"Preaching the Word of Gore"

Aaron Kinney
May 19, 2007

One of Gore’s youngest climate change disciples is Taylor Francis, a freshman at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough.  The 15-year old has delivered more than a dozen presentations to Peninsula audiences since attending a two-day seminar last December in Nashville, Tenn.
In between homework and classes, Taylor is helping to carry out Gore’s initiative, dubbed The Climate Project, the goal of which is to spread the message of the film — the urgent need to tackle the effects of climate change — from movie theaters and DVD players into the schools, church groups, clubs and other gathering places of American society.

Like most eight graders, Taylor hadn’t paid much attention to global warming—then he saw Gore’s movie last year.  Now he speaks fluently about warming trends, isotope signatures and the future of California’s agricultural industry.

“It wasn’t Topic A on my mind and when I saw the movie it was just eye-opening,” Taylor said. “It really inspired me.”

For his part, Taylor has delivered presentations to 13 audiences and nearly 2,000 people.  He’s spoken at several Peninsula schools, including Sacred Heart School in Atherton and Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley.

Taylor took the stage dressed like a Silicon Valley executive.  Tall and thin, his light-brown hair slightly mussed, he wore jeans and a striped collared shirt under a blue sports jacket.

Taylor localized his slideshow by talking about the effects global warming is expected to have on the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides water to most of the state, and California’s agricultural industry.  He also discussed the impact of rising sea levels on coastal communities.

As always, he ended his talk on an upbeat note and with a call to action, offering audience members myriad small ways to conserve energy, from using more efficient light bulbs to getting an energy audit and insulating their water heaters. 

Francis is optimistic about the prospects of blunting climate change’s effects.  And he smoothly parries arguments, whether economic or scientific, that global warming skeptics present as reasons not to undertake fundamental policy changes. 

“I think too many people view this economically as a burden and I really think that solving the climate crisis is an opportunity,” said Taylor, who will travel to China this summer to talk to students about global warming.

“It’s time to stop using debate as an excuse for inaction because the clock is ticking,” he said.  “Whenever America has decided to fully confront a problem, when the weight of the American people is put behind an effort, we can really effect change rapidly and we can accomplish great things.”

"Preaching the Word of Gore"

Aaron Kinney
May 19, 2007

One of Gore’s youngest climate change disciples is Taylor Francis, a freshman at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough.  The 15-year old has delivered more than a dozen presentations to Peninsula audiences since attending a two-day seminar last December in Nashville, Tenn.
In between homework and classes, Taylor is helping to carry out Gore’s initiative, dubbed The Climate Project, the goal of which is to spread the message of the film — the urgent need to tackle the effects of climate change — from movie theaters and DVD players into the schools, church groups, clubs and other gathering places of American society.

Like most eight graders, Taylor hadn’t paid much attention to global warming—then he saw Gore’s movie last year.  Now he speaks fluently about warming trends, isotope signatures and the future of California’s agricultural industry.

“It wasn’t Topic A on my mind and when I saw the movie it was just eye-opening,” Taylor said. “It really inspired me.”

For his part, Taylor has delivered presentations to 13 audiences and nearly 2,000 people.  He’s spoken at several Peninsula schools, including Sacred Heart School in Atherton and Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley.

Taylor took the stage dressed like a Silicon Valley executive.  Tall and thin, his light-brown hair slightly mussed, he wore jeans and a striped collared shirt under a blue sports jacket.

Taylor localized his slideshow by talking about the effects global warming is expected to have on the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides water to most of the state, and California’s agricultural industry.  He also discussed the impact of rising sea levels on coastal communities.

As always, he ended his talk on an upbeat note and with a call to action, offering audience members myriad small ways to conserve energy, from using more efficient light bulbs to getting an energy audit and insulating their water heaters. 

Francis is optimistic about the prospects of blunting climate change’s effects.  And he smoothly parries arguments, whether economic or scientific, that global warming skeptics present as reasons not to undertake fundamental policy changes. 

“I think too many people view this economically as a burden and I really think that solving the climate crisis is an opportunity,” said Taylor, who will travel to China this summer to talk to students about global warming.

“It’s time to stop using debate as an excuse for inaction because the clock is ticking,” he said.  “Whenever America has decided to fully confront a problem, when the weight of the American people is put behind an effort, we can really effect change rapidly and we can accomplish great things.”

Leave a Reply