Al Gore Asks Bloggers For Help

AUSTIN, Tex. -- Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, was asked a question here at a bloggers conference about energy. Ms. Pelosi glanced at her BlackBerry, noting that she had an e-mail message from a friend on that very subject.

With that, the voice of former Vice President Al Gore came over the public address system, as if reading the e-mail message: "Dear Nancy." This created a sea of quizzical looks in the audience, then gasps, cheers and a standing ovation as Mr. Gore strode on stage.

The surprise appearance produced the first electric moment at the conference, the Netroots Nation, an ever-widening group of progressive bloggers whose major interests -- the war in Iraq, the environment and technology -- mesh well with Mr. Gore's current pursuits. Indeed, many in the crowd of about 3,000, most of whom are supporting Senator Barack Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, were overheard saying they wished Mr. Gore were running for president.

As waves of cheers washed over the cavernous convention center, Mr. Gore said to Ms. Pelosi, "We ought to take that act on the road."

"We are on the road," she replied.

"Well, I feel right at home here, I'll tell you," he said.

Mr. Gore, later answering questions from the audience, said he would not accept a role in the next administration. The best use of his talent and experience, he said, is "to focus on trying to enlarge the political space" within which politicians can address the climate crisis.

"I have seen firsthand how important it is to have a base of support out in the country for the truly bold changes that have to be made now," he said, noting that is why he intends to devote his life to bringing about "a sea change in public opinion."

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He repeated the challenge he issued to the country on Thursday to produce 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy and clean, carbon-free sources within 10 years. And he called on the bloggers to help achieve that goal, saying they were on the leading edge of reclaiming democracy for the grass roots.

Read The Full Story Here, but first . . .

Huffington Post is also asking for help--YOUR HELP--please leave your vote HERE for the most important people and issues of environmentalism today.

For More On Al Gore's Fight Against Global Warming:
::Gore Makes "Moon Shot" Environmental Challenge
:: Watch! An Inconvenient Truth The Opera
:: Gore Surprises Netroots Nation, Says Not Eager To Serve In Obama Cabinet (VIDEO)
And Read Gore's Recent Call To Action: A Generational Challenge to Repower America

Bloggers On Gore . . .
:: Christine Pelosi : Al Gore's Call for Carbon Free Electricity
:: Andy Posner: My Challenge to America: Don't Ignore Gore's Speech
:: J.S. McDougall: Gore's Goal: What You and I Can Do
:: A Siegel: Can We Do It? Yes We Can!

Comments

[Mildmannered]

Al Gore"s Personal Electricity Consumption Up 10% Despite "Energy-Efficient" Renovations
Energy guzzled by Al Gore"s home in past year could power 232 U.S. homes for a month

[Nooooorm]

Published on Monday, September 12, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
On Katrina, Global Warming
Speech given by Al Gore

"Last year we had a lot of hurricanes. Last year, Japan set an all-time record for typhoons: ten, the previous record was seven. Last year the science textbooks had to be re-written. They said, "It's impossible to have a hurricane in the south Atlantic." We had the first one last year, in Brazil. We had an all-time record last year for tornadoes in the United States, 1,717 - largely because hurricanes spawned tornadoes. Last year we had record temperatures in many cities. This year 200 cities in the Western United States broke all-time records. Reno, 39 days consecutively above 100 degrees."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/5693436.html

"The hurricane expert, Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, unveiled a novel technique for predicting future hurricane activity this week. The new work suggests that, even in a dramatically warming world, hurricane frequency and intensity may not substantially rise during the next two centuries.

The research, appearing in the March issue of Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is all the more remarkable coming from Emanuel, a highly visible leader in his field and long an ardent proponent of a link between global warming and much stronger hurricanes.

His changing views could influence other scientists."

Is global warming causing hurricane frequency or intensity to increase or not?

[philobama]

People have some reason to be upset with Gore because Live Earth was silly, Newt and Nancy in a couch take us nowhere as Newt now says with offshore drilling, and his 10,000 sf house for two plus office. Sure, he has backed off his comments from President Bush as he did on Sunday on Meet the Press, and he has now befriended just about every wayward soul. Yes, Laurie David gave him the Oscar chance, and the IPCC provided the Nobel base. But he has believed for well over 20 years. Do I wish he were Ghandi or Mother Therea? Yes, I do. But only because I think that is what has a chance of convincing all of America, and speak the many languages of China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc. with respect and influence. But he seems not or at least not up to the effort. I am not optimistic and really not even hopeful as David Orr, one of the most insightful commentators offers these lenses to consider our plight. We shall try, though, human as we are.

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

Fumes-

Interesting. I see your point.

