Along with many millions of others, I’m celebrating Al Gore’s winning of the Noble Peace Prize today. He shares it with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here’s what he said today:
I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change–the world’s pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis–a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.
My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
Now it’s time for Neopagans, New Agers, and others concerned about the fate of Our Holy Mother Earth to take action.
The climate change scientists were wrong about global warming—the situation is even worse than we thought, as the following chart makes clear:
The black line in the chart shows the results of actual ice measurements as distinct from the published predictions.
As a Druid and as a priest of the Earth Mother I know how important it is to use both magical and mundane methods to draft Al Gore, kicking and screaming if necessary, to run. There is no other position from which he could have the power and influence he will need to push major American corporations, our national and state governments, and other nations of the world to take the drastic action that will be needed to avert the worst of the already tipped-over climate.
In the days to come, Mr. Gore will be deciding whether or not to jump into the race for the U.S. Presidency. We can help him make that decision.
On a mundane level of reality, we can all go over to DraftGore.com and sign their petition to him—over 186,000 people from around the world, Democrats, Greens, Independents, and even Republicans have already done so. We can donate money to the Draft Gore Campaign through ActBlue and/or PayPal. We can sign-up for their email list and join our local Draft Gore groups, and pledge money to support Gore as soon as he commits.
On a magical/spiritual level of reality, we can use the energy of the New Moon over the next two weeks to bless Al Gore with courage and to open his heart to Gaia’s call. I would like all of us to invoke Her every night from now until the Full Moon, asking Her to speak to him and tell him how much pain She and Her children are in, and using our magics every night, to gather up and send to him the rising storm of people crying to him in America and around the world,
Yes, he can still decide not to. We won’t force him to do anything. But I don’t think he will refrain from taking the challenge and making the sacrifice the Earth, and the rest of us, need him to.
True, he won’t be able to do enough unless he ends up president, but won’t he do even less if he does, with all the other issues and interest groups tugging at his sleeves (and even blackmailing him if need be)? And if he does run, won’t all those who are against him now start screaming “See? That’s what this whole ‘green’ bullshit was meant to do in the first place, earn him votes! He’s just a scam!” and how many of the undecided will be swayed to their side? (Plus… What will it mean if he runs and loses?)
I think he can make a solid point that nothing is more important than the survival of our species. The 30%ers who still believe in Little King George will scream and smear him, no matter what he does or doesn’t do. The other 70% of America will support him.
I cannot believe that he would lose if he runs. He’ll have an overwhelming majority, far too large for Diebold and other Republican voting machine companies to rig against him.
More likely is a “surprise” terrorist attack that prompts Cheney to declare martial law and cancel the elections entirely…
With relations between the government and corporations the way they have been going, would Gore’s ability to answer Gaia’s call be best served from a position in the oval office? He’d be dealing with really entrenched patterns.
Collaborative work outside government might be the one thing that could get the government to come around, regarding things environment? Do you see any fine people exerting nearly enough pressure within the political system and winning big, in Gaia’s interest?
Cheney. I’d bet he’s going back into business and/or “think tanks.” Carter’s words about him had influence, more than is immediately apparent, and Cheney has a bum ticker anyway. There are other ways he could still be the “evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole.” Even he will know when to retire…kinda.
I think the survival of our planet would rate as more important than the survival of our species. After all, it has proven it’s ability to produce species, we haven’t proven any ability to produce planets (or even maintain them for that matter).
And the problem with democracy is that too many just don’t give a damn. You say 30% support the bushy guy and that it means 70% will support Gore. Doubt it. I think most just don’t care. Some of them won’t even vote, the rest will vote according to who does a better job in swaying them at the moment, and I’m not there but from what I got the Republicans seem to be quite adept at that. Or they’ll vote from inertia, making them elect a Republican just because one has been in office so far and “better the evil you know than one you don’t”.
And even if he will win, the way politics and business are set up now, he’ll be a good (or at least decent) president faced with a hostile parliament (remember that it was the Democrats who chose to remove the part about improved gas mileage from the energy bill before putting it before the Senate because they knew even some of their own would oppose the bill if that part was still in it). Been living with such a situation in our government for the past 3 years, it’s not pretty, a constant struggle among the parties and everybody careful not to lose their footing and more interested in bumping the other one off than actually doing anything for the country. And you can’t exactly blame them, I mean if they’d let the other one bump them off they won’t be able to do anything anyway.
And as my godfather pointed out, he’s already won once. ^_^
I believe a Gore run would galvanize the American public, especially as more and more bad news about the environment comes out during the next year. He could sweep many convinced environmentalists into office, perhaps enough to change the calculus in Congress.
Maybe it wouldn’t. But I know none of the other candidates, from either party, would accomplish one tenth as much on green issues. And we don’t have another eight, or even four, years to waste trying to do it while kissing up to the corporations who caused the problems to begin with.
I voted for him in 2000, but wouldn’t if he ran again. In fact, if I was worried about him running, I would have to come up with a ritual to counteract yours, but I’m sure he won’t run. He’s basking in the limelight now, and won’t want to risk his ideas being torn to shreds in the public arena that would come with a political run.
He can accomplish more doing what he is doing. That, by the way, is unfortunate in my opinion, so maybe I will join you in your magical endeavors in this regard after all.
Hummm… a Pagan who wants the Earth to be so completely trashed that 90% of the humans (and other species) die off. How very, very rare. What flavor of Pagan are you? Or did I completely misunderstand your comment?
Yep, I guess you did. It’s not that I disagree with him that there’s a problem, I just disagree with his claims as to the extent of the problem, and to the extent those problems are caused by humans. I do though think there is some problem, and I also think humans can affect some positive change. Just not the changes he advocates, for the most part.
And I am an independent pagan. If everybody did everything Al Gore wanted them to do, life wouldn’t be worth living anyway, so why worry about it?