This morning a bizarre random thought popped into my head.

I wonder how Al Gore feels. Is he angry? Is he smug and thinking “I told you so?”

I’ll admit it’s not a thought I ever had before. Being concerned about Al Gore, or any politician’s feelings rarely crosses my mind, but this morning I watched the news about the clean-up in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. A storm so powerful that dozens died, millions were left without power, and countless others were left without a place to live.

In 2006 Al Gore put out a film called “An Inconvenient Truth” where he warned about the powerful storms and potential devastation climate change will cause. A film that won two Academy Awards and was generally ignored by the public and mocked by conservative media.

The mocking wasn’t so much about the message but mocking Al Gore himself. Al Gore was an easy target because, let’s face it, he certainly wasn’t Mr. Excitement. Going after the messenger is nothing new. Shakespeare wrote about it. Studies show that more people like the Affordable Care Act than they like Obamacare, even though they are the same thing. When you dismiss the messenger, it stops you from looking into just what the message is.

I was doing talk radio at the time on a station that carried Rush Limbaugh and several other conservative talkers. The Inconvenient Truth was a convenient punching bag for them and while I didn’t join in so much, I certainly didn’t defend what the former Vice-President was saying. After all, KFAB’s audience was mostly conservative, and from a ratings stand point, it didn’t make much sense to contradict what the “great” El Rushbo was saying.

But the things Mr. Gore was worried about seem to be coming true and it doesn’t look like much has changed about taking his warnings seriously.

The armchair climatologists will say that none of this is man-made and that it’s all mother nature. Now, I’ll trust the scientists. Even after you take carbon emissions out of the equation, common sense will tell you that replacing trees and greenery with asphalt highways, concrete sidewalks, and massive steel buildings will increase the earth’s temperature. Mankind plays a part in what is going on with the weather.

But even if these armchair climatologists are correct, I ask what’s the harm in treating it like it is man-made? What’s the harm in trying to be more conscientious about the environment? If it’s not man-made there’s nothing we can do about it. Since we are part of the problem, maybe we can slowly make things better.

I’ll admit I don’t really put my money where my mouth is. I don’t take a reusable tote bag with me when I do my grocery shopping, I drive my car sometimes even when I’m close enough to walk, or where it would be convenient to take public transportation.

I do keep my house a little cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer. And I could pretend I do it as some sort of climate activist, but I really do it to save money. Heating and cooling costs can kill your bank account.

Speaking about saving money, brace yourself for your next homeowner’s insurance bill. While much of the damage in the eastern seaboard isn’t covered by insurance, a lot of it will be. Add in the expense of replacing homes devastated by fires out west, homes leveled to the ground by tornadoes, plus all the new roofs the insurance companies bought thanks to hail damage, and I fear we can expect a nice increase the next time around.

Winston Churchill is credited as saying “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” I hope that still holds true. We should be doing more to fight climate change but let’s be honest, we’re not going to do it unless we are forced to do it whether that pressure comes from the government or the private sector.

The Inconvenient Truth is that it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. The Inconvenient Truth is that Americans won’t do anything about it on their own.

The Inconvenient Truth is that Al Gore warned us about this over 20 years ago. I wonder how he feels about it now.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.