We saw An Inconvenient Truth this weekend, and let me say it is truly a must see movie. If you haven’t heard, this is a documentary about the message former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has been spreading throughout the world via speeches at universities and other public forums regarding global warming and the harm we are doing to the environment.

Sadly, just hearing those words “Al Gore” associated with this film will make many conservative individuals close their ears and brush off this film as political, liberal, Democratic propaganda. But this is not the case, and I hope, I hope, people of all walks of life see this movie. This isn’t about Bush or GOP bashing (there is a small bit about the contested presidential race which could have been left out), but about coming up with a bi-partisan, multi-national solution to the impending crisis we are causing with global warming.

While the movie should rightfully concern its watchers, it’s not intended as a fluff piece to scare the public and do nothing (like many evening news broadcasts these days). It’s a call to action backed by hard science with recommended steps to a solution. It’s time to end the debate over whether there is such a thing as global warming, and whether the human race has caused it. Yes, it exists, and yes, we’ve caused it. Peer reviewed science has proven this beyond a doubt. A child could grasp the correlations and causations from the science-based graphs in the movie. It’s time now to ask what you’re going to do about it.
On a related note, one thing that resonated with me was how a sampling of peer-reviewed scientific studies on global warming agreed 100% that global warming was real and man-made. But a survey of popular media stories on the topic found roughly half raised doubts about the issue’s existence or cause. By far the most astounding creation of modern man which distinguishes our elevated, sentient minds from those of animals is the scientific process including the scientific method and peer review. These are meta-concepts which transcend all human discoveries and thinking and are timeless. A million years from now a society which can create galaxies at a whim would have respect for the built in authentication, logic, and constant analysis of our scientific process. The fact our society does not hold such works in higher regard is abysmal.
Back to the main point, find out what you can do to fight global warming and reduce carbon dioxide output at the movie’s web site, ClimateCrisis.Net. Do things like:

1. Raise your thermostat a degree (and if you don’t have one with exact temperatures and timers on it, by all means get one, it will save not only the environment but your bill)
2. Use CFL bulbs in your house (a few dollars per bulb but they outlast regular bulbs and save a ton of electricity, again helping both the environment and your wallet in the long run)
3. Recycle. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Ask people who don’t why they don’t. Ask businesses that don’t why they don’t.