Global Warming: An Inconvenient Truth

Title: An Inconvenient Truth
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Producer/Public Information: Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns
Year: 2006
Length: 1 Hour, 36 Minutes
Format: .mp4
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Country: USA
Audio/Visual Quality: Superb
Film Type: Documentary
Subject: Global Warming
Theme or topic: Global Warming/Energy Crisis
Time and Place: 2005, Globally
Summary: Al Gore gives his presentation on the causes and effects of Global Warming, while interweaving his own story on how he came to be involved with the issue. He then goes on to explain how to fix this problem.
Review:
The film An Inconvenient Truth is a fairly decent watch. As he gives his presentation on Global Warming in concise and easy-to-understand language, he brings the facts of the issue to the American public. The general consensus seems to be that the facts he portrays in the film are accurate; however the consequences may be overblown for maximum impact (Bailey). While this is somewhat expected, as he's trying to emotionally hammer home the impact of the climate crisis on the somewhat apathetic citizens of the United States, using the film as a purely accurate basis should be regarded critically. It was very clear that a lot of the imagery and topics he picks (things like Hurricane Katrina, and using the 9/11 Memorial in the example of the rising sea level) are chosen for that emotional impact. This does call into question the veracity of his information to some extent: after all, if he chooses to use this imagery specifically because of its emotional reaction, what is its use intellectually? Luckily, it seems, beyond that emotional draw, it's all accurate.
The movie itself is enjoyable, although the interweaving of his personal story with the scientific evidence is iffy at best. It seems to become less a film trying to base itself on facts about Global Warming, and more a film based on Al Gore's specific quest to learn about Global Warming. Understandably, it seems he's trying to explain his credentials for creating this movie in the first place, but it comes off strained at best, and, pardon the language, masturbatory at worst. The points he made with the segments of his past were eventually drawn back into the issues at hand but it seemed to be very flimsy connections.
As always, when watching films of this nature, it's best to keep an open mind. It's enjoyable, not too dry to watch, and has decent information. I would recommend it at 7 out of 10 stars.

Long Proposal

Since the link for the assignment hasn't been posted, I figured I'd post this here...

Caytlin Reese
English 102
Lela Hilton
January 23, 2010
Long Proposal: Going Green
With the impending dangers of Global Warming, it’s becoming more imperative than ever that we turn our methods away from ones that are destructive to the environment. While bringing Green methods to the home is all well and good and important, to make a real impact we need to direct our efforts to the many companies and organizations that do their business here. If we can reduce their carbon footprint and bring Green technology to their methods, they can set the bar for the rest of us and we can significantly reduce our carbon waste.
This project is designed to fulfill the English 102 final research project credit, but also to aid the campus’s Sustainability Initiative in their goals. This will be written with the Sustainability Initiative in mind and with the intention of adding to their literature and, hopefully, their methods.
I bring a background in life science to this proposal: I have a distinct interest in Biology, having once intended to go to medical school. More than that, I bring my enthusiasm. I love researching Green technology and methods, and have done lots of research on my own on the subject. By bringing this and my inquisitive mind together, I feel I can do justice to this assignment.
I will be working hand-in-hand with the Sustainability Initiative on campus, gaining information and resources through them in return for offering them the final product, which will have been tailored to their needs. Other than that, I intend to use the library and the research databases online, and whatever magazines, documentaries, and other resources I can get my hands on about the subject. Hopefully, I will be able to get an interview through the Sustainability Initiative as well. At present, I’m still waiting to get contact information from someone on the Sustainability Initiative, but I have contacted both Amy Johnson and Amy Phillips in the Service Learning department to get their information. Hopefully this will expand in the near future.

This I Believe

The Earth Charter states that we should eliminate discrimination of all forms, including that of sexual orientation. Being a thoroughly bisexual woman, I have managed to skirt the worst of the discrimination from organizations by having a loving, long-term relationship with my fiancé, who happens to be male. However, I’ve found that my peers can be cruel about my orientation. Many, many girls have ceased to be my friend because they think I’m going to suddenly develop crushes on them. And god forbid if I do develop a crush on a girl: I’m never going to tell her.

Because of the discrimination in this world, I can never tell a woman I admire her. I can’t tell men I find women attractive because I become an object to them: a gateway to ménage a trois. I am a loving and caring person, who likes to hug and touch and laugh, but if people know that I “swing both ways” they feel threatened. Like somehow everything I do is suddenly sexual, with hidden intention. No! I believe in openness and honesty. I believe in full-disclosure. So why do I have to hide this part of myself, to keep from scaring people off?

Just because I just so happen to find both men and women attractive does not make me inhuman. It does not make my every day behavior different from others’. And if I were a lesbian, I would say exactly the same thing. The same goes for race, religion, ethnicity—on and on and on, we are all human. We are all genetically 99% the same. Yet somehow these differences become marked, crushing our humanity and turning individuality—genetic, uncontrollable individuality!—into a crime. We are a world full of people: beautiful, different individuals with their own stories to share. We need to embrace them, not shun them.

So in my own words? End the discrimination. Embrace your neighbor, love a stranger. Don’t let fear ruin your life, or another’s life. We are all just beautiful humans, fighting to be ourselves. And if you help someone else be themselves, the same will come for you. This I believe.

Welcome

Hey there! My name is Caytlin, and I'm taking a look into the ways a company or organization can "go green" to reduce their impact on the environment. Specifically I hope to gear this towards the Sustainability Initiative on my college campus, so that I can help make a difference close to home.

To be honest, I became interested in sustainability and green living because I started writing a character who's into it. The more I wrote for him, the more I became interested in his interests--not the least of reasons because I had to do research for him to spout off about his green science! Either way, since then it's become a passion of mine, picked up vicariously through him. I find Green science to be endlessly fascinating, and I feel that converting over as greenly as possible in as many venues as possible can seriously help our footprint on the environment.