| Advertisement |
Former vice president and presidential candidate, Al Gore, took part in an open Q&A session on Reddit Thursday to promote his live broadcast, "24 Hours of Reality." He was only around for half an hour, but managed to squeeze in a few words about climate change deniers, web freedom and his former roommate, "Lincoln's" Tommy Lee Jones. [Visit Reddit.com to read the whole thread.]
Advertisement
-----
From Oogity_Boogity_Boo: What advice would you give President Obama to accomplish his objectives during his second term? What advice would you give to us, the public, in dealing with the harsh realities of the partisan divide?
Gore: Stand on principle. As Mark Twain said, "Do the right thing! You'll ratify your friends and astonish your enemies." Start with climate.
From alllie: Some years ago you were asked if you thought the 2000 election was stolen. You said: "There may come a time when I speak on that, but it's not now; I need more time to frame it carefully if I do. In our system, there's no intermediate step between a definitive Supreme Court decision and violent revolution." Are you ready to address that question now?
Gore: I haven't ruled out addressing that at some point in my life, but no, I don't believe now is the time to do it, if that time ever comes.
From antiscian: For people that may be skeptical about global warming, what is the one undeniable scientific fact that you feel backs it up the most effectively?
Gore: There are at least 15 deeply researched separate lines of evidence that all confirm man-made global warming. They are all consistent, each with the others. Every National Academy of Science on the planet agrees with the consensus. The Academies describe the evidence as "indisputable". Every professional scientific society in every field related to climate science and earth science also agree. And 97-98% of climate scientists worldwide most actively publishing also agree. Animals and plants also agree -- in that they are moving their ranges by latitude and altitude to find climate niches similar to the ones in which they evolved. Even if you leave climate science completely out of it and just measure extreme temperatures, the statistical record of global temperatures shows that three-standard deviation events have increased from 0.25% of the time (from 1951-1980) to 10% of the time now. There is as strong a consensus as you will find in science, with the possible exception of the existence of gravity.
From skepticofskeptics: What do you think that our government can do to help improve the infrastructure of the internet so that these hopefully revolutionary changes can occur sooner rather than later?
Gore: Our national information infrastructure is no longer competitive. We need to invest in more bandwidth, easier access, and the rapid transition of our democratic institutions to the internet. And we need to protect the freedom of the internet against corporate control by legacy businesses that see it as a threat, and against the obscene invasions of privacy and threats to security from government and corporations alike. Please think about this: almost everytime there has been a choice between privacy/security on the one hand and convenience on the other, the mass of folks have chosen convenience. I for one believe the "stalker economy" on the internet is undemocratic and anti- American. Are folks at the gag point on this yet? Thanks, btw, to the Reddit community for fighting off Sopa and PIPA. Keep your powder dry; more big struggles ahead.
From pagemansmith: I understand you and Tommy Lee Jones were roomates in college. What was he like?
Gore: He is, first of all, a terrific friend. He really is an amazing guy. As good at directing as at acting, btw. Check out his performance in Spielberg's Lincoln. Incredible! I hope he gets another Oscar for it. I'm biased, but I sure think he deserves it.
From wellvis: You're only one Tony award away from an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). What plans do you have in that regard?
Gore: I've got my eyes on the Heisman.
Redditor MisterMan92 recalled a time when, as a seven year old, he had a phone conversation with the then-vice president, who called him "Mr. Man." [Adorable photo included.]
MisterMan92: To this day, whenever anyone tries to talk down or make fun of Al Gore, I tell them my story and they are blown away. So once again, Mr. Gore, thank you. You are the man.
Gore: Your comment means as much to me as our conversation years ago meant to you. BTW, how are you, Mr. Man?
MisterMan92: Doing great now! I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to thank you for what you did now that I am older. My parents are going to flip when I show them this. Oh and just so you know, I cried when Bush won the election.
