Al Gore Encourages Civil Disobedience To Stop Coal Plants

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that "the world has lost ground to the climate crisis."

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

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Comments

[Puzzles]

Though AL Gore has little authority to charge fo civil disobedience. It must be remembered that so much progress came about with civil disobedience as it root. In addition, it seems the liberals were always on the winning side, and the conservatives the losers. It can be shown the world over. But here a a few examples in the US.

Taxation with out representation
Abolition of slavery
Right of women to vote
Renewing the right of African-Americans to vote. (and other minorities)
Ending the Vietnam war.
And coming soon the right of people to marry whoever they choose.

However, it is possible the people will continue prefer apathy. The demise on this country will because the populace has gotten so comfortable, that their fear of material loss is way greater than their desire for true equality and justice.

[whateyesay]

ROFLOL....People haven't even made an effort to exercise, let alone, utilize,
the true power of the people, by uniting as a people and as one Union,
as intended, regarded and provisioned to the people, by our forefathers,
even now, as the government is about to hand Wall Street a trillion of our tax dollars,
that hasn't even been taken from us, our children or our children's, children yet.

If ever there were a time for civil disobedience, it is NOW!

All the global warming nay sayers, along with everyone living in global warming La la land,
will KNOW global warming when it hits home and it's too late,
just like this trillion dollars has exploded in the "the economy is fine/strong" La la land!

[DLB]

The majority of new coal plants are being built in China. How well is that civil disobedience going to fly over there? Sure, it works well in the U.S., where it will only hinder our energy needs, but in a growing economic power like China, the protesters will sacrifice their freedom for the next 10 years once they're arrested.

If Al Gore wants civil disobedience, let him be there holding a sign. Talk is cheap.

[wdw101]

al gore should just fade away..........he did nothing as VP............so shut up al

[hypnotoad72]

I'm trying to find reasons TO exercise. Time too. Just like most people. And given how it *appears* we're being treated like token votes, maybe it's better just to eat lard and die happy from a heart attack? :-S

[jalowe1957]

CD or not CD, is that the question?

[partyofone]

Hillary says, "My 18 million voters (or the 317 still loyal), were not impressed with either candidate, because they have very high expecatiosn, and neither McCain or Obama have offered them money or a job.

Bill Clinton says, "Debate? No, sorry I missed it. You know, my debates against George Bush and Bob Dole are considered classics, never matched before or since, CLASSICS, ok?" BTW, when is it that that cure Sarah Palin debates. I could give her a few pointers (wink wink).

[fisharefreinds]

Oh God, we are facing financial disaster because we have allowed the greatest transfer of wealth in history to the oil producing countries, unregulated banking industry, unregulated business and outright fraud against the people of this country, Iraq War, more wars on the horizon, and this fool says get rid of Coal?!
He got his Academy Award, now go home!

[LouisianaLiberal]

Listen you naysayers, Gore is saying it *now*, let’s not dwell upon his years of being thwarted in his attempts to speak up during the Clinton years. They would not let him. His views were not popular. Carter tried too and look where that got him. Gore believed he would be president one day and he could implement green policies then. He gambled and lost.

Now he’s trying to save the planet in the only way he knows how. Civil disobedience is the same bottom up strategy which Obama is trying to implement. The difference is that Obama is tempering his remarks to gather the electorate into a cohesive body in order to defeat those who would destroy us all.

Revolutions_make no mistake about it, we are in a revolution to save our country, our planet_work when the student youth (educated and knowledgeable) rally and move those of us who are jaded and defeated. The policies which have made us hang our heads and struggle with our daily lives also make us unable to lead revolutions as our ties to the current chaos keep us from rising above them.

I say incite the youth, Al. When we were their age we rebelled and changed the world. Get them out there and the rest of us will follow_I promise.

[hypnotoad72]

*sigh*

I am not a naysayer. I am saying he's a big phony and I think that's the gist coming from most people here too.

[LouisianaLiberal]

That's what a naysayer is. So, yeah, you ARE a naysayer. The "most people here" do not understand that fighting the likes of Al Gore on educated premises of ANY coal is ridiculous in an age where most people understand that the global climate has been affected horribly by our behavior. Coal is dirty. There is no such thing as clean coal. There are so many other ways to develop clean energy it's ridiculous to use coal at all.

We need to put those poor people working in those unsafe mines to work in clean, green energy. You can sigh all you want, but that type of ignorance got us where we are today.

[ohiovoter54]

Army brigade assigned to Homeland Securitty. Hmmmmm..... Al, who side are you on?

[Sneaky]

Lead by example, Mr. Gore. You first. Or, failing that, at least provide for the legal fund these kids and seniors will need to get out of jail, since civil disobedience accepts the consequences of known illegal actions. Go for it, Big Guy.

What did this dude do again to get the Nobel Peace Prize? A power-point and a crappy movie with unsubstantiated claims? Shameful.

[hypnotoad72]

Especially when some of this was purportedly theorized in the 1950s, plus the mentor that taught Al all he knew - they surely deserve prizes too.

I don't think he's entirely wrong about global warming, but his hypocrisy is what generates peoples' scorn.

[elcojonu]

Al, with all due respect, why didn't you encourage it in December of 2000 ?
A lot of us were ready for it and you kept quiet; the word never came.
A lot of your followers didn't want to go quietly into the good night; we KNEW what was comming.
Democracy is worth fighting for, don't you agree ?

