Column: Gore Takes Heat in D.C. Return

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070325/D8O2SKGG1.html

Column: Gore Takes Heat in D.C. Return
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Mar 24, 9:01 PM (ET)

By MATT CRENSON

NEW YORK (AP) - Al Gore has taken some heat lately for spreading the word about global warming.

First there were the allegations by a conservative group, the day after Gore collected an Oscar for his movie "An Inconvenient Truth," that his Nashville mansion consumes more than 20 times as much electricity as the average American household. Then there were charges that zinc mining on Tennessee property owned by Gore tarnished his environmentalist credentials.

By the time he arrived on Capitol Hill this past week to testify about his signature issue, the barbs Gore's congressional adversaries hurled at him sounded relatively benign.

"It seems that everything is blamed on global warming," Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma complained. "How come you guys never seem to notice when it gets cold?"


Former Vice President Al Gore testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 21, 2007, before the Senate Environment Committee hearing on global climate change. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

He then confronted Gore with the number of record cold temperatures measured at U.S. weather stations during the month of January. (This would be the same January that was part of the warmest Northern Hemisphere winter on record.)

"We need to be deliberative and careful when we talk about so-called scientific facts," Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas lectured, before enumerating a list of things he believed Gore got wrong in the award-winning documentary.

One of the problems Gore, environmentalists and the scientific community have in conveying the seriousness of global warming is that its most severe effects to date have been felt in the polar regions, far from the places where most politicians and their constituents live.

As Gore mentioned on Capitol Hill, in just the last few months a number of scientific studies have documented alarming environmental changes at both poles. The sea ice layer on the Arctic Ocean has shrunk so dramatically that scientists expect it to disappear completely during the summer months by mid-century. Scientists have seen glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica suddenly accelerate, increasing the rate at which they dump icebergs into the sea and contributing to the rise of the world's seas.

As part of an effort to draw attention to the poles, on March 1 the world's scientific community kicked off the International Polar Year, an intensive research effort and public awareness campaign focused on the Arctic and Antarctic.

FULL story at link.

[ms liberty]

1. K&R - n/t

[rodeodance]

2. Repugs just embarrassed themselves last week.

[annabanana]

3. You can't embarrass someone who has no shame.. . . n/t

[Webster Green]

4. "Heat" generated by a huge pile of steaming bullshit..

Anti-science, flat earth dead-enders foaming at the mouth.

Fuck 'em!

[mac56]

5. It's the difference between "weather" and "climate".

I know they get it.

They're just pretending not to.

[otohara]

6. Media Dishes Out More Gore

negatives than any one actually serving.

[Maraya1969]

7. They bought the land next to a zinc mine in 1973 with a 30 year lease

He doesn't operate a mine. But I'm not sure what they have done since the lease is up.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-18-goremine_N.htm

[AlGore-08.com]

11. The mine closed in 2003 but may be reopened; the Gores have not renewed their lease

Media Matters has discussed the mine's environmental history several times lately:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703210003

Hume mischaracterized, selectively cited Tennessean article to smear Gore

(snip)

In claiming that "he EPA says Gore's mines are part of a complex that released more than 19 million pounds of toxic substances into the air, water, and land from 1998 to 2003," Hume omitted the fact that The Tennessean also reported that "there is no evidence the mine has caused serious damage to the environment in the area or threatened the health of his neighbors." Further, according to the article, Greg Denton, manager of the planning and standards section in the Tennessee Division of Water Pollution Control, said of the water testing, "I don't see anything here that indicates a water quality issue."

Additionally, as Media Matters for America noted, the article also quoted Caney Fork Watershed Association representative John Harwood as saying that the "operation has a record of vigilance in not operating to harm the environment."

Hume went on to cite one of "Gore's neighbors," who said that Gore was "not walking the walk" and said, "Mining is not exactly synonymous with being green, is it?' " But Hume did not include The Tennessean's identification of him as a "conservative" who "says Gore's view that global warming is a certainty is arrogant." Moreover, the article also cited an environmental activist who saw no conflict between Gore's mining involvement and his environmental advocacy. According to The Tennessean, "Earthworks president and chief executive Stephen D'Esposito said Gore's involvement with mining doesn't bother him 'in any way, shape or form.' 'We are going to have mining. The question is doing it in the right place and the right way,' said D'Esposito." Earthworks is a Washington, D.C., environmental program which, according to its website, "evolved from the work of the Mineral Policy Center (MPC)" to "to help reform mining laws and practices in the U.S. MPC has worked largely behind the scenes to combat the destructive impacts of mining, drilling and digging." Gore has asked the mining company to work with Earthworks "to make sure the operation doesn't damage the environment," according to the newspaper.

[dkofos]

8. I saw Gore give more heat than he took. I guess the writer saw

the toned down cleaned up storybook version.

[Maraya1969]

9. This senator Inhofe sounds like he bought his education at Sears.

"It seems that everything is blamed on global warming," Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma complained. "How come you guys never seem to notice when it gets cold?"



That is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.

[Tellurian]

10. Stick to your guns, Al..

They are trying to excuse our extraordinary climates changes here in the US as normal. heh!
Tell that to the tornado victims, the Katrina victims, the victims of several hurricanes in Fla!

[Cha]

12. Gore considers the source like

I do. The corporatemediawhores treat Gore the same way the know nothing repubs do..with disdain and scortched-earth policy.

Gore is taking his case to the People where the action will undoubtedly come from. By-pass the corporatewhores; they'll still be yelling "denial!" when the ice caps wash them away.

[Apollo11]

13. Gore is a winner! Inhofe is a whiner!

As we all expected - Al Gore did a great job at the Congressional Hearing on March 21st.

Inhofe was constantly complaining that Al Gore was taking too much time to answer his questions.

In case you missed it - you can watch the video at www.c-span.org

Let's all find ways to show our support for Al Gore! :patriot:

Read Al's blog: http://blog.algore.com

Get ready for Live Earth on 7/7/07: www.liveearth.org

Sign the petitions at www.algore.org and www.draftgore.com

:kick:

[Sparkly]

14. "How come you guys never seem to notice when it gets cold?"

Is Inhofe really THAT stupid?!? :banghead: