Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Al Gore’s Recycled Doom
Media Research Center ^ | February 21, 2007 | L. Brent Bozell III

Posted on 02/21/2007 1:39:15 PM PST by Caleb1411

Al Gore may not have won the presidency (thank God), but over the last two years, he’s been given an enormous consolation prize by his friends on the left. He’s been designated as the Savior of the Planet.

First came the warm wave of supportive publicity surrounding his slide-show documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Katie Couric and Harry Smith and Oprah Winfrey all touted Gore as so warm, so vulnerable and self-effacing, and his predictions so impossibly scary. Last May, Gore and Couric sat together on a sunny day in Central Park and unspooled the doom. Manhattan would be under deep water soon if we don’t take drastic measures, they warned.

Now comes another warm wave of media smooches and applause with the news of his plan for an international set of “Live Earth” concerts to promote massive government action to curb humanity’s excessive reliance on energy. Impending global doom has become such a hip cause it’s now pushed by Cameron Diaz, Jon Bon Jovi, and a flock of other Hollywood astrophysicists, the homelessness issue having become passe.

Ever since the whole planet-panic kicked in around Earth Day 1970, there have been repeated predictions of impending doom, which didn’t exactly work out. When will someone in the media ever admit this?

Go back to 1989 and 1990. Instead of NBC’s Katie Couric handing the microphone over to Al Gore to lament how Manhattan’s about to go underwater, the same NBC network handed its microphone and camera crew directly to left-wing “Population Bomb” author Paul Ehrlich, awarding him large chunks of air time to imagine America losing the nation’s capital and the entire state of Florida.

In May of 1989, Ehrlich claimed, global warming was going to melt the polar ice caps, causing a flood in which "we could expect to lose all of Florida, Washington D.C., and the Los Angeles basin...we'll be in rising waters with no ark in sight." Ehrlich didn’t give a time frame, but his panicked report clearly suggested doom around the corner.

The panic was necessary to sell an extremely harsh “solution” of “enormous, rapid change.” Ehrlich commanded that to forestall doom, the world needed to cut its energy use in half over 20 years. Industrialization needed to be dragged to a screeching halt, not only in America, but especially in the Third World. Ehrlich felt the next generation of Americans should be denied the Earth-strangling prosperity of their parents, saying the world’s ecosystems “cannot support the spread of the American lifestyle to the Third World or even to the next generation of Americans."

Ehrlich was back on NBC in January 1990 to sell his “inconvenient truth” line again. This time, he gave a more concrete timeline. Antarctica’s ice sheets were slipping, and then “we'll be facing a sea-level rise not of one to three feet in a century, but of 10 or 20 feet in a much shorter time. The Supreme Court would be flooded. You could tie your boat to the Washington Monument. Storm surges would make the Capitol unusable.”

It’s been almost twenty years, we never cut our energy use in half, and Florida is still above water, not to mention D.C. and Los Angeles. We have yet to tie our boats to the Washington Monument. But the media are still handing over their microphones and their accolades to panicky predictions, with no apparent expectation that anyone will ever question their accuracy in a decade or two. How many decades do we wait to question these predictions?

Despite this, too many media outlets approach global warming with a surprising arrogance, insisting that all the facts are in and that anyone who seeks to confuse the public with dissent is too harmful to be heard. CBS reporter Scott Pelley scoffed “It would be irresponsible of us to go find some scientist somewhere” to cast doubt on the doomsayers. He went on to suggest any scientist who disagreed was probably paid off by fossil fuel interests.

Skeptics of global warming are even being compared to Holocaust deniers. It seems that climate science isn’t the only thing leftists monstrously exaggerate.

Don’t expect that in 2027, NBC will challenge Al Gore to explain why his “climate crisis” talk of Manhattan under water never occurred, it being assumed that NBC will still be broadcasting out of New York. By then, the torch of panic will be passed on to a new generation, which will no doubt also ignore the collapsed predictions of yesteryear as they pat themselves on the back as the vanguard of planetary compassion.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: doomeddoomed; givemeabreak; globalwarming; gore; manbearpig; media; wheresstossel
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

1 posted on 02/21/2007 1:39:17 PM PST by Caleb1411
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411

I wish I could be as wrong as Paul Ehrlich is all of the time and syill manage to keep my job.


