I'm a gas-guzzling, air-conditioner-running, incandescent-light-burning American consumer who occasionally feels marginally better when I recycle. Not to overstate the case, but I always agree to plastic bags at the grocery store checkout and I often use too much paper and I haven't planted a single tree since buying my first home. Still, I haven't personally burned down any rain forests or drowned any polar bears, so I've long believed I am doing no evil.
Of course, I was aware of the so-called "global warming" issue. I saw Al Gore's cinematic treatise on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," and found it alarming. I listened to all the evidence, including those who said Gore was exaggerating (or even lying), and opinion seemed to divide along political lines. Compelling as Gore's case was, perhaps there was another side of the story, even if Gore was backed by 99% of the scientific community and those who argued against him seemed to have faith-based skepticism. I always liked skeptics.
Then, along came a series of (apparent) public service announcements by an organization called "We." The television campaign offered thirty-second announcements featuring traditional political adversaries such as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich urging U.S. leaders to take immediate action on climate change.
"We don't always see eye to eye, do we, Newt?" Pelosi asks.
"No," Gingrich replies. "But we do agree our country must take action to address climate change."
What? They agree on something?
And speaking of faith-based, another ad offered two ministers, Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, who presented a contrast equally distinct. Each of these "Unlikely Alliances" spots are part of Gore's $300 million "We" advertising and online activism campaign designed to get the American public to pressure their elected officials to address global warming.
Not only that, but this is not even a public service announcement. It is a public relations campaign utilizing paid advertising. The non-profit Alliance for Climate Protection is funding it with private donations, including Gore's Nobel Peace Prize winnings and his earnings from "An Inconvenient Truth."
Other components of the campaign are high-impact full-page ads in key newspapers including The New York Times. The ads use text with a lot of white space highlighted with the green logo. They make the points that "You and me (we) must work together for solutions… (starting with putting) pressure our political and business leaders to make and maintain critical changes." The video versions of the ads are graphically effective in appealing to self-interests of most of us (especially Millennials) by turning the "m" in "me" upside down to form the "w" in "we."
So, as a result of this campaign, I signed the online petition. More than that, I've purchased my first twisted energy-efficient light bulb, am contemplating buying a Hybrid Prius and decided against my scheduled Polar bear hunting trip with Dick Cheney.
