On July 7, 2007, Al Gore and a galaxy of entertainment superstars, a worldwide army of idealists, and 2 billion concerned
citizens from seven continents will take a stand on global warming that will advance a new political era of optimism and hope.
Sooner than people realize, Americans are going to be astonished and amazed at the rekindling of American optimism and the can-do attitude that good people who care passionately can make a difference.
In recent years American politics, culture and media have been so drenched in negativity, pessimism and civic poison that our institutions of political and media power have lost sight of the classic American spirit of can-do optimism.
On July 7 the Live Earth concert will fire a cannon of hope that will be heard around the world. It will be a moment for generations, a shared communion based on the ancient idea that every generation leaves a better world for the next.
July 7 will be a moment for 2 billion people linking arms, from nations that span the world, speaking languages heard on all the continents with a common voice and a common purpose.
Here in the United States the Live Earth concert will be be broadcast with three hours on prime-time NBC, all 13 hours on the Sundance Channel, a full seven hours on CNBC, and on XM Radio, to name a few places where the event can be shared.
Worldwide broadcasts on television, radio and the Internet will parallel this surge of hope. I expect exciting contributions from Air America, Nova Radio, and leading talk radio hosts and Internet sites that I will be writing about as July 7 approaches.
We live in an age where 70 percent of Americans refuse to offer approval to the president or Congress, to Democrats or Republicans.
We live in an age where Americans of all persuasions hunger and thirst for a new unity, a new spirit, a new optimism and hope that tomorrow can be better than today, that good people can make a difference, that elections matter and that civic life in America should be based on a shared patriotism.
From the entertainment superstars who will carry the banner to the grade-school children who will the carry the torch, July 7 will be a grand moment for action in the service of hope.
Americans want to move beyond a world where smut pollutes our planet and muck pollutes our politics. Americans want to regain that American spirit that has made America America, and made the American idea a true beacon for the world.
Al Gore deserves profound credit for taking a stand that makes him the champion of a Conviction-politics in America, and even more than Al Gore, the credit belongs to the young people like Bobby, a 10-year-old fifth-grader I met at the Sheryl Crow global warming concert recently in Washington.
All over America and the world there are kids and grandkids we can be proud of.
I interviewed young Bobby and asked him what he planned to do about global warming.
This young man has a plan. He is saving his allowance to buy energy-saving light bulbs to give to his friends, and collecting e-mail addresses from his classmates to add them to the Virtual Global Warming March.
Wherever he is on July 7, Bobby and his proud parents will be participating in the Live Earth concert along with idealists and activists from his generation, our generation and all living generations.
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