Al Gore Expresses Disapproval Of Obama's Offshore Drilling Plan

Al Gore and his group, the Alliance for Climate Protection, think President Obama's decision to pursue offshore oil drilling is a bad idea and they're letting him know, The Hill reported on Thursday.

In a recent tweet, Gore appeared to endorse a statement released by the Alliance's CEO Maggie L. Fox in which she criticized Obama's drilling plan, saying that it "continues our reliance on dirty fossil fuels."

"We cannot simply drill our way to energy security," Fox wrote. "Americans are demanding a clean energy future that goes beyond drilling and incentivizes the technologies that are critical to building a 21st-century clean energy economy. What we need now is presidential leadership that drives comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that caps harmful carbon pollution, puts America back to work, ends our reliance on foreign oil and keeps us safe."

The statement went largely unnoticed, but as The Hill's Russell Berman reports, Gore's embrace of Fox's comments represents the former vice president's first major break with the Obama administration.

On Wednesday Gore tweeted: "Another great post" by Fox that again counters Obama's "dirty fossil fuels" plan.

When asked about the statement, Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider did not distance Gore from the condemnation.

"Former Vice President Gore did not release a statement, but the philanthropy he chairs did," Kreider told The Hill.

Comments

[samaire]

07:09 PM on 04/30/2010

Al Gore is right, look at the off-shore drilling incident-a disaster of epic proportion. Obama and everyone should start listening to him !!

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

11:43 PM on 04/29/2010

Not to Obots - It is not tv talk show host sarah palin that is putting our coastline in danger, its obama himself who is the biggest threat to our shores and coasts.

Obama – who received massive amounts of money during the 2008 campaign from oil company executives (including two of his top bundlers – even though his campaign ran a completely disingenuous and misleading ad that said that they didnt take money from oil companies – which of course is illegal anyway) has gone against decades long Democratic policy and is now pushing to open offshore drilling off of much of our coastline including my home state Delaware. This is an outrage and from a phone call I had with one of his top staffers, I know that Biden, who has done much to oppose offshore drilling for decades, is very disappointed in this.

This is just another instance of Obama paying back his big contributors – just like he did with big banks, big pharm and big insurance. Obots are still so caught up in Obamas race and his suppossed “racist” enemies and a “racist” population to even see that this fellow is a wolf in our midst – selling away our greatest gifts in order to secure his own personal political survival. (think big oil execs will be giving to Obama 2012 huh?)

[krz2]

08:16 PM on 04/18/2010

Al Gore is " The Angry White Guy "

[Neopolitan]

06:31 AM on 04/14/2010

Al Gore is concerned about off-shore drilling only in that it may have a deleterious effect on his massive personal profit from climate-evangelism.

[DocSkull]

03:08 PM on 04/19/2010

How would that work? If he was only in it for money, the drilling would be something to get people riled up and join his cause. BTW, Gore is making his money by investing in emerging technologies.

[research]

03:01 PM on 04/11/2010

What a waste of resources on the dead end scramble for the last drops of oil.

Sure, let them drill.

but they must clean up any spills.

Completely.

no matter what it costs.

And they must put up a bond, before they drill.

offshore drilling leaks all the time.

Solar wind and waste Bio fuels will supply the worlds energy needs, cleanly, cheaper, safe and forever!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/profile/research

Waste bio fuels turns our wastes into fuel, energy and carbon negative charcoal,

while destroying all organic pathogens, instead of dumping it in our water.

We already have the separation technology and system, so we can recycle glass, metals.

No energy technology ever invented has produced more deadly waste than nuclear power, and it will be around for a million years, killing whatever life it encounters.

Bio Char is waste bio char is carbon negative and energy positive. This is very alarming to The nuke zealots because it proves that waste Bio Fuels are viable. So why on earth would we ever risk nuclear apocalyptic, nuke million years waste, or city killing nuke power terrorist targets??????

