Gore Launches $300 Million Climate Change Initiative

Former Vice President Al Gore is set to unveil a three-year, $300 million climate change campaign Wednesday, one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history, the Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports:

The Alliance for Climate Protection's "we" campaign will employ online organizing and television advertisements on shows ranging from "American Idol" to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." It highlights the extent to which Americans' growing awareness of global warming has yet to translate into national policy changes, Gore said in an hour-long phone interview last week. He said the campaign, which Gore is helping to fund, was undertaken in large part because of his fear that U.S. lawmakers are unwilling to curb the human-generated emissions linked to climate change.

"This climate crisis is so interwoven with habits and patterns that are so entrenched, the elected officials in both parties are going to be timid about enacting the bold changes that are needed until there is a change in the public's sense of urgency in addressing this crisis," Gore said. "I've tried everything else I know to try. The way to solve this crisis is to change the way the public thinks about it."

Private contributors have already donated or committed half the money needed to fund the entire campaign, he said. While Gore declined to quantify his contribution to the effort, he has devoted all his proceeds from the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," the best-selling companion book, his salary from the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and several international prizes, such as the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, which add up to more than a $2.7 million. Paramount Classics, the documentary's distributor, has pledged 5 percent of the film's profits to the group, and some of the money raised through the 2007 Live Earth concerts will help the campaign, along with Gore's proceeds from an upcoming book on climate change.

Keep reading.

Watch the new "we" campaign from the Alliance For Climate Protection:

Gore also made news over the weekend discussing the 2008 election cycle. Speaking to 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl on Sunday, former Vice President Al Gore said that Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are courting his endorsement. And many Democrats are looking to the former standard-bearer to help end the increasingly bitter Democratic primary fight. But Gore said "I'm not applying for the job of broker." Watch the exchange below:

Gore also touched on other subjects in his interview with Stahl.

Watch the former Vice President discuss the Supreme Court decision that handed George W. Bush the presidency:

Gore on those who don't believe in global warming:

And Gore also answered whether he would be running for another office in the future:

Click here to read Stahl's entire interview with Gore.

Comments

[peonyharp]

01:57 PM on 04/03/2008

"What Al Gore has set out to do is what scientists are not very good at - raising public awareness and instigating political action that would lead to remedies of the impending danger to all life. As such, there is no higher morality than preservation, continuation and betterment of all life on our planet. There is no higher or nobler cause. We should be thankful to Al Gore for his dedication to a cause that would not just improve conditions on our planet for us, but for generations to come."
~~HumeSkeptic

You stated this so eloquently, Hume. I am in complete agreement and appreciate that you've posted other comments re: Keeling, scientific research and evidence, and facts. With dedicated people like you, Mr. Gore, the IPCC and other notable environmental groups, we may stand a chance of halting, then reversing the damage we humans have done.

[ohiomark]

10:04 PM on 03/31/2008

I see censorship is alive and well hear on HuffPo.

All of my comments earlier in the day were deleted.

It's nice to know that liberals don't believe in free speech, they only believe in free "liberal speech".

[peacekitten]

05:49 PM on 03/31/2008

i would personally like to thank the huffpo censors who were on duty sometime between last night and this afternoon for censoring and scrubbing EVERY single comment i made to this thread in the wee hours of the morning. my comments concerned the high cost of energy, the fact that the energy industry commits illegal acts daily in order to fix prices, something they are specifically forbidden to do by law. evidence of this was presented to the public a couple of years ago in the form of a memo between conoco phillips and bp that was leaked to the press by someone inside the companies. my comments were germane to the topic that was being discussed by those of us who were awake at that hour, contained no profanity, and what is more, appeared to have been accepted at that time -after- having been vetted once by the "moderators," because they did in fact appear on this thread. i abided by every one of the rules, went through the process of "this comment is pending approval and won't be displayed until it is approved," saw my comments put up on the thread, and now today it is as though they never existed. some of the comments related to mine have also vanished into thin air.

what on earth made them decide to simply take them away today is a complete mystery. but then, blatant censorship doesn't require logic or fairness, now does it?

[Curt]

06:40 PM on 03/31/2008

It is nice to see that you are still alive. I have tried calling you. I thought we were friends. I am very saddened because I have been only left to wonder if you are a typical internet fake. I noted that you were still posting here after you moved, but yet you made no connect with me. Why is that?

[HumeSkeptic]

06:50 PM on 03/31/2008

It's pathetic what they have done to this place.

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

11:58 AM on 04/01/2008

AMEN. I don't know what angers me more: Refusing to allow a perfectly reasonable and/or well-sourced comment, or deleting it after the fact.

