In a new interview with The Sun, former vice president Al Gore says that not enough has been done to combat global warming since his 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth“:
I have to say the situation has not improved since I made the movie in 2006. Sure, awareness has grown and more people are concerned since scientists said we had just ten years to take action to halt rising sea levels.
But the situation has got worse. The entire North Polar ice cap is melting and could be gone in some areas in as little as five years.
You have to ask what would it take to set off the alarm bells to make this a top-of-mind priority in the body politic. If you had told me a few years ago that we would be facing a situation where the entire North Polar ice cap was going to imminently disappear, I might have thought we’d certainly get people’s attention, and yet only to a limited degree.
Gore also criticized the Bush administration’s inaction on the issue, adding that “while it’s important to change lightbulbs, it’s far more important to change laws.”
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Gore is completely right. The climate situation in 2008 is much worse the 2006. Haven’t you noticed that it is much warmer than it was between November-March?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm“while it’s important to change lightbulbs, it’s far more important to change laws.”
That won’t happen if we just change dimbulbs in November.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pmYou have to ask what would it take to set off the alarm bells to make this a top-of-mind priority in the body politic.
That’s what I don’t understand about the conservatives. How do they think they are going to make/keep their money when the world is collapsing around them. There will be riots over food, land and water. The 2%ers may be able to hold out for a while, but eventually the water and the weather will get them too.
We lose nothing if we start addressing global warming today. We lose everything if we deny global warming exists and do nothing.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:18 pmHaven’t you noticed that it is much warmer than it was between November-March?
That’s funny, Daryll. You’re a real card. Maybe one neuron short of a synapse but a real card nonetheless.
Oh, and by the way, have you noticed that it’s a lot lighter outside in the morning than it is at night?
ROTFLAMO at you, pant-load.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:18 pm“But the situation has got worse. The entire North Polar ice cap is melting and could be gone in some areas in as little as five years.”
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April 21st, 2008 at 1:23 pmIf the North Pole is missing an ice cap I know where it went, it has moved to SW Washington state where it has snowed every day for the last freakin week……………….damn I’m cold!
If Al had said it was getting better would he still be able to make money as an alarmist? Or sell as many “carbon credits?”
April 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pmweather aint climate trollbaits.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:25 pmVA Voter Says:
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If Al had said it was getting better would he still be able to make money as an alarmist? Or sell as many “carbon credits?”
The same can be said of bush and terrists after 9-11, you nazi scumbag…
April 21st, 2008 at 1:27 pmWe have a real crisis of irresponsibility and greed in this country. We need to redouble our efforts.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:27 pmVA Voter Says:
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If Al had said it was getting better would he still be able to make money as an alarmist? Or sell as many “carbon credits?”
April 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pmIf Va Voter admitted it was a problem, would he still be able to throw beer cans out his poorly tuned pickup truck window while towing his bass boat to the polluted lake near his trailer?
Because only by submitting to global socialism can we survive.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pmBobwurst Says:
weather aint climate trollbaits.
There you go again. You intellectual elites with all your fancy science talk.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:32 pmSince global warming doesn’t personally effect George Bush, he will leave that to the next president.
Bush did not give any hints whatsoever as to how this goal is supposed to be reached except to say that “the wrong way is to raise taxes, duplicate mandates or demand sudden and drastic emissions cuts.”
Since the president never suggests actual behavior changes on the part of American citizens, that leaves us with what?
There is, for instance, the ambitious new fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020; we sure do have a lot to look forward to in the future, people. There’s new federal spending on biofuels. Much of this is for ethanol, which has the unfortunate side effect of creating more greenhouse gases than it eliminates, and, of course, helping to create a planetary crisis over rising food costs. But nothing’s perfect.
In George’s mind “Climate change involves complicated science.” Meaning it’s way over his head. Let someone else figure it out….
April 21st, 2008 at 1:34 pmVA Voter Says:
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Gore also criticized the Bush administration’s inaction on the issue, adding that “while it’s important to change lightbulbs, it’s far more important to change laws.”
Because only by submitting to global socialism can we survive.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Makes more sense than global invasion , masterminded by the biggest chickenshit pansies ever to walk the planet ……..
