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Teen prepares to take on global warming
• Taylor Francis sees the issue as defining his generation.

by David Boyce

A planet with its weather out of kilter might be a terrible place to live. If something like that fate lies ahead for planet Earth in the 21st century, Menlo Park resident Taylor Francis isn't about to sit on his hands and let it happen without a fight.

Taylor is 14 and a freshman at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough. After a three-day session in Nashville in early December, he became a certified member — and perhaps the youngest — of a 1,000-person task force that Al Gore is training to spread the message of "An Inconvenient Truth," Mr. Gore's 2006 filmed presentation on the threat of global warming.

"I really feel strongly that (global warming) is the defining issue of my generation, of my lifetime," Taylor told the Almanac in a telephone interview from Lake Tahoe. "We're going to have to deal with the consequences of this issue. It's important for us to be part of a start to a solution."

Taylor said he has no fear of speaking in public and wants to present his version of Mr. Gore's arguments to his peers in Bay Area high schools, including at Woodside and Menlo-Atherton. His ambitions also include parent-teacher organizations, chambers of commerce and "any other group that will listen," he added.

While nothing is confirmed yet at either Woodside or M-A, Taylor said he expects to be speaking soon at Phillips Brooks School in Menlo Park — he is an alumnus — and at Woodside Elementary School and Crystal Springs. He said he hopes that one presentation will lead to another.

To reach Taylor, write to him at tfrancis@csus.com.

Three days in Tennessee

Taylor was one of three youths among the 250 people chosen to participate in the free training led by Mr. Gore. To answer trainee questions and keep them up-to-date as the global situation evolves, a team of scientists is available via an exclusive Web site. The three-day session included instruction in the secrets of making a good presentation.

Thousands applied for the training, Taylor said he was told. When asked why he thinks he was chosen, he said it might have been the strength of his application, which included open-ended questions and a requirement that he explain what he would bring to the program.

Noting the economic and strategic benefits of a U.S. economy not tied to fossil fuel from the Middle East, Taylor said the session instilled in him the belief that global warming "is within our reach to solve."

"That hope aspect was a really major take-away that I hope I'm going to be conveying to my audiences," he added. Taylor said he is one of eight or nine Bay Area residents who attended the training session.

Asked for his impression of Mr. Gore, Taylor replied: "He's super, super passionate about this. If there's anything I came away with, it's his complete command of this issue."