Al Gore: It's not just about the planet

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Al Gore, a self-described "wanna-be geek," is on the road talking about solutions to multiple problems.

The former vice president gave a speech at the First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist church here on Saturday to promote his latest book, "Our Choice." Whereas "An Inconvenient Truth" documented the reasons for global warming, his latest book is focused almost entirely on ways to address climate change, Gore said.

But don't expect only a discussion of solar, wind and biofuels. In outlining the contents of "Our Choice" on Saturday, Gore said he consulted hundreds of experts in different fields to develop a comprehensive approach. The book includes discussions on carbon-capturing farming practices, word population projections, social psychology, and the political challenges to cutting fossil fuel use.

Al Gore signing books after his talk at the First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist church in Cambridge, Mass.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

Rather than limit his remarks to climate change, Gore argued there are political and economic reasons to make a transition to a less-polluting society. "There is a common thread running through the discussion of climate, (national) security, and the economic crisis, and that is our ridiculous dependence on foreign oil and coal," he said.

The hundreds of billions of dollars a year the U.S. spends on importing foreign oil is one reason the military remains involved in the Middle East. It also undermines the country's finances, he said.

The economy, too, can be revived by developing emerging industries in the U.S. Among them are products and services to retrofit buildings to be more efficient; solar, wind, and enhanced geothermal power; a "super grid" that's able to transport solar and wind power efficiently; and plug-in electric cars.

"When put together, we have the tools and technologies to solve three or four climate crises," he said. "But the missing element is political will."

He predicted that the U.S. Senate will get a climate and energy bill through committee before the Copenhagen round of international climate negotiations next month. Despite the "odds and the pessimism," he said there is a chance for a binding political agreement from Copenhagen next month and a roadmap for a comprehensive treaty.

Gore said that an Internet-aided grass-roots movement is the way to influence political change on this issue.

[Random_Walk]

"It's not just about the planet"<br /><br />...'course not - it's about making him even more wealthy.

[jaguar717]

Wealth is secondary for parasites like him. He's a control freak politician.<br /><br />"Our Choice" is rather Orwellian considering everything he pushes is about government making your decisions for you.<br /><br />He's just pushing for a green caste system, where the Anointed Ones rule the Peons and free innovation is replaced by corrupt political pull.

[Orion Blastar]

Have you ever noticed that green energy and green tech are always more expensive than normal energy and normal tech? Common sense says it should be cheaper to promote use of green tech and green energy so that even poor people may be able to afford it.<br /><br />When they invented electricity and the light bulb they said they would make it so cheap that only rich people would afford to burn candles. It was true, and I expected the same of green energy and green technology.<br /><br />Instead Global Warming and Peak Oil have become scams to raise the price of fossil fuels and cause energy companies profits and stocks to skyrocket. Ask Al Gore how many energy company and oil stocks he owns, and ask him if his family owns a zinc mining operation that harms the Earth and causes more pollution than other companies. Carbon credits and cap and trade are yet more scams to milk more money out of the consumer.<br /><br />When something is friendly to the environment, it seems to harm the economy. Too bad something cannot be friendly to the environment and the economy but such a thing doesn't exist until they lower the price of green tech and green energy so that even poor people can afford it and thus everyone can make use of them.

[Random_Walk]

