OFA, legislators, speakers host program on climate change
More than 100 attendees were at Oakton Community College's Skokie Campus on August 27 for the update of the film, “An Inconvenient Truth”. David Nadolski, MFA, Adjunct Professor of Speech at Oakton Community College, was trained by former Vice President Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project to present a commentary titled, “An Inconvenient Truth 2.0 Our Earth at its Tipping Point: It's Not Too Late”.
Paul Gulezian, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology at Oakton, was also part of the presentation. The event was coordinated by the North Shore chapter of Organizing for Action.
Presenter David Nadolski, MFA, drove home the point, “Global warming is present and very much among us. Damage has been done, but it can be mitigated.” He outlined the statistics of record-breaking heat measurements in the United States and around the world, the causes of global warming, examples of the damaging results of climate change, and what is being done to fight the problem.
Legislators also attended the event and spoke about the importance of addressing climate change. Robyn Gabel, State Representative from the 18th District, said, “Important bills were passed this year in Illinois to help us in our local efforts to reduce global warming and preserve our environment. We have to do our part in the legislature, but we all have to do our share to protect and preserve the environment. I appreciate that Organizing for Action is providing the forum tonight to discuss this important topic.”
Also in attendance was Debra Shore, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. She provided her thoughts on the environment, “I believe as a result of all this, water will be a key issue for years to come. There is no substitution for fresh water. All life depends on it. We're fortunate that the Great Lakes holds 20% of the world's surface water. We have the responsibility to be good stewards of this resource.”
The event concluded with a question and answer session. Steve Julstrom, an electrical engineer from Chicago, said, “It's important to get the correct facts out there about climate change. It weakens our position that climate change is a reality if we are not presenting the right facts that prove our point. A great discussion is starting, but it should of started fifty years ago.”
Organizing for Action (OFA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing the policies that the American people voted for in 2012. In just three months more than 1.4 million volunteers have taken action through Organizing for Action. OFA is committed to advance policies like job creation, strengthening the middle class, gun violence prevention, comprehensive immigration reform and measures combating climate change.