I will have to research it more, but I believe the CO2 cycle is a much longer cycle than the vapor cycle. There is only so much CO2 that can be scrubbed by the oceans surface, and that can be absorbed by the plant life. Whereas the capacity of air to hold water is a direct result of the temperature of the air (ie warmer air can hold more water)(). Furthermore, once that burdened air cools either in the upper atmosphere or in change of weather it condenses and falls back to earth. And this cycle occurs much faster than the carbon cycle.

I believe this is why they call water vapor the multiplier in Global Warming. It is a shorter cycle, has a bigger effect on the temperature, its density is more geographically variable, and its amount is dependent on several factors, including the temperature of the air.

So I believe the thinking goes, even if we did trap the vapor at the muffler or cooling tower the long term affect of a rise in CO2 will still warm the planet, and the large oceans would still evaporate tons of vapor into the atmosphere, and that rate would increase over time.

Now if we trapped all the CO2 that we are emmitting, the water vapor levels would stay the same and the affect of warming from man produced greenhouse gasses would also remain the same.

[fumes]

hi onevoice! my original reply to you was banned with the reason ''this post has already been posted''. so this is take #2: since the last ice age 12,000 years ago, atmospheric co2 has remained the same at about 260 ~ 280 ppmv. the earth warms naturally without any help from co2, google latent heat of vaporization and condensation. the vapor cycle is constantly refreshing itself and the more heat vapor traps, the more vapor it produces, with no help from co2 at all. sunlight and enough h2o is all this earth needs to carry on from ice age to no ice and back again. get enough clouds blocking sunlight, and cooling rain and the process reverses itself. enough h2o is now in the atmosphere to cause the increased frequency, and severity of storms that we are witnessing. we're not as important to the natural changes in climate as we like to think, and certainly co2 is not to be feared. ha ha, but then i could be wrong onevoice!

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

Hi Fumes- that is a strange banning reason. Glad you got through the second time.

I think you have hit upon the complication of global warming, that there are many forces at work here and determining which ones are at play now versus past warming and cooling periods. I am very comfortable with latent and sensible heat. Evaporation and condensation are naturally occurring, and in great rates. CO2 emission is as well, perhaps not as massively. Evaporation forms clouds which reflect the suns radiation back to space somewhat dampening the warming effect. CO2 allows the radiation to pass through but then blocks the heat on its return. There isn't a natural balancing mechanism in CO2 concentrations like there is with water vapor. The balancing mechanism for it are overloaded. The oceans can absorb a specific amount as well as the plant life. If we introduce more than this the concentrations in the atmosphere go up. If we introduce more water vapor increased cloud coverage forms reducing the amount of heat received from the sun.

Well this is how I see it. I don't know the actual numbers of these amounts I am just inferring this based on what I do know and what I hear from scientists.

Even so I believe a reduction in fossil fuel burning serves other purposes, not just climatic ones.

[mergina]

No one voice can do it alone. I bow to Gore and love him dearly for smacking us all into a wake up call that is decades late, but he needs all the help he can get. Bloggers. Actors. Musicians. Writers. Artists. Doctors. Lawyers. Teachers. Mechanics. CEO's. Farmers. Scientists. Students. Politicians? (I suppose, Politicians too). and on and on and on.

It is amazing how naive Americans seem when we all stand to lose SO MUCH when we have altered this ONLY home we have to a point where we are fighting for our very survival as a species.

[research]

Look folks, as I see it, global warming is now completely irrelevant. Because we a being jerked around by oil and gas shortages, we HAVE to switch to wind and solar, because oil isn't cutting it anymore. Wind is cheaper to install the nukes of coal, and fuel is free forever. See my profile.

[CrzyRussell]

Ok, how are you going to meet our energy need with just wind and solar??? We will need petroleum and nuclear for at leat the next 30 years. Whatever we do must be economically sustainable also.

[research]

can you read?

[yngcelt]

Considering all of Al Gore's hypocrisy when it comes to how he refuses to practice what he preaches, the fact is that anyone who even posts on the internet while claiming to "do whatever they can" to help the planet is in fact a hypocrite.
Consider the computer you are using to post here. It is made of man-made materials in processes that pollute the environment and shipped to stores in trucks, planes and boats that spew out pollution while burning fossil fuels. They use electriticity that is most likely provided by dams that choke up rivers and alter the natural landscape or from plants that burn fossil fuels to provide electricity.
Consider the home you live in that was built from wood stripped from the land and shipped to the site on the backs of more pollution spewing trucks and built by workers who most likely drove their own diesel burning trucks to built your home.
Look at the clothes you wear. Unless you grow your own cotton, hemp or sillk you most likely bought your clothes from a store who bought them from a company that produces them in factories and shipped in the same aforementioned trucks.

[DKLA]

What's your point?
Leave things as they are? Just hope for the best? Isn't that what we've been doing?
WHY DO YOU HATE AL GORE? because he was actually elected?, not selected??