@Orion:<br /><br />"Have you ever noticed that green energy and green tech are always more expensive than normal energy and normal tech?"<br /><br />Depends. Hydro was among the very first forms of commercial electricity generation; it costs a lot up-front, but usually pays itself off multiple times over. Solar panels are coming down in price thanks to economies of scale, and nowadays can reach their break-even ROI in 6-10 years (out of a typical 25-30 year warranty), not counting tax breaks. Wind generators are similarly becoming cost-effective.<br /><br />"Common sense says it should be cheaper to promote use of green tech and green energy so that even poor people may be able to afford it."<br /><br />Most of Southern California (rich, poor, all points in-between) has been reaping green energy benefits off of Hoover Dam since 1936. ;)<br /><br />"Instead Global Warming and Peak Oil have become scams to raise the price of fossil fuels and cause energy companies profits and stocks to skyrocket."<br /><br />Again, I hate to disagree with you on a point, but you forgot about OPEC. There was no green energy movement to speak of in 1974, when OPEC decided to flex their muscles and hold the western world hostage. In fact, I'd say the opposite - that the green energy movement has forced OPEC to keep prices low at all costs, lest OPEC become slowly but surely irrelevant. <br /><br />Not all green energy (or green anything, really) is bad. <br /><br />The whole Carbon Cap scam? Yeah, that's bad. Kyoto? Another scam. Peak Oil? Technology itself is proving it to become a bad premise. Global Warming? Depends - blaming humans for it is (IMHO) like saying "OAMG the ocean is turning yellow because humans pee in it!" <br /><br />That said, I doubt that there's any endeavor out there that you won't find scam artists out there trying to make some unearned money off of...

[jezzur]

So you guys really believe that all of the people involved in raising issues about overpopulation, climate change, and peak oil, are simply grandstanding or trying to make money? <br /> <br />Critical thinking is good, but if your main sources of information are mainstream media you probably don't know much... Have you read any scientific journals or magazines? Probably not if you think they are all just making it up, but there is a pretty good consensus on the matter... Even if it isn't clear, and I can agree that it isn't, do you think the word and concept "prudence" might be worth considering?

[Random_Walk]

"So you guys really believe that all of the people involved in raising issues about overpopulation, climate change, and peak oil, are simply grandstanding or trying to make money? "<br /><br />Nope - but tragically, there are just enough of them who do to discredit a lot of what is trying to be said (with Mr. Albert Gore ranking quite high among the scam artists).<br /><br />You also forget political power... there's a lot to be gained from being perceived as the savior of the environment.

[bwrobertson2]

it's also about selling his book which is printed on recycled paper. :)

[whiplash55]

Gore is perhaps the biggest ****** bag on the planet. He rides around in private jets and limo's while he lectures the rest of us. His "carbon footprint" is larger than some small towns the ones he wants to impoverish with his spread the wealth carbon debt BS.

[just_imagine]

common dude, he's the creator of MAN-BEAR-PIG!

[kewell82]

Love the reference, just_imagine.

[kewell82]

Love the reference, just_imagine. LOL!

[brienza1975]

More "Gore-Bull" Warming crap!!!!!!!!

[Lerianis3]

Have to agree with you. Yes, the world is warming A VERY LITTLE, but the fact is that the only source of that is..... the Sun, and there is jackall we can do about that other than get used to it.

[pentest]

Yeah it is the sun trapping heat in our atmosphere!

[xhable]

"it is the sun trapping heat in our atmosphere", no.. but it is stupid to ignore it is the point.<br /><br />The more valid argument against the Gore ethos is that we're concentrating one thing that's not really a very major greenhouse gas. If CO2 is a cause of global warming, it is not the only one and it is not the one that contributed the most.<br /><br />There are other, larger social and political reasons for not having a dependency on oil or coil. These are the arguments that we should be concentrating on, not wasting money throwing glamor and glitz at something that isn't true.

[HeavyJim]

Title of this article should have been : Al Gore: It's not just about the planet, its about my profits.

[pentest]

Wonder how you feel about the book that Palin had written for her?

[xaduurv]

Her?

[Joe Force]

No, it's about his "legacy", this his ego, then his profits, then the planet.

[gofalcons]

**** pentest, get a life loser troll

[tipoo_]

I'd be impressed if the book was printed on Hemp instead of traditional paper.

[HeavyJim]

by pentest November 8, 2009 12:21 PM PST<br /> Wonder how you feel about the book that Palin had written for her?<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />Oh, about the same as with clintons ghost written book.

[UpChuck_Liberals]

Oh yeah, like that Literary Giant in the WH actually wrote his books.

[brienza1975]

I'd be even more impressed if Al Gore would just go away!!!!!!!

[kewell82]

Yeah how old is Al Gore? I'll Bing it. Oh man he is only 61. That means we have to listen to him for at least 30 more years. Suck!

