The only thing spiritual about this is how the left has turned it into a
religion...

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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050607.01B.gore.35aecd4.html

Gore sees 'spiritual crisis' in warming

Web Posted: 05/05/2007 11:12 PM CDT

Anton Caputo
Express-News

Playing equal parts visionary, cheerleader and comedian, Al Gore brought his
message of how to fight global warming to a capacity crowd of receptive
architects Saturday in San Antonio.
The former vice president referred continually to a "new way of
thinking" that
is emerging in the country and offered hope in the battle to control the
effects global warming will have on the planet.


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"It's in part a spiritual crisis," Gore told the crowd in the
Convention Center
at the American Institute of Architects national convention. "It's a crisis of
our own self-definition  who we are. Are we creatures destined to destroy our
own species? Clearly not."

Global warming is the heating of the Earth caused in large part by man-made
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Most scientists agree
such warming and the changing climate that comes with it will likely cause a
number of problems and crises this century, particularly in developing
countries that have few resources to combat the effects.

These looming problems involve flooding and severe coastal erosion from rising
seas and increasingly severe storms, more common and prolonged drought, and
changes in the growing seasons and migration patterns of many wild species.

Gore told the architects they are in a unique position to help solve the
problems by continuing to push building standards and methods that conserve
energy and water. The message was in line with the focus of this year's AIA
conference, titled "Growing Beyond Green."

Gore, seen by some as a polarizing political figure, has long championed
environmental issues. In 1992, he wrote the best-selling book "Earth in the
Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit," and he won an Academy Award this year
for his film "An Inconvenient Truth."

His speech was often interrupted by thunderous applause and explosive laughter
from the several thousand architects who packed the Convention Center's
ballroom.

"I used to be the next president of the United States," Gore
deadpanned to the
laughing crowd as he introduced himself. "I don't find that funny. Put yourself
in my position. I flew in Air Force Two for eight years. Now I have to take off
my shoes to get on an airplane."

In between jokes, Gore called for a change in thinking about climate issues and
the pollution that causes global warming. He was especially critical of the
business community's current focus on quarterly profits at the expense of
sustainable business practices.

"That's functionally insane, but that is the dominant reality in the world
today," Gore said.

This struck a chord with the architects at Saturday's event because many
environmentally friendly building practices cost more upfront, which makes them
a harder sell, but end up costing much less over the lifetime of a building.

Gore's speech came on the heels of a report issued by the United Nations'
International Panel on Climate Change that concluded cutting greenhouse gas
emissions enough to eliminate the worst impacts of climate change is
affordable. The international group put the cost at 0.12 percent of economic
growth each year.Among the solutions Gore touted Saturday were a cap-and-trade
system for carbon dioxide. This is the method of controlling greenhouse gases
pushed by the international Kyoto Protocol, an international effort to fight
global warming that the United Sates chose not to join in 2001.

Gore also called for a business pollution tax that would be used to offset or
eliminate employment and payroll taxes and for the creation of a federal
mortgage institution that would help offset the cost of building
environmentally friendly homes.

On the request of Gore's media handlers, Saturday's event was closed to the
media. Because of the importance of the issue and Gore's status, the San
Antonio Express-News chose to cover it anyway.

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