Sacramento joins national Gore fest

When Hollywood Park resident Ellen Eggers learned about the “See the Truth” movie parties, she went door-to-door to invite her neighbors to attend. Last Saturday, 20 people packed into Egger’s living room to watch Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, and to mobilize in the fight against global warming. In 1,941 houses across the country, thousands of other people did the same.

Sixteen gatherings were held within 30 miles of downtown Sacramento, including the Pocket area, Land Park, East Sacramento, Natomas and Elk Grove.

“Watching the film at one time and knowing that we’re all connected is really powerful,” Eggers said. “In my view, there’s no more important cause than saving the planet. We need to saturate our psyches with the idea that global warming is real and each of us has a role in stopping it.”

The third-highest-grossing documentary in U.S. history, An Inconvenient Truth reviews scientific evidence for global warming; analyzes the politics, economics and consequences of the crisis; and presents ways for us to become better global citizens.

AlGore.com and MoveOn.org organized the parties and spread the word via their Web sites, asking members to host gatherings and to press Congress to take action. During the evening, Gore held a conference call with participants and attendees wrote postcards to their elected representatives.

“I wanted to meet people with a similar philosophy,” said local MoveOn member Tim Church. “We may not all be in the same town or same place, but we’re working for the same cause.”

Stacey Willett, also a MoveOn member, attended the gathering because she wanted to take part in a discussion instead of watching the movie alone at home, as did fellow attendee Pat Oehler.

“We need to educate anybody we can get our hands on,” Oehler said. “I’m worried we’re too late, but, still, we can’t just sit around and do nothing.”