2 posted on 02/21/2007 1:41:39 PM PST by incredulous joe (Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.  -Redd Foxx)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411
Don’t expect that in 2027, NBC will challenge Al Gore to explain why his “climate crisis” talk of Manhattan under water never occurred, it being assumed that NBC will still be broadcasting out of New York.

Big assumption. By 2027 I expect broadcasts will come directly from Mecca. ;-)

3 posted on 02/21/2007 1:44:58 PM PST by rhombus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411

I was thinking today. Gore wants to have a concert in Antartica in early July. Rush mentioned a while back "Oh yeah, how convenient that he's choosing the hottest month of the year for that".

But today I realised, in Antartica, that would be the coldest time of the year for that region. Hmmm... I wonder if Al Gore is stupid enough to have forgotten that.

Maybe it will be fun to watch LOL


4 posted on 02/21/2007 1:49:14 PM PST by tsowellfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411
I remember as a teenager seeing a film about the China famine. I forget which 'famine' but it was exacerbated by 1 of Mao's industrialization/political-reform programs. Mao -- ever the detail guy -- insisted that a major villain in the grain shortage facing China was the little sparrow. He prescribed that it was the duty of every Chinese peasant to trap, kill or harass-unto-death any seed-eating birds that they might see. I remember thinking to myself, "who would believe such unmitigated cr@p"? Now with the Media-fed Global Warming frenzy I finally understand.
5 posted on 02/21/2007 1:58:21 PM PST by Tallguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411; Killing Time; Beowulf; Mr. Peabody; RW_Whacko; honolulugal; gruffwolf; BlessedBeGod; ...

FReepmail me to get on or off

Click graphic for full GW rundown

Ping me if you find one I've missed.



Gore-on-the-grill again
6 posted on 02/21/2007 2:10:01 PM PST by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

Everyone please go to and send your friends, especially if any are "skeptics". to junkscience.com


7 posted on 02/21/2007 2:16:42 PM PST by abenaki
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: tsowellfan

Who would come and watch, penguins?

You generally tour Antarctica on a ship out of Argentina. You get to Argentina, of course, via plane. Travel options are just plain awful. Assuming you're going out of LAX, a cut-rate $1,867 per person (tourist class) and a pleasantly brief 23 hours and 39 minutes on a plane will get you to Ushuaia, Argentina (USH). First class travel is not available on this route, so be prepared for outright misery if you can't borrow a friend's Gulfstream V.

You take a 400 mile cruise, 2-3 days out of Ushuaia, and wind up in the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic penninsula. so out of your 10 days on the cruise, you're only spending 6-7 of them (depending on conditions) in Antarctica itself. Congratulations!

All of this costs a measley $3,360 for 10 days, plus the airfare I've already quoted.

http://www.iexplore.com/expmap/Antarctica/52203

Now, I can't help but think that Steve Jobs will probably let Gore borrow his Gulfstream V jet and so transportation might not be much of a problem for him (or Steve if Steve wants to go).

But after reviewing those facts, it seems like utter madness to even attempt any kind of concert in Antarctica. That's what I thought before i looked it up and, well, I still think that now :-).

Perhaps he will charter a cruise ship and have the concert there? It would be an awfully expensive and uncomfortable junket. I just don't see it being economic as anything but a publicity stunt.

D


8 posted on 02/21/2007 2:23:31 PM PST by daviddennis (If you like my stuff, please visit amazing.com, my new social networking site!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411; tsowellfan

Caleb, be sure to check out my previous post if you want to know details about travel to Antarctica.

I wanted to mention one more thing, which is that the $3,360 is for the lousiest accomodation on the ship and does not include a "local payment" of $300.

More typical accomodations are in the $6,000 per person range, but it's only money, right?

Right?

I'm sorry, guys, but I think I'll stick to the tropics for my vacations. Not only is it cheaper, it's, well, warmer. i'm all for global warming if it can only make my life more comfortable, personally ... maybe if it gets warm enough down there I'll want to visit someday.

D

PS This is the cheap tour. The most expensive one on a fancier ship cost $6,000 to a mind-boggling $13,000 per person! However, you get cheaper airfare on that trip, from $910 (Tourist) to $4,400 (first class).