Now pro nuke and coal folks have come up with the truly lame idea that we can't create fuels out of the organic waste stream because we should instead recycle it. Creating energy and fuel IS recycling it.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

11:49 PM on 04/29/2010

Sure, let them drill.

are you nutz?!

notice that its obama who is pro nuke, pro (bogus) clean coal and pro offshore drilling...

maybe it has to do with what execs from these industries gave to him.

he is such a fraud...

[research]

01:17 AM on 04/30/2010

you did get the part of about them paying completely for the cleanup costs, right? If we do that even on this spill alone, it would bankrupt the oil companies. if they could really clean it up at all.....

Note I wrote that Before the rig explosion...

[Probus]

05:31 PM on 04/10/2010

The president should never allow drilling to appease the republicans who will not support any climate change bill. Further the president should listen to Mr. Gore who is an authority on climate change and what the government should to do combat it.

[VikingQuest]

09:20 PM on 04/10/2010

"The president should never allow drilling to appease the republicans"

It's not just Repubs, it's Americans:

"Americans Prioritize Energy Over Environment for First Time"

http://www.gallup.com/poll/127220/Americans-Prioritize-Energy-Environment-First-Time.aspx

"U.S. Support for Nuclear Power Climbs to New High of 62%"

http://www.gallup.com/poll/126827/Support-Nuclear-Power-Climbs-New-High.aspx

"In U.S., Many Environmental Issues at 20-Year-Low Concern"

http://www.gallup.com/poll/126716/Environmental-Issues-Year-Low-Concern.aspx

"Americans' Global Warming Concerns Continue to Drop"

http://www.gallup.com/poll/126560/Americans-Global-Warming-Concerns-Continue-Drop.aspx

[Probus]

11:08 PM on 04/10/2010

Regardless of those polls the president must take certain steps to prevent off shore drilling. It will only benefit energy companies and make them richer at the cost of the environment. Protection of the environment must come first.

[DocSkull]

09:51 AM on 04/11/2010

It seems to me that these polls all reflect concerns with the immediate effects of the Bush economy and the resulting unemployment.

[Janine547]

10:21 AM on 04/11/2010

"Gore who is an authority on climate change".... That's just funny ! While zipping around in the Gulfstream jet like Robin Hood promoting his his fraud of enviromental bill.
His homes having utility bills in the thousands, he's now a expert on the enviroment.

[research]

02:09 PM on 04/11/2010

no doubt, you would prefer he live in the forest off nuts and berries forsaking all modern tools for popularization the dangers of climate change....

[Probus]

05:55 PM on 04/11/2010

Yes, Al Gore has been an expert on this issue for more than 20 years. He is an authority on this subject. He has the backing of the world scientific community.

[OrangeSalad]

03:21 PM on 04/10/2010

Mr. Gore and President Obama -

Why not invest in reviving Tesla's work where he was able to harnass huge amounts of electricity from the earth that that could be transmitted for use with minimal loss for huge distances. No damage to the earth, extremely cheap or free power to everyone to run everything. And lets create Tesla's electric cars -

The biggest enemies of Tesla's work would be the corporations that would no longer be able to make multi-billion dollar profits but we wouldn't be dependent on oil or coal anymore.

[VikingQuest]

09:21 PM on 04/10/2010

"Why not invest in reviving Tesla's work"

How much have you invested in Telsa? They have offered IPOs.

Somehow I think $120,000 electric cars aren't going to take off . . . even their upcoming lower end model is about $60,000 just to start.

[JohnDewey]

10:35 PM on 04/10/2010

OrangeSalad is talking about Nikola Tesla, the inventor, not the eponymous car.

