Gore's Global Warming Speech Gets Icy Rebuke

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 1/16/04 | Melanie Hunter

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - Former Vice President Al Gore's speech on global warming Thursday is getting booed by a public policy research group, after the Democrat called the president a "moral coward" who abandoned the public's environmental interests to placate his financial supporters.

Gore made his speech to a crowd at New York's Beacon Theater on the coldest day in the city in decades. He said at times it seems "the Bush-Cheney administration is wholly owned by the coal, oil, utility and mining industries."

"While President Bush likes to project an image of strength and courage, the real truth is that in the presence of his large financial contributors, he is a moral coward," the former vice president said.

Gore also took the administration to task for its efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. He accused the White House of gutting environmental laws and not doing anything to prevent global warming.

But the National Center for Public Policy Research, one of Gore's many critics, said "the speech is full of demagoguery, misleading statements, formulations intended to deceive, unsupported allegations of wrongdoing and hypocrisy."

"From a scientific and environmental perspective, Al Gore's speech today should be ignored. No serious policy person could give the speech Al Gore gave today," said Amy Ridenour, the center's president.

"It is impossible to draw any conclusion other than that Gore is keeping his options open for a future presidential run, and is throwing red meat at the left-wing activist base of the Democratic Party in order to keep his presidential hopes alive," Ridenour added. "Time constraints forbid one from commenting on all the speech's inaccuracies."

Ridenour said "the science on global warming is not settled. Even the models and theories of those who support the theory disagree with one another. Climate science is too complex to be settled."

In challenging Gore's claims, she said the Democrat failed to fight for the Kyoto Protocol during the Clinton administration.

"But if Gore believes the science is settled, why didn't the Clinton-Gore Administration submit the Kyoto global warming treaty to the Senate for ratification? Gore condemns Bush for not supporting a treaty Bush believes is harmful and unnecessary -- yet Gore, holding the opposite view, didn't fight for it where it counted," Ridenour said.

Instead, she believes, Gore is using the speech as "an opportunity to troll for votes, yet he hypocritically tells his audience that those who disagree with him have been bought by industry."

"The 'bought by industry' canard is a nice applause line for politicians to use while addressing a left-wing crowd and convenient way to undermine those who sincerely disagree without actually debating the merits of the case," Ridenour added.

"For the record, there is more money available to those on Gore's politically-correct side of the global warming issue. The money and power whores tend to be with Gore. And a serious man wouldn't be afraid to seriously examine the scientific merits of the global warming case," she added.

Ridenour also pointed out that Gore "intentionally deceived his listeners by leaving the most important facts out."

"Listen to Gore and you'd suppose the Clinton-Gore administration regulated mercury emissions from power plants, while Bush eliminated or loosened the regulation," she said.

"In fact, the Clinton-Gore Administration DID NOT regulate mercury emissions from power plants, despite eight years in office. It just talked about doing so. Bush is actually doing it. Gore's actual complaint is that he would have written the rule differently. Why did he waste eight years?" Ridenour asked.

See Earlier Story:
On A Cold Day, Gore Blasts 'Global Warming'

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

[capt. norm]

The coldest day of the decade hitting at just the right time could be more than just a coincidence. I'm starting to think maybe the Almighty is pi$$ed at Algore.

You can only attribute about so much to bad luck and if you look at what's been happening to Gore, he makes Homer Simpson look like "Mr. Lucky".

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Great article, but here's Gore's reply:

"FACTS??? We don't need no stinkin' FACTS!!!!!"

[samtheman]

Didn't he invent the internet?

[Publius6961]

He accused the White House of gutting environmental laws and not doing anything to prevent global warming.

That damned Bush has utterly failed to do prevent tides, tornadoes, earthquakes and a whole panoply of natural processes, the unconscious twit!

[BadAndy]

Bush is being called a "moral coward" by a moral reprobate. It's too funny.

[freeangel]

Gore is a hoot with impeccable timing as usual. He should try comedy as a career.

[katana]

The Gore family was bought and paid for decades ago by Armand Hammer and Occidental Petroleum. At least as of the 2000 election he still owned a very large number of shares in the company and Gore Sr. (defender of segregation and opponent of the Civil Rights Act) was rewarded after leaving the Senate with a position on Occidental's board. Combine that with an EPA judgement against Gore for environmental damage caused by the zinc strip mine on his farm and you'll have a small inkling of how this POS and his family really operate.

[ValerieUSA]

I think Algore should pray with his wealthy Buddhist priest friends to reverse global warming. That ought to ruin George Bush's day.

[Mo1]

"But if Gore believes the science is settled, why didn't the Clinton-Gore Administration submit the Kyoto global warming treaty to the Senate for ratification? Gore condemns Bush for not supporting a treaty Bush believes is harmful and unnecessary -- yet Gore, holding the opposite view, didn't fight for it where it counted," Ridenour said.

He was too busy drinking ice tea?

[OldFriend]

Were you unaware of the Occidental Petroleum connection to Gore's father and to Gore himself?

[daybreakcoming]

While VP, Gore was verrrrrrrrry instrumental in helping Occidental buy the Elk Hills (Federal property and burial place for Kitanemuk Indian tribe) drilling rights. For more details on Gore's part in this~~http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=468

[Don Corleone]

Gore made his speech to a crowd at New York's Beacon Theater on the coldest day in the city in decades

<

Too funny for words.....!

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>>>>>>>>In fact, the Clinton-Gore Administration DID NOT regulate mercury emissions from power plants, despite eight years in office. It just talked about doing so. Bush is actually doing it. Gore's actual complaint is that he would have written the rule differently. Why did he waste eight years?" Ridenour asked.

Which proves what I've believed about liberals on the environment all along. They want to discuss the environment. They want it to be an issue. When it comes to actually fixing any problems. No way. That takes the issue off the table and then they have nothing left to discuss anymore.

[Wright is right!]

NBC News - and probably the other two broadcast nets - took the opportunity to run big clips of Alghour's speech as a major story, and changed the focus of the speech and its contemporaneous irony from "global warming" (on the coldest day in NYC in 50 years) to Bush-bashing. They also showed clips from two people in environmental organizations who agreed with him. But they offer NO sound bites from the other side. In fact, the first 12 minutes of last nights cast were as concerted a Bush-bashing extravaganza as I've seen mounted in some time. Every story, no matter what it was about, was anti Bush.

To NBC's credit, they DID SHOW Alghour, and his physical appearance is becoming, well, ghoulish. He looked pallid, and with his hair slicked straight back showing a distinct widow's peak and lighted from above with a straw keylight, he looked like he was straight out of The Addams Family. And his style of speaking has become even more repulsive than it was in 2000.

It really was amazing that NBC could run this clip and, with a straight face, ignore the obvious gaffe of delivering a speech on global warming on the coldest day in 50 years. But they're pros.

Michael

[Wright is right!]

Yes, it WAS too funny for words. But the networks completely ignored the delicious irony and, with a straight face, proceeded to give the speech big chunks of air time. Shameless.

Michael

[I got the rope]

Yessir. Don't forget Island Creek Coal Co.

[EdReform]

"the speech is full of demagoguery, misleading statements, formulations intended to deceive, unsupported allegations of wrongdoing and hypocrisy."

Of course it is! Typical Al Gore...

[I got the rope]

See #38. Yes. Occidental also bought the Elk Hills Oil Reserve from the Navy in 95 or 96. Al Gore is a liar and a POS.