Dear Al,
You and I just met last weekend. I had traveled far in my Prius for the chance to have a few words with you, my hero. When my turn came, I made sure to let you know how grateful I was, for the presentation you gave three years ago, at Stanford, on “An Inconvenient Truth”. I told you I had come out of the event transformed and determined to help somehow with the global warming crisis. You seemed flattered, and you moved on to the person next in line, a funny guy named Dana Carvey.
You were supposed to give a political speech, but you could not stay away from your favorite topic. And you spoke at length about the need to bring about a change in consciousness, regarding the moral challenge of our time, our role in the destruction of the future of our planet. I loved listening to you, and so did the rest of the audience. You delivered your message with feeling and conviction, and we readily joined you in your outrage, down to your last word. “Damit!”
That’s all good. And that’s not enough. You see, what I took away from this time with you, was not the thrill of meeting you, nor the heartfelt speech you gave, nor the majestic scenery surrounding us. No, instead I will remember the sight of all the cars parked along the road, and filling every free parking space on the compound. Call me a party spoiler, but it bothered me that you seemed oblivious to the lack of carpooling for the event. When I brought up the subject with my neighbors at the lunch table, all expressed interest. I know this is a small detail, and you are dealing with the big picture.
I just want to raise this question with you. What if the big picture was all in the details? How different would have your message been, if you had sent a request ahead of time to all the guests, asking them to carpool? You could have carpooled yourself, rather than just driving with your daughter in her Prius.
Al, I hope you will consider. As the world leader on climate, you bear a huge responsibility. Please do not misuse it, and realize the power of your actions, not just your words.
Respectfully,
Marguerite Manteau-Rao
La Marguerite 
Right on Sister! This is sooooooo important.
Marguerite, you make a point on which I would like to get back :
What if the big picture was all in the details?
As a matter of fact, this kind of things remind me of a say in our native language : Les petits cours d’eau font les grandes rivières, or as you say in English, small things add up.
I particularly love Impressionism. It’s the same, many small brushes make a beautiful painting.
This is why all our daily acts adds up to make the mess we live in. Changing them bit by bit will enable us to change the whole picture.
I can’t believe you met Al Gore personally, even if it was for a small moment. How lucky you are !
Keep up the good work Marguerite, and enjoy your day ! 🙂
Is this truly what you took away from this event..?
It sounds like this was an event for people who are fairly dedicated to sustainable living, so where does personal responsibility come in? I was reading this and in a bit of disbelief that you were so crestfallen at this.
This is all so progressive, and there is much to pay attention to in the details, but there will always be more details to learn and apply. I hope you didn’t let this completely disrupt your enjoyment of the event!
next time an event is advertised, each recipient of an invitation should contact the people responsible for transportation to ensure ride sharing.
links to local and extended travel accommodations are usually available for the willing parties.
if not, carry a poster or place flyers asking for better arrangements.
Thanks all, for chiming in. What keeps hitting me is where we are all collectively. Further along, definitely, than three years ago. And we should not forget that! But still with a long way to go. From intellectual understanding, to being moved in our hearts, and then . . . to changing behaviors.
any way to leave messages for you which are not related to a particular post, lamarguerite?
i say that because i find your blog is one of the few that is working at grass-roots level and talks about lifestyle changes, not just renewable energy blogs focusing on what corporations are doing in this field.
Found a bunch of blogs that I wanted to share with you…because your blog and work is what I was reminded of first when I saw these…
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/
http://gengreenlife.com/
http://www.sustainlane.com/
http://ecoflip.typepad.com/
http://www.ecobunga.com/
http://www.idealbite.com/
http://www.thedailygreen.com/
http://www.ecofabulous.com/
and yeah there’s green gossip too! 🙂
http://www.ecorazzi.com/
+ Earth2Tech had a list of some real good “green social networking” blogs, some of which you may be already aware. Instead of listing them all here.. here’s a link to Earth2Tech’s post about in earlier in April.
http://earth2tech.com/2008/04/11/10-green-social-networks-you-should-know
I am strolling through the internet so much (esp. lately!) but even I have seen just 1 (Celsias) of the 10 blogs listed at that site. Clearly, there is no dearth of information and people interested in green. And yet…like you… I am so discouraged by the lack of awareness amongst the general public to adopt green – not as a fringe cool thing to be/do but as a lifestyle choice that comes naturally.
Ok…time to now go watch the Green Tube.
http://gogreentube.com/
(No.. I don’t get TV. So, will have to wait for videos online tomorrow to see what sarah’s thinking (and saying) tonight 🙂
Sanjeev,
If you want to contact me, shoot me an email:
guerite57 at aol point com
i didn’t see this because i never made it over to the parking spots but i know my car, your car, my sister’s car, & my parents’ car were all hybrids of some kind, and i know i saw at least 3 other priuses so at least that’s kind of a start, of something…oh yeah and even my dad, the biggest car snob there is, is making the switch from gas guzzling mercedes suv to prius…i think he was sick of being razzed by us all the time and of everyone refusing to ride in his car!
ps: i’m totally green dropping in the halloween section at long’s. especially in the slutty witch and slutty nurse and slutty high school musical costumes!
I just found your blog, and I’m starting to get caught up in your post, so I will have to comment again.
We posted 2 blogs recently on our website http://www.3clothingco.com/site/organic_stigma and http://www.3clothingco.com/site/shade_of_green
Both of those post hit on what you have posted here. I agree, that it is probably disheartening to see a lack of car pooling at this type of event. I believe in details also, only from a different perspective. I see details as opportunities to create exponential change. Instead of convincing a few thousand people to car pool, maybe it’s better to convince several million to change to an energy efficient light bulb. The light bulb change may have a smaller initial impact, but with the power of numbers it’s impact is expanded. In fact it’s easier to sustain this change. How long are people willing to car pool? You only have to change a light bulb when it dies.
This is a simplified explanation of what I think, but I feel it’s more important to concentrate on the small things that we can change on a daily basis that will probably have the most impact.
I just found your blog, and I’m starting to get caught up in your post, so I will have to comment again.
We posted 2 blogs recently on our website http://www.3clothingco.com
Both of those post hit on what you have posted here. I agree, that it is probably disheartening to see a lack of car pooling at this type of event. I believe in details also, only from a different perspective. I see details as opportunities to create exponential change. Instead of convincing a few thousand people to car pool, maybe it’s better to convince several million to change to an energy efficient light bulb. The light bulb change may have a smaller initial impact, but with the power of numbers it’s impact is expanded. In fact it’s easier to sustain this change. How long are people willing to car pool? You only have to change a light bulb when it dies.
This is a simplified explanation of what I think, but I feel it’s more important to concentrate on the small things that we can change on a daily basis that will probably have the most impact.