Gore to US: Kick our fossil fuel habit in 10 years

Al Gore made a landmark speech earlier today. This is probably one of the most important speeches so far in my lifetime:


This quote from his speech is very powerful:

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.


You can read the full text of the speech here: http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/304/

FAQ about Gore's challenge here: http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/287/

Reactions from key people here: http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/303/

I hope some high level people take notice. Obama or McCain: that means you.

More information at the We Campaign.

Comments

Ethan Siegel said…
Hooray for Al Gore. And I really like the possibility of more Nuclear Power. For all the "NIMBY" mentality out there, it's the best solution until we figure out how to make solar and wind sustainable, and the easiest way to reduce our dependence on coal and oil.
18 July, 2008 09:24
BrianShiro said…
I don't think we need to resort to nuclear power. It creates more problems than it solves. Nuclear waste will just be a problem for our children, which is an irresponsible thing to do.

With off the shelf technology, solar alone could power the entire country. We just need 92 square miles of solar panels to do it (doesn't have to be all in one place). The problem is that the government is stalling in approving a bill to extend the solar tax credits past 2008. The credits are needed to level the playing field to make solar have the same benefits as the fossil fuel industry currently enjoys. I highly recommend you listen to today's Science Friday discussion, which goes into great detail on the subject.

Wind, geothermal, and other non-carbon based options are also good to supplement our energy needs, but I really see solar as our main savior. The holy grail is space-based solar, but even land-based can provide for our current needs.
18 July, 2008 09:38
Robert Piercy said…
My favorite Al Gore quote came during the Q&A. When asked why we don't focus on cutting back on meat consumption, because it causes more CO2 emissions than automobiles, Gore responded:

"It is true that it would be healthier for us as if we consumed less meat." How come that hasn't been a more prominent? "I myself am a meat eater and perhaps that has something to do with it." We've got to walk before we run, Al said. "None of us are perfect."

A true hero indeed.
22 July, 2008 04:45
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New CSA, ESA, and JAXA Astronauts

Mark your calendars for May 13 and 20. That's when Canada's CSA and Europe's ESA will announce their new astronaut selections. In a press release earlier today, CSA said it would announce its two new astronauts on May 13. Back in March, I reported that CSA released a great deal of information on the top 16 astronaut candidates in its recruitment campaign. This included biographies of the top 16 candidates and video and photos of their evaluation and testing. CSA has been very good with keeping the public informed through the astronaut selection process with regular posts to its website . I liked how CSA was able to interview a relatively large pool of applicants remotely via teleconference, which is something NASA did not do. As I reported in a previous post , CSA had 5352 applicants for only 2 slots. This makes CSA's selectivity 2/5352 = 0.037%! May 13 Update: CSA has announced its two newest astronauts David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen . Congrat
READ MORE >>

Insider tips on NASA's astronaut selection

Image
While NASA wraps up interviewing the second group of finalists to determine its 2013 class of ASCANs, the head of the NASA Astronaut Selection Office Duane Ross gave an illuminating presentation at JSC last Thursday about the selection process.  He covered questions ranging from academic degrees to interview questions, medical screening, and Russian language requirements. Pete Dimmick was among those present in the audience. Here are his notes from the event, reprinted with permission: Today I attended a lecture by Duane Ross and his protege, Anne Roemer. Duane has been the head of the astronaut selection process for 37 years and I had a few minutes to speak with them after the lecture was over. Here is what I found out about becoming an astronaut. I won't discuss so much the published requirements, rather I'll be focusing more on the insider things. There have been 257 NASA astronauts over the years and an applicant has a 0.6% chance of being selected. Of those no
READ MORE >>

The Astronaut Hopeful's Manifesto

Image
I am an astronaut hopeful – one of thousands of people who somehow never outgrew our childhood dream of going to space. Anyone can hope to be an astronaut, but to be an “astronaut hopeful” one must make a commitment to the goal and proactively work towards becoming an astronaut. The road is long and the outcome is uncertain, but it is in trying to achieve this lofty ambition that we learn to become our best selves. Astronauts train to be some of the most focused, resourceful, healthy and dependable people on the planet. Striving to be more like them can help any person to be more effective in life’s pursuits. Making the decision to do everything one can to actually become an astronaut means learning from astronaut role models and making incremental decisions throughout your life that get you closer to your dream. This week NASA began accepting applications to recruit another class of astronaut candidates (ASCAN’s). More than 6,300 people applied during the last opportunity, from
READ MORE >>