Laurie David is a producer turned global warming activist who has
brought us An Inconvenient Truth, the HBO documentary Too Hot Not to Handle, and the comedy special Earth to America. She is also the
founder of the Virtual March on global warming. (The march is just shy of 500,000 people. Help it get there by joining here!) Ms. David was in Madison yesterday, and we had a chance to talk to her.
David Zaks: How close are we, and what is needed to reach a tipping point where the population is educated on global warming and taking action to reduce its effects?
Laurie David: I think we are getting really close. With every severe weather event that happens in this country we are going to get that much closer. Once people get educated, which I think the films are helping to do, people will connect the dots more quickly. I think Hurricane Katrina was a seminal moment in this fight. People very quickly got what global warming meant, and unfortunately the weather is going to keep cooperating. I think we are getting there. I hope we are getting there. We have to get there.
DZ: Do you feel that the media, with everything that is happening in Hollywood is preaching to the choir, or do you think they are reaching people who would not traditionally be interested in these types of issues?
LD: I think it is becoming clearer and clearer that this isn't about politics. This is a moral issue. This is personal. When we feel the effects of global warming, theyï¿œre not picking which state to go to. When the electricity goes out, and we are in a horrible heat wave, it is not going to know the difference between whether you voted Republican or Democrat. I donï¿œt even believe that it is an environmental issue anymore. This is a national security issue, a public health issue, and an economic issue that affects everyone. Part of what I am trying to do is to get people to realize that. If it becomes the purveyance of just one group of people, or just one thing, we are in big trouble. If you look at what is happening out there with John McCain being a big voice, and now Schwarzenegger being a big voice -those are two pretty prominent Republicans- and the evangelical community is really starting to step-up and address global warming issues, it gives me hope that we are getting to where we need to get to.
Chad Monfreda: Your movie is one of the things helping the choir to get bigger. What do you think the priorities should be for those of us who are already in the choir?
LD: One priority has to be public outreach because people have been so grossly misinformed that it is critical that we change that. If you think about the money spent by Exxon-Mobil to propagate misinformation, we still have a lot of work to do. One question that I get everywhere is, "What do you say when people say it is a natural cycle?" Well, it is not a natural cycle. This is science-based, but we all have to work on continuing to reach out to people so that they learn and understand that.
DZ: We hear that you have a new book out that focuses on personal actions that people can take to reduce their carbon footprints. What do you see as a way to bridge those personal actions to the globally systemic changes that are needed to become a more sustainable society?
LD: I don't believe global action will happen without personal action. I believe that it starts with one person. Government isn't going to change until people demand it, and how do you get people demanding it?
DZ: How do you get those people together?
LD: The way that I know how to do it is through movies, books, comedy, and popular culture magazines. Trying to the message out there in a way they haven't heard or seen it before. New messengers to try to break the clichés of what people perceive what an environmentalist looks like or sounds like and to try to reach as many people as possible. Al Gore tried to build the movement one person at a time going to cities and doing the slide show. Now we have taken that and have made a movie out of it so millions of people can see it. We are trying to build a movement, the virtual march. A half-million people have already signed on.
CM: What's the virtual march about?
LD: It's at stopglobalwarming.org. You sign up and you get counted as somebody who is marching. We communicate with you once or twice a month and tell you how global warming is affecting you or some great solution. Hopefully you send that to four people and then those four people send it to four people...and movements get built. This problem requires a giant movement in this country. I am just one person trying to get the word out and get people organized.
CM: I hear that there are really positive signs in other countries, like Sweden and Norway.
LD: They have made it mandatory viewing for all their schools to see An Inconvenient Truth, and that is great! The rest of the world is doing a hell of a lot more than we are. They are much more engaged on this issue than we are, and I find that personally humiliating. We are the biggest cause of this problem, and we are doing the least about it. How do you inspire other people to act if you show no leadership? We have to show leadership here, and if the federal government won't do it, then we will have to embarrass them into doing it. So our cities are doing things, our mayors are doing things, our governors are things, and that is good. Companies do things when the customer demands it, so we need that action also. That is why I talk about toilet paper. It has to be unacceptable that we cut virgin trees down to make toilet paper and paper towels. Why are we still doing that? It is insane to me.
CM: It isn't for the lack of business opportunities.
LD: This is the greatest business opportunity, and we need to make it happen as fast as possible.
