UNITY -- Cindy Thomashow has an inconvenient truth she would like to share with you.
Thomashow recently spent three days in Nashville, Tenn., filling her brain with the latest statistics and learning to present "An Inconvenient Truth," a slide show that makes a case for human-caused global warming and offers ideas on how to counter it. The slide show was given originally by former Vice President Al Gore, and is the basis of a film with the same title.
"It's an educational initiative," said Thomashow, who is the wife of Unity College President Mitch Thomashow.
The workshops are a product of Gore's promise to train 1,000 people in the United States to present his slide show. Each trainee has agreed to give 10 presentations on global warming.
Thomashow was one of 200 people to undergo the training from Jan. 12-14. The group included folks from all walks of life, from college professors to high school students, she said.
"What [Gore]'s trying to do is educate the public," Thomashow said. "It was a wide range of representation, not just the converted. These people represented a very wide range of society and culture."
Cindy Thomashow with Al Gore.
More than 900 people have been trained to date, Thomashow said. Similar sessions are ongoing in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Thomashow, an environmental educator on sabbatical from Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, N.H., was selected from 6,000 applicants.
"I applied to the program and was selected I think probably because of my background and tenure as an environmental educator," she said. "I've been doing it for 23 years at Antioch."
After orientation on Friday, the group spent nearly 12 hours on Saturday being trained by Gore. He started by giving the slide show and then provided details of the scientific research behind it, Thomashow said.
"I was amazed at his energy, enthusiasm and commitment to this," she said. "He is completely committed to making this happen. My admiration for him rose exponentially after this."
The workshop ended Sunday with training in presenting the slide show and fielding questions, all of which was provided by National Wildlife Federation employees. Trainees then had to offer the presentation in front of their classmates.
"That was scary, but it was so good to practice in front of people who were equally committed and knowledgeable," Thomashow said.
Even for an environmental educator with 23 years of experience, the training provided an invaluable tool, she said.
"It confirmed my understanding of climate change and the urgency of responding to it and how critical education is for both school-aged children and for the public to understand it's up to us," Thomashow said.
Just the second Maine resident to take part in the workshop, Thomashow plans to present the slide show as part of her environmental education class at Unity College.
To schedule a presentation, call Cindy Thomashow at Unity College at 948-3131.
She believes The Climate Project could help turn the tide in what she believes is a battle against special interest groups.
"There is no debate in the scientific community about this event," she said. "That's one of the points [Gore] brings up in the slide show. There are groups that have a vested interest in industry and other human activities that definitely don't want to admit this is a global issue that we all have to pay attention to; however, there are some amazing people that are stepping up from industry, business and government."