by Al Gore
As an environmental consultant and adjunct instructor in Environmental Biology, I was thrilled when my husband brought home the new Al Gore book, An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth to Power from the library.
“It was on the new book shelf and I thought you might be interested,” he said.
I certainly was, but busy in the middle of the semester and the thick, large size book appeared too much for me to handle just then. I envisioned double columns with fine print and many charts discussing the technicalities of how the climate functions, and how our incessant need for energy is causing it to change—quite dramatically at times.
After a few days, I picked up An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth to Power on my way to the bathroom and had a hard time putting it down. I went through the first twenty-five pages in less than a half hour with large-size print and many photos, interspersed with individual stories. 
After years of teaching about the damage we are doing to the environment, especially us Americans, I expected more doom and gloom—especially with the current political climate.
I was shocked to see on page 11 in a bold statement as the only wording on the page along with a tulip bulb. “I have never been more hopeful.” This was after the Paris Climate Agreement in December of 2015, where 175 parties signed the agreement, including the U.S. (under President Obama, now President Trump threatens to pull out).
How could this be? Published in July, Gore references events as late as March 2017. I read this book after three devastating category 4 hurricanes hit the U.S. within a few weeks of each other. Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Houston, Irma that impacted all of Florida to some degree, and Maria, that almost obliterated Puerto Rico.
Some of you may remember the Al Gore movie, An Inconvenient Truth, which came out in 2006. I show the first twenty minutes of this film to my classes every semester and the story is very much gloom and doom and we have to change things NOW.
So how can Al Gore write, “I have never been more hopeful?”
On page 25, under a photo of a field of solar panels,
The Sustainability Revolution combines the scale of the Industrial Revolution with the speed of the Digital Revolution.
Much of the world is embracing climate change and the need to stop it with renewable energy. But everyone needs to understand the importance of climate change and our role in it. We need to get government officials to listen to our concerns—then action will occur.
Ironically, I think President Trump’s spouting about getting America out of the Paris Agreement may have the opposite effect by gathering more attention to the subject and motivating people to change.
An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth To Power is not just a book about the need to stop climate change, but a HOW TO BOOK
- What individuals can do to fight back to reduce climate change.
- How to become involved—not just in a general statement, but what to say to your congressmen, to local leaders, to the newspapers, to social media.
- It provides sample templates of letters and tweets.
- How to speak up and have your voice heard; whether it is to the public or social media.
- To encourage your place of employment to become more sustainable
- To find a career in renewable energy.
- To run for public office.
- How to cut your energy usage. Look for ways to save energy and money in your home from your use of energy to what you eat for dinner.
The latter part of the book focusses on encouraging people to become Climate Reality Leaders, which I hope to do once training occurs near the Chicago area.
Visit https://www.climaterealityproject.org/ to learn more and be part of the 24 days of giving to double your support. I did.
I found the book, An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth to Power more impressive than the movie, but the trailer is very enticing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huX1bmfdkyA . The book inspired me, while the movie involved mostly Al Gore and his role in the Paris Agreement.
This post represents my opinion of the book An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth to Power and was not sponsored by any entity.