[hypnotoad72]

He was just a politician back then. Not on the board of directors of some two-bit company who has managed to survive only because of a mall, fragiler touch screen phone that breaks when you drop it something like 6 inches...

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/

Greedy little sods too - the iphone battery can't be user replaced, and for $80 plus 3 working days (on top of shipping), most people are more likely to throw away the current one and go buy a new one. Which only compounds the problem.

Apple is a sheer joke.

[WatermelonGrower]

Civil disobedience by people currently employed would have more impact than by young people or seniors.

[ohiomark]

Civil disobedience never helps a cause. It makes the participants look like kooks and they are marginalized. Look at all the "anarchists" and other protesters who tried to disrupt both political conventions.

In Al Gore's case, it just affirms what we already know about him.

[realpolitic]

"Civil disobedience never helps a cause." Yes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, for that matter, should have just stayed at home. If so, blacks would still not be able to vote in the south or sit at a lunch counter. India would still be under British rule. The Bostonians disguised as Indians should have left the tea on English ships. Without civil disobedience, our country would not be where we are. Change often comes from the bottom up. Strangely, conservative ideologues think change always comes from the top down by a couple guys smoking a cigar in a room somewhere. It does not!!!

[Izzy11]

Well said...

We are all just waiting; which is the sad part about it all.

[elcojonu]

Your statement is too absolute; absolute statements can come back and bite you.
Be careful with absolute statements.

[hypnotoad72]

*DING* *DING* *DING*

We have a winner!!!

[Exusian]

Yeah, those guys at Lexington and Concord turned out to be real kooks.
What were they thinking?

[NL207]

You obviously need a history lesson.

Those 'kooks' at Lexington and Concord were defending the rights of free men to keep and bear arms.
"... gathering of munitions of war by the colonists. Informed that a considerable quantity had been deposited at Concord, a village about 16 miles from Boston, he planned a secret expedition to seize or destroy them."

source: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/battles/battle-lexington-concord.htm

This is not a cause the left espouses. In fact, modern day militias with the equivalent objectives are regarded as dangers to society by the left. I think YOU are one of the people who shares this lefty opinion, which makes your use of the Muinuteman analogy in this situation tenuous at best and outright hypocrisy at worst.

The gauntlet is on the floor. Are you going to pick it up?

[Exusian]

You obviously need to learn to recognize sarcasm.

[Puzzles]

Yeah, didn't work for Ghandi or M.L. King. Right? Difference is those two were willing to put their lives on the line.

[rpr]

The latest news: Large amounts of methane bubble up from the Siberian continental shelf (as has been predicted for a while):
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/hundreds-of-methane-plumes-discovered-941456.html

It is released from methane clathrate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate#Methane_clathrates_and_climate_change

I don't like this one bit, to say the least.

[ftprairiedog]

If Gore didn't have the BALL'S to demand a recount of Florida, he won't be the first in line to throw his body into the gears of the machine.

[hypnotoad72]

The machine would have to be solar-powered... or at least powered by his own ego, which seems to go on and on forever. Cheap energy indeed.

[RoseMerry]

Oh, right, stealing the election from Mr. Gore, demolising the WTC, and invading a few countries and murdering millions is okay. While I agree that coal plants need to improve, I question the priorites here.

I want my America.

[realityczech4u]

Who "demolised" the WTC, Rosie? Do you realize that it takes lots of energy to produce all the tin foil you use up and that this contributes to climate change?

[hypnotoad72]

1. Go to youtube - AL himself was talking just like Bush had some 11 years later. Get used to it, Saddam was a threat.

2. How do you know the WTC would not have been destroyed in 2001? Yes, reports came out the US received information and ignored it. How do you know anything would have been different under Gore? Please provide details.

3. Yes, Saddam and 9/11 were not related. Maybe it was President Bush doing something in a blood feud. Still, when I later heard of Al and Bill spouting the same arguments about Saddam, I had to step back and think.

4. Clean coal is possible. But Al would rather have fellow citizens acting like brainless gorillas and thrown in jail when we all know money has more power than acting like an animal. When will Al do more than tell people what to do? He's got the power but would rather tell people to incite riots. He's disgusting. He should be jailed.

[Finchy13]

Gore - don't be such an ASS! Your endorsement of Civil Disobedience has just eroded any respect that I might have had for you in the past.

The whole problem with Civil Disobedience being endorsed by an influential spokesman is - that in today's world - Civil Disobedience is equated with Violence. And in today's world, violence seems to be considered a solution to every little situation that does not meet with one's approval..

For Gore to endorse and encourage Civil Disobedience - is not a responsible action - without defining exactly what his expectations of Civil Disobedience entails. If parameters and not outlined up-front - we will see violent acts of defiance and protest - awe have seen in the past from the animal rights activists who indiscriminately burn and destroy other people's property - in stupid and self-serving acts.

And this ciivil disobedience and violence doesn't address the underlying problems - or do anything to constructively solve those problems!

[realityczech4u]

Is this what it took for you to realize that algore is an obsessive, a fanatic?

[Sneaky]

If we wanted to be real technical, civil disobedience has only worked when there was a simultaneous threat of violence in the background. MLK and the Panthers are a perfect example of this.

[hypnotoad72]

The original Panthers, perhaps. The New Panthers (circa 1988 onward) are the type MLK and others would disown in a heartbeat.

And the New Panthers wouldn't listen to Al either...