[AlitoRAF]

This creature is too much.... Keep eating Al, soon you'll be the richest phoney on earth.

[Mattman704]

"our ridiculous dependence on foreign oil and coal" - Really? We import coal now? Sheesh Al, if you're gonna spew crap from the mouth at least make sure it's CORRECT crap. The US has the world's LARGEST coal deposits/mines - we don't need to import it dummy. In fact, we're quite retarded for not doing what Germany figured out how to do is WWI/WWII - Crack the coal and refine it into gasoline.

[Lerianis3]

Uh, actually..... we do import a ridiculous amount of coal per year.... it's something like 10% of what we use.

[kewell82]

If we do import 10% coal, it must be dirt cheap.

[rmva]

"As he did with An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of OUR CHOICE to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis." - press release announcing publication of Our Choice.

[crowbarofdeath]

Yeah, guess who the founder and chairman of that organization is? Al Gore. He's donating all of his profits to himself.

[vikinzer]

Crowbarofdeath: Have you ever actually looked at how non profit organizations work? He doesn't get that money, he doesnt' get to keep it, use it for his personal benefit, or anything else of the like. He does get a say in how his philanthropic contribution is spent, but it's not profit, and it's certainly not being donated back to him. Take some time to actually research how the backbone of all philanthropy in our country works before you comment on it.

[jwissick]

It's not about the planet at all. It's ALL about Al Gore and finding Manbearpig.

[nauj_solrac]

Yes, we must find and destory Manbearpig, lol. <br /> <br />Gore is super serial.

[MickBurke]

Solar activity goes up, temperatures go up. Solar activity goes down, temperatures go down, just as they have in the last few years.<br /><br />The idea of 'man made' global warming is a hoax to make people rich, to redistribute wealth, and give the government another reason to take your money. Plain and simple.<br /><br />I think it would just be more direct if the government ran IQ taxes and took all the money of the stupid people directly, no?

[websterphreaky]

It's ALL ABOUT this Slimy Democrat Bast Ards Wallet.

[lightningrob]

Of course he conveniently leaves out nuclear energy, which has zero emissions and can be generated at the massive scale that the other sources can't.

[Bytrat]

Taken over the life cycle of nuclear power plant - nuclear power does have an enormous emmisions payload. You have to build the plant - a lot of concrete is used (a lot of Co2 is produced just in producing concrete). Then there is the mining, refining, and transportation of the fuel to the plant. Then there is the transportation to a storage facility of the depleted waste products. <br /> <br />Then there is something that is never discussed - every nuclear plant built has had major cost over-runs - sometimes to the point of doubling the plants cost. All of that money could be used to produce and install a lot of re-newable energy directly on the end-user's building. This would help in reducing energy waste/lost in transportation.

[lancop1]

Read the comments above and you'll see why optimism about the human future must be tempered with a realistic view of human nature and its manifold limitations. Science &#38; technology play an increasingly central role in our modern lifestyle and globalized economic system, but science literacy still takes a backseat to political, economic or religious ideology &#38; hip knee-jerk mean spiritedness. Sometimes it seems like intelligent &#38; informed discourse on our planet's many developing problems is almost impossible, and when its not crass ignorance its likely to be bored disinterest. Clearly we are losing our position as the technical innovation &#38; social evolution leaders of the Free World, as our clueless citizens text message while driving their SUV's to an "Invest in Coal" Wall Street hedge fund conference at a crosstown Holiday Inn. So, despite some Rhode's scholars smart enough to envision a Green Future for our society and, perhaps, for all mankind, we will still have many millions of people who should know better by now who we'll have to drag kicking &#38; screaming into the 21st century. Oh well...

[Rants&Raves]

+1<br /><br />Some of these are also kept in the dark by paid provocateurs; how many of the people in this thread, for example, just registered ? the tone, the arguments, all sound like they are coming from a single source rather than from a diversity of opinions.

[JoeNYC]

At least there is one intelligent post here. I was getting depressed reading all these comments. You'd think people would understand that clean, renewable energy sources are better for all of us just out of common sense. If you've ever lived in a city overrun with pollution (e.g. Los Angeles) you know first hand that something needs to change. It seems the right wing political response these days is just to dig their heals and yell "No!" to all change. We need to fix these problems. They are not just going to go away if we put our heads in the sand.