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

12:01 PM on 04/01/2008

Another thing - a let's see how long this comment lasts - whoever is doing the deleting has a DEFINITE agenda. This place must be a cesspool of spooks, because any time I call out Clinton, Gore, Paulson, whomever, on nefarious doings unacknowledged by the MSM - poof! away they go!

[Ozarks]

05:24 PM on 03/31/2008

Instead of this high flying glossy alleged "climate change campaign" Gore should go to Kansas and post his position in agreement with the Kansas Governor regarding stopping a 1,000 megawatt coal fired facility from being constructed. He should do the same regarding Iatan II in Missouri and any proposals for new coal fired plants. The $300 million climate change campaign would have more impact if aimed at specific future coal plants

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

05:01 PM on 03/31/2008

Notice to the censors on Huffpo: These threads become awfully boring once all the interesting stuff is deleted, leaving the brats to post their inane "nyah nyahs" at each other. I see perhaps 5 constructive comments here. What happened to the others?

[peacekitten]

05:50 PM on 03/31/2008

only the shadow knows........

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

04:57 PM on 03/31/2008

http://www.lindafrum.com/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=74


Linda Frum
National Post
http://www.lindafrum.com/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=74

Saturday, April 21, 2007

This Earth Day, Professor Richard Lindzen, an atmospheric physicist and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT, wants you to calm down. The Earth, he says, is in good shape." . . A leading critic on the theory of man-made global warming, Professor Lindzen has developed a reputation as America's anti-doom-andgloom scientist. And he's not, he says, as lonely as you might think.

(etc etc, too long to post here but I loved the last part)

Q What do you find to be the attitude among your MIT undergraduates on global warming?

A I find that they realize they don't know enough to reach judgments. They all realize that Gore's book was a sham. They appreciate that Michael Crichton at least included references.

Q That's encouraging. Because I find the indoctrination at schools to be pretty relentless. On a recent Grade 7 test my daughter was asked something to the effect of, "How are you going to educate your parents about global warming?"

A I know. It's straight out of Hitlerjugend.

Q Having said that, are there any behaviours we should be changing, as a society, in order to protect our planet?

A Yes. We should learn math and physics so we don't get fooled by this idiocy.

[BlueStateMan]

05:00 PM on 03/31/2008

The "National Post"?!????

.....please.

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

11:57 AM on 04/01/2008

The quotes are from atmospheric physicist and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT. Are you suggesting this man doesn't know what he's talking about? Who cares if it's the National Post?

[redisright]

03:17 PM on 03/31/2008

Did all the liberals here check in with master soros and get the talking points for the day?

[BlueStateMan]

03:22 PM on 03/31/2008

Lowering the bar again?

Pisspoor, you are.

[redisright]

03:33 PM on 03/31/2008

The bar was lowered when Hollywood bigshots like soros started funding vile hate filled websites like moveon.

[GhostintheMachine]

02:49 PM on 03/31/2008

All hail the great Goracle

[redisright]

02:18 PM on 03/31/2008

Everyone hear that thinks this is the first time the earth has warmed like this is a fool. The earths climate goes in cycles. Anyone here ever read about the ice age?????????? What is gore's plan?
Is he going to keep the earth at a stable temperature for the rest of this planets life?? This is a rediculous politically driven joke.

[HumeSkeptic]

02:29 PM on 03/31/2008

Another idiot trying to play scientist.

[redisright]

02:37 PM on 03/31/2008

seriously, please don't reproduce.

[bluesnot]

02:39 PM on 03/31/2008

Honestly. Apparently a fool is someone who realizes that explanations and solutions are not always simple.

[BlackbirdHighway]

02:22 AM on 04/01/2008

redisright, you are absolutely correct, but completely missing the point.

Yes, the Earth has been warming for the last 10,000 years. GRADUALLY warming. That is perfectly natural.

But when that same warming takes place in a hundred years, that's not natural. That's what we're doing, speeding up the warming 100 times faster than normal.

When you increase something 100 times, you don't just make it larger, you completely change the nature of the thing. Six inches of rain might cause some minor flooding, but take 60 inches and you've got wide spread disaster. Six hundred inches and you better have Noah's Ark on hand.

Driving though the school zone at 10 MPH is perfectly safe, but speeding though at 100 is extremely reckless. It's not even possible to drive at 1000, but if you could, it would not be good.

[abluevoice]

02:06 PM on 03/31/2008

Why doesn't somebody with access to Al Gore ask him this one simple question:

DON'T YOU THINK YOU COULD BE A MORE EFFECTIVE ADVOCATE FOR SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

[JulieSA]

02:42 PM on 03/31/2008

He's probably not going to run, no matter what. I'm surprised that no one ever mentions that McCain is the only candidate of the three who has actually sponsored global warming legislation, and he was just over in Europe talking with Euro leaders about it. This is one thing that the right wing really hates about him.

