Climate change is a polarizing issue that’s been working it’s way up to the political forefront for at least the past decade. The spotlight was brightened in 2006 when filmmaker Davis Guggenheim released the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” chronicling former vice president Al Gore’s new campaign to bring awareness to the issue of global warming.

The documentary was another step in the politicizing of climate change, and has forced politicians to take sides on the issue. Often, the divide falls squarely along party lines. An article titled “A Widening Gap: Republican and Democratic Views on Climate Change”, appeared in the September/October 2008 issue of Environmental Magazine. In this piece, author’s Riley E. Dunlap and Aaron M. McCright writes, “Nowhere is the partisan gap on environmental issues more apparent than on climate change.”

According to the article, environmental issues were a cornerstone of Republicanism during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidencies. He is credited with starting many environmental conservation efforts which are still in place today. However, the article points to an increasing belief among American voters in the 1980s that government was bad and corporate environmental regulations were an extension of bad ideology.

Transport Cycles at 1105 Frankford Ave. was recently transformed into an art gallery showcasing climate change-themed art. The event, titled “Climate Disrupted”, was put together by Philadelphia-based environmental activist Joey Hartmann-Dow.

“Part of it was wanting to bring the issue of climate disruption to people who aren’t already activists,” Hartmann-Dow said. “I love the idea of telling stories about climate change because I think that’s what really grabs people’s attention.”

She has been active in promoting climate awareness through events, and has also been in contact with Sen. Toomey’s office on the topic. According to her, his official position is that he does not deny climate change is happening, but his fiscally conservative voting record shows little interest in directly addressing the issue.

“I haven’t gotten a clear statement from Sen. Toomey on addressing climate, that was another goal with this show,” Hartmann-Dow said.  “I wanted to do something different. I want to show that it’s not just people who work with climate organizations who are concerned, it’s artists and it affects everybody.”

According to Hartmann-Dow, she came up with the idea after attending an event by  Climate and Urban Systems Partnership, or CUSP. There she met with Senior Program Manager and Philadelphia Lead Richard Johnson, and together they discussed ways to reach people on the topic of climate change. Hartmann-Dow took those ideas, and put them into “Climate Disrupted.”

The exhibition featured paintings, music and poetry, as well as some non traditional forms of art.

One piece titled “Corn EMO (Electronically Modified Organism) by artist Leslie Birch is her interpretation of what futuristic corn might look like. Birch points out that corn is a crucial crop to our region, and is greatly affected by climate related issues like floods and droughts. She even points out that hail could decimate young plants.

Birch imagines futuristic corn will be outfitted with electronic weather predicting devices to make it better suited to the unpredictability of climate change. The fiber optic lights reflect changes in weather, yellow being clear, and blue meaning rain is coming.

Guests were also invited to pen their own climate story on a wall titled “What’s your climate story,” and get tips from several local groups on green living and dealing with climate change, as well as groups putting on nature and conservation themed activities throughout the neighborhood. Hartmann-Dow hopes to send the stories to Sen. Toomey.

The issue of climate change affects everyone, but people living in major urban areas are subjected to higher concentrations of irritants and pollutants. According to Hartmann-Dow, Philadelphia is no exception. “Philly is known for being one of the worst cities for pollution, and that’s only going to get worse with climate change,” Hartmann-Dow said. “The warmer it is, people with any respiratory problems are going to have way more problems breathing.”

She hopes to have more interactive events like this one to show politicians that their constituency does care about how climate change will affect the future.“I just hope whoever our senator is next year really gets a handle on what the people of Pennsylvania need, which is a clean energy future,” Hartmann-Dow said.