Well, guess who got a surprise when we searched in Google.

No, “Al Gore training blog” is not the “most searched after phrase”, but hey, we’re still number two and three on the list, right behind the man himself.

Ok, I’m done with the self-congratulations. Now back to work, another late night working to get enough solar out there to make a difference on this planet. Good thing this is my hobby as well as my job!

We all try so hard, work so hard in a counter-productive direction, against believing in science. Scientists are called wonks and nerds, athletes are called studs. I’ve got nothing against athletes, or for that matter, for or against scientists. I do not fall into either group, although admittedly I’m closer to the science camp, having been trained as an engineer. (Although I now spend most of my days in sales, marketing and management.)

But it seems that we citizens of the USA will go to great lengths to avoid believing in science. No, I understand, that we don’t all want to follow what the “latest study about caffeine” says. I’m not saying that we should all read science magazines any more than we all need to read Sports Illustrated. (Although I bet that Sports Illustrated has more subscribers than almost all the science magazines in the US!) What I am saying though is that when a whole bunch of scientists get together, experiment and study data for years, and come to very similar conclusions, then shouldn’t we give their statements more weight than statements from a science fiction author or an unscientific news anchor?

I think we have a predilection for believing whoever is telling us the happier, simpler story. The story that means that we’re ok, that we don’t need to do anything differently, that we’re still great. Because, and this goes way across the grain of most everything that one sees written about the average US citizen, I think we’re on auto-pilot. Yes, I know that we work more hours than any other society. That we are more productive, take fewer vacations, and have higher GDP per capita than anyone else. But we are doing it through the innovation and industriousness of a relatively small number of people. Most of us are simply following along, taking as much vacation as we’re allowed, and working only as hard as the guy or gal beside us.

How else can we be so reluctant to change? I think that we in the US are willing to do almost anything so long as we don’t have to change anything that we are doing. Change takes a different kind of motivation. It’s not the motivation that gets us out of bed every morning for the same old routine. It’s the motivation that gets us out of bed for a different new routine. And that’s harder.

I also believe that people in the US will follow whatever the easiest and simplest path is. And my worry here is that the only way they will follow a path to solve global warming is when it becomes the easier path, when NOT doing something against global warming is harder than doing something. My fear is that by the time it becomes evident to science-ignoring and science-contorting people, it will be too late for us to have large enough actions to reduce global warming to a livable extent.

And my fear is amplified by the fact that the scientific community is actually NOT in agreement on global warming. Oh, don’t be mistaken, the community of scientists very much believes global warming is real and human caused and will have large scale, even devastating effects on people as well as almost all other living beings. What they are not in agreement on is how fast it will happen and how bad it will be. The IPCC report (nicely summarized here IPCC report summary) is the consensus of the scientists, meaning it is the lowest common denominator they could all agree on. Many key words and phrases were changed to accommodate countries that want a go-slow approach.

My children, ages 16 and 18, will certainly see a very different world by the time they are my age. But how different? Current “accepted consensus” scientific thought is that sea level will not rise too much by then. But, there are those who think that the ice sheet melting on Greenland and the West Antarctic may greatly accelerate. Just recently, a new island was found off the coast of Greenland. We’d thought it was a peninsula all these decades, and it turns out that the ice has melted off of it revealing a mountainous island. Melting has increased greatly on the ice surface. Ice quakes – the abrupt movement of the ice sheet – are increasing exponentially. So will sea levels rise seven to 23 inches (IPCC published predictions), or will it be three feet or more – in my lifetime?

I can’t wait to find out. And neither can you.

What is perhaps most shocking is that by denying global warming, by not working to stop it, mitigate it, reduce its effects, we are all deciding to take part in a global science experiment. Sort of like the frog, the fish and the plants in the closed glass jar. Will they survive? Personally, I never liked the idea of being part of an experiment. I’d like to work to keep the earth the way it has been, I know that works.

We need to act now. We need to believe in the science. We need to stop giving credence to the skeptics and the naysayers who, with no real science back up, deny us our right, our ability, and our need to change our economy to accommodate the earth.

We need to accept that if we start changing now we can turn global warming into an economic engine of growth. Sure, there will be losers, like ExxonMobil, who refuse to change. But there will be winners too; companies like Evergreen Solar, and of source, the rest of us.

We need to accept that sometimes we need to change our routine in order to protect it. When there is a fire in your house, or your neighbor’s house, you get up out of bed off-schedule and take care of the problem.

We need to accept that the US, by dint of being “the world’s only superpower”, is expected to lead, needs to lead, should want to lead, and will be best served by leading. No, it’s not always fair to lead, but it almost always turns out to be better to be the leader than a follower.

Who’s a leader?

