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CARTHAGE, Tenn. - Al Gore has profited from zinc mining that has released millions of pounds of potentially toxic substances near his farmstead, but there is no evidence the mine has caused serious damage to the environment in the area or threatened the health of his neighbors. Two massive white mountains of leftover rock waste are evidence of three decades of mining that earned Gore more than $500,000 in royalty payments for the mineral rights to his property. New owners plan to start mining again later this year, after nearly four years of inactivity. In addition to bringing 250 much-needed...

KEYSTONE — Global warming is the hottest story of our time, and it will get even bigger as the full implications of melting ice caps and rising sea levels percolate through the media pipeline and into general public awareness, a panel of journalists said last weekend during the American Bar Association's environmental law conference. The discussion was focused on how the media has covered the story and whether or not public perception of global warming has changed in recent months and years. Among the questions the panelists tried to answer is why it has taken so long for the story...

Al Gore, who aspires to be Mr. Reddy Kilowatt himself, and David Cameron, the grassy-green leader of Britain's Conservatives, are calling in reinforcements. But only each other. Al will take his Sunday-best "earth tones" to London this week to address the Tory shadow Cabinet, a collection of wannabes who would be the actual Cabinet if the Tories could figure out a way to dislodge Tony Blair's Labor government. Mr. Cameron, willing to try everything, wants Al to tell them how to paint Britain a deeper shade of green.

Some neuro-scientists see evidence that man is genetically hard-wired to be disposed to religious conviction. If this is so, it might explain why amongst even the French — the most secular culture on Earth — only 25 percent claim to be atheists, and a full 60 percent believe in a spiritual component to life. It might also explain why the environmental movement tends to veer toward a religious, rather than a scientific, sensibility. This oft-observed aspect to environmentalism in general, and global warmingism in particular, has been shrewdly analyzed in a new book, "The Future of Everything: The Science of...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Gore is garnering wide praise following his documentary's win at last night's Academy Awards -- even from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Asked in a press briefing Monday what he thought about Al Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," winning an Oscar, Snow said, "I'm happy for him," and mused, "It's good to have a second career."

Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Albert Arnold Gore, will be the toast of Hollywood at this weekend’s self-congratulatory soiree known as the Academy Awards. Gore, whose failure to carry his “home” state of Tennessee cost him the 2000 presidential election, has recast himself as the populist pope of eco-theology and the titular head of the green movement’s developmentally arrested legions. The doughy darling of Leftcoast glitterati has received two Oscar nominations for a junk-science production called “An Inconvenient Truth,” a pseudo-documentary born of the wildly improbable pop film “The Day After Tomorrow.” Gore’s “Truth,” however, is even stranger than the Hollywood...

He's a former Vice-President of the United States. His movie, "An Inconvenient Truth", is up for an Oscar. And he's the poster boy for the environment - printed on recycled paper of course. All of which is making Al Gore a hot ticket in Toronto. The American politician turned environmentalist came to the U. of T. Wednesday night for a long awaited speech, and there were throngs of fans to greet him. So were ticket scalpers, who are seeing a different type of green. Reports indicate more than 20,000 people were trying to get their hands on a ducat for...

The green prince has found an uncritical audience for his message. Feted in Philadelphia, honoured in New York, Prince Charles's East Coast weekend appears to have re-cast the heir to the throne in a new role. While Americans have always been entranced by the gleam of royalty - even if they would not choose it for themselves - America's willingness to hear the Prince's message on environmental issues suggests that he has a voice here in the former colony that is drowned out in the convolution of royal goings-on at home. Americans are not interested in the obvious eco-contradictions of...

A new worldwide movement backed by celebrities, musicians, politicians and business leaders is aiming to reverse the effects of global warming over the next decade. Global Cool launched in London and LA today and is calling on one billion people to reduce their carbon emissions by just one tonne a year, for the next 10 years

When did "Climate Change" replace "Global Warming"?So the Democrats in Congress are taking up "climate change". I must've heard that phrase "climate change" a dozen times in the news reports, but I don't think I heard the phrase "global warming" a single time. Are the liberals so afraid of the reaction to the phrase "global warming" that they are now shying away from it? When did this happen? Did I miss the memo?

