My Conservation Hero

This is a tough one. There are many to pick from, and solid arguments for the grand figures of conservation: Aldo Leopold, John Wesley Powell, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt or, more recently, David Suzuki or James Hansen. Just a few years ago, one of those would almost certainly have won out for me.

 

These days, however, my conservation hero is Al Gore. No one has done more to popularize the issue of climate change around the world, unquestionably the greatest conservation challenge of our age. His efforts have helped move “green” into the Zeitgeist of the 21st century. Some of this popularization results in questionable work. (Paper made from elephant poop? Really? We need that?) At other times even noble efforts get marginalized by marketing, with absurd results. (My son received a free, disposable watch at a screening of “Wall-E” – the Pixar film about consumerism destroying the planet. Isn’t that just PERFECT!)

 

Still, Al Gore deserves credit for moving climate change into the daily conversation of most Americans and people around the globe. Ultimately, this makes the jobs of conservationists far easier. The time required  for someone to “get it” is far less than before. For many years, conservation as a movement was limited to a fairly narrow segment of the population. No more. Today, broader understanding makes significant political change possible. Over the next 10-20 years, I believe we will see acceptance of major, necessary changes in lifestyles and behavior that were unthinkable before Gore and his progeny took conservation into the mainstream. For now, at least, Gore wins for me.