[redisright]

02:58 PM on 03/31/2008

McCain has the liberal media so confused its hysterical. him and jon stewart were best buds, now mccain won't be aloud on his show because he's a republican. Liberals are such tools.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

01:56 PM on 03/31/2008

You know whats funny... most of you same people are complaining about gas prices... then you wonder why?

[BlueStateMan]

02:02 PM on 03/31/2008

I don't wonder why.

They're being manipulated by the oil industry.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

02:08 PM on 03/31/2008

why should I complain, thats my stocks doing well in exxon moble

[greatbear451]

02:48 PM on 03/31/2008

Really? Al Gore is the cause of high gas prices? You mean he has that much power even though he holds no position in government or the oil the industry?

[Mort]

01:34 PM on 03/31/2008

How much of Gore's great plan involves us using his carbon erasing services for a fee?

And how come we never talk about Mother Nature's solution to CO2, trees?

[BlueStateMan]

01:48 PM on 03/31/2008

His plan for carbon neutrality is a stop-gap & and is a MINISCULE portion of the overall.

We DO talk about trees..... & the way they are being clear-cut from all of the earths rainforests (even the ones in North America).

Aren't you one of the flat-earthers who call environmentalists "tree-huggers", Mort?

[Mort]

07:02 PM on 03/31/2008

Why, are you a tree hugger? ;) I've used that term to describe a few fanatics who think more about plants and animals than they do people. That's not to say I don't think the environment isn't important or shouldn't be protected. I do.

You missed my point about Al, though. He has more than an altruistic interest in GW. He's making a fortune from it.

[cloudy]

01:31 PM on 03/31/2008

THIS YEAR, 2008, a MAJOR new development in the politics of global warming has occurred that, to date, I am unaware of Gore and other mainstream figures significantly addressing.

Jim Hansen, arguably the LEADING climatologist on global warming in the USA for the last 20+ years has concluded that not only is 80% reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, the goal espoused by mainstreamers such as Gore, Pelosi, etc. but even the far more ambitious goal of net "carbon neutrality" by 2030 set by Norway (but criticized for its loopholes).

Hansen has revealed that today, with atmospheric CO2 at 385 parts per million is already past the "tipping point" for melting the arctic ice in summer, with a feedback loop due to the fact that, as polar ice melts, the sea absorbs more heat that would be reflected by snow and ice, thus increasing warming and feeding a vicious cycle.

IN SHORT, NOTHING SHORT OF A REDUCTION FROM CURRENT LEVELS OF CO2, requiring NET NEGATIVE emissions of GHGs GLOBALLY and very soon, can get the world to a relatively safe and sustainable 300-350 parts CO2 per million (assuming no massive increase in other GHGs like methane, released by thawing tundra). NET NEGATIVE GHG EMISSIONS ASAP is the "inconvenient truth" that activists need to press on Gore and other mainstream figures, so that they stop advocating catastrophically INSUFFICIENT solutions to the global warming crisis.

[cloudy]

05:39 PM on 03/31/2008

For further info, check out the following link:

http://mwcnews.net/content/view/20133/42

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

01:17 PM on 03/31/2008

I see that science fiction movie "the inconvenient truth" did not work. So much for that multi million dollar infomercial

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

01:24 PM on 03/31/2008

And tell us again how well the surge is working...

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

01:33 PM on 03/31/2008

It would work better if it wasnt for people like you. Yes they have the internet too!

[StinkyPete]

01:13 PM on 03/31/2008

"I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view. They’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the earth is flat. That demeans them a little bit, but it’s not that far off," Gore said.

That Al Gore dismisses those who disagree in this manner discredits him.

The following doesn't read like what is expected from flat-earthers nor those who believe that Apollo was staged.

http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

01:22 PM on 03/31/2008

That's based on a paper by Arthur Robinson, who has zero background and experience in climate studies. His paper is worthless junk.

[BlueStateMan]

01:42 PM on 03/31/2008

What have you read?

[StinkyPete]

04:44 PM on 03/31/2008

And Al Gore?? Just what are his credentials?
The review paper is from a site constructing a petition and advertises 19,000 American scientists supporting the views of that paper and others available on that site. I bet there is not a flat-earther-apollo-denier among them.

I am not too thrilled with that review article for several reasons, but it has some merits. As a review article with a political aspect - who cares about A. Robinson? The UN has worse credibility issues.

As I recall an interview IPCC identified all natural cycles and subtracted them out of the present warming trend and were left with a residual that correlates with industrial activity. Has it stood up well against review and developments since it's release? Did they properly weigh the other factors? Did they properly add the errors in their analysis? Does the accumulated error contain the residual?

IMHO

The extent to which humans contribute to the present warming trend is still an open question - and more work remains to be done before launching panic driven programs.