The world owes much to former US Vice President Al Gore’s efforts to bring the issue of climate change to the public arena. His Oscar-wining film, An Inconvenient Truth, is just part of his decades-long campaign to alert the world to this “planetary emergency.”
The film brought him much criticism and disapproval from many political and business leaders but it accomplished what he set out to do – which was to spark the discussion of the issue and perhaps from there, work on the solution.
Al Gore had been involved in environmental activism from a number of decades. Even as a freshman congressman, he held the first congressional hearings on climate change and continued to pursue this topic throughout the 1980s.
Gore was met with much opposition and criticism especially in the 90s when he pushed for the passage of the Kyoto protocol, which called for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He was strongly opposed by the US senate by a vote of 95-0.
In 2007, Gore’s relentless pursuit for change awarded him a joint Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To this day, Gore continues his environmental activism and has taken it upon himself to take action wherever and whenever possible.
He continues to write books, give lectures, and create various foundations and organizations such as We Can Solve it, The alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Project to fulfill his self-determined “mission in life”.
彼は本を書き、講義を行い、気候保護のための同盟、気候プロジェクトなど、彼の自己決定した「人生の使命」を果たすため、さまざまな財団や”We Can Solve it”のような組織を作り続けています。
ゴアは、執筆活動、講演、財団や組織を作るなどの活動を続けています。
ゴアは今、71歳です。
それでも精力的に活動を続けているみたいです。
今日のストーリーはここまで。
Royさんからストーリーの内容に関する質問がありました。
いつもは割とスムーズに進むのですが、今日はちょっと手間取りました。
でも、最終的には内容が理解できていることをチェックしてもらって、質問に移っていきました。
Why do you think so many people were skeptical and unsupportive of Al Gore’s mission?
First of all, because they could not feel directly about the crisis of Al Gore mentioned. And more, To listen his insists means to accept some restrictions in business or their daily life. So it was difficult to support his mission, I think.
I think the climate change is really serious problem. I feel temperature is increasing gradually year by year. In addition, abnormal weather have become fiercely these days. But it is not easy for me to think that our activities connect directly to the clime change problems.
I think this is really difficult question. Some person says there is no meaning for living. The life is something you mean by myself. In such meaning, my mission in life may be to make happy the people around me.
Have you ever faced any opposition or setbacks when trying to fulfill your mission?
使命を果たそうとしたときに、反対や挫折に直面したことはありますか？
人生のミッションという意味では、特に反対や挫折に直面したことはないです。
仕事のでのミッションという意味では、そのような経験はたくさんあります。
でも、諦めないことが最も重要だと思います。
諦めなければ、使命を果たせる可能性は残ります。
Regarding to my mission in life, I have never faced any opposition or setbacks so far. On the other hand, regarding to in business, I have faced a lot of opposition or setbacks. But the most important things for me is to never give up about it. If I never give up about it, the possibilities remains, but if I give up about it, the possibilities disappear.
As I mentioned, my mission in life is to make the people around me happy. For this purpose, I have to live and work as hard as possible and help the people around me. By doing this, because I can feel significance of my existence, it is really important for me to do always such a behavior.
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. – Pele
A Wonderful Wednesday to you! Your attentiveness is very much valued. It shows that you value your English class and you are determined to improve your English skills. Hold on the confidence that you have. Thank you very much for your trust.
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