2008 Woodie Awards
Global Warming's spokeswomen heats up the debate
An interview with an icon of the movement
Staff Report
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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Wednesday, in an attempt to light a fire under those who have the power to cure the global warming trend - everybody, according to her.
David produced "An Inconvenient Truth," and recently published "Stop Global
Warming: The Solution is You!" She is also the wife of actor, comedian and producer Larry David, who was just one of the topics of conversation.
Vermont Cynic: UVM and Burlington are known for fostering activism. What advice do you have for activists - hardcore and otherwise?
Laurie David: I think one of the things that this campus has to start doing is getting better at promoting itself. It seems like there's a lot happening on this campus in terms of [global warming], but I don't think a lot of people know about it. So I think that part of the activism is getting heard, getting the word out. It's everybody's responsibility to influence everybody else.
VC: How do we influence every one else?
LD: The way that I'm doing it is by trying to explain to people how personal this issue is. Global warming is not about what's happening to the glaciers. It's about what's happening to Vermont. Your state is in serious peril. So this is personal now. This is about you, this is about maple syrup, this is about the ski industry, this is about all the things that Vermont depends on - it's part of the identity of the state. The thing that has to happen is for people to start connecting the dots between what we're doing and what's happening.
VC: Sometimes you have to play to peoples' interests, like the monetary costs.
LD: People have to understand the economics - what this is going to cost at some point. The cost of doing nothing is so much more expensive than the cost of doing something. But I, to some extent, resent the fact that everything has to be explained in dollars and cents. Isn't it enough to think that we're losing species? Is it not enough incentive
that we just had the warmest year in the history of record keeping?
VC: Why, with such a universal topic, is it taking so long to see tangible results?
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