Sustainability: An

Inconvenient Truth?
Julia Schmitt, Theresa Vriens, Julie Wagner

Part 1: Background information

on “Sustainability“
and the
“Kyoto Protocol”
 “Sustainability“
• resources of an ecosystem are used in a way
that does not weaken the system as a whole
• natural resources should be used considerately
 restrictions for energy and greenhouse gas
emissions
• “Sustainable development”: 1992 UN Confer-
ence on Environment and Development in Rio
de Janeiro = fostering economic growth while
preserving environment for future generations
• Sustainability in modern economy:

track financial performance of leading

sustainability-driven companies
worldwide
information about abilities in handling
economic, environmental and social
problems
 The Kyoto Protocol
• 1994: UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change
• 2005: Kyoto Protocol
 84 countries have ratified
 target: cutting down greenhouse-gas
emissions at least 5% from 1990 levels
 Australia and the USA have NOT
signed
 Text of a Letter from the President to Senators Hagel,
Helms, Craig, and Roberts

• Thank you for your letter of March 6, 2001, asking for the
Administration's views on global climate change, in
particular the Kyoto Protocol and efforts to regulate
carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. My
Administration takes the issue of global climate change
very seriously.
• As you know, I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it
exempts 80 percent of the world, including major
population centers such as China and India, from
compliance, and would cause serious harm to the U.S.
economy. The Senate's vote, 95-0, shows that there is a
clear consensus that the Kyoto Protocol is an unfair and
ineffective means of addressing global climate change
concerns.
• As you also know, I support a comprehensive
and balanced national energy policy that takes
into account the importance of improving air
quality. Consistent with this balanced approach, I
intend to work with the Congress on a
multipollutant strategy to require power plants to
reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, and mercury. Any such strategy would
include phasing in reductions over a reasonable
period of time, providing regulatory certainty, and
offering market-based incentives to help industry
meet the targets. I do not believe, however, that
the government should impose on power plants
mandatory emissions reductions for carbon
dioxide, which is not a "pollutant" under the
Clean Air Act.
Why the United States opposes the
Kyoto Protocol:
• damage to US economy
• criticism: developing countries do not have
to reduce emissions = China and India

What is your opinion on America’s

opposition to the Kyoto Protocol?
Part 2: An Inconvenient Truth
Basic information

• a documentary directed by Davis

Guggenheim
• a presentation by Al Gore
• release date USA: May 24, 2006
• the fourth-highest grossing documentary
 An Inconvenient Truth
Facts and future predictions

• Global warming is real.

• It is caused by human activity.
• Mankind and its governments must begin
immediate action to halt and reverse it.
• If we do nothing, we will reach a point when it
is too late for any action.
 An Inconvenient Truth
“Leitmotif”

“We must act now because it is

happening now !”

→ a moral issue
 An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore’s strategy

• directly appealing to emotions/conscience

• dramatizing, underlining the urgency
• emphasizing the “we”
• encouraging, trying to unite the Americans
and even the world population
 An Inconvenient Truth
Reviews

• attacks on the Bush administration

→ science fraud; Kyoto
• Al Gore as the leading figure
• pedagogically effective
• flaws / errors in scientific information
• non-cinematic: a “concert film” ?
 An Inconvenient Truth
Reviews

• appealing to emotions
• rhetoric of “bad news”
• personalizing
 Al Gore
• controversial
but charming

• more than a former

vice-president and
former next president

 His efforts in climate change awareness

since late 1970s
 Al Gore –
The Right Messenger?
• Considering the scenes you have
just seen, how do you evaluate
Gore’s role in the movie...
– ...as as politician? (e.g. coverage of
the 2000 election; direct attacks on
Bush)
– ...as a person? (e.g. focus on his
private life; overall impression:
authoritative? convincing?)