The wrong message in Al Gore's movie
Meyer, John M.
AL GORE'S global-warming slideshow, An Inconvenient Truth, is now one of the top-grossing documentaries of all time; by the time you are reading this, it's likely to have settled in at #3,...
...That this was presented literally as an afterthought was disappointing enough, but much of the content also seemed tired, rehashing such familiar nostrums as buying compact fluorescent lightbulbs and bringing a reusable tote to the supermarket, as well as an earnest suggestion that got a big laugh in my theater: run for Congress...
...is happening...
...By developing such strategies, we might foster a conversation about how to tackle climate change that emerges from the concerns of everyday life, rather than attempting to trump these concerns...
...His slideshow encapsulates the prescriptions— educate us, scare us, appeal to our morality— that emanate from this view...
...To be sure, several million people have now walked away from theaters with a clearer sense of what Gore rightly describes as a planetary emergency...
...we must shout louder to shake them of their apathy...
...And certainly ignorance, apathy, and egoism do pose 96 n DISSENT / Fall 2006 challenges...
...Getting global warming is too much of an intellectual process...
...That's an inconvenient truth that Gore makes little effort to tackle...
...He simplifies the science without oversimplifying...
...This sort of community development and reinvestment may appear politically infeasible...
...The public is apathetic...
...If we treat the lack of action on climate change as evidence that people "don't think there's a problem," then efforts like Gore's appear to be exactly what is needed...
...His effort, such as it is, invokes American's historic can-do, if-we-can-put-amanon-the-moon-we-can-rise-to-the-occasionand-meet-this-challenge-too spirit...
...The challenge is the first step rather than the second...
...by the time you are reading this, it's likely to have settled in at #3, behind Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins...
...Yet Gore's project is obviously designed to get people to act to avert the crisis that he describes...
...Most viewers and reviewers have been enthusiastic...
...A serious push to retrofit buildings for conservation and renewable energy, to develop innovative and flexible forms of transit, to foster in-fill development rather than sprawl, or to restore wetlands that can mitigate the destructiveness of hurricanes are just some approaches that require a serious investment of public resources to be realized on a large scale...
...and, if it remains unchecked, will have devastating impacts upon life on earth...
...What impact will winning this particular argument—about the pressing nature of the problem—have upon action...
...In this sense, he seems to have won the argument...
...we understand diesel soot because we can smell it and see it...
...Those at the top often seem more immediate and integral to everyday life...
...The premise of the movie—a commonplace one in environmentalist circles—is that the impact will be great...
...the lack of action makes it plain that we need to work harder on convincing people that the concern is real...
...His accompanying book spent a very hot summer near the top of the best-seller lists...
...The public is ignorant...
...To the extent that the diagnosis is correct, DISSENT / Fall 2006 • 5 NOTEBOOK inattention to action makes perfect sense: once we convince "them" that climate change is a real concern, "they" will act...
...Perhaps pictures of drowning polar bears (which we are trying to find) will move people . . ." (The movie's producers apparently couldn't find any images of drowning polar bears either, so they created an animated version...
...Recent public opinion polls show that a growing majority does believe that climate change is a real problem...
...I wasn't bored, but was wondering when the spotlight would shift from the problem to a meaningful discussion of solutions and strategies for change...
...Environmentalists often diagnose public opinion as a key obstacle to effective action on concerns including climate change...
...Here, the ubiquity of climate change—its threat to so many aspects of our lives—provides an opening...
...As the movie neared its end, I was still waiting...
...Finally, interspersed with the closing credits, the movie offered suggestions for "what you personally can do...
...His clear graphs and often captivating images can propel viewers to the conclusion that climate change is a present and fast-paced reality, rather than a far-off and slowly evolving possibility...
...In other words, before seeing the movie—and despite the scientific controversy feigned by right-wing ideologues and self-interested industries—a clear majority of all Americans (and surely an even greater percentage of those viewing the movie or reading the book) are already convinced of the problem of which Gore wants to convince us...
...Yet Gore's approach is deeply rooted in this diagnosis...
...Although such choices might promote a sense of personal efficacy, they can also promote an "I gave at the office" mind-set if they are not closely linked to a broader agenda for social and political change...
...we must inform and educate them...
...Yet for those who seek meaningful employment, cheaper and more convenient transportation, reduced utility bills, or more comfortable homes, such an agenda could prove not only salient but highly attractive...
...In part, this reflects the contrast between our collective memory of the programmed and stiff Democratic presidential candidate and Gore's movie persona...
...Yet this premise is dubious and often limits the success of environmentalist efforts...
...This is the "inconvenient truth" that he counterposes to denial by both leaders and the public...
...To be effective, we must move beyond individual lifestyle choices...
...That could have allowed moviegoers to leave theaters with a vision that addresses climate change by working to make their lives and communities better, rather than leaving us with the too easy sense that knowledge or awareness itself is all that is needed if we are to dodge the bullet on climate change...
...That's a pretty thin reed upon which to rest our hopes...
...Ironically, by being in the wonkiest context imaginable, he comes across as passionate, sincere, and likable...
...More accurately, he has effectively popularized the argument already "won" in the scientific community: global climate change is real...
...They misrepresent the character of public attitudes and so unintentionally can set the stage for political quiescence...
...Gore also delivers his message well...
...There are many actions that can engage people in reducing emissions of CO2 and other global warming gases...
...As I sat in the theater, though, I kept glancing down at my watch...
...we must appeal to morality and get them to sacrifice...
...The public is egoistic and materialistic...
...But claims that public ignorance (or apathy or egoism) is now the primary obstacle to change are, themselves, a problem...
...He is at work on a book tentatively entitled Environmentalism as Social Criticism...
...JOHN M. MEYER is an associate professor of government and politics at Humboldt State University...
...As he put it in an interview (at Grist.org ), "[N]obody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a problem...
...Here, it seems likely to heighten cynicism and despair...
...Yet the fundamental weakness revealed in public opinion polls about environmental concerns in general and climate change in particular is not a lack of support but a lack of salience: despite widespread concern, it just never rises anywhere near the top of the list of most pressing issues...
...The director of the climate program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, for example, recently lamented in the New York Times, "I wish I were more optimistic of our ability to get a broad slice of the public to understand [climate change...
...But if most viewers, and a majority of all Americans, are already convinced that climate change is real, and yet solutions remain unfamiliar or elusive, what impact will this film have...
...IDON'T WISH to sound naïve: ambitious solutions that go beyond litanies of lightbulbs, shopping bags, and recycling are not easy to devise, nor will they be won readily...
Vol. 53 • September 2006 • No. 4
