 "Photo: Tina Hogue")
During his two-hour presentation Monday night, Al Gore criticized what he called news media misrepresentation of the reality and impact that global warming carries.
He said the media gave more attention to the embalming of Anna Nicole Smith than it did to the fact that a piece of ice the size of Texas and Alaska combined melted into the Arctic Sea last summer.
"I think we have a crisis in our democracy in the way we're presented information," he said. "I think we need to do something about it."
Gore presented a live version of his year-old documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" to a barren section of the Frank Erwin Center. Except for updated statistics and graphics, his presentation was the same as his Oscar-winning film available on DVD.
The center provided a 5,000-seat, theatre-style venue for Gore but was unable to sell all of its floor seats and $250 dollar VIP seats, accompanied by a pre-show meet-and-greet with the former vice president. The center filled more of its less expensive middle- and upper-balcony tickets, including discounted seats for students.
"Al was very up front about offering discounted tickets for students," said John Graham, director of the Erwin Center.
Graham said Gore's appearance in Austin was one of the few he is making in the nation.
Gore also said the news media has repositioned global warming as a theory instead of a fact. More than 50 percent of U.S. newspapers in the past 14 years said global warming does not exist, Gore said. He said he believes Americans are not receiving truthful coverage.
Gore said he believes "with all his heart" the problems resulting from global warming can be fixed.
"We have everything we need to fix this problem - wind power, solar power, photovoltaic cells and renewable energy," he said. "But we need to get busy."
However, not everyone believes global warming is a problem. The UT chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas criticized Gore outside the center Monday night.
"Gore's facts are misleading, one-sided, based on speculation and flat out wrong," said Liz Young, chairman of the organization.
Young said the group questions whether or not global warming exists and how much of an impact people have on it.
"I think he's promoting a fraud to raise taxes on American people and taxes on businesses and energy," said Tony McDonald, chairman emeritus of the organization.
The evidence has turned against global warming in the past year, showing it is not a factual crisis, he said.
But Gore said the climate crisis does exist and the national way of thinking must change before global warming can be solved.
"We seem to need a sudden jolt," he said. "Otherwise we'll just sit there until we boil."
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