Qualicum Beach’s Civic Centre recently to view the movie’s sequel and participate in an interactive panel discussion. Hosted by the Qualicum Beach Environment Committee, local ecologists and environmental advocates were on hand, among them Andrea Reimer, the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, who had just returned from a week long workshop with Al Gore in Nashville, Tennessee.

“His movie had a powerful impact on me,” says Reimer. “It changed my heart around the issue. “Al Gore is not an individual who is acting. He believes very passionately in what he’s doing.” What he’s been doing as the movie and sequel aptly demonstrate, is touring relentlessly, speaking to anyone who will listen about the looming crisis that is global warming.

Though there are significant and frightening new developments — among them a marked increase in glacial earthquakes and the disquieting evidence that methane being released from thawing permafrost will markedly raise the levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere — there is also reason for hope.

"There’s a growing movement in countries around the world to adopt a different posture on this issue,” Gore says in his update. It is that swell of public consensus around the issue of climate change that Reimer and other activists hope to tap into, in the pursuit of real and lasting changes in our collective behaviour.

“The focus of this meeting is on creating action in Oceanside,” she said. “Ninety-four per cent of Canadians believe [global warming] is happening ... We all can represent an ecological landslide on this issue.”

While many ideas surfaced during the discussion that followed the movie — including the implementation of carbon taxes on business and a requirement for new buildings to be energy efficient — many panelists, clearly shaken by the daunting task of how to move forward and mitigate the earth’s warming, focused on what can be done to change old ways of thinking.

In response to a question posed by QualicumBeach’s Mayor Teunis Westbroek about what can be done to put pressure on irresponsible companies, biologist Ron Buechert said, “People are crippled by their culture and internal shame. “I think we need to look at forms of non-violent communication, without shame, blame, judgement or punishment.”

Most agreed that home heating and personal transportation are two of the big drivers behind the current warming trends. Hydrologist Trevor Wicks gave a telling illustration: “Climate changed considerably in the three days without air traffic after 9/11,” he said.

“Clearly there is a disconnect between the technical science and the grassroots,” says Scott Tanner of the Qualicum Beach Environment Committee. “I’m sure 100 per cent of the people there heard something for the very first time that they were unaware of.”

reporter@pqbnews.com

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