By Joyce Kryszak
Chautauqua, NY – Former Vice President Al Gore is the featured lecturer Monday at the Chautauqua Institution. Gore will present a talk on the issue he's become quite well known for - global climate change. But his documentary on that subject, "An Inconvenient Truth," is drawing both praise and criticism.
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Mr. Gore has gotten some advance promotion for his visit. The documentary he inspired and stars in, "An Inconvenient Truth" has been playing for weeks both nationally and locally.
Walter Simpson, who is the Energy Officer for UB Green and a member of the Climate Action Coalition, previeweed the film.
The group offers information and membership literature at a table in side the theatre where the film is showing. Simpson said more than 300 people signed up in less than two weeks wanting to learn more. And he believes Gore deserves the credit.
The documentary's message does come through loud and clear, with statistics to back up the graphic images. It is a subject that 18 year-old Katherine Brady has studied and follows closely. So, on a Tuesday night, the college-bound student came to see the documentary with a few of her friends. Brady said it was a powerful message. But one she believes is obscured by politics.
It is a criticism Gore has received nationwide.
Some speculate that the film is a political vehicle to promote Gore for another presidential run. Brady and her friends sid they just hope people are paying attention to the campaign he's on right now.