Scientists long have issued the warnings: The modern world's appetite for cars, air conditioning and cheap, fossil-fuel energy spews billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, unnaturally warming the world. Yet, it took the dramatic images of a hurricane overtaking New Orleans and searing heat last summer to finally trigger widespread public concern on the issue of global warming. Climate scientists might be expected to bask in the spotlight after their decades of toil. The general public now cares about greenhouse gases, and with a new Democratic-led Congress, federal action on climate change may be at hand. Problem...

Who says politics is show business for ugly people? "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's film on the perils of global warming, scored two Oscar nominations Tuesday - for best documentary feature and best original song. While he is not technically a nominee - the film's director, David Guggenheim, won the nod, as did singer Melissa Etheridge for the song "I Need to Wake Up" - Gore said he was "thrilled" that his movie was honored. "The film . . . has brought awareness of the climate crisis to people in the United States and all over the world," Gore said...

Chilly northern Europe could reap big benefits from global warming, while the Mediterranean faces crippling shortages of both water and tourists by the middle of the century, according to the first comprehensive study of its effects on the continent. Fewer in the north would die of cold, crops there would boom and the North Sea coast could become the new Riviera, an analysis to be approved by the European Commission next week shows. But the annual migration of rich northern Europeans to the south could stop – with dramatic consequences for the economies of Spain, Greece and Italy. A sixth...

See for example this thread first. Some enviros o'er at Berkeley Have made a last stand in a tree! I admire their spunk Sitting in a tree trunk But what happens when they have to pee?

Off-roaders, environmentalists vie for canyon near Death Valley By GILLIAN FLACCUS,12/18/06 00:52:32 Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels within its soaring, whitewashed walls: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. These treasures have attracted visitors going back decades - and now they're at the heart of a legal battle between two modern foes, off-road drivers and environmentalists. Five years ago environmentalists successfully sued to get the narrow canyon and its spring-fed waterfalls closed to vehicles. In response, more than 80 off-roaders...

Islamofascism, not warming, the enemy By: BOB KOWELL - Commentary Recently, Al Gore stated that the Iraq war was "the worst strategic mistake in the entire history of the United States" and "worse than a civil war." These statements suggest that our Civil War was also a strategic blunder. Do his statements mean that freeing Southern black slaves was wrong and that trying to free the people of Iraq from a tyrant was wrong, as well? Iraq was more of a threat to world peace than the Southern states. Even though the South attacked Fort Sumter first, they thought the...

WHO? All Men and Women, you and everyone you know. WHERE? Everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with weapons of mass destruction. WHEN? Winter Solstice Day - Friday, December 22nd, at the time of your choosing, in the place of your choosing and with as much privacy as you choose. WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy ( a Synchronized Global Orgasm. There are two more US fleets heading for the Persian Gulf with anti-submarine equipment that can only be for use against...

Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum seem unlikely criminals. Well-educated young women passionate about environmental causes, they share a love of the outdoors and similar backgrounds. Both grew up in Spokane and attended the same public high school. Those who know Phillabaum call her bright, outspoken, sometimes in-your-face but never dull. She was a skilled debater in high school and college and once worked for a well-regarded non-profit that promotes sustainable agriculture. Kolar Kolar studied under one of the nation's top atmospheric scientists while pursuing a doctoral degree and had the makings of a good scientist, her adviser said, but her...

Fears that major fireworks shows may be polluting the Pacific Ocean could dampen pyrotechnics displays along the California coast. A threatened lawsuit by an environmental group prompted SeaWorld San Diego to scrap its fireworks shows for the rest of the year, and beach cities are wondering if heightened scrutiny by state regulators will make fireworks for the Fourth of July and other traditional celebrations Environmentalists "are pushing the envelope and, yes, it will be troublesome for any agency firing over water," said Dusty Crane, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, which shoots fireworks off Marina...

CHICAGO - These are dangerous times for waterfowl in Chicago. With the city’s ban on foie gras — a delicacy made of duck and goose liver — days away from going into effect, upscale restaurants in the city are serving it up like never before. They’ve put together special menus featuring it in course after course — searing it, chilling it, throwing it into salads and turning it into sauce. At the same time, foie gras (pronounced fwah-GRAH) enthusiasts are cooking up a lawsuit to keep it on menus or put it back after the ban takes effect Aug. 22,...