May 21, 2007, San Diego – Across the country, cities face a grave challenge -- and a tremendous opportunity -- in grappling with climate change. Former Vice President Al Gore will bring the message of climate change home to San Diego during his public lecture tonight based on his Academy Award® winning documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Mr. Gore’s address to a crowd of 4,000 at the University of California, San Diego is expected to raise community awareness of global warming, giving the local Climate Change Initiative of The San Diego Foundation a boost.
“As the region’s leading environmental grantmaker, The San Diego Foundation has taken a strong position on creating awareness of climate change,” states Bob Kelly, The San Diego Foundation’s president and CEO. “It is critical that we take steps in our region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease our vulnerability to the most severe effects of global warming.” The San Diego Foundation is a co-sponsor of Mr. Gore’s local appearance.
Cities are a primary source of global warming pollution, accounting for 75% of all greenhouse gas emissions. With the recent passage of California's Global Warming Solutions Act, and with likely federal legislation to follow in the next few years, metropolitan regions such as San Diego County are expected to play a critical role in reducing these emissions. The San Diego region will also have to cope with the local consequences of climate change: mega-drought and water shortages, heat waves and poor air quality, sea level rise, and the possible extinction of local plant and animal life.
The challenges of climate change also present an unprecedented opportunity for leadership and investment: leadership to create a more sustainable region and protect the quality of life that makes San Diego so special, and public and private investment in clean technologies and industries that provide a green pathway for job creation and economic prosperity in the future. The San Diego Foundation is convinced that the regions that pursue these opportunities will be best positioned to compete in the global marketplace in the 21st century.
Since tickets for Mr. Gore’s address took only 90 minutes to sell out, it is expected that an eager, standing-room-only crowd will hear Mr. Gore expand upon his book and movie message: global warming is the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization. In his book, Mr. Gore references local Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientist and pioneer of global change research, Charles David Keeling as well as UC San Diego founder Roger Revelle, crediting Revelle for introducing Mr. Gore to climate change research while Mr. Gore was a student at Harvard.
Community foundations such as The San Diego Foundation are beginning to step up across the country to provide the leadership and philanthropic investment that will help set their communities on a more sustainable path of economic prosperity and a higher quality of life. As one of the co-sponsors of Mr. Gore’s local appearance, The San Diego Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness about the local consequences of climate change and catalyzing more aggressive regional action. Over the next few years, The Foundation's Climate Change Initiative will work with government, business, and consumers to advance regional efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate change to avoid some of its most harmful effects.
About The San Diego Foundation
Founded in 1975, The San Diego Foundation is a broad-purpose community foundation helping individuals, families and organizations carry out their charitable plans, with the common goals of improving the quality of life in the greater San Diego region, now and for generations to come.
For more information about The San Diego Foundation’s Climate Initiative and Climate Smart, visit www.sdfoundation.org and click on the Climate Smart icon in the center of the page.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to intellectual property concerns, media coverage of the event will not be permitted.
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