April 21st, 2008 at 1:35 pmI posted about the benefits of going green in the Thinkfast thread today:
http://thinkprogress.org/ 2008/ 04/ 21/ thinkfast-april-21-2008/ #comment-4922438
April 21st, 2008 at 1:35 pmBecause only by submitting to global socialism can we survive.”
well, global capitalism is killing us in record numbers. maybe socialism is a better solution.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pmBecause only by submitting to global socialism can we survive.
One man’s submission is another man’s responsible behavior, colon-blow.
Nice stab at a rhetorical objection to our need to behave responsibly concerning our environment. Wrong but nice stab.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pmIsn’t weather an indication of what’s going on with the climate? We had a warm summer in 98 as part of the cycle and that was global warming, then the coolness of the years after that are just weather?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pmBobwurst, please don’t respond to vavoter anymore. His last post just confirmed that he has the IQ of a rock. Any further attempts to engage him in debate or refute his moronic posts will be totally fruitless.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:39 pmVA Voter Says:
Because only by submitting to global socialism can we survive.
Oh, so you do get it! Look at what those Socialists in Sweden are doing!
<a href=”http://afp.google.com/ article/ ALeqM5jwEqB-UgzlG4rroA4BZGoEhosRqQ”Swedish town prides itself as environmental role model
VAEXJOE, Sweden (AFP) — The Swedish town of Vaexjoe will be “green” or will not be at all. That’s the slogan in this town that has become a world leader in environmental protection and has even loftier goals.
While the European Union (EU) aims to raise its share of renewable energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020, Vaexjoe, a town of 80,000 people nestled between lakes and forests in Sweden’s south, can boast of already exceeding 50 percent — and 90 percent when it comes to heating.
Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant dropped by 30 percent between 1993 and 2006.
“It’s a lot but we’re not satisfied, we want to reduce them further,” says Henrik Johansson, an environmental expert at city hall.
In fact, Vaexjoe, which in 1996 set the ambitious goal of ultimately reducing its consumption of fossil fuels to zero, wants to halve its CO2 emissions by 2010 and reduce them by 70 percent by 2050.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:39 pmVA Voter Says:
“I have difficulty with large concepts.”
VA voter is an idiot.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:39 pmOops!
Swedish town prides itself as environmental role model
April 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pmVA Voter Says:
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Bobwurst Says:
weather aint climate trollbaits.
Isn’t weather an indication of what’s going on with the climate? We had a warm summer in 98 as part of the cycle and that was global warming, then the coolness of the years after that are just weather?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
It’s the unnatural occurrences during cycles that are also unnatural , you silly simp ; that is what “Global warming” refers to………..
April 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pmThose d#mned Sweden socialists… what? It’s not Sweden but Kansas?
GREENSBURG, Kansas (AFP) - Devastated by a tornado, this tiny Kansas town is banking on a greener future as homeowners, businesses and officials weave environmentally-friendly features into their rebuilding plans.
But town leaders — who are determined to become the first town in the United States to have all municipal projects built to the highest environmental and efficiency design standards — say going green is the only way to save a town that was dying long before the tornado struck a year ago.
“Building green we come in contact with new industries to come and bring people back to Greensburg,” said Thomas Corns, president of the Greensburg State Bank which is housed in a temporary building as a new, energy efficient bank is being built.
“If we were going to rebuild the same we would have the same community, the same problems.”
Like many small towns, Greensburg had been waning for years before a massive tornado destroyed 95 percent of its homes and businesses on May 4, 2007.
Nearly a year after the tornado struck, some 800 of the town’s 1,400 residents have come back to rebuild and more plan to return.
Greensburg has also succeeded in drawing back a number of young people who thought they had left home for good.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:48 pmEvil Spaniard Says:
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Those d#mned Sweden socialists… what? It’s not Sweden but Kansas?
GREENSBURG, Kansas (AFP) - Devastated by a tornado, this tiny Kansas town is banking on a greener future as homeowners, businesses and officials weave environmentally-friendly features into their rebuilding plans.
But town leaders — who are determined to become the first town in the United States to have all municipal projects built to the highest environmental and efficiency design standards — say going green is the only way to save a town that was dying long before the tornado struck a year ago.
“Building green we come in contact with new industries to come and bring people back to Greensburg,” said Thomas Corns, president of the Greensburg State Bank which is housed in a temporary building as a new, energy efficient bank is being built.
