Just how many billions does Gore stand to gain?

-Enough wind blows through the Midwest to meet 100% of the U.S. electricity demand.

Shove it. Let's destroy what is left of the tall grass great plains ecosystem. NOT.

I guess prairie chickens are not as cute as polar bears.

Windmills (they are not turbines) do create industrial pollution and fragment what is left of the short and tall grass prairie ecosystem thus destroying them.

I guess with Gore some ecosystems are more equal than others.

To test Gore's hypothesis, lets turn off all CO2 emitters for a couple of months, and see how well it works out.

Ladies and gentlemen,

"We�re burning (oil) in ways that destroy the planet."

Destroying the planet? Where?

"Some" scientists say that there is a 75% "chance" of the nothern ice cap disappearing within 5 years during the summer months.

- Pure speculative fear mongering. There is more ice now than at this time during 2005, 2006 and 2007.

http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm

"27 senior statesmen and retired military leaders warned of the national security threat from an *energy tsunami* that would be triggered by a loss of our access to foreign oil."

- No kidding? How profound! This is why we need to drill for more oil here. If only Reid, Pelosi and other wackos would get out of the way.

I'm all for renewable energy. But Gore is looking to profit from these "offsets". He wants to tax fuel BEFORE you you burn it and AFTER you burn it. Double taxation.

Tax, tax, tax - the Democrat answer for everything. Just throw more money at it. That will solve the problem and help the economy, right?

Our over-reliance started when we listened to the green freaks and stopped producing our own. Once we had to start buying most of it - from countries that have little or no pollution laws - we became over-reliant. (that does not include Canada our #1 source)

The greenies keep saying we can go green faster than we can punch holes in the ground. The people that really know about that say there's no way and it's a lie.

I hope Al Gore isn't blaming the bad economy, problems with home mortgages, and job outsourcing on carbon-based fuels. The true causes of these are some carbon-based life-forms. Dependence on foreign oil is a problem, but the causes of the other problems is closer to home. More bad ideas that seemed to be a good idea at the time. Let's hope the cure isn't another bad idea that seems like a good idea at the time.

Maybe he can phase out of blaming everything on CO2 before the people wake up that what he said before wasn't true. This new cause makes more sense, although I'll believe it when I see it.

Couple things right off...
1. Sci Am last year had a great article advocating a complete national switch to solar power. This well researched, scientific based article conceded that many trillion of $ and several decades would be requred. Not the simple ridiculous lower cost faster timescale proposed by Gore. Does he read the literature?
2. Gore does not sufficicntly address the problem of wind and solar in that it is not always available when or where you need the power. A huge power transmission upgrade would be needed to distribute this power. Storage of peak power is a problem.
3. It is beyond irresponsible to ignore 21st century nuclear fission technology. This is where advocates such as Gore reveal their ideological bias and lose and credibility. If the CO2 crisis is SO bad (I disagree) then those concerned should vigorously embrace clean, 21st century nuclear fission technology as part of the solution.

So yet again we get a polemic short on facts and long on beautiful sounding "goals". I'll leave the economy destroying tax plan comments for later.

It always amazes me that people like Gore who knows so little about the energy markets gets all this free publicity for his fantasy solutions while others who offer up pragmatic, realistic goals for our energy security and future are rarely given a voice.

I agree!

I like some of his recommendations, but as a meteorologist he turned me off pretty quickly by attempting (once again) to relate tornadoes and "bigger downpours" to Climate Change. The comment about lightning was interesting - I'm going to run that by some experts and post a response on my blog next week.

http://chizumatic.mee.nu/ghosts_of_my_past

This link by Steven Den Beste sums up my objections to the so-call clean alternative energy. There is only one at the present that can be in wide-spread usage and that is Nuclear Fission power plants which the Greens are dead set against and not mentioned by Gore. Fusion could be the next when the breakthfough comes about.

Clean energy he mentioned are solar, unlikely at the moment because of the capacity limitations of silicon plants to produce that kind of area required and still supply the electronic industries at the price quoted by Gore. The area covered by these solar cells will create a micro-climate by itself. Wind farms? Too intermittant and only available in specific location, similar to hydro and geothermal power generation, and what about the large number of birds killed by these windmills? Geothermal plants produces toxic waste water at certain sources and corrodes the machinery.

So basically it is a choose your poison type of proposal.

Here's a challenge for Gore: practice what you preach.

Reply: From what I read, He is doing that now.

Whatever the reason for Gore's hanging chad debacle, I still thank God that Gore was sent on down the road by the American people.

The following link is a good commentary, but the comments and remarks that proceed it are even more telling: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/17/voinovich-finds-gores-energy-speech-ridiculous/

I believe that all that can be said about Al Gore has about been said. This man as well as other AGW proponents are nothing more than scare-mongers capitalizing upon the scare.

