Al Gore's rough ride (National Post Editorial + dissed in Toronto!)

National Post - Canada ^ | Thursday, March 22, 2007 | National Post Editorial

[GMMAC]

Al Gore's rough ride

National Post: Editorial
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2007

The last month has not been kind to Al Gore. Instead of basking in the warm afterglow of winning an Oscar for his blockbuster documentary An Inconvenient Truth and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the former U.S. vice-president turned global warming evangelist has had to spend much of his time fending off questions about his own personal impact on the environment. He has also had to ward off allegations from scientists -- many of whom nonetheless support his views on climate change -- that his movie (and his worldwide pitch tour that has accompanied it) contain substantial factual errors and exaggerations. Perhaps all this is why Mr. Gore violated U.S. Congressional rules Wednesday by refusing to provide members of the U.S. Congress with advanced copies of his testimony at two environmental hearings on Capitol Hill, and why he refused to take a "personal energy ethics pledge" to reduce his "carbon footprint." Just hours after winning the Best Documentary Oscar for his vigorously spun movie about the threat of global warming, a Tennessee public policy institute released records showing that Mr. Gore's Nashville mansion annually consumes 20 times the amount of electrical power and natural gas as the average American household -- nearly $30,000 worth. The heated pool-house alone consumes $500 a month. Yet while his own home is churning through so much of the planet's resources, Mr. Gore is making almost daily presentations to audiences urging people to consume less.

When Mr. Gore, through a spokesman, protested that he purchased carbon credits to offset his personal consumption, critics pointed out that he was buying them from himself. A personal carbon credit is most often a donation to an environmentally friendly project that might prevent the release of future carbon emissions by developing a water treatment plant or power generator that uses fewer or no carbon fuels. Typically, it does nothing to reduce existing emissions. It only makes the giver feel better about his own emissions. In Mr. Gore's case, not only did his offsets not eliminate a single tonne of current emissions, they cost him nothing, since he was buying from a company he himself set up to help other celebrities and eco-disciples find "green" projects to fund.

Last month, too, the Nashville Tennessean newspaper reported that a zinc mine on Mr. Gore's property, from which Mr. Gore had earned nearly $800,000 in royalties, was one of the worst polluters in the state before it was shut down in 2003. (The mine is set to reopen this year.) In one year in the 1990s alone, the mine released 4.1 million pounds of toxins into nearby streams.

At about the same time, the New York Times (of all papers) ran a front page story questioning the "facts" contained in Mr. Gore's movie. For instance, Mr. Gore claims sea levels will rise by as much as six metres in the coming decades due to planetary meltdown, when, in fact, even the United Nations' global warming committee -- as alarmist as any scientific committee could be -- predicts the rise will be no more than 40 centimetres.

Perhaps this is why Mr. Gore refused to submit his written testimony and a list of his sources to Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill yesterday: He didn't want to give them enough time to poke holes in the assertions he was about to make. If the former senator and vice-president were confident of the facts behind his claims, why would he resist giving legislators the advance look all witness are required to give?

Mr. Gore did eventually give Congressmen a 30-minute lead time on his testimony, but House and Senate rules clearly require a 48-hour lead.

In his testimony, he insisted "the planet has a fever" that is leading to a "planetary emergency" that will cause a "crisis that threatens the survival of our civilization." Sounds like the sort of information the world should hear about ASAP. So why the hush-hush secrecy around his written testimony, unless of course he wanted to avoid embarrassing questions?

No wonder former president George H. W. Bush, labelled Mr. Gore "the ozone man" for his extreme environmental views. We are glad to see that Americans with influence are finally giving Mr. Gore's propaganda the critical scrutiny it deserves.

© National Post 2007

[GMMAC]

Today's 'lo, 'Saint Al walks amongst us' Toronto coverage:

An Inconvenient conference ~ Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun, March 22, 2007
Gore Welcomed By Protesters During Toronto Visit ~ citynews.ca, March 22, 2007
Gore Makes Star Debut in Toronto as Global Warming Prophet ~ Peter J. Smith, lifesite, March 22, 2007

Video of pompous enviro-weenie Gore bad-mouthing
our Conservative government, America and,
of course, President George W. Bush
~ City-TV, March 21, 2007
(btw, guy immediately over Saint Al's right shoulder
is David Peterson - prominent Liberal Party gangster)

[GMMAC]

PING!

[betsyross1776]

It is about time they put this goof balls feet to the fire. Time for spooky ol al to answer the questions. Do as I say, and I will do what I want. Aren't you glad he did not win in 00. Boy was God on the ball that time.

[ryan71]

"...evangelist has had to spend much of his time fending off questions about his own personal impact on the environment"

Obviously, this guy does not know Al's mansion and businesses are "carbon neutral".

[Boston Blackie]

[Izzy Dunne]

Mr. Gore did eventually give Congressmen a 30-minute lead time on his testimony, but House and Senate rules clearly require a 48-hour lead.

Somebody 'splain to me what rules are for, again?

[keepitreal]

"Somebody 'splain to me what rules are for, again?"

---

Rules, like conservation, are only required of the average joe, not royalty like al.

[libs_kma]

Not only carbon offsets but Big Al buys calorie offsets too.

He gets to eat as much as he wants and somebody in Ethopia has to starve for two days to offset big Al's blazing fork.

[Tim Slagle]

On the upside:

The Nobel Prize Committee would look like a gaggle of fools if they awarded this guy a peace prize now.

And how come when a Democrat is caught telling a big lie, it's called an exaggeration?

Would a New York Times reporter have ever concluded that the President EXAGGERATED the intelligence on WMDs in Iraq?

[wastedyears]

LOL!

[fanfan]

Is he coming to Ottawa?

I'd love to FReep him!

[xcamel]

FReepmail me to get on or off

Click on POGW graphic for full GW rundown

Ping me if you find one I've missed.

---

[Matchett-PI]

"He gets to eat as much as he wants and somebody in Ethopia has to starve for two days to offset big Al's blazing fork."

Repent, Sinners!

Earn Eco-Salvation the Quick and Easy Iowahawk Way

Joe Barton / Algore in "global warming" hearing

[Chena]

Al Gore's finally being challenged. It's about dang time. BUMP!

[GMMAC]

I'd think twice about wanting Gore to visit Ottawa.

Saint Al's got quite a history of bringing the worst possible freezing weather along with him wherever he goes, eh?

[2ndDivisionVet]

Al Gore is nothing but a Farshtinkener Badhkin. What a Shmendrik! Oy, he has a lot of khutspe to go to Canada and badmouth them, their government and President Bush at the same time! What an Uber Golem!

[qam1]

Expect record cold & snow that day

[CaptRon]

basking in the warm afterglow of winning an Oscar for his blockbuster documentary

Algore did not win an Oscar. Davis Guggenheim, the producer, did. Al is not listed as a winner on the Oscar official site.

The fact that Al allows people to continue to believe that he won an Oscar says all you need to know about the man.

[driftless2]

It's not just Gore. I'll bet if we examined the energy usage of most of the Hollyweird libs who are singing in unison with Gore on energy waste, we'd find their energy habits as gross as Gore's. The lib motto: do as we say, not as we do.

[rod1]

What AlGore needs now is to face a few lawsuits concerning health damage brought by John Edwards types against the biggest polluting mine in the state of TN.

That might crimp his "style" just a bit. Partcularly if he were supenaed to testify or had to at least give a deposition.