A Day at the Movies Is Quite an Eye-Opener

[cal04]

The environmental agenda in the Maryland House of Delegates yesterday led off with popcorn and a front-row view of rising sea levels and melting glaciers spelling disaster for the planet.

In their first meeting of the 2007 legislative session, members of the House Environmental Matters committee watched "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's chilling documentary on global warming. The film rolled just after 1 p.m. on eight flat-screen televisions in the committee hearing room. For 100 minutes, the place fell silent -- except for the clatter of the popcorn machine wheeled in for the occasion.

The afternoon at the movies, on a day otherwise devoted to organizational matters, was ordered up by Chairman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore), who first saw the former vice president's film when it came out last spring. It fits in neatly with the committee's ambitious environmental agenda, which will include bills to limit car emissions, push renewable energy and clean up the Chesapeake Bay. With a new Democratic administration, legislative leaders say they might have an opportunity to implement policies stymied under Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

Her members might think they care about the environment, McIntosh said. But Gore takes it to a whole new level.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101833.html

[Javaman]

1. Let's see if it has an effect on the echo chamber of washington. nt