Al Gore wants you to start taking global warming seriously. And in a 2006 speech, he offered specific tips on how to do so.
You Will Need
• An eco-friendly home
• Eco-friendly products
• A hybrid car
• A willingness to engage in political activism
• A commitment to reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible
Step 1: Cut energy at home
• Reduce emissions created by your home with better design, more insulation, and green electricity. Try installing solar panels on your roof.
Step 2: Reduce car emissions
• Reduce your car emissions by buying a hybrid car, taking trains instead of planes for regional trips, carpooling, biking, and walking.
Tip
• Urge government officials to pass laws, create policies, and enter treaties that recognize climate change as a “planetary emergency.”
Step 3: Buy efficient appliances
• Buy energy-efficient appliances and products. Look for the U.S. government-sponsored Energy Star logo.
Step 4: Calculate your carbon footprint
• Calculate your impact on the environment with a carbon-footprint calculator. You can find them on such sites as the one for the film An Inconvenient Truth, www.climatecrisis.net.
Step 5: Live a carbon neutral life
• Live a carbon neutral life by reducing the energy you use and offsetting the rest with positive actions such as planting trees.
Step 6: Be green at work
• Be green at work by bringing your lunch in reusable containers, using a ceramic mug, and printing documents only when necessary. If you own a business, make it green by using recycled paper and energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs.
Step 7: Be a green investor
• Put your money where your mouth is by only investing in green companies.
Tip
• Write to businesses that are not eco-friendly and let them know why you are not supporting their products and services.
Step 8: Be a catalyst for change
• Become a catalyst for change in your community by teaching others about the climate crisis.
Step 9: Vote
• Vote for candidates who believe in capping and trading carbon emissions, and who have articulated clear policies for dealing with global warming.
Fact
• In February 2007, Al Gore and Sir Richard Branson offered $25 million to the inventor of any device that can remove substantial amounts of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
eco-friendly – környezetbarát
willingness – hajlandóság
commitment – elhivatottság
to reduce – lecsökkent
to reuse – újra felhasznál
to recycle – újrahasznosít
emission – kibocsájtás
insulation – szigetelés
to install – beszerel, felállít
solar panel – napenergia panel
instead of … – … … helyett
carpooling (to carpool) – környezetvédelem és költségek csökkentése céljából barátok, vagy több család egy autót használ munkába/iskolába menéshez
to urge – sürget
to pass a law – elfogadtatni egy törvényt
treaty – megállapodás, egyezmény
to enter a treaty – egyezménybe lép
to recognise – felismer, elismer
appliance – eszköz, gép, készülék
energy-efficient – enegriatakarékos
impact – hatás, kihatás
neutral – semleges
to offset – ellensúlyoz, kiegyenlít
to plant trees – fákat ültetni
reusable – újrahasználható
catalyst (for sth) – vminek az el?mozdítója
to vote – szavazni
substantial – értékes, fontos