[jsminch]

Here's some science for you. A millionaire senator's son is VP for eight years and doesn't do a darn thing to "save the planet" then manages to lose and election that he should have won by a landslide. His political career is over. He bums around for a while then comes back in his (pre-VP) persona as an environmental crusader. <br /> <br />He tells the world to invest in renewable energy, and invests his own money in "green" companies that profit from what he is telling people to do (and telling the government to compel people to do). He sells millions of books and movies and makes millions in speaking fees. <br /> <br />Now this washed-up politician who makes his living telling people to cut back and take care of the planet is a multi-multi-millionaire, Academy Award, Emmy Award and Nobel Peace Prize winner that flys around in private jets, lights the trees outside his palatial house that uses 20x the energy of the average house, and has his chauffeur keep the car idling with the AC on while he's inside giving a speech about how people can cut their carbon footprint. <br /> <br />He's the rough equivalent of a Televangelist who gets BJs under the desk from his boyfriend/dealer while he's on TV. <br /> <br />But if anyone speaks out against him environmentalists call them tools of "big oil" that are only in it for the money. Heh. <br /> <br />Here's some science...you're being played.

[JoeNYC]

@jsminch<br /><br />Who gives a crap about Al Gore. We can site examples all day about the hypocrisy of politicians on both sides but what it comes down to is which message makes more sense. Here's your choice:<br /><br />1) Continue to pollute the environment and entrench our dependence on foreign oil<br />or<br />2) Pursue clean sources of renewable energy<br /><br />Why would somebody choose #1? Laziness? Monetary interest (you work for an oil company)? You've been told to by a talking head that is shilling for certain corporate interests and you can't think for yourself?<br /><br />How about we all just use some common sense and invest in our future. Stop using Al Gore as an excuse to do nothing.

[stanz358]

A lot of people here showing how ignorant they really are

[eadwulf]

What is the matter with you people!? It's not just climate change itself, which is huge - what about the tonnes and tonnes of toxins and chemicals pumped daily into our water, air, and land? These things have an affect on our and our foods health. 'We have to learn to live with it'. ***, more like you have to live with you and your loved ones dying of a myriad of cancers, etc.

[JimPratt3]

This guy is one of the biggest phonies of all time. A real zero. He latched on to this gibberish in his profound wisdom and he is still cashing in on it. Sorry folks, but just ONE St. Helen's-size volcano spews out more 'pollution' and C02 than all man has ever created since the dawn of time, despite what Gore and the rest of the 'Church of Global Warming' crowd want to believe. This planet has always been, and always will be, undertaking natural climate change. Just ask the dinosaurs. Oh, and another ice age is coming one day too, and no number of SUVs in the universe can ever change that.

[freemarket--2008]

Wow. Glad you set us all straight on all that. I'm sure you have hard, uncontested data to back up each and every point as well, right? Well? We're waiting...

[Tallredeye]

Why is Gore afraid of debating? He unilaterally declares the debate over and wants to ruin our economy without any science to back it up. All they have is computer models. And assertions about man-made disasters such as Katrina that they can't back up scientifically.<br /><br />He is either dishonest or delusional, pick one.

[Rants&Raves]

There is plenty of science; you have simply chosen to ignore it in favour of your personal blind dogma.

[Tallredeye]

Fake hokey sticks don't count.<br /><br />So why won't Gore debate?

[evilive7]

THERE IS MORE SCIENCE TO BACK UP ALL THE THEORIES HE TALKS ABOUT THAN BRAIN CELLS IN YOUR HEAD. WHERE DO YOU THINK POLLUTION COMES FROM? YOU THINK POLLUTION IS NATURAL? YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU NEED SCIENCE TO EXPLAIN THE SMON IN THE AIR- YOU CAN F******* SEE IT, DON'T ACT LIKE IT'S NOT THERE!! YOU ARE EITHER RETARDED OR DELLUISIONAL.