[yngcelt]

1. My point is that if someone is going to point fingers and tell others how to live their lives then they should set the example.

2. I am not saying that we should "leave things as they are". My family and I are doing our part by growing our own organic garden, composting, recycling, conserving energy by doing laundry on certain days, watering our garden in the morning and late afternoon so as not to waste water and conserve gasoline by taking one vehicle when we can instead of two. If we owned our house instead of renting it, we would install solar panels and windmills. But again, shouldn't Al Gore actually practice what he preaches? Why should be be exempt?

3. I do not hate Al Gore. I am completely indifferent to the man since I don't even know him. and he was not elected or else he would have actually been in the white house. He lost. Get over it.

[research]

Ad hominum argument. Gore's, personal life style is of no consequence in judging his plan.

That's why Huff discourages such attacks. Even Hitler was right about the Volkswagen.

[yngcelt]

When someone receives a Nobel Prize and is paid to speak to people about changing their lifestyles to "save the world", shouldn't you expect that person to actually follow their own advice and set the example for others? And if Huffington Post really discouraged personal attacks, then 99% of the posts about President Bush and any other Republican would be deleted from this site!

[CrzyRussell]

Was you use of Hitler intentional?

Until Gore actually practices what he preaches he has no credibility.

[research]

when you have no argument you attack the messenger.

[yngcelt]

Really? So when a Republican or conservative who promotes "traditional family values" gets caught in an illicit affair, in your viewpoint it doesn't matter if he cheats on his wife or abuses his kids or whatever as long as his message is positive and his plan is for "traditional family values"? You don't care if he doesn't actually practice what he preaches?

[vipersdad]

Troll-catcher:

Post a Piece entitled

"Al Gore Charters Private Jet to travel to a Climate Change Summit in Fiji"

Watch what kind of comments are left.

Something about Al Gore freaks these people out - I don't get it.

[vipersdad]

So - regarding the question of who is "making more money" on this Climate Change Issue -

The emerging alternative energy Marketplace?

Or -

Big Oil?

There is FAR FAR FAR more money to be lost by Big Oil than to be gained by Al Gore -

Now where does incentive lie?

The ONE entity who have the means to invest in "next generation" energy technologies is Big Oil.... Yet they have done little to nothing in this space over the past 30 years since the Carter Administration.

They are defining themselves not as energy companies but as Oil companies and making a boatload of money doing it.

But the shift is inevitable - sooner or later, the marketplace will demand other technologies and Big Oil will fade away just as many other legacy industries have done over the history of mankind.

Who will lose?

The climate of the planet and those who will be laid off by Oil companies

Let's dispense with the meme that this Climate Change thing is out there to make people rich.....

The scientific data is out there. If someone gets rich because of it - good for them. It's hypocritical to criticize people for trying to get rich on Alternative energy tech but giving a free pass to those who get rich off fossil fuels.

[LiberalBuzz]

It's amazing how many Flat Earthers, come out of the woodwork to attack Gore everytime he is posted here. Just amazing. Is there some sort of alarm on their computers?

Or does Exxonmobile have them on quick dial to tell them to hurry up and come over here with all their idiotic "evidence" that real scientists who ARE NOT bought off by the oil companies, have debunked years ago?

Flat Earthers are a hoot, sad but a hoot nonetheless.

[Photofarm]

The Global Warming caused by man hucksters have been proven wrong time and time again. They primarily have a political view of Socialism and a one world government. Just basic high school science, math, and history of past ice ages would tell intelligent people they were being lied to by a huckster.

[HumeSkeptic]

Hey! LiberalBuzz, you caught a flat-earther. Congratulations. This one is a world scientist conspiracy type. You know, the ones who think scientists are out to lower the standard of living of "White working class" people in Kentucky.

I like these conspiracy type flat-earthers.. These are the most fun.

[fumes]

hi photofarm! i have a great respect for farmers! say, hume and liberalbuzz don't mean any harm, they just don't understand basic science and have to resort to name calling and links as props, nothing more. at least they care enough to get involved! but one day, you just wait and see, one of them will be able to finally explain why co2 is useless as a greenhouse gas. the cold desert night analogy so far has escaped them like the heat escapes the desert: right over their heads! snicker

[darthdarcy]

Go To:

www.wecansolveit.org, and sign up...

I did...

[FirstShirt]

You got my vote for dogcatcher, Al.

[DKLA]

But since you apparently voted for Bush, we know the value & competency of your vote....criminal.
Or haven't you been paying attention these last 8 years, to the real world(not Fox "news/Rush/O'Reilly, et al).

[milo9]

It's becoming obvious that the right wing Earth- Warming Deniers are people who rarely go outside. If they had they would have to admit that the climate is changing...for the worse. It's the contrarian spirit that is so destructive. They're adamant as always, one must remember that their memes and slogans over the last eight years have debilitated our country and they have proven themselves utterly and completely discredited. Unfit to be included in the majority of decent citizens of the United States.

