Al Gore

Against climate polluters

From The New York Times's Nicholas Kristof ($ub req'd):

I ran into Al Gore at a climate/energy conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.

"We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources.

"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."

Say it, Al! But it's not just young people who need to do it -- everyone needs to join in, starting with you. Shutting down coal plants, blockading palm-oil importers like Imperium Renewables and other rainforest destroyers, and stopping work at oil refineries could move the climate debate beyond just personal action and put the spotlight squarely on the big polluters who are the real culprits behind the problem.

This could be Al Gore's Gandhi moment (especially appropriate for a Nobel Peace Prize nominee). It would be great if you (in conjunction with say, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and other civil disobedience-oriented environmental groups) announced a day of civil disobedience to confront polluters -- and were the first one to get arrested. You'll find thousands of people, myself included, to back you up.

If you're interested in being one of those people, click here to send Al Gore a fax letting him know you're ready to participate in civil disobedience on behalf of the planet.

They just keep coming

There is constant drumbeat of accusations of hypocrisy against Al Gore for using offsets. Although the people who do this sort of thing are aiming for the lizard brain, I suppose it is worth pointing out that it is an obviously bogus accusation.

Look, I'm an offset critic. I think offsets are one of the biggest wrong turns we can make in fighting environmental destruction, especially global warming. Al Gore, on the other hand, is a strong advocate of offsets. He helped get them into the Kyoto treaty. If I were to buy offsets, I would be a hypocrite -- acting against my beliefs. When Al Gore buys offsets he is acting according to his beliefs. Regardless of whether those beliefs are right or wrong, no hypocrisy is involved.

It’s all about coal

More from James Hansen's email:

Al Gore does both

Both: “What we’re facing worldwide really is a planetary emergency,” Gore said. “I’m optimistic, but we’re losing this battle badly.” That’s in an article about Al Gore at the Aspen Institute. It’s going to take a 90-percent decrease in carbon emissions from developed fossil fuel guzzlers like the U.S. and a 50-percent decrease worldwide to […]

The continuing quest to find something, anything to bash Gore with

People magazine reports that Al Gore’s daughter Sarah just got married, revealing in the course of the article that Chilean sea bass was served at the rehearsal dinner. In the Daily Telegraph, Australian Humane Society Rebecca Keeble writes that “only one week after Live Earth, Al Gore’s green credentials slipped.” Why? Because Chilean sea bass […]

Your intrepid Grist correspondent sweats through an arena concert, so you don’t have to

Don't ever say we never did anything for you. On Saturday, while you were cavorting in the surf, grilling organic free-range meat on the barbecue (or is that barbecuing meat on the grill?), or kicking back with a good book in the sweet, sweet air conditioning, Grist was sweating at Live Earth New York. Er, New Jersey. Whatever.

We suffered through sets by Ludacris, Melissa Etheridge, Roger Waters, and the Police to report back -- to YOU, dear Grist reader -- from the front lines of global eco-activism.

Or something like that.

Check back soon for my report from the scene of Live Earth at Giants Stadium on 7/7/07.

Check it out

If not, here it is.

Man that's cool. I wish we had one of Chip standing on his head.

An editorial in the NYT

Al Gore: … we should demand that the United States join an international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy Earth. … We should aim to complete this global […]

Predicts rabbit out of hat in three years, too

Here's a film clip of Al Gore making a firm prediction that "next generation ethanol" not dependent on corn or food crops will move out of the lab in "three years."

He discusses the energy balance question, fails to question the use of coal for process heat, and suggests that there is some sort of "distribution network" that's going to be built.

Sad.