Some wisdom for the masses (I am sure you all know who penned this): I said there was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in the art of proving by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. To this society all the rest of the people are slaves. For example, if my neighbour hath a mind to my cow, he hires a lawyer to prove that he ought to have my cow from me. I must then hire another to defend my right, it being against the rules of law that any man should be allowed to speak for himself. Now in this case, I who am the true owner lie under two great disadvantages. First; my lawyer, being practised almost from his cradle in defending falsehood, is quite out of his element when he would be an advocate for justice, which as an office unnatural, he always attempts with great awkwardness, if not with ill-will. The second disadvantage is, that my lawyer must proceed with great caution, or else he will be reprimanded by the Judges, and abhorred by his brethren, as one who would lessen the practice of the law. And therefore I have but two methods to preserve my cow. The first is to gain over my adversary's lawyer with a double fee, who will then betray his client by insinuating that he hath justice on his side. The second way is for my lawyer to make my cause appear as unjust as he can, by allowing the cow to belong to my adversary; and this if it be skilfully done will certainly bespeak the favour of the Bench.

Now, your Honour is to know that these Judges are persons appointed to decide all controversies of property, as well as for the trial of criminals, and picked out from the most dextrous lawyers who are grown old or lazy, and having been biassed all their lives against truth and equity, lie under such a fatal necessity of favouring fraud, perjury, and oppression, that I have known several of them refuse a large bribe from the side where justice lay, rather than injure the Faculty by doing anything unbecoming their nature or their office.

It is a maxim among these lawyers, that whatever hath been done before, may legally be done again: and therefore they take special care to record all the decisions formerly made against common justice and the general reason of mankind. These, under the name of precedents, they produce as authorities to justify the most iniquitous opinions; and the Judges never fail of directing accordingly.

In pleading, they studiously avoid entering into the merits of the cause; but are loud, violent and tedious in dwelling upon all circumstances which are not to the purpose. For instance, in the case already mentioned; they never desire to know what claim or title my adversary hath to my cow, but whether the said cow were red or black, her horns long or short; whether the field I graze her in be round or square, whether she were milked at home or abroad, what diseases she is subject to, and the like; after which they consult precedents, adjourn the cause from time to time, and in ten, or thirty years come to an issue.

It is likewise to be observed that this society hath a peculiar cant and jargon of their own, that no other mortal can understand, and wherein all their laws are written, which they take special care to multiply; whereby they have wholly confounded the very essence of truth and falsehood, of right and wrong; so that it will take thirty years to decide whether the field, left me by my ancestors for six generations, belong to me or to a stranger three hundred miles off.

In the trial of persons accused for crimes against the state the method is much more short and commendable: the Judge first sends to sound the disposition of those in power, after which he can easily hang or save the criminal, strictly preserving all the forms of law.

Here my master, interposing, said it was a pity, that creatures endowed with such prodigious abilities of mind as these lawyers, by the description I gave of them, must certainly be, were not rather encouraged to be instructors of others in wisdom and knowledge. In answer to which, I assured his Honour, that in all points out of their own trade they were usually the most ignorant and stupid generation among us, the most despicable in common conversation, avowed enemies to all knowledge and learning, and equally disposed to pervert the general reason of mankind in every other subject of discourse, as in that of their own profession.....

of the above, um....Gore comes to mind....Hansen...others....they fit the above mould quite nicely........ and they also ain't got no clothes.......

I have to step out of my attempt at being civil for this one. His entire speech is conjecture based upon conjecture.

"Our weather sure is getting strange, isn't it?"

No, but the weirdoes we keep having to choose from in this crap Two-party system we have sure are.

Folks, hold on to your money, these jerks (Democratic and Republican leaders) are going to continue to invent ways to separate you from it.

I do like Gore's idea of reducing, if not eliminating, payroll taxes, but his carbon tax idea will be laughed at within a year since CO2 as a contributor to GW will be found to be false.

I'm Super Serial!

Steve

Gore supports a sharp reduction in payroll taxes with the difference made up in CO2 taxes

I like that idea, because I ride a bicycle. In fact, they should eliminate payroll taxes completely!

I've always been in support of covering eastern Colorado with windmills. It would improve the scenery, and possibly keep the farmers from wasting water growing food for cows. There is a huge solar power plant down near Alamosa Colorado that I am impressed with too.

It is unfortunate that Gore is unable to present these ideas without stupidity like "we can do it in ten years." It destroys the credibility of serious environmentalists.

1. why now al? when you and bill took ove the plate was set pretty good for you. you did nothing but bask in the glory afforded you by
13-20 dollar a barrel oil. you did nothing to
secure that for the future. you did not call for
developing alternatives. as i understand it you did set up some sort of carbon trading scheme wherby cos who cant meet mandated emissions can buy credits from those who met or beat theirs.
result instead of govt getting fines from procrastinator that money goes to someone else.
you ending uo making commissions on the traded contracts.