It seems like everyone wants to get into the act of “debunking” global warming these days. Reminds me of an old saying “you can tell the character of a man by the kind of enemies he attracts”.

Our latest is John Stossel of ABC “News” 20/20. He’s got a show coming out on May 4 on 20/20 called “Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity”. What’s his message? “Global warming can be safely ignored”. From what I’ve learned of John Stossel, he’s the one who should be ignored. What passes for journalism from him might better be characterized as a carnival sideshow or hucksterism. Anyone who agrees with his viewpoint is not questioned about their facts. Anyone who disagrees is not given a chance to defend themselves.

Just as the movie, the Great Global Warming Swindle has been debunked, so will Stossel’s 20/20 piece, as soon as it is aired, and the damage of misinformation is done. I suspect that he knows this, but the game is to keep as many people as doubtful as possible, and spewing his crud over the airwaves lets the industries that support him continue to spew their crud into our air. (In fact, the British TV station that put on the Great Global Warming Swindle now has a substantial FAQ on their website indicating that global warming IS caused by people!)

Of course, anyone who wants to do a little work on their own can find all the facts supporting the reality of global warming that they have the stomach for. Websites include:

Real Climate (they even have a non-affiliated review of each part of An Inconvenient Truth)
University of Cambridge, England (site with great and long references and resources)
Union of Concerned Scientists (general resource on climate and energy)
UCS site specific to the latest IPCC report on global warming. (Great summary)

My friend Mark Robinson over at The Energy Grid has started a movement to discredit Stossel’s report before it is shown. You can join him and assist with his replies on his blog.

Education is a long process, especially when you have so many trying to dumb us down rather than smarten us up! Talk about downright stupidity!

I’ll be presenting the full-length version of the Al Gore Inconvenient Truth slideshow at the groSolar offices on Friday, May 11, at 4:00. This presentation will be open to the public. We expect a good number of people in addition to groSolar’s White River Junction staff to attend. Click here for directions to groSolar’s offices.

Even if you’ve seen the movie, the slideshow is eye-opening. Significantly updated from the movie, it presents more depth and more focus. New slides reveal even greater evidence of the speed that climate change is occurring, as well as presenting what we can each do now, to solve the problem. For those who believe in climate change and for those who have doubts, for those who think they understand the science, and for those who do not, this is a great slideshow.

We’ll have a time for questions and answers after the presentation, and we’ll also have light refreshments so people can network around actions.

As always, I’m available for additional presentations to your group. Please contact me at [email protected] to schedule.

Three of us head to Cornell University today (Alma Mater for Dori and me) to be on a panel at the Entrepreneurship@Cornell Celebration 2007, “Investing in the future”. Should be quite fun to take our youngest daughter back to our school. She’s humoring us with the idea that show might even apply to Cornell, although probably not the College of Engineering.

Our panel on “Advancing Innovation as an Entrepreneur: Transforming the Sustainable Industries”, is right on target for what we need to do. For too long the “Sustainable Industries” have not been run as solid businesses in the capitalist model. Not that I’m any Adam Smith, but we can either try to make a great business within the model everyone else works in, or we can try to change the entire construct of business in the US. Personally, I’m a little daunted by the second challenge, so instead I’m simply trying to create a solar company that can beat global warming while being capitalistic. Much easier than trying to change capitalism, and I think considerably more productive.

I come at business from an incredibly pragmatic, logic driven viewpoint. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all pluses and minuses, and I spend far more time now working on marketing ideas and strategy than on engineering. But my business philosophies and practices are much more motivated by what I see work and by trying things to see if they work, than by text book solutions. (A sticker in my office says “Always make new mistakes”.) Text books are great for replicating a business model, but when you’re in an emerging, fragmented, infantile industry, there are no “real” cases to study. With any luck, people will write the case studies about us in the future. So it’s with at least a little amusement that I am appearing on this panel.

I’ve never taken a business course; I’ve never read a marketing book. (Well, I read half of Blue Ocean Strategy, great concept, no time to finish the book.) I have, however, developed a fine appreciation for those who acquire great business process skills, and I am not knocking those who have the Business degree. It’s also an honor to be with my fellow panelists. And I am very heartened that my Alma Mater’s B-School is holding a symposium with this theme. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So much news. First, StepItUp was a tremendous success, locally and nationally. In Strafford, Dori (my wife, and partner in our business), organized a tree planting. In the drizzle and left over snow, over 30 people showed up. No frost (I mean zero) in the ground under the snow (boy is that an indication) and we had the tree planted in 30 minutes. Great fellowship and energy.