“If we were going to rebuild the same we would have the same community, the same problems.”
Like many small towns, Greensburg had been waning for years before a massive tornado destroyed 95 percent of its homes and businesses on May 4, 2007.
Nearly a year after the tornado struck, some 800 of the town’s 1,400 residents have come back to rebuild and more plan to return.
Greensburg has also succeeded in drawing back a number of young people who thought they had left home for good.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I have personally mocked Kansas as one of the most backwards-ass states in the US ; being a real man , I stand corrected by this display.
Hope more towns/cities/states follow this example ; and not after a natural disaster or tragedy………..
April 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pmThere was an interesting segment on Morning Edition today about a couple of Dutch engineer/architects building floating cities for Dubai. They have ideas and plans to help coastal cities take advantage of rising seas.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:55 pmDaryll Says:
Gore is completely right. The climate situation in 2008 is much worse the 2006. Haven’t you noticed that it is much warmer than it was between November-March?
Between November-March of 2006? Yep, that’s the point, poor brain dead little tard… When you get past remedial reading, and get beyond ‘the bible’ as your only source of science, come back and we can discuss how donkeys don’t talk, and the earth isn’t flat or 8000 years old. And while we’re on the topic, it must s*ck to be an ignorant XTian like yourself, when they just found a 9500 year old LIVING TREE that’s older than the Earth supposedly is!! Let me guess, the TREE OF LIFE? Or just the BRAIN DAMAGE of a MOMMA that hit the SAUCE TOO MUCH? ROTFL!!
April 21st, 2008 at 1:56 pmThe whole point of Al Gore’s 1995 book, Earth in the Balance, was that insead of seeing environmental challenges as problems, we should look at them as opportunities. We should become the world leader in green energy technology, and make money and create lots of jobs in the process.
Unfortunately, we have way too many knuckledraggers in this country, and it has proven very diffucult to drag these Neanderthals, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:56 pmMCMetal, some of the worst ignorance and evil comes from good intentions (just look at Daryll). Kansas is no different. Given enough time, everyone but the most ‘tarded folks (like Daryll) get a clue…
April 21st, 2008 at 1:58 pmMCMetal Says:
I have personally mocked Kansas as one of the most backwards-ass states in the US ; being a real man , I stand corrected by this display.
Hope more towns/cities/states follow this example ; and not after a natural disaster or tragedy………..
April 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
He, read the article linked upwards (in fact in the ThinkFast thread), and read the whole article. Even doing green, ecological tree hugger things, many of the residents of the town still refuse to admit it…
April 21st, 2008 at 1:58 pmIt’s called cognitive dissonance, and it affects all wingnuts. It is the only way they can remain right-wing extremists.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:02 pmshoeless, don’t you have to have cognition to have it get dissonance?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:05 pmIf your god loves you so much why did he make you so stupid?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:09 pmGee it’s really hart to understand why we have lost the respect of the other developed nations of the world. /sarc
April 21st, 2008 at 2:13 pmDaryll Says:
Gore is completely right. The climate situation in 2008 is much worse the 2006. Haven’t you noticed that it is much warmer than it was between November-March?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
And, following this trend of obviousness, religious wingnuts are stupid obtuses.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:17 pmRUCerious Says:
shoeless, don’t you have to have cognition to have it get dissonance?
Or, you could just get kicked in the head by a mule, like Daryll.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:18 pmI think it’s interesting that you folks almost always resort to name calling of anyone that doesn’t agree with you. I’m not anti-green. I agree with finding new and more efficient ways to produce energy. I want clean air and water. No one would be against that. But I don’t agree with the idea that in order to get that we must submit to socialism. People wanted cars that use less gas. Guess what happened. The car manufactures started working on that. Want clean energy, build more nuclear power plants. Find better ways to refine oil. But at the same time use our resources smartly until we have an acceptable alternative.
But I guess you folks will just say I’m a (insert hateful name) to make your point.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pmshoeless Says:
Or, you could just get kicked in the head by a mule, like Daryll.
Daryll’s daddy more than likely used Daryll’s head to drive fence posts into the ground when he was a child.