9 posted on 02/21/2007 2:32:49 PM PST by daviddennis (If you like my stuff, please visit amazing.com, my new social networking site!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411
"I'm not really a climatologist, I just play one in a movie silly! "


10 posted on 02/21/2007 2:37:31 PM PST by TexasCajun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411

I've always been concerned that global warming would cause penguins to stampede through my yard. Good thing the alligators migrating from Florida will keep them in check.


11 posted on 02/21/2007 2:45:52 PM PST by sergeantdave (Consider that nearly half the people you pass on the street meet Lenin's definition of useful idiot)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411

Apparently the University of Minnesota is going to award Gore an honary doctorate degree so we will now have to call him Dr. Gore, appropriate huh.


12 posted on 02/21/2007 2:58:23 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tsowellfan
Gore wants to have a concert in Antartica in early July.

My first thought, when I heard this, was to wonder if the moron didn't even know that July was a Winter month in the Southern Hemisphere.

13 posted on 02/21/2007 3:05:37 PM PST by 3niner (War is one game where the home team always loses.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: incredulous joe
I wish I could be as wrong as Paul Ehrlich is all of the time and syill manage to keep my job.

It helps if you are a darling of the leftwing crackpot and a tenured college perfesser. They don't care about accuracy, or even facts--only the Cause.

14 posted on 02/21/2007 3:56:37 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411

Also check out the book "Ecoscience" written by Erlich in the 70's. It's full of nonsense that was fashionable then.


15 posted on 02/21/2007 4:38:02 PM PST by omnivore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 3niner
"Gore wants to have a concert in Antartica in early July.
My first thought, when I heard this, was to wonder if the moron didn't even know that July was a Winter month in the Southern Hemisphere."

Not only that, but according to reports from Australia, the Southern Hemisphere isn't even getting "global warming" at all. It's really "Northern Hemisphere Warming" that is happening. The ice thickness, etc., on Antarctica is holding steady or even growing.

Let's have some naming suggestions for Algore's Antarctic Concert.

Woodstock On Ice

And by the way, people who go to Antarctica are supposed to refrain from trashing the place while they're visiting. How will that play with the typical "rock festival" crowd? Are penguins okay with beer-puke?
16 posted on 02/21/2007 4:45:05 PM PST by omnivore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: omnivore
It's not only winter there in July, but it's the middle of their several months of complete darkness, if they're much south of the Antarctic Circle.

How many generators would they have to run, to set up any kind of "concert" in the 24-hour darkness of Antarctic winter?
17 posted on 02/21/2007 4:50:14 PM PST by omnivore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Caleb1411
This looks like the face of a drinker, a big drinker.


18 posted on 02/21/2007 5:10:13 PM PST by jws3sticks (Hillary can take a very long walk on a very short pier, anytime, and the sooner the better!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: texianyankee; JayB; ElkGroveDan; markman46; palmer; Bahbah; Paradox; FOG724; Mike Darancette; ...
DOOMAGE!

Global Warming PING!

You have been pinged because of your interest in environmentalism, alarmist wackos, mainstream media doomsday hype, and other issues pertaining to global warming.

Freep-mail DaveLoneRanger to get on or off: Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to all note-worthy threads on global warming.

Is U.S. near a tipping point on global warming?

Aim for low world warming despite hardship: scientist

Global Warming on FreeRepublic

Mr. Spitzer’s Chance on Warming

Fakery!

Authors Win Spooner Award

More Ice for Your Shasta

Global Warming Skeptics

EPA Seeks Comment On US Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Is Al Gore About To Receive an Honorary Doctorate in Climatology?

An Inconvenient Chilling Effect

International Group Sets Plan To Curb Global Warming

A Battle Over the Costs of Global Warming

A lighter look at global warming and other prophecies of doom

New winds on climate

A Europe Divided over Climate Policy

COOL AID: The National Carbon Test

EU environment ministers meet to agree 20 percent cut in CO2 by 2020

Russia, Kyoto Protocol And Climate Change

Aerosols: The Last Frontier?

2006 Was China's Hottest Year In A Half-Century

Latest from Global Warming News Site

Latest from CO2 Science

19 posted on 02/21/2007 5:41:08 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (The Republican primary field SUCKS!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tsowellfan
But today I realized, in Antarctica, that would be the coldest time of the year for that region.

Denier! Do not doubt the power of Global WarmingTM to make this possible!

20 posted on 02/21/2007 6:04:57 PM PST by GATOR NAVY (Naming CVNs after congressmen and mediocre presidents burns my butt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson