An Inconvenient Truth

With another US presidential election on its way, the man who most infamously lost it to George W Bush is back on the scene with an Oscar-winning documentary.

It not only highlights Al Gore8217;s campaign against global warming, it also serves to distinguish him, clearly and completely, from the crop of politicians around him.

On both counts, it is indeed an award-winning effort. In the past one year, the consequences of global warming have been hitting us pretty regularly, what with temperatures going crazy and rains battering cities. By the use of simple charts and animation, and some previously unreleased scientific data, Gore clearly illustrates the co-relation between rising carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere and rising temperatures globally.

He shows you the effects this is having across the world, from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the tornadoes in Japan to the Mumbai flooding and Andhra heat deaths. From trees in the tundra and the hatching season of chicks to the surprising deaths of polar bears by drowning they are swimming longer distances without finding ice shelves.

Gore also demonstrates how much more is in store if nothing is done to correct the situation, as well as how each one of us can visibly make a difference contrary to what we think. He shows, for example, how we managed to stem the ozone layer depletion by cracking down on CFCs.

Gore dispels another misconception, that what is environmentally sound isn8217;t economically so. He shows figures to prove that automobile companies like Honda and Toyota which make more fuel-efficient cars do better than Ford and GM, and American companies are fast losing the race.

In all this, the former US vice-president shows he is passionate about his cause. He is witty without being mean, charming and straight.

At the same time, this documentary is about Gore. It mocks Bush; refers to the controversial 2000 election in which Gore got more popular votes and still lost on account of something called chads; recounts Gore8217;s days spent on the family farm and his sister8217;s death from lung cancer; talks about his son8217;s near-fatal accident that changed the course of his life he soon wrote the bestseller Earth in the Balance; says war against terrorism isn8217;t the only war America needs to win; points out that the US also needs to take the lead in fighting global warming as it is contributing the most to it; underlines that 8220;what is needed is political will, which is a renewable resource8221;; and makes no reference to the Clintons.

Al Gore has been trying to distance himself from the Clintons he served under the Bill Clinton administration for two terms as vice-president since his 2000 presidential bid. And this time Hillary Clinton is in the race.

Some are seeing An Inconvenient Truth as Gore8217;s declaration that he8217;s back to run for president, now that Bush is no longer in contention. Gore himself has kept mum at the speculation, even making a joke of it in his Oscar acceptance speech. But, like Gore says, he has the will, and that8217;s a renewable resource.