2 tornados-i doubt theres more today than 45 years ago when i lived in ohio-today more people live in tornado areas and the meteorolgical technology has gotten to the point where we know where every one is including remote areas that we wouldnt have known about 40 years ago

3 california fires i live in ca fires happen every year some years worse than others. at this time of year fires and santa ana wind occur. encroachin development is bad news good nes scenario. bad news developments are now in fire areas good news means to fight those fires is now closer and quicker to dispel them but still you are occasionally going to have fires like the oakland hill and san diego cty fires
this years fires are mostly in rural areas no doing a lot of harm but difficult to put out since fire fighting resources have to be brought in

4 jack mclaughlin in aprevious post comments on the enormity of your challenge how can you even compare putting 2 men on the moon to transforming the energy needs of 300,000,000 people

5 once again you were serving the people for 32 years now all of the sudden your on this mission
as i see it nuclear power and fossil fuels will be looked back in history as ages. their use is only temporary until and your are right solar power wind power etc are developed to handle a mass scale we need to have more nuclear power plant so that oil is only needed for transportational purpose ie dont burn oil to provide power to a plug to charge and electric car

6 i wish you and all your energy guzzling friends would practice what you preach and quit talking buy offsets for your excessive use-it makes you look bad

Great idea, but we should use this technology to augment, not replace.

On a side note, I would install solar panels and a small windmill if I had the money. Plus any excess generated is just passed down the line and the electric company has to pay me for the excess I generate.

Al Gore, politician and owner of one of America's largest carbon footprints, simply isn't credible.

I can hear the PH and oiz's heads exploding. Algore (btw- Gore has lost a lot of weight, turned his Nashville house into a energy conservation showcase and mostly flies commercial jets)

PH actually got the first comment in on dot earth on the NY Times. Proves he needs to get out more in the Colorado sun (How is the weather, PH?)

Really -- Climate change / chaos or not, the faster we get off foreign fossil fuels the better. Every president has made it a goal -- and all have failed. Now we have a vision for a renewed America. And it would cost less than the war in Iraq.

Let's stop sending 500 or 600 or 700 Billion dollars a year overseas ("the foreign tax at the pump") and use it to revitalize American manufacturing.

How hard would it be to turn Ford factories in Ohio or Indiana into a wind turbine plant? Sheet metal, alternators, etc.

And I hope Gore and his mega-capitalist friends at Kliner-Perkins make a billion dollars.

Great American Capitalist vision for dealing with climate change, global warming and accounts deficits!

You know the best thing we as a nation could do, is to turn our backs to AL Gore and jump off his band wagon.

Al Gore -
" I don�t remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. "

I for one don't ascribe to his gloom and doom. The major causes of our economic ills is 1) a devalued dollar and the drive by the eco-nazis to drive up the cost of power so we use less. (Well becuase they know better than us, and well they said we need to) Great, let's lower our standard of living and impoverish ourselves so Al Gore can save us? Not too smart. The reality is Al Gore and his ilk get richer and the rest of us get poorer. And he complains about the rich get richer and the poor getting poorer.

That is just sickening.

Let see, rates for electricity are increasing and the cost of gas is increasing. The people who need to be energy efficient can't be. The money that could be used to buy a more efficient car is being squandered on artificially high energy cost. Al Gore and his ilk are creating problems. Not only are the poor paying more energy, since the meager financial resources that could be and should be used to reduce their carbon emmissions is literally going out the tailpipe, buying the newer more efficient car slipped from reality. It is almost like the policies add to global warming.

Incredible

I'll probably get bashed for saying this, but I thought it was a pretty good speech. It was sensible and motivational. I agree with you Brett, this is something that we should do. Regardless of climate change, IMHO. Being independent of OPEC oil would do great things for this country.

I must make this statement also, I am not a big fan of Al Gore - but this is a step in the right direction - as far as energy policy. I'm not a dyed in the wool greeny either. I just don't like being held hostage by Iran and Venezuela.

On the other hand, the comments about Artic ice being gone in 5 years, that may be a stretch. And it only makes sense to me that if it is snowing more in Greenland's interior, that the Jacobshavn glacier will be moving faster. I also think that he left out an important piece of the energy puzzle - I think we need to include nuclear in any transition from oil.

I agree with many here, who say that we are not going to replace all of our coal fired power plants with windmills and solar panels. It would make a dent, but you need nuclear as well, to be able to replace coal and natural gas.

I also agree with many that we need oil - too many important things are made from it. But we must at some point, figure out a way to be energy independent. We are the United States! We can do anything if we want to. I would love to tell OPEC to keep all of their oil. That would be great!

More drilling here at home, unfortunately, will not replace all of the OPEC oil that we import. We need other energy sources as well. Why not mobilize the country to develop them?

Maybe I missed something, but, I liked the fact that his speech was more about being energy independent and less about climate change.

Lastly, I don't agree with carbon taxes or offsets, but if - and that's a BIG if - they reduce payroll taxes when/if they implement these carbon taxes - I may lighten my stance against them. Otherwise I see them as a penalty to consumers, and a drag on the economy.

Just my two cents. Have a great weekend y'all.