by Joey Conway
Al Gore gained notable recognition during his service as vice-president to then President Bill Clinton in 1993 when he started speaking out against global warming and human impact on the environment. Gore was a proponent of environmental protection well before his service under Clinton but it was in this time and during his election cycle against George Bush in the 90s that he gained the most notoriety and fame for being the face of the Green Movement. Many remember Al Gore’s speeches telling us to cut down on carbon emissions, reducing our water intake, and using less energy all together. Admirable individuals believed this and changed their life around his lessons in the selfless act to save the environment. Fellows like Kip Anderson decided to get ride of their car and bike to work, they started making a conscious effort to turn off the water during teeth brushing, and turning the lights off when they leave the room. The sad thing is after this large Green Movement the results were not only dissatisfying but they went in the opposite direction as expected. People who were convinced they were doing the right thing were left with a smack to the face when the UN released new data showing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere rising even after changing their day-to-day lives entirely.
What everyday citizens never realized was that organizations like Oceana, Green Peace, and WWF who promoted this fear of climate change were in bed with the worst perpetrators of this travesty. It wasn’t until years of intensive journalism and merciless questioning that these “non-profits”, well some of them, confessed to what they have been doing: Hiding the real reasons for climate change, deforestation, and water waste. Will Anderson, former board of directors Greenpeace USA described this collusion in an interview saying:
“Environmental organizations are not telling the truth about what the world needs from us as a species. The information is right before their eyes- It’s documented in peer reviews, papers and journals. It’s there for everybody to see, but they’re refusing to act. The environmental community is failing us and our ecosystems.”
The “information” Will is referring to is the many studies and journal submissions conducted by the UN looking at the major proponents of pollution and greenhouse gas culprits. So who are they? Well, dare I be so bold and tell you that the ones destroying the planet are putting the food on your table making you a co-conspirator in our own demise > Animal Agriculture for meat.
I encourage you to take the red pill and jump into the new Green Revolution; I promise you won’t like what I ask of you.
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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.