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Al Gore speaks at the Sierra Summit, Friday September 9, 2005.
Photo by Tim Lesle

by John Byrne Barry
Plenary Session
Al Gore

- The full transcript of the speech is available.

Former Vice President Al Gore quoted Winston Churchill, Upton Sinclair, the Bible, and President George W. Bush, and the contrast was not pretty.

Gore, who received multiple standing ovations from an audience of 2,000 at the opening morning of Sierra Summit 2005, made good use of quotes as well as references to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath to underscore his theme of moral responsibility in a time of crisis, specifically global warming. (He also got some well-deserved laughs along the way -- see "The Comedy of Al Gore.")

Gore went to the Churchill well the most. "We are entering a period of consequence," said Churchill as the the storm was gathering over Europe before World War II. Gore drew a parallel to the current situation regarding global warming. Just as was the case with Europe in the 1930s, "the warnings about global warming," he said, "have been extremely clear for a long time."

Churchill also acknowledged that many of his countrymen did not want to prepare for war. He understood their desire to deny reality, but said they should hear the truth, that it was a time to "recover our moral health."

He pulled one quote from Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

His Bible reference: "When there is no vision, the people perish."

And then President Bush: "Nobody could have predicted the levees would break."

Gore lambasted the president and his administration not just for its woefully inadequate response to Katrina, but its willfull ignorance of scientific evidence about global warming.

Over the past century, said Gore, we have developed a new and unprecedented relationship with the planet as a result of a quadrupling of population and our industrial emissions' influence on the climate. "We have a moral responsibility to deal with the consequences of that new relationship. This is not about scientific debate. It's about who we are as human beings. It's about our capacity to transcend our limitations."

But we have the vision and know-how and technology we need to address global warming, said Gore, but we lack the political will. "But political will is a renewable resource," he said, garnering one of the longest ovations of the morning.

He urged the Sierra Club, as its delegates deliberate on priorities, to make global warming a priority, and "make this a moral moment."

"There are those who say the problem is too big," he said. But then he rattled off a list of big problems that we've addressed, from freeing the slaves to sending a man to the moon to giving women the vote.

"This is a time for those who see and understand and care and are willing to work."

He means us.

Here's an AP story on Al Gore at the Summit.

-- 09/09/2005 Fri
1pm