Gore not interested in ‘climate czar’ post.
Gore not interested in ‘climate czar’ post.
In recent weeks, there has been increased talk of possibly creating a White House “climate czar” position in the Obama administration, which would “oversee various government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, to focus on tackling global warming and fostering clean energy to jump-start the flagging economy.” While many of these reports have mentioned Al Gore as a possible candidate, the vice president has indicated that he isn’t interested:
“Former Vice President Gore does not intend to seek or accept any formal position in government,” Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said. “He feels very strong right now that the best thing for him to do is to build support for the bold changes that we have to make to solve the climate crisis.”
More on the actual position of the “climate czar” here.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
I think Gore would be ideal, but if he declines, RFK Jr.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:43 amAt least in this administration the post will not be given to the CEO of GM or a lobbyist from the coal industry !
November 13th, 2008 at 11:52 amCan we get a ’second’ on the motion to stop using the term ‘czar.’ Please.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:54 amMethinks Gore knows that he’ll have much more freedom to do and say as he pleases if he stays outside the ‘official’ loop.
But I would not be surprised if several of his initiatives are adapted by the Obama administration….
November 13th, 2008 at 11:59 amChuck: I second that emotion; I’m kinda partial to “Grand Poobah of All that is Environmental” myself…
November 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pmBuild support for the bold changes, i.e. ensure the Clinton $1 billion green fund or Gore’s Generation Investment Management get big chunks of the coming stimulus package.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OXD/is_/ai_n27014960
This is from Apple Computer’s SEC filings on Board member Al Gore:
Albert A. Gore, Jr. has served as a Senior Advisor to Google, Inc. (“Google”) since 2001. He has also served as the Executive Chairman of Current TV since 2002, the Chairman of Generation Investment Management since 2004 and a partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers since 2007. He is a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University. Mr. Gore was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President of the United States in 1993. He was re-elected in 1996 and served for a total of eight years as President of the Senate, a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council. Prior to 1993, he served eight years in the U.S. Senate and eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Like Bill Clinton, Al Gore is poised to profit from the green movement.
http://www.generationim.com/about/
November 13th, 2008 at 12:02 pmAl might as well get on board with the new progressives. The right will never give him credit for anything.
With the progressives in power he might be able to get some things done, but he’s probably afraid to trust that we can keep control out of the hands of the robber barons.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:05 pmChuck Feney Says:
Can we get a ’second’ on the motion to stop using the term ‘czar.’ Please.
Agreed. I vote for Joe the Climate Dude.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:09 pmAl Gore has left the drudge of politics far behind.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:09 pmGore and his climate crusade would do good as secretary of state. Obama needs to project a progressive image abroad, not some rehash of Republican failings with Hagel or Lugar.
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/
November 13th, 2008 at 12:10 pmMaybe he’s holding out for Climate Overlord.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:16 pmAl Gore is a partner with KPCB’s GreenTech Team.
http://www.kpcb.com/team/index.php?Al%20Gore
This is from a company press release:
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, announced today it is launching a new $500 million investment vehicle: the Green Growth Fund. The fund is intended to help speed mass market adoption of solutions to the world’s climate crisis.
KPCB separately announced today the formation of KPCB XIII (view KPCB XIII press release), a $700 million fund that will invest in greentech, information technology and life sciences ventures. Within the greentech sector, KPCB XIII will mainly back early-stage entrepreneurs, while the Green Growth Fund will support companies that have already entered their growth phase.
Al Gore is a green private equity underwriter (PEU)
November 13th, 2008 at 12:17 pmFortune did a piece on Gore’s joining up with business leaders to turn things green:
http://www.kpcb.com/files/Fortune_article.pdf
November 13th, 2008 at 12:26 pmTo Al’s credit:
Mr. Gore also announced that as part of the agreement between the two firms (Generation Investment Management and KCBP), 100 percent of his salary as a Partner at KPCB will be donated directly to the Alliance for Climate Protection—the non-partisan foundation he chairs that focuses on accelerating policy solutions to the climate crisis.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:35 pm“Like Bill Clinton, Al Gore is poised to profit from the green movement.”
Should profits be reserved for harmful products and services?
November 13th, 2008 at 12:59 pm666lattes, the question is the amount of returns and the levels of contractors/subcontractors, each with their profit requirements.
I don’t know the returns expected by KCBP or Generation Investment Management, but if they’re like The Carlyle Group’s 30% annual returns, that’s too high.
Greed and leverage drove the Wall Street debacle. We don’t need to repeat the cycle in green energy development.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pmstateofthedivision Says:
Greed and leverage drove the Wall Street debacle. We don’t need to repeat the cycle in green energy development.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
_______
It also built our railroads and communications networks. Government can help with tax incentives and good policy, but the innovation that’s going to solve the climate crisis will come primarily from private industry.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:17 pmChuck Feney Says:
Can we get a ’second’ on the motion to stop using the term ‘czar.’ Please.
I vote for “Captain Planet.”
November 13th, 2008 at 1:17 pmActually, much innovation came from government funded national labs, NIH and academic centers. The private sector is most effective at commercializing it.
Did you know the federal government funds research on oil & gas drilling techniques? I thought those firms had the money to fund their own research.
I have no trouble with our government funding strategic research. So far, billions have come from the private sector to do just that.
However as a taxpayer, I want private industry doing business with a stable government to not make huge returns. The Carlyle model is to grow the federal portion of their affiliate’s book of business. Bush has been happy to comply. I’d like this practice to diminish.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:32 pmCan we please get away from the term czar? What does that mean anyway? It seems to me that whenever someone was named a czar of something in the last 8 years, incompetence and invisibility quickly followed.
November 13th, 2008 at 2:30 pmstateofthedivision – I have been investing in several years in the green industry. Since they have been receiving very little, if any, government subsidies or tax breaks, the only way to grow that movement is through private investment. I would like to see more IPO’s filed for various green companies, so I could invest as a stockholder, since I don’t have enough money to be a “venture capitalist.”
To make a mark commercially, clean-tech companies often need a substantial amount of capital to either develop the technology or demonstrate that their technology can work on an industrial scale. Investments in biofuel refineries or solar-power plants, for example, typically amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a speech last month at the MIT Energy Conference, Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr noted that Google–another Kleiner investment–required $25 million before it went public, while fuel cell company Bloom Energy has already gone through $250 million and is still developing its product.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9933245-54.html
November 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pmFirst, I highly endorse Chuck’s motion (#3) to stop overusing the word Czar.
That said, I’m sorry to hear that Gore declines the position. I think he’d be great. But he has to make his own decisions.
November 13th, 2008 at 3:08 pmCan’t blame Gore for being cynical about Washington afterall look at the Lieberman situation,Dems still can’t kick a traitorous sham off his committe chairmanship.Gore perhaps forsee nothing consequential happening on climate change & doesn’t want to be part of the same old washington bullsh.t.
November 13th, 2008 at 3:42 pmThis czar crap has just got to stop.
No more czars. No drug czar. No terror czar. No czars!
November 13th, 2008 at 4:42 pmImpeachCheneythenBush, thank you for the information and link. Big bucks have been raised for green investment. Al Gore raised $5 billion for Generation Investment Management:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/11/business/gore.php?pass=true
IPO’s should be coming down the road. That’s when venture capitalists and private equity get their payday.
November 13th, 2008 at 5:22 pmso when the day comes that a woman gets the nod for one of the seemingly endless czar positions will she be the climate czarina, the drug czarina, the terror czarina. And how come they are never the Tsar or Tzar?
November 13th, 2008 at 6:09 pm