Views from the Aerie
Entry Number One

Al Gore on “Charlie Rose” Wednesday, November 4, 2009 was nothing short of magnificent.

He looks terrific. He’s lost a lot of weight. He is impeccably dressed and groomed. I’m sure the TV makeup helps.

He has complete command of himself and a huge volume of facts. He has translated complex science and stats into memorable images and easily digestible comparisons. For example:

• 90 million tons of global warming gases are released into the atmosphere every day.

• Enough sunlight falls on the Earth daily to provide the entire world’s electricity needs for a year.

• Gasoline from Canadian tar sands oil would give a Prius the carbon footprint of a Hummer.

He anticipates questions. He knows what the question is about half way into its expression and has a comprehensive answer on the tip of his tongue.

He is a finely tuned presenter. He expresses himself extremely well. He has the presence of mind to adjust his manner and delivery according to the venue. He is not so single-minded as to miss irony and humor. He is self-aware and in complete control. He knows to wait to wipe his upper lip until the interviewer begins a long question and the shot angle changes from facing him to facing the interviewer.

He is deeply passionate and thoroughly committed, yet realistic about politics, vested economic interests, and the weight and consequences of ignorance.

He mentions his new book title several times and cites examples from it.

He cajoles, he praises, he persuades, he warns, and he condemns but in a gentle, patient, inoffensive way.

His overarching point is that climate change is a moral rather than political issue. How will future generations view ours for our action or inaction regarding the most existential crisis global society has ever faced?

Charlie knows he is outclassed. Gore is an unremitting major leaguer. Charlie sputters a few times and is compelled to interrupt now and then to confirm his intelligence and knowledge, but he’s inoffensive, asks good questions and draws Gore out, giving him free rein and a platform.

If the politically corrupt Supreme Court had not installed George W. Bush in the Presidency in 2001, had mandated a thorough, honest vote count and maybe a do-over in some Florida counties, Al Gore would have been president for eight years, and the world would be a different and much better place.

The white type on the mermaid says "Home is where the waves are."

It is entirely fitting that on the final morning of the blogger's nearly five-month tour of North America, this totally cherry '55 Chevy was parked beside his white steed at his motel in Needles, California.

Route 78 through Glamis, Imperial County, California. Well in excess of 100 degrees on this enormous beach in search of an ocean.

Below is the Great Basin, Nevada, series. It's a good idea to have a bunch of your favorite CDs along.

Renovation under way in McGill, Nevada.

Elvis isn't the only cultural icon to have his image consigned to velvet. McGill, Nevada.