[FunkyMaverick]

02:50 PM on 04/10/2010

Strength (President Obama Style)
-
-
- staying calm , cool and collected in the face of unwarranted criticism
- staying the course, no matter how difficult , tiresome and without an end in sight
- dedication to unwavering principles of decency, fairness and honor
- acceptance of setbacks, learning from them and improving on them
- the ability to listen carefully ( even to contrary opinions)
- the ability to rationally take in all the facts and information and come to a logical solution
- to try, keep trying, keep trying still and never give up
- to follow the course and not go for easy political gratification (like predecessors )
- to have a sense of humor and even poke fun at oneself
- to defer to others to take the limelight and strentghen the team and not just oneself

TO JUST GET THINGS DONE! ( even in the face of unprecedented obstructionism )

Bravo Sir. Bravo !
(((clapping)))

Your Irish Friend,
Funky

[springsm]

05:21 PM on 04/10/2010

funky you did not put down how much Obama has put asunder to hopefully get his minimal way on something. I am not sure who bribed for this one. I would suppose that one would vote for the fed. reform bill, but I am not sure. Obama does all those things...but he also panders.

[FunkyMaverick]

05:28 PM on 04/10/2010

sigh ..and I had high hopes for you ..oh well

[Michael Valentine]

10:25 AM on 04/11/2010

You forgot to put down scrapping Democratic principals first.

[FunkyMaverick]

10:34 AM on 04/11/2010

the cost analysis was inconclusive

[SurrealPumpkin]

01:34 PM on 04/10/2010

I'm with Gore on this one.

Oil is a renewable resource, problem is that it has 200 million year production time. We can't wait for the next generation. Time to move on.

[Tribal Knowledge]

01:49 PM on 04/10/2010

So whgat do we do in the mean time, since we NEED the oil? Hunt whales? There is a lot more oil that we have yet to pull out of the ground...we are nowhere near "empty" by any stretch. I don't want to use oil forever, either, but merely stating that it's time to move on is ridiculous, stupid, inane.

Move on to where?

We need to become energy independent. That means many more nuke plants, catching up with the Europeans, and that means oil taken domestically, putting the Saudis and the rest of those tinpots out of business. We are never going to run jets (like Gore uses...by the way, he insists - insists - on two private jets, for he and his staff) on solar, or wind, or vegetable oil (which, if we tried, would cause widespread famine). We are modern humans, we consume, we will continue to do so in increasing amounts. Let's address the reality of that.

[Solsister]

07:54 PM on 04/10/2010

Read the November 2009 article in Scientific American about how we CAN get completely off of fossil fuels in one decade. Very enlightening, and completely debunks the myth that we need to invest one more dime in fossil fuels OR nukes. We can become completely sustainable.

[VikingQuest]

09:23 PM on 04/10/2010

"Oil is a renewable resource, problem is that it has 200 million year production time. We can't wait for the next generation. Time to move on."

Move onto what?

Nothing we have, much like coal, can provide energy at the price point.

[nicothebaker]

10:05 AM on 04/10/2010

Maybe they could John Edwards to mediate.

[Tribal Knowledge]

01:43 PM on 04/10/2010

I hear that slime has some time on his hands, good idea! Maybe he can "channel some dead victim" to make the thing even more hilarious (sorry. "Hillary-ous").

[Janine547]

07:33 AM on 04/10/2010

Al Gore talks about global warming being a moral issue, but he conveniently forgets to mention that it's a profit issue for him as well. While he's preaching gloom and doom about global warming and how we must do something now to stop it, his company, Generation Investment Management, is making money when others pay GIM to invest their money in global warming fighting technology.

[DocSkull]

09:26 AM on 04/10/2010

If he didn't put his money where his mouth was you'd complain about that too. It doesn't change the science or the imperative to curtail CO2 production.

[Janine547]

10:18 AM on 04/10/2010

WRONG ! The less he says, the better I feel. I'd rather he just dry up and blow away in the wind.

[Bartel5]

10:20 AM on 04/10/2010

Why did goracle set up his carbon credit companies overseas?

[Tribal Knowledge]

01:41 PM on 04/10/2010

Answer:

Because he is a crook and a sham artist, who many thought was some sort of seer based upon faulty data and a slide show - which he will not defend.

