"What we're doing together isn't about Al Gore or George Bush.
Or in my country (Canada) it's not about Stephen Harper or Stephan Dion.
Mr. Gore happens to be the self-appointed spokesperson at the present time for a 'parade' on global warming.
Mr. Bush seems to be the elected spokesperson at the present time for those who have different views.
Several years ago I used to use one of Mr. Gore's quotes in speeches I was asked to give. He apparently was asked by someone interested in some cause about how to get political support. What he replied essentially is that 'a politician is someone who sees a parade forming, and decides to lead it'.
I think this is wisdom. Most politicians don't form parades. They see a parade forming, and run to get in front of it.
This parade is bigger than Al Gore, or George Bush, or Stephen Harper or Stephan Dion or Tony Blair or Vladimir Putin or......
This parade is about how we each can live more sustainably and do so with a high quality of life, and lots of happiness. Not living in a cave and not foraging for berries, because that's 'not on'.
I suggest that when we make someone a hero, there will always be someone ready to cut the hero down to size.
So...it's not about Al Gore. Or about Dick Cheney. Or any of those guys.
It's about us.
We're the ones who form the parades in our own communities.
We're the ones who understand that to care for the earth isn't a Liberal or a Conservative or a Republican or a Democrat idea. It's what we all need to do because we 'ARE' of the earth. We're made of stardust; we breathe air; we excrete CO2 and some other stuff; we drink water. We're one of the millions of species that live on this thin layer of Biosphere on this piece of rock hurtling through space.
What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves."
--Norm Ruttan, iwastenot.com
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