[Photofarm]

Bull pucky, those of us who farm, and have farms that have been in the family for 100 years or more know that the global warming hucksters don't have a clue about weather or the climate. Things move in cycles, and it has been hotter and drier in the 1930's than now. We also experienced abnormally quiet weather patterns for most of the 1960-1995 time period, which the idiots think is normal weather.

[milo9]

You haven't lived a life outside, period. None so blind as those who refuse to see.

[Mogamboguru]

To your knowledge, Buster:

In Central Europe, we ought to have averyge July-daytime-temps in the region of 25 degrees Celsius, with top-temps reaching to the mid-30ies and, sometimes, even above.

But last year, as well as THIS year, the July-temp in Central Europe so far averaged 15 (!) degrees Celsius, only!

Yes, you are right: The climate IS changing: It's GETTING SUBSTANTIALLY COLDER!

I KNOW, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, I AM FREEZING MY BUTT OFF!

[milo9]

You just spouting Right Wing propaganda points that have served this country so ill.

[Photofarm]

Oh, but don't you realize that freezing your but off in the summer is a sign of Global Warming, just like too dry, too wet,and too hot? Everything that isn't a perfect weather day is a sign of global warming.

[fumes]

say mogamboguru, do have golf courses where you are? i live in a land west of new york city called new jersey where it's too hot to play midday. i'll send you some of our humidity and then we'll both be comfortable!

[HumeSkeptic]

Ah! Another scientist wannabe - the anecdotal kind. This kind is the closest to a flat-earther. He looks as far as he can see and sees the earth to be perfectly flat, and concludes that all scientists must be wrong saying that it is round.

Ever given thought why there is a "Global" in the term "Global Warming", Mr. Scientist?

[BlackbirdHighway]

When they start calling it Central Europe Warming, then you may have a point.

But for now it's called Global Warming, and Central Europe is NOT the globe, so you have none.

[abluevoice]

I just don't get Al Gore. He could have been a shoe in for the Democratic nomination and he would have beaten McCain in a landslide. His Nobel prize, Oscar and Emmy, give him global recognition with no equal. Yet he choses to stand on the sidelines waving his arms for attention and appealing to bloggers to push his very important messages.

Why doesn't he get it, that as President he can get us a lot closer to alternative energy, non dependance on the Middle East, and emmitting less carbons into the environment then he can as a private citizen trying to be heard??

He is the right guy at the right time with the right messages to save the country and lead the world, and he chose not to do it? What a disappointment!

[Beachrunner]

You have to hand it to Al Gore. He's a hypocrite, and greedy, but he's also shrewd.

Did you know:

"On Thursday, former U. S. vice-president Al Gore delivered a major address calling on his country to abandon all fossil fuels within 10 years. By 2018, U. S. electricity and fuel should come entirely from "renewable energy and truly clean, carbon-free sources," he said. Tickets to the event encouraged attendees to "please use public transit, bicycling or other climate-friendly means" to reach the lecture hall.

So how did Mr. Gore and his retinue arrive? In two Lincoln Town Cars and a full-sized SUV that sat idling with the air conditioners blasting while the Gore party was inside.

It was 34 C in Washington. Al Gore can't be expected to get into an overheated vehicle after he's worked up a sweat telling others how to save the planet."

And:

"A sizeable chunk of his personal fortune comes from royalties on a zinc mine which had to be temporarily closed five years ago in part because the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled it one of the worst-polluting mine sites in America. Illegal toxins were frequently discharged into nearby rivers."

Read the rest here:

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=2489e0b8-3e57-40eb-9748-6c250d63c40d&p=1

[Destin]

How come you don't pick on McCain's "straight flight express" 737 that he takes everywhere he goes, even down to the corner store for some milk?? How come you don't attack Cindy McNeedles for saying she flies a gas guzzling plane everywhere she goes in Arizona, even to the massage parlor, cause it's impossible to drive in traffic these days??

How come you don't criticize Bush for flying AF One everywhere he goes, knowing full well that the plane has to sit idling with 1 engine running 24/7/365 in case you needs to high-tail it out of town in an emergency, with the air conditioning blasting, and all the onboard avionics blasting, and all the tv's, radio's and other amenities being used by the SS guards and flight crew?? That thing only burns upwards of 3,000 pounds of fuel an hour, roughly 500 gallons. ;)

[CrzyRussell]

Because Bush isn't pushing the GW down our throats telling what we have to do like Gore is.

[FirstShirt]

Just amazing, isn't it. Don't these people have any shame?

[DKLA]

Clearly, spoken by one who should know.
"w", is that you? Dick let you on the internets? Have all your crimes made you a big-boy now? Justice will prevail, we must demand it. NEVER FORGET FL2000.