No self respecting mule would dirty its hoofs on his head
April 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pmCelebrate Earth Day by downloading a free song from GreenMeansStop.com.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:26 pmVA Voter Says:
I think it’s interesting that you folks almost always resort to name calling of anyone that doesn’t agree with you. I’m not anti-green. I agree with finding new and more efficient ways to produce energy. I want clean air and water. No one would be against that. But I don’t agree with the idea that in order to get that we must submit to socialism. People wanted cars that use less gas. Guess what happened. The car manufactures started working on that. Want clean energy, build more nuclear power plants. Find better ways to refine oil. But at the same time use our resources smartly until we have an acceptable alternative.
But I guess you folks will just say I’m a (insert hateful name) to make your point.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Socialism? Give it a rest. Sometimes people need to be pointed in the right direction, and government ought to have the foresight (and balls) to do it. Jimmy Carter started this country in the right direction in the 70s, and if Ronnie hadn’t said “f_ck that shit,” we’d be energy independent now, or very close to it.
Now we’re a time crunch, it’s too late for the people to wake up. Socialism, my ass.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pmWhat we call stating the facts VA Voter calls name calling. Isn’t usually conservatives who are against political correctness? There’s no pleasing these people. So you’re not a bunch of idiots on this subject, you’re just intellectually challenged, better?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pmVA Voter Says:
But I don’t agree with the idea that in order to get that we must submit to socialism.
Its idiotic statements like this that are the reason no one takes you seriously.
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But I guess you folks will just say I’m a (insert hateful name) to make your point.
Want some cheese with that whine?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:30 pmOK Wayne. Please explain why.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:33 pmVA Voter doesn’t think calling people socialists is name calling. It’s only name calling when he’s the target. In short VA has the social maturity of a 3 year old, no offense meant to toddlers.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:38 pmVA Voter,
What type of Socialism do you think we will have to accept? Plain old Socialism, Guild Socialism, National Socialism, State Socialism or Utopian Socialism?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:38 pmThe type ware the government tells me what type of car to drive. What light bulb is best for me. Or restrict privately owned business to the point of bankruptcy. I say inform the public, have lively debate, and let the people decide though the power of commerce to be more green.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pmThat only works on people who have an IQ, say, higher than your’s.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pmAnother personal attack with no point. Thanks for proving my point.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pmVA Voter Says:
The type ware the government tells me what type of car to drive. What light bulb is best for me. Or restrict privately owned business to the point of bankruptcy. I say inform the public, have lively debate, and let the people decide though the power of commerce to be more green.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
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Ah, yes. Let the market decide, and for heaven’s sake don’t regulate. The energy and farming and transportation industries will do just fine on their own, policing themselves. Just like the mortgage industry. Or the airline industry. Or Enron.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pmAnd the post office, DMV, and IRS run so well. Government agencies don’t spend money wastefully. Everything runs so smooth and fast…….
April 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pmVA Voter Says:
And the post office, DMV, and IRS run so well. Government agencies don’t spend money wastefully. Everything runs so smooth and fast…….
April 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
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Surprise! Another strawman. Nobody is advocating nationalizing every industry that produces greenhouse gas. We’re just advocating some carrots and sticks to encourage these industries to be cleaner and greener.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:56 pmYou have no right to pollute the planet, and make it unlivable for millions or even billions of other people. If the actions of selfish, greedy people are detrimental to the overall population, then the government must protect the public from such miscreants.
Your precious free market caused this problem. Now, it’s up to the government to solve it.
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created the problem.”-Albert Einstein
April 21st, 2008 at 3:56 pmAnd I’m not advocating total release of all restrictions. My point is that the market (with the help of the free press) will provide the carrots and sticks without the use of government force.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:16 pmHow can the government “solve” the issue and maintain my personal freedom?
April 21st, 2008 at 4:19 pmYour “personal freedom” does not include the right to harm others, through negligence, or avarice.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:38 pmhttp://www.edmontonsun.com/ News/ Edmonton/ 2008/ 04/ 21/ 5343616-sun.html
April 21st, 2008 at 6:21 pmActually, the post office is run damned well.
I still don’t buy the global war on global warming.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:22 pm#57 Alejandro
The last 31 years have all been higher than the average of all years taken from 1880 - 2005.
The odds of that, are two billion to one
Guess you’re not much of a gambling man but if you were…????
