By Madison Harke-Weber
I went to Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on Thursday, July 17th to see former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore deliver a speech on the climate crisis.
It was such a hot day that anyone would be able to believe that global warming is on the rise.
I was there with my 14-year-old cousin and her
friend who were visiting from Michigan; they had never been to a political
speech before and they thought it would be boring.
But instead, they learned
that political speeches can actually be interesting.
One of my favorite parts of the speech was when Gore spoke about the beginning of the space program. He described the way that President Kennedy had set a goal to land a man on the moon in ten years, something which people at the time thought might not be possible. However, we managed to do it in less than ten years. Gore spoke about that because he said that we need to reverse the climate crisis in ten years -- some people say we should do it in forty years, but he thinks that's too long to wait.
He challenged Americans to have 100% of our electricity come from renewable sources, like solar and wind energy, within ten years. "[This goal] is achievable, affordable, and necessary," Gore declared.
Gore also said that the younger generations have to take the lead in making this happen. My cousin and her friend did have a favorite part of event -- they were excited to see that Will.I.Am of the Blackeyed Peas was there, sitting in the front row!
(Former Vice President Al Gore speaks about energy and the future, Thursday, July 17, 2008, at Constitution Hall in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
