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"These are not normal times," he said to a crowd of about 3,000 Sunday at the Schottenstein Center. "You must become America's third hero generation."
Gore said previous American "hero generations" were the founders of this country and the young people of World War II. He said he believes current environmental issues are as important as these past national trials.
Former vice president Gore spoke on the need to reduce global warming. He invoked students to ignite the change in what he calls the "global climate crisis."
Global warming is speeding up, he said.
Some scientists predict the North Polar Ice Cap could disappear in five years. Gore, who is a Nobel Peace Prize and Academy Award winner, said previous predictions were as much as 100 years.
Gore said the U.S. needs concrete laws and policies pertaining to the environment, and individual actions only go so far.
"We can change our light bulbs but we also have to change our laws," he said.
Gore proposed several solutions to reduce global warming. He said U.S. citizens need to support research on renewable energy resources and pressure politicians of both parties to take action.
He called for a tax on carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. He urged students to visit his non-profit, non-partisan Web site www.wecansolveit.org to get involved.
"There's always only one choice in life: The hard right and the easy wrong," he said. "We need to choose the hard right."
Despite Gore's emphatic environmental talk, the former vice president could not leave politics out of his speech. Regarding who he thinks is the best presidential candidate, Gore said with a chuckle, "Whichever one of the three wins will be a welcome change from the current White House."
Except for a few angry outbursts during Gore's speech, most students who attended were impressed with Gore.
"It changed my perception about who's responsible for taking action," said Sarah Landers, a graduate student in engineering.
She said she liked Gore's suggestion that people build a citizen movement instead of hoping for a solution to come from politicians.
Other students agreed.
"I wanted to hear what he said about the environment," said Amanda Close, a freshman in biology. "He opened my eyes to what's really going on."
Gore acknowledged there are people who disagree with his view on climate change and called for political dialogue based on facts. When several people heckled him during his speech, he turned to them and said, "Excuse me sir, I'm trying to talk to these people and I'm pretty sure they want to hear what I have to say."
His polite response sparked enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
Nonetheless, about a dozen protesters persistently held a sign that read "No Carbon Tax - It's a Scam" outside.
"We're just trying to wake people up to the fact that global warming and the war on terrorism are both false," said Anthony Heil, 25, one of the protesters affiliated with the Web site www.wearechangeohio.com. "Al Gore is in there saying we need to put a tax on air."
Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee said he was excited to introduce Gore, his former neighbor, to the audience.
"We are truly honored to have him here," he said.
Gee said he remembered seeing a lot of recycling at the Gore household.
"He walks the walk," he said.
Adam Konvalinka can be reached at konvalinka.1@osu.edu.
Angela Henderson can be reached at henderson.419@osu.edu.
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