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Written by Sabrina Deparine
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Tuesday, 15 June 2010 09:51 |
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Page views: 638 |
Amidst scattered rains last Tuesday, June 8, environmentalists, politicians and other renewable energy enthusiasts flocked to the SMX Auditorium at the SM Mall of Asia to catch former U.S. Vice President turned environmentalist and Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore in his first public speaking engagement after he, together with his wife Tipper, announced their decision to part ways.
No, Gore did not talk about this unfortunate episode in his life. He presented his infamous lecture on “An Inconvenient Truth”, tailoring it more specifically for Asian audience.
In his talk, Gore focused on how global warming and climate change have impacted Asian as well as other developing countries. In fact, he blamed global warming for alternating and extreme climate conditions like drought and more frequent and destructive typhoons like Ketsana which left millions either homeless or dead in Asian countries Philippines, India, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
Both global warming and climate change are brought about by people’s heavy dependence on coal and gasoline. To date, most people are still using vehicles fueled by gasoline and power plants are still powered by coal.
 Although Gore admitted that proposals for carbon storage systems are expensive, he recommended that people, and countries, can fight and minimize global warming in their own little way. Poor countries will benefit more from efficient environmental measures because, as Gore said in his lecture, saving the environment and fighting global warming save money. Yes, effective means of saving the earth do not cost money. For instance, making vehicle engines more efficient can save gasoline which, in turn, saves money. To further explain, Gore cited that 90% of gasoline consumption in vehicles is wasted when the engine is inefficient. The savings grows even more with the use of biofuels. Aside from the usual measures of using biofuel and renewable energy sources, Gore suggested that the best way to trap carbon emissions is through plants. He cited China as one of examples of countries who are doing this. The Chinese have been planting more trees in the past few years that any other country.
Though the damage may already be extensive, Gore is optimistic that if everyone cooperates, it is never too late to save the planet. Men can still do great things including getting rid of global warming.
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