Then Dori and I traveled to the Vermont Democratic Party David Curtis Dinner. It was themed on global warming this year, and we had 6 others from groSolar attend with us. That made a pretty good splash in the hall and at a table. Keynote speech by Roger Ballantine was on target regarding the problem and what needs to be done to solve it. Political will to make changes is what it takes. Vermont is a great place to start. Here’s hoping that the leadership in the Vermont legislature was listening. I think they were, and I think we’ll have some great legislation passed before they wrap up this year.

I had my first Climate Presenter presentation tonight. There was a “home field” audience at the Strafford Lions Club of about 30 people. They are used to a 20 minute presentation after dinner and a quick exit. They stayed pretty well glued to their chairs for over an hour. It was obvious from the looks on their faces and a few comments that they had not seen the movie, or seen the evidence, before tonight. We changed at least a few, if not many, minds. And I managed to get through the presentation (dramatically slashed in time and content) with only modest technical glitches.

Giving the presentation is an exhausting and exhilarating task. Exhausting as it is an act, a choreographed performance. While I am mindful of the audience moving in understanding, fear, and desire for action, I am also feeling those emotions with them. Exhilarating because it is educating, moving people toward action that I passionately believe is necessary for our survival, and I felt a “thank-you” from the audience when I was done. Albeit a nervous and uncertain thank you, but a thanks nonetheless for telling them, for being willing to share this message, this Inconvenient Truth.

So I’ve passed the first hurdle, I’m on the loose, ready to present to any willing audience. (And even unwilling audiences if they can be held in place somehow!) Let me know if you want a presentation in your area.

All those who care about the climate, the planet, their families, and the economy, (that should cover everyone somehow), please plan on attending a StepItUp07 action tomorrow (Saturday, April 14). More information, including events that are probably near you wherever you are, is available on the StepItUp07 website.

Lead by climate activist and author Bill McKibben, this national / local event is designed to raise awareness in the general population and the media. Last year Bill lead the biggest ever march on Global Warming, and this year will be bigger, broader, and have even more impact. There are 1367 actions planned, with at least one in every state of the USA. And if there is not one near you, create your own. It can be as simple as standing out on the street corner with a sign to taking a group hike in the woods, to planting a tree. If you can, register the event on the StepItUp Events web page.

So have fun, do something important, get noticed, make a difference. Tell your friends. Small actions add up.

Inspiring. Motivating. Humbling. Moving. Informing.

Those are a few of the words that come to my mind as I reflect back on my training this week to be a Climate Presenter as part of Al Gore’s Climate Project. I met inventors, investors, educators, scientists, a beauty pageant queen, a rocket scientist, an artist who in an earlier career was a coordinator for the Greenland Ice Sheet project and more. And of course I met a former VP of the USA.

The experience was also overwhelming. I already knew much of the material presented, although not in the depth its now been shown to me. I have tried to imagine how those with less of a background are coping with the information load. But TCP (The Climate Project) has set up a good support and information system for us. We also have the network of other presenters, over 1000 of us in the US alone. More in the UK and Australia.

I have the slideshow on my computer now, many hundreds of Mmegabytes, and many hundreds of slides. Now I’m modifying it in small ways so that I can present it, so that my voice can carry the message, so that people I present to will see themselves in the solution. And so that it does not necessarily take two hours to present!

Some of us wondered at the selection criteria for those who were chosen to be trained, out of the many thousands who applied. There seemed nothing in common. But perhaps the one commonality was that we all believe, fervently, that we must stop climate change, and that we can. As Al Gore said, “Once you know the truth about climate change, it is a moral imperative to stop it.” We are all now better prepared to further that work. We are all now emboldened to stand and deliver the message of hope, and of action, that the slideshow presents, and that the struggle against global warming requires.

Global warming does not need to be a catastrophe. It will be if we do not change course. But if we do change course (and we must), we can turn it into the biggest economic engine this planet has seen yet. The investment, new technology, and social progress will be on a scale never before matched in history. This can be, and will be, our “finest hour”. And to be part of the group of 1000 who are in the forefront of bringing this message to the public is humbling.

The science is in, the scientists have done their job. the scientific community is in broad consensus. There is refinement to be done, there are more causations and effects to be determined and understood. But now it’s our turn, to take the science and make it known. I’m preparing for my first presentation next Wednesday, and many presentations beyond. There’s a national listing of all presentation time’s and places on the Climate Project home page, as well as a way to request a presentation. Check there for a presentation near you! And let me know directly if you want a presentation by me. I’m going to be doing my best to fill these shoes.

April 10, 2007, evening 

We had our first full day of training today. We went through the show, pretty much slide by slide, with Al Gore giving color commentary, background, genesis, and presentation style for each. Let me tell you, that’s a lot of information. The slide show that Mr. Gore carries around is about 500 slides long, with about 350 active slides. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours to present straight through. Understanding the architecture of the show, how it’s built in terms of progression of the topic is interesting. This is not a bunch of slides thrown together randomly!

