Al Gore Appeals to "Collective Will" to Solve Climate Change | Print |  E-mail
Written by James Heiser   
Saturday, 07 November 2009 15:00

Al GoreAccording to critics, for Al Gore, “going green” is not just a slogan for saving the world, it is a description of his bank account.

But the green guru doesn’t like people noticing the fact that regardless of whether or not temperatures are rising, Gore’s bank balance has shot straight for the stratosphere.The Telegraph.co.uk reports that "since he quit mainstream politics, Mr Gore’s personal fortune has risen from £1.2 million [$2 million] to an estimated £60 million [$100 million]."

The Telegraph account continues:

He has made significant investments in environmentally friendly projects like carbon trading markets, solar power, biofuels, electric vehicles, sustainable fish farming and waterless lavatories. He has also invested in non-climate change related investments, including putting money into Google and Apple.

Mr Gore said it was “certainly not true” that he was going to become a “carbon billionaire” and that the suggestion came from global warming deniers.

He said: “I am proud to put my money where my mouth is for the past 30 years. And though that is not the majority of my business activities, I absolutely believe in investing in accordance with my beliefs and my values.” At a hearing earlier this year on clean energy legislation, Mr Gore was challenged by Republican congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, over his investments.

She said: “The legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?”

Mr Gore said: “I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us, and I have invested in it.”

In other words: “Yes.” But where some might see a conflict of interest, Mr. Gore may view his new-found wealth as the reward for the virtue of his vision. Be that as it may, Mr. Gore’s latest eco-jeremiad has burst forth into publication: Our Choice, a Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. In a style suited for a culture swamped by typically Arminian thinking, Mr. Gore assures his readers that salvation is in their hands. (Especially, he might add, if they are prepared to fork over the $26.99 for his new “how-to” book.) According to the USA Today,

With global warming taking center stage in world affairs, Al Gore can't be far behind: The Nobel-Prize-winning former-vice president-turned-energy entrepreneur is releasing his plan to crack the climate conundrum.

"The clock is ticking with respect to solving the crisis," Gore, 59, said Thursday as he sat in pinstripes and black cowboy boots in an environmentally certified conference room, with glass walls and white surfaces. Our Choice, A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, which debuted Tuesday, "offers us the tools to find a way out."

In 416 pages, Gore offers a potpourri of lavishly illustrated recipes — solar, geothermal, and wind power solutions — for slowing the greenhouse gases warming the climate. "It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve three or four climate crises," Gore writes. "The only missing ingredient is collective will."

“Collective will”? Nothing good comes from talk about the “collective will.” And when someone claims “We have the tools to accomplish ‘X’ — all we need is the will to use them,” it is usually a sign that something really awful is about to happen.

Weighing in at 416 pages, it is unknown at the time of this writing how many trees were slaughtered so that they might serve as the medium of Mr. Gore’s latest revelation. Undoubtedly their sacrifice was not in vain; after all, as one of Mr. Gore’s fellow visionaries of the brave new future declared, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.”

The appeal to the power of the “collective will,” the desire to remake the world according to the fantasies of a coffee-house philosopher, and the possibility of a great deal of money to be made in the process has proven a pretty lethal combination since 18th-century France and 19th-century Germany. Right now, we’re just waiting for Mr. Gore’s stirring new songs for the Green revolution and the dashing uniforms he designed for the brave servants of the “collective will” to be unveiled.

Trackback(0)
Comments (5)add comment

Bonnie said:

0
...
The "Crisis" Mr. Gore is referring to is the danger to his growing bank accounts by a populace becoming more aware of the "gloval warming" scam. If "cap and trade" were to fall through, he could stand to lose millions.
 
November 07, 2009
Votes: +2

Nik Willmore said:

0
Global Warming is Not New
Being a chemist who has studied climate science for a couple years now I can come up with no simpler explanation of what is going on than this plot I made:

http://tinyurl.com/centralengland
 
November 07, 2009 | url
Votes: +0

Flu-Bird said:

0
Al Gore the wealthy liar
So why dont AL GORE give up all his wealth and privlage he should be evicted from his homes have all his homes limos and jets confiscated and he should live a simple exitence according to his own wacky way he wants us to live HE SHOULD START LIVING IN A CAVE
 
November 07, 2009
Votes: +3

Brad Arnold said:

0
Collecive will not necessary with this new American energy technology
Al Gore has it all wrong, because instead of more taxes, this new American clean energy technology delivers electricity for 1 cent per kilowatt hour, so the free market will cut emissions without interference. As reported by both CNN and the New York Times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1iqa0dSJO0

Check out above link to a 2 and a half minute youtube video of a CNN report. What are the odds that the independent testimony below is fraudulent (not bloody likely unless you are a paranoid conspiracy theorist)? Here is a silver bullet technology: clean cheap and abundant energy.

In a joint statement, Dr. K.V. Ramanujachary, Rowan University Meritorious Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr. Amos Mugweru, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and Dr. Peter Jansson P.E., Associate Professor of Engineering said, "In independent tests conducted over the past three months involving 10 solid fuels made by us from commercially-available chemicals, our team of engineering and chemistry professors, staff, and students at Rowan University has independently and consistently generated energy in excesses ranging from 1.2 times to 6.5 times the maximum theoretical heat available through known chemical reactions."

Also, check out this article: http://www.nytimes.com/externa...99377.html

Brad Arnold
St Louis Park, MN, USA
dobermanmacleod@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/dobermanmacleod
 
November 08, 2009 | url
Votes: -1

John H. Guthrie said:

0
Speaking Truths To Mr. Heiser
While I share Mr. Heiser's disdain of Al Gore's enviromentalism, I could not let his comments concerning Arminianism go unchallenged. Neither Arminians or Wesleyan Arminians (like myself) believe that salvation is in our hands. Arminians believe that the initiative to save individuals rests entirely with God. Both Arminians and Calvinsts believe in Predestination; the Arminians differ with Calvinists in that they believe God predestines for salvation those who will believe, not those whom God selects whether they believe or not. Al Gore grew up in the Southern Baptist Church, he has no Arminian roots, so if his religious background has shaped his view of the environment or salvation, don't blame Wesley or Arminius. Mr. Heiser needs to get his facts straight before he writes.
 
November 14, 2009 | url
Votes: +1

Write comment

busy