Al Gore charms, daunts crowd of 10,000 at Taco Bell Arena

Al Gore charms, daunts crowd of 10,000 at Taco Bell Arena
By Anne Wallace Allen - Idaho StatesmanEdition Date: 01/23/07
A cheerfully raucous crowd greeted former Vice President Al Gore Monday night when he stood in the Taco Bell Arena to deliver his somber message about global climate change.The Tennessee politician made his visit personal, trading anecdotes with Bethine Church, the widow of former U.S. Sen. Frank Church, about the years — decades ago — when the floor of the U.S. Senate was a familiar place to both of their families.
Bethine Church, who called Gore "my presidential candidate'' had called Gore at home last year in Nashville, Tenn., to ask him to be keynote speaker at a conference on global warming sponsored by the Frank Church Institute at Boise State University.
Byron Johnson, president of the Frank Church Institute, noted that Frank Church had spoken about a "greenhouse effect" foreseen by scientists when he addressed the first Earth Day celebration in 1970.
"This era will be marked by two events,'' said Bethine Church, 83, "the Fiesta Bowl, and the conference with Al.''
Gore, once known for his stiff mien, warmed up the capacity crowd of 10,000 with several funny anecdotes about his two terms as vice president.
"I flew on Air Force Two for eight years, and now I've got to take off my boots to get on an airplane,'' Gore said.
BSU announced last fall that Gore was visiting the university. It was Gore's second keynote address at a Frank Church conference, and the immediate demand for tickets to his speech surprised officials.
The speech, originally planned for a Student Union ballroom, was moved to the Taco Bell Arena, where tickets also quickly sold out.
Appeals for tickets appeared on craigslist.org, the online classified advertising service.
Monday night, Gore went over his evidence on global climate change, showing slides of glaciers that have receded dramatically in the last 25 years. He told the audience he hoped the problem could be addressed without partisan politics.
And he said that unless humans deal with the underlying causes of global warming, such as excess carbon dioxide release, the planet would heat up and suffer stronger storms, among other consequences.
Outside the Taco Bell arena, a half-dozen protesters huddled with hand-lettered signs before the speech, joking that they were cold and would like to see some global warming.
Some of the protesters said Gore's message was linked to other political movements, including animal rights, and was against their Christian beliefs.
"These movements are trying to put us into effect of one world government with the United Nations,'' said protester Bill Manahan of Meridian.
Inside the auditorium, security was unusually tight.
The audience was told that any recording of any kind was prohibited "under penalty of law,'' and ushers ordered people to put away their cell phones as they walked in the empty halls.
Gore, who is a visiting professor at a state university near his home in Tennessee, went over his slides patiently.
It was material that many people in his audience had covered before.
"I love it. It's fascinating. It's turned out to be really eye-opening,'' said Katy Laible of Nampa, who was walking the corridor with her baby daughter. Laible, a physician's assistant, recently moved to Idaho from Michigan and said she was surprised there wasn't more public transportation available.
"It terrifies me,'' she said of Gore's message. "I definitely want to recycle more.''
But not everyone who worked to get a ticket was there because they agreed with Gore's work on climate change.
"I don't know what he wants us to do. I think it's just scare tactics,'' said Aldi Wilcox, a BSU student who left the speech about halfway through.
"He's not a scientist; he's a politician.''
Contact reporter Anne Wallace Allen at aallenidahostatesman.com or 377-6433
http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/68512.html