Here is a nice piece by Bill McKibben, discussing Al Gore's new book on what we can do about climate change.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/mckibben
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Bridges to Autonomy; Paradoxes in Teaching and Learning, by Matt Silliman and David Kenneth Johnson (click on book for more information)
Plato's Dialogues
Welcome to Matt Silliman's Skeptiblog
Though all posts are open to all visitors, this semester's posts will mostly pertain to my Plato's Dialogues course.
my most recent book
Bridges to Autonomy; Paradoxes in Teaching and Learning, by Matt Silliman and David Kenneth Johnson (click on book for more information)
3 comments:
I missed the instructions on how to protest and lobby while growing up. I wasn't taught how in school and my parents never mentioned it. I would have loved to go to the 350.org rally in Albany if I had heard about it a 2pm after it made headlines, but then who would I go with? Duh, there are hundreds of environmentally concern students within a few miles of me.
How can we reach out to our governing systems and tell them we won't accept their choices, effectively? Isn't a government supposed to fear it's people?
Political and social activists should shove all of the suited politicians out of their offices to hear and act for the people they represent.
Al Gore's issue of climate change, until now, has been a white noise in the ears of our leaders. It would be nice to have an activist political/society class to learn how to write letters to the hands of our representatives or how to organize protests or rallies.
Amanda LEtoile
The site in which McKibben helped create, 350.org, is definitely worth a visit. I had never heard of it until now, but I'm glad I did. His one criticism of Gore's book, however, seemed unnecessary. While he credits Gore for reasonably answering a few criticisms from "An Inconvenient Truth," he also criticises him for not explaining how we can build the political will. I personally don't think that is Gore's responsibility; after all, that wasn't exactly the purpose of his book.
McKibben is pretty gentle in his criticism of Gore, and even acknowledges that it seems a tad peevish to fault Gore for not doing everything that needs doing, after doing so much. So qualified, however, the criticism is fair. Gore's aim is actually to solve the problem, after all -- it's not just an intellectual exercise -- so if there's a crucial piece of the puzzle that gets less attention than it demands, that's entirely worth pointing out.
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