse about where the United States could be now, rather than a “rogue state”.

  6. Chris Saad Says:
    September 23rd, 2006 at 2:14 pm

    I think Al Gore’s pioneering approach to media has been exciting to watch. He didn’t succeed in the Presidential run (although he might next time) but I think he has embraced another key pillar of Democracy and begun to transform it for the mainstream.

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