Gore's 'Truth' spurs Mainers to action

A year and a half ago, Ray Sirois simply did not believe there was any truth to global warming.

Last winter's mild weather and a lot of Internet research started changing his mind. By the time the film "An Inconvenient Truth" came out last summer, he was eager to go. And then there was no going back.

Sirois, a Republican who voted for George Bush in 2000, traveled to Nashville, Tenn., in January at his own expense and became one of 1,000 people trained by former Vice President Al Gore, the Democrat who Bush defeated, to spread the word about climate change. "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary about global warming and Gore's sometimes lonely mission to sound the alarm, could win an Academy Award tonight. But a better measure of its success may be the impact it has had on ordinary people like Sirois and other Mainers motivated to learn more, adjust their lifestyles or push for change.

For Sirois, a 48-year-old Boy Scout leader from Harrison, it's a matter of raising global-warming awareness, one slide show at a time. "Those of us who are in the know have a big job ahead of us to get everybody else in the know," he said.

The film lays out the science of how carbon dioxide released into the air by power plants, cars and other sources is trapping heat around the Earth, threatening to shift weather patterns, melt vast ice sheets and raise sea levels. A panel of international scientists said earlier this month that global warming is unequivocal and there is at least a 90 percent probability that humans are driving it.

Sirois was among the first wave of Mainers who saw the movie in a limited number of theaters last summer. Another 3,000 to 4,000 Maine people saw the film last fall when 70 churches around the state held special pre-release showings.

The DVD release brought the film not only into living rooms but also into science classrooms and school auditoriums. Teachers around the state ordered complimentary copies of the DVD to show to middle school and high school groups, usually followed by a question-and-answer session with an expert on the science.

It's not known how many Maine teachers have shown the movie, said Tad Johnson, science specialist with the Maine Department of Education. While school showings have created public controversies in some places, such as Seattle, Johnston has not heard of any in Maine. The movie clearly had an impact on some teens. A couple of Yarmouth High School students saw the movie and began a campaign that led to the Yarmouth Town Council taking a formal stand against global warming.

Amrit "Ami" Robbins, an 18-year-old senior in Yarmouth, saw the movie in Portland's Old Port with his parents and then convinced his friend to go.

"He had the same response as I did. He knew that there was a crisis at hand and knew there was something we could do at the local level," Robbins said. "People who are in power now, they don't care necessarily because it's not going to affect them directly. It's definitely going to affect us, in our lifetimes, and our children." Robbins and his friend, Ned Jones, helped generate interest at their school, where students had a recent showing of the film. And they set out to make Yarmouth a leader in a national, town-by-town effort to reduce global warming pollution. They achieved their goal this month when the Town Council voted to sign the U.S. Mayors Agreement on Climate Change, becoming the fifth Maine community to promise to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions through energy conservation.

They're not done yet. This summer, for example, Robbins and Jones hope to give out free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs at the Yarmouth Clam Festival.

Dick Enright, a 59-year-old retired water district manager who lives in Naples, was moved by the film, too. Enright now reads as much as he can about the science and the solutions. He turned down his hot water heater, switched to fluorescent bulbs. He also turns his lights off more often and drives his car less. He also talks about global warming to anyone he can. "I've e-mailed all of those people or businesses or organizations in my orbit. I've established relationships with different politicians, whatever vehicle I can think of," he said.

Enright is convinced the movie emerged at the right time. "It's awakened the consciousness. People sensed that something was going wrong," he said.

And, he said, Gore was "exactly the right person" to present the message. "The irony of this entire thing to me is he lost the election but he picked himself up and became an advocate for a cause that has global consequences."

Not everyone sees it that way, of course. Whether because of the film's message or because of the messenger, its audience has its limits.

"Frankly, I have no desire to go see the movie," said Joseph Bruno, a former state lawmaker and chairman of the Maine Republican Party.

Bruno said he recognizes that global warming is happening and that humans are "more than likely" causing it. But, he said, Gore is politically motivated to blame Republicans for the problem.

"Al Gore politicized the issue. He lost credibility," Bruno said. "I think the movie is a political Michael Moore-type of movie that gives a certain viewpoint." The fact that some won't see the movie is partly what continues to motivate Ray Sirois.

Sirois, who respected Gore despite voting for Bush in 2000, applied to become part of The Climate Project, an organization Gore set up to build on the momentum created by the film.

An information technology manager at Wright-Pierce engineering company in Topsham, he was selected to spend 2‡ days last month with Gore and about 300 other Americans, including actress Cameron Diaz and Theodore Roosevelt IV, a Wall Street investment banker and great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Sirois is now one of a handful of Mainers trained to present their own versions of Gore's now-famous slide show, always at no cost. He is quick to point out that his presentation, like the issue of global warming, is nonpartisan. "This is a look at the science of climate change and the solutions to climate change," he said. Maine's two senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, are both examples of Republicans focusing on the issue, he points out. And, he said, some of those who have seen his presentation are conservative Republicans. Sirois and others are examples of how the movie is having impacts that transcend politics, according to Anne "Andy" Burt, environmental justice coordinator for the Maine Council of Churches.

"You've got so many people that have been motivated by this movie. I feel like there's no stopping them," Burt said.

This is helpful. Perhaps there is a way of logging where these stations are. Surrounding a weather station with asphalt must surely have some effect?

Q. How much "non-partisan" crap can be crammed into a single paragraph?

A. Sirois is now one of a handful of Mainers trained to present their own versions of Gore's now-famous slide show, always at no cost. He is quick to point out that his presentation, like the issue of global warming, is nonpartisan. "This is a look at the science of climate change and the solutions to climate change," he said. Maine's two senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, are both examples of Republicans focusing on the issue, he points out. And, he said, some of those who have seen his presentation are conservative Republicans. Sirois and others are examples of how the movie is having impacts that transcend politics, according to Anne "Andy" Burt, environmental justice coordinator for the Maine Council of Churches.

Simple energy conservation makes good sense. Where you run into problems is when the government jumps in and forces stupid programs down your throat.

We use nothing but energy saving lightbulbs, and have done so for many years. If he talks his neighbors into doing that, fine.

If he talks his neighbors into a state of algore craziness, and they vote for politicians to start making enthanol from seaweed or some such stupidity, then he's just helping to spread trouble. Maine is already an economic basket case.

"...became one of 1,000 people trained by former Vice President Al Gore..."

Learning earth science from Al Gore is like learning surgery from a witch doctor.

I wonder if there's a list of these 1000 Apostles of Algore. Like, if I want one to come to my house and do the slide show, who do I contact?

The steps he's taken are good, common-sense ones---steps we've taken in our own home.

Then you're saving yourself a little bit of money. Not trying to pass it off as if the polar bears will have more glaciers due to your actions.

Like I said to wormwood, as long as one recognizes what it is and is not deluded by kookisms, that's fine.

It's been a pet peeve of mine since Jimmy Carter with the sweater. We need to address issues seriously and with intelligence, not with self delusion.

I have relatives in Portland, Windsor and So. Thomaston. In the next year or so we'll be in Owl's Head. I'd put two in the useful idiot category, two in the upstanding self sufficient category (although one tends to be more of a centrist democrat but will generally vote the way the union wants, the other is a solid conservative) and one is a screaming lib.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.