The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more — if more should be required — the future of human civilization is at stake.
Interpretation
Al Gore emphasizes the urgency of addressing risks to both the U.S. and global civilization.
In this quote, Al Gore warns of the critical threats facing the United States and humanity as a whole, suggesting that these challenges require immediate attention and action. He implies that the survival of our democratic values and the continuity of civilization depend on our response to these risks, urging a proactive approach to safeguarding our future.
In practice
In a speech about climate change, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of sustainable policies.
Global warming is real and human activity is the main cause. The consequences are mainly negative and headed toward catastrophic, unless we act. However, the good news is that we can meet this challenge. It is not too late, and we have everything we need to get started.
The climate crisis is not a political issue; it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.
I think it's harder for people than it should be. But as more and more of us become carbon neutral and change the patterns in our lives to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, we are now beginning to see the changes in policy that are needed.
We have a planetary emergency. We have to find a way to create, in the generation of those alive today, a sense of generational mission.
CO2 is the exhaling breath of our civilization, literally... Changing that pattern requires a scope, a scale, a speed of change that is beyond what we have done in the past.
Well-established theories collapse under the weight of new facts and observations which cannot be explained, and then accumulate to the point where the once useful theory is clearly obsolete.
Standing still is never an option so long as inequities remain embedded in the very fabric of the culture.
Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
This is how a revolution begins. It begins when someone grows tired of standing idly by, waiting for history's arc to bend toward justice, and instead decides to give it a swift shove. It begins when a black seamstress named Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in the segregated South.
Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a tennis skirt, I knew that I wanted to change the sport.
A challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence... There is no doubt that the time to act is now.
Most people don't want to change. They're comfortable and set in their ways. But in order to change, you have to be able to agitate people at times. And I think that's something that's very necessary for us to improve as a country.
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