April 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pmIn the 2000 election many zombies were quite ready to vote for Gore. They kept hearing people say “Vote for Gore! Vote for Gore!” They were chanting “Gore! Gore! Gore!” (okay, it sounded more like a bunch of moaning zombies but you just knew it was what it translated to). They were all ready to vote for Gore until they found out the people meant “Al Gore”. What a let down. On election day a bunch of angry zombies went to the polls anyways. They ate the voters. Most of the victims were democrats. And that’s how Bush won the 2000 election.
Okay, so maybe it didn’t happen that way but then I don’t believe in global warming either. I refuse to believe that anyone can predict with any reliability that the earth is going to become a blazing inferno in 5 or 10 years when no one can give me a reliable 5 day forecast.
If anything I think we’re heading for another ice age. I live in central Florida (motto: if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, it’ll change) and last week we were about 10 degrees below normal. Some mornings were in the 40s. Its not supposed to be that cold here, folks.
So, if any of you don’t like what I wrote, I really don’t care. I find it really strange that a site that calls itself “Think Progress” is really nothing more than a place for libs to beat up on conservatives. I have yet to see one article on this site that criticizes anything that Obama or Hillary (or any democrat except for Joe Lieberman - sorry, he actually has a brain and common sense) has said or done but let McCain or any republican or conservative say or do anything and it gets picked apart like a pack of sharks in the midst of a feeding frenzy. One thing’s for sure: no one will ever confuse this site with Fox News - fair and balanced it ain’t.
Well, everyone have a nice night and a good morning.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 amI keep seeing this same arguement everytime there is any mention at all about climate, global warming, or any related subject. The argument is that we have had cooling since 1998, so global warming is over.
People, yes, in the UNITED STATES the hottest year of the last 10 was 1998. HOWEVER, we are not talking about US warming, the subject is GLOBAL WARMING. Please note the the US is not the entire globe.
Globally, 2005 was hotter than 1998, so during this so-called cooling period,THE WORLD GOT HOTTER! Oops!
Picking out two specific years is no way to measure trends anyway. If you look at the 5-year moving average of global temperature, warming has continued at a even pace, there has been no cooling, not even a hint of leveling off.
Those who select certain years to try to prove their case, or mix US and global temperatures, are not being honest, they are not making simple mistakes. Those people are making a conscious effort to decieve and confuse. They do that because they know that he truth is their enemy. The truth is that global warming is real, it is man-made, and it is continuing to get worse until we make some changes.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:52 amOf course the climate situation has not improved since 2006. We have made almost no effort at all to stop it. We don’t even have a moritorium on building new coal power plants. Instead of working on plans to replace existing coal plants, new coal plants are being planned.
The high oil and gasoline prices are finally prompting people to look at alternatives, when we should have been doing that when prices were low, and we could have saved ourselves a lot of the pain we are now experiencing.
But, everytime anyone wants to try to do something constructive, the ignorant trolls come out, and we spend all our effort just fighting them.
I’m at the point where I just point out their lies, tell them its time to turn off Rush Limbaugh, get out of the conservative fantasy bubble, and learn about the REAL world for a change.
If we took 10% of what we spend on the Iraq war, and put it into the fight against global climate change, we would already be making a huge difference.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 amCodeZombie, stop rewriting history. In 2000 more people voted for Gore than Bush, but the Supreme Court selected Bush the winner anyway. Bush did not win the election.
You call this a place where liberals beat up conservatives? The very first post on this thread is a troll. So, right off the bat, we don’t have a discussion, we have trolls and people fighting trolls.
How does this turn into a liberal -vs- conserative issue anyway? There are no liberal or conservative thermometers. The temperature is the temperature, it is not liberal or conservative.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:06 amBlackbirdHighway Says:
I wasn’t rewriting history, I was making a joke - big difference. If you think anyone actually believed my story about zombies eating all the democrats, you really are giving me much too much credit.
BlackbirdHighway Says:
If you’ll re-read my post I never said that global warming was a conservative versus liberal issue. When I started talking about liberals bashing conservatives I was talking about the “Think Progress” site as a whole. Again, I have never seen an article on this site that criticizes a democrat or a liberal.
One problem that I have with some of the global warming believers is when they try to shut down or censor any one who has a differing opinion. Read this article for an example. Or when someone at the Weather Channel says that any meteorologist who does not believe in global warming should have their credentials revoked (read article here).
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm