Former Vice President Al Gore at the World Economic Forum 2023

Former Vice President Al Gore talked about climate change as a panelist at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2023.  Watch the video and share your thoughts...

You might consider argument concepts, such as evidence, credibility, reasoning, language, values...(you do not have to)...

Do Mr. Gore's comments offer reasons to be optimistic, realstic, pessimistic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-br-n9xTOc








Comments

  1. Trinity ChernoffFebruary 22, 2023 at 12:38 PM

    I think he was offering reason to be realistic. He definitely provided reasoning to look forward to the future and started out by listing things that have already happened that are positive impacts such as policy change and renewable energy, but as he continued to speak he did go over reasons why we still must remain alert to the issue. I think this was a good blend of pessimism and optimism that worked in his favor to not sound too "alarmist" but kept his audiences attention and still effectively urged people to still remain privy to the problem. I think that regardless of him listing positive things he isn't saying "oh it's done I'm excited for the future" and isn't necessarily optimistic.

    He did raise his voice a bit when he was speaking about emissions, and asked the question "when are we going to bring these emissions down" Which I think without context could be construed as a negative way to talk, however because he framed it in the way he did with highlighting good things first I think it was a good way to motivate people and to show how passionate he still is on the subject. He continues to raise his voice and quote specific sciences and list reasons as to what the symptoms of climate change is, he states "we have to act" which I feel like further drives my point that he is really doing everything he can in this portion of the speech to motivate people. For this reasons I definitely do not think he is pessimistic because while it may not be the most happy of subjects he isn't saying we should just give up all together.

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  2. Rachel BartholomeuszMarch 7, 2023 at 4:25 PM

    Al Gore definitely wants a realistic take on climate. We know there are issues that are impacting us today and we need to act. But it is not at the point where all of these problems are unfixable. I find that when people advocate for climate action there is no focus on the fact that things are fixable. There are still things we can do. We are not at the point of no return yet and there are things that can be done. If too much alarm is placed within a message that can end up driving away the people who would have taken part intially. People will not want to do anything if they think their work is futile.

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  3. Timothy TedderMarch 17, 2023 at 10:59 PM

    Former Vice President Al Gore shares many views both good and bad and from a personal point of view, I think it helps promote ethos. Climate change isn't completely unchangeable and there are things we can do about it, and Gore touches that point; however, Gore also talks about the things we are and can do that almost look to help inspire or point us in the right direction. His sense of realism helps himself connect with those who listen to the panel as we know these things too, connecting it to the audience's knowledge. His realism helps promote a call to action and emphasizes a viewpoint of, we need to do better and more. How candidly he asserts this point is both beneficial depending on the audience member, but I think it reinforces his argument.

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