This morning, Al Gore said that the next President should make global warming the top priority. Is he right?

Question

Isn't terrorism more of an immediate threat than global warming. I believe that global warming is real, and I realized we have not been attacked since 9/11/01. but terrorism, to me, is more dangerous at the moment. Especially in light of recent events in the UK.

So I ask, is global warming a higher priority than terrorism.

Answer 1

I think terrorism should be number one, but only because it is an immediate threat.

I think that a close second should be Entitlement reform. Ignoring the fact that SS and Medicare are going to bankrupt our country when baby boomers start retiring won't change the fact that it is going to happen.

Global warming wouldn't make my top five.

Answer 2

I'm sorry to bring facts into this purely emotional discussion, but Al Gore is correct.

The World Health Organization estimates that right now global warming is repsonsible for 150,000 deaths per year. This is not a liberal organization.

Terrorist attacks are responsible for 15,000 deaths per year, worldwide. That's a factor of 10 lower, since I'm guessing you have some problems with the maths.

Since you bring up 9/11, even though we got caught with our pants down, only 2,752 Ameriacns were killed. Hurricane Katrina alone was responsible for nearly that many deaths.

But I know you'll ignore the science, facts, and statistics and pick some irrational emotional argument about how terrorism is so much the bigger threat, because that's how conservatives generally work. Go ahead, prove my point for me.

Answer 3

Sometimes issues can be co-equal and climate change and 'terrorism' certainly are . In a way, climate change is even more of a priority because so many people are and will be effected by this phenomena. At the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, there were very few humans on this planet, and very few of them lived in organized societies that relied on a fixed base and extensive agriculture. Climate change in that time allowed for the growth of true civilizations as warmer temperatures allowed for long growing seasons. Now we have almost 7 billion people on this planet and most of them live in cities and most of those cities are coastal or are sited where water has been abundant. Climate change will cause large numbers of people to flee drought areas, farming will be effected, cities will bulge and if we make no plans for that truely terrible things will happen. Terrorism may be only one of those things......all things are connected in some way...Al Gore is right, but of course the 'right' will never acknowledge that....and so it goes!

Answer 4

Terrorism is something that can be addressed incrementally, and in an immediate fashion.

Global warming has to be addressed wholesale, and the effects are much longer-ranged in the amount of time it takes to see a result, and how long the result of lack thereof will be in force.

Terrorism is overblown. In real terms and real effects, global warming is already causing more of damage. It's just not as easy to put a scary, dark face with a turban on global warming.

Answer 5

It is a priority. However our government (as well as its' citizens) are capable of attacking many problems at the same time. Its called delegating. The government has many hands is able to organize national security, manage our money and resources and solve domestic problems all at the same time. So what really needs to be done is simply adding global warming to the list of already serious problems the U.S. is facing. Problems that this administration is ignoring and willl have to be tackled by the next.

Answer 6

I feel that Global Warming needs to be up there, but not the number one priority. There are a lot of issues that need attention, such as the health care system, the childhood obesity issue, counter terrorism (as you mentioned), immigration laws, and also dealing on what our stand is now in Iraq. There is so much that needs to be addressed, but only putting one thing as the main priority will only hurt others and delay results on other issues.

Answer 7

Did he say "THE" top priority or "A top priority"?

I would say global warming is A top priority, but youre right, I think terrorism and the Iraq conflict need to be dealt with full attention.

Answer 8

There is still too much debate in global warming (man-caused or not) to make it the number 1 priority. This is political pandering, trying to strike fear into people to vote Dem. (even though Repubs are better on environmental issues).

Recently, the Senate committee on the Environment and Public Works released a list of top scientists who have changed sides on the issue, now saying it is not man-made based on the most current research. Of course the media has stifled this information even though it came from a democratically controlled Senate.

Answer 9

Terrorism doesn't threaten the entire survival of a planet and the inhabitants of that planet. Global Warming threatens the human race with extinction. It sounds like more of a priority to me. If we'd pull out of Iraq and let them fight it out, and then closed our borders, like BUSH should, that would cut down on terrorism right there.
Most of the world agrees that Global Warming is a much more urgent issue.

Answer 10

No, he only wants us to buy carbon offsets . . . I do not feel that global warming is a real concern at all. It is a natural event that takes place . . . and thank God for that otherwise, we would all be covered in Ice . . . Terrorism should be the number one priority of our military. We are in this war, and we need to fight it. Our government should focus more on social issues . . . our borders, social security, taxes . . . all of that stuff that has been ignored by Dems and Repubs. alike.