By Jim Simpson
An article in the Wall Street Journal today, "Whose Ox Is Gored," brought up yet more troubling truths for Al Gore and his global warming propaganda film "An Inconvenient Truth."
First, it seems that not only do Al Gore's "carbon offsets" for his lavish and extremely energy intensive lifestyle not pass the sniff test, but the Journal also revealed that he has earned an annual income from zinc mines on his Tennessee property which "emitted thousands of pounds of toxic substances and several times, the water discharged from the mines into nearby rivers had levels of toxins above what was legal," according to the Nashville Tennesseean. The Journal further reports that the mine was issued a citation in 2000 by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for exceeding legal zinc discharges. The mine was initially purchased, by the way, from notorious American communist and Soviet agent of influence Armand Hammer, who had a lifelong relationship with the Gores and helped Al senior get elected to the Senate.
The Journal also highlighted the fact that many scientists who ascribe generally to the global warming thesis, are now coming out of the woodwork to question and criticize Gore's errors, omissions and fast and loose misuse of the statistics.
The New York Times, not known for it's ant-Gore OR anti-global-warming bias, published an article on the front page of its Science section last week titled, "From a Rapt Audience, a Call to Cool the Hype." And finally, the Journal even quotes one of Gore's own advisors with this gem:
Even James Hansen, a scientist who began issuing warning cries about global warming in the 1980s and is a top adviser to Mr. Gore, concedes that his work may hold "imperfections" and "technical flaws."The Journal adds:
Other flaws are more serious, such as Mr. Gore's depiction of sea level rises ofThey point up the UN's own Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which forecasts a much more modest rise in water levels of only three feet by 2100. The IPCC itself has had to do a lot of downward revising in its estimates recently as well. For example, its three-foot estimate of water level increases in the most recent report is less than half of the estimate given in its 2001 report. Similarly, the estimate of overall human impact on climate was revised down by one-third. Clearly folks, when even the global warming alarmists start publicly doubting their own statistics, this cannot be called a settled issue, much less a prescription for radical change advocated by self-serving lunatics like Al Gore.
up to 20 feet, which would cause Florida and New York City to sink below the
surface.