We learned about budgeting today, time, complexity, and hope budgets. Time is obvious; people will only give you so much time, although good photos and humor will buy you more. Complexity is, well, more complex. You can only push so much info out in a PowerPoint presentation. And since we’re usually presenting to people with much less understanding than we, as presenter have, we need to respect that this is complex stuff, and not confuse and lose people. I’ve never worked with a presentation that has a ‘hope’ budget before. But that is a large piece of what we’re dealing with here. Most simply put, we need to first convince people that there is a really serious, civilization threatening problem (yup), and as we do this we need to keep giving them hope for a solution. Otherwise, as Al Gore says, we’ll simply move from denial to despair. Is the hope real? Yup. Again as Al Gore says, “We can solve this problem, of course we can! We have no choice!” And it’s true. We can solve this problem, and we have no choice.

Gore is a very good presenter, at least on this topic. But he knows it as well as any presenter can know their subject. I spoke to him briefly today. I asked him how he personally deals with the potential despair of the situation every day. (I’ve had my share of continuously pushing a rock up hill in the solar business, and know how tiring it can be.) Our conversation concluded with him agreeing that a combination of humor and fun in the presentation helps to manage it. He says that part of the reason he continually changes the slideshow is to keep it interesting and engaging for himself.

For fun, we went to BB Kings tonight for dinner and more. We had some good live music with songwriters, and then later into a blues band. And what better than the blues to take my mind off the day. “>So tomorrow we learn presentation skills. Gore says that if he’d learned these skills from Andy Goodman before the 2000 election, he’d be well into his second term as President now. Really.

 

Among the trainees today, I met a sustainable building consultant, a cattle rancher / home developer, an advertising executive trying to figure out how to do “sustainable advertising” whatever that is, a radical PR blogger who’s blogging about the climate change skeptics and taking them on well, a person who was working for “Efficiency New Brunswick” (like Efficiency Vermont, but in NB Canada) but who is taking a year off to do nothing but present the slideshow. (He’s got a 6 year old child you see, and frankly he does not see anything more important in the world right now than raising consciousness of the problem so we can solve it, for his child.) Met a Cornell student (yea Cornell), and folks from several non-profits as well. An interesting and diverse group, will I’m sure give the presentation in many different ways.

 

Hopefully I’ll get another post in tomorrow night.

I’m at The Climate Project training session to become a Climate Presenter, enabled and equipped to present the (continuously updated) slide show seen in the Inconvenient Truth. So far, I’ve met some of my 175 compatriots in this last of the planned training sessions. These include architects, event promoters, political aides, a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, Paul Tsongas’ daughter Molly (now involved in renewable power promotion), and a self-described housewife.

Our introduction was Al Gore presenting the show. He’s good. He’s sincere. He knows his stuff and has more anecdotes than I’ll ever have. Many new slides that were not in the movies. We have access to all of the approximately 1000 slides that have been created, although they recommend that we use a fairly small subset. As with the movie, the slideshow in person was stirring, distressing, unnerving, and inspiring. Comparing the threat now facing the world due to climate change to the threat the world faced from World War II, Mr. Gore said something to the effect of ‘This is the first issue to affect the entire world and have the possibility of making the Earth lose its ability to support civilization.’

But then he spoke of our historic ability to do what conventional wisdom said could not be done, to rise to challenges. To not only defeat the Axis in WWII, but to then put in place the Marshall Plan that turned Europe from warring nations into peaceful strong economies. To put a man on the moon, with funding from both parties over a period spanning a decade, while we were at war in Vietnam.

At dinner, Mr. Gore introduced Rev. Jim Ball, Executive Director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, and a leading conservative Christian who is steering fundamentalists toward “creation care”. Mr. Ball is not taking the training, but he’s clearly bought into the theories presented (of course with some modification to some of the older dates!) I had an opportunity to shake hands after dinner, and discuss the StepItUp campaign happening this weekend. Mr. Gore said he’d sent out an email alert to his 500,000 email addresses. Once again, Vermont in the forefront!

One of the hot topics in our “free time” is to ask where people will be presenting. Great question. So far, I’m scheduled for the Strafford Lions Club Wednesday April 18 at 6:30 (dinner, talk later), and tentatively for SolarFest July 14 & 15 (time and day still under discussion). I’ll be looking for more venues. I’m going to try to spend less time talking to those who agree with me, and more to those who may not. So anyone with a connection into a group, let me know. Ideally I’d like groups of 35 or more, and at least 30 minutes. Tough to do much justice to the material in less than 45 minutes to an hour though. One of the beauties of the slideshow is how it builds the case, slide by slide.

Until tomorrow.

Jeff