[DocSkull]

10:00 AM on 04/11/2010

"Because he is a crook and a sham artist, who many thought was some sort of seer based upon faulty data and a slide show - which he will not defend."

There is nothing to defend when people only make empty charges without even bothering to specify what was stolen and what data is suspected as being faulty.

[bighat]

06:21 AM on 04/10/2010

Oil is a difficult commodity to replace. Over a 1000 products are made from oil such as plastic, soap, and synthetic rubber

Each product made from crude oil is taxed.

Today, solar panels, wind energy and whatever only exist with subsidies.

I would prefer drilling in Alaska to having rigs over the coasts

The same argument against drilling in Alaska was used in the argument against building the Alaskan pipeline. But the Alaskan pipeline did not break wildlife reproduction or harm them in any way. Instead animals used the pipeline for heat in the winter and shade in the summer

[DocSkull]

09:29 AM on 04/10/2010

Oil is heavily subsidized by the US government. Tax dollars are used for everything from exploration to marketing to foreign countries to environmental compliance.

[Bartel5]

10:19 AM on 04/10/2010

False.

[Tribal Knowledge]

01:40 PM on 04/10/2010

You have lumped a lot of garbage into a scant few words. Bravo.

Oil companies pay far, far more in taxrs than they get in subsidies...which, by the way, they only qualify for if, and when, their motives align with the government's. Tax dollars are not used for exploration. That is a lie. Oil companies invest heavily, taking out huge giant loans against future profits, to do exploration. They do it so that they can stay in business.

[masher]

02:31 AM on 04/11/2010

Would we be fighting wars in the middle east if we didn't care at all about oil?

Think about all those dead Americans. I think the cost of "cheap" oil is way too high. I would love nothing more than to tell the Saudis to go suck an egg, pull our troops out, and let them all kill eachother.

[bighat]

06:11 AM on 04/10/2010

Gore is only interested in his profits

[DocSkull]

09:30 AM on 04/10/2010

And the energy companies, what is their interest?

[Tribal Knowledge]

01:38 PM on 04/10/2010

Good God,

Hopefully, in an ideal world, the oil companies are concerned with profits through the expansion and refinement of oil. See, that's how they exist. The good news is WE ALL NEED THE OIL.

[fumes]

03:09 AM on 04/10/2010

the war on trace gases is lost..

and we're all gonna dye!

unless of course science is wrong about this one..

[DocSkull]

09:31 AM on 04/10/2010

LOL, how many times have you repeated that empty statement!

[fumes]

10:12 AM on 04/10/2010

exactly eleventy-seven..

and how many times have you emptily replied?

[masher]

02:34 AM on 04/11/2010

I'm pretty sure we all are going to die. I don't know anyone who has lived forever.

Anything that has a start must have an end. Even Jesus is only handing out for a 1,000 years when he returns.

[askmeificare]

11:21 PM on 04/09/2010

Obama is only open to the idea of drilling only to get the Repubs on board with the cap & trade. The offshore drilling will take years to get going. That's more than enough time to repeal drilling from any bill that's passed.

[bighat]

06:14 AM on 04/10/2010

Really

Obama has not been able to get the republicans on board so far and I do not think this would help either.

Besides Obama is calling several environmental studies before drilling takes place.

but even with a minimum of environmental studies and the govt really got behind offshore drilling we are looking 15 to 20 yrs down the road

[askmeificare]

12:15 AM on 04/12/2010

"but even with a minimum of environmental studies and the govt really got behind offshore drilling we are looking 15 to 20 yrs down the road"

That's the point

[mylittlepwny]

06:43 AM on 04/10/2010

The more oil you can secure from within your own borders, the less you have to sell your soul to the saudis et al for them to feed your economy. Obamas drilling policy is sensible.

[Bartel5]

10:21 AM on 04/10/2010

Except that he didnt expand the scope of the drilling.