Photo: Courtesy of the office of Al Gore
You have to believe in people power. When folks of different backgrounds work toward the same vision, anything is possible. Until recently, that dynamic had been at the heart of our country's success. We need to reestablish the integrity of how we talk with one another—because that's how we achieve the incredible.
Hope is motivating. And its absence can be devastating. In climate terms, despair is just another form of denial. Hope, however, really is justified—by things like sustainable agriculture and the cost reduction in solar and wind electricity. If there is even a glimmer of hope, you must move toward that light.
Failure shouldn't be feared. If you have a choice to make, and one of the options seems best but also carries some risk or fear, my life has taught me you should press forward with what feels right.
Nothing beats time with my grandkids. That's a guarantee. They love to visit my houseboat near my farm in Tennessee, where they can swim and water-ski and wakeboard. In a relatively small space like that, people don't go off into their own corners. Instead, there's charades and cards and laughing.
We can solve the climate crisis. Yes, there are pseudoscientists paid to say it's fine to keep using the atmosphere as an open sewer, but even more people now know that those folks are part of a lavishly funded effort to deceive the public. Plus, it's hard to compete with what Mother Nature has to say.
From the August 2017 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
