19th November 2009 Review by Stuart Nettle

This book reviewing gig is harder than I thought. What aspects of a book should be commented upon in the course of a review? Use of language, depth of research, the entertainment factor, or it's layout and appearance perhaps? Maybe all of the above should be taken into account? Well, I found that for Our Choice, the latest book by Al Gore, such things are immaterial to one over-riding aspect. That being: is it convincing or not? Put everything else aside, this book should be judged solely upon the efficacy of the argument. After all, the purpose of this book is not to entertain or please, even to enlighten may be an aim too trifling when straddled against it's real ambition - that being a call to action. Gore wants to affect fundamental change. So does he achieve that aim? Well, not with me he didn't. My bugbear with Mr Gore is that I don't agree with the approach he uses in Our Choice. Now, before I continue I should say that Mr Gore and I are on the same team. I might be playing left-field but I ain't no sceptic. However, I believe that when you've worked for a very long time, as Gore has, to achieve goals but they aren't any closer to being realised then there are two courses of action you can follow. One, you can keep building up the same argument in the hope that, like chinese water torture, the constant drips of information will ultimately achieve your goal. Or two, you can heed the saying 'madness is repeating the same action and expecting a different result', and change your line of argument while keeping the same goal in mind. I tend toward the latter. With emissions in almost every country - developed and less-developed - rising, despite the widespread awareness of climate change, it would seem that humans are impervious to doomsday claims about climate change. To my eyes facts about our wasteful ways, or how we are destroying the environment, don't appear to be having the desired effect. Like all facts they are too easy to ignore or undermine. Yet Gore continues the line of thinking he embarked upon in An Inconvenient Truth and Our Choice is full of damning stats and facts. Don't get me wrong, he offers a lot more than just boiled down information. It is actually very text heavy and his research and detail is both admirable and thorough. My issue is that it all relies upon a single premise: this is what will happen if we don't act. What about dropping the science that can dupe and deceive and speak in terms of risk management? What have we got to lose by eradicating a carbon economy? What have we got to gain? What about stepping into the shoes of the sceptics to understand why they think the way they do? Not just oil barons with obvious vested interests but the dubious punters on the street? If you are a firm believer and an advocate of Gore's line of thinking then this book will be very rewarding. It is an extension of An Inconvenient Truth and, like I mentioned above, it is laden with damning facts that you can use to debate with and detailed information to bolster your convictions. If you are like me and think Gore's argument is a bit staid and one-dimensional then you may applaud Gore's depth of research and use of language. If however you think Anthropogenic Climate Change is a fallacy then there is nothing in this book for you, though I'm sure that even you will admire the layout and appearance. Our Choice is published by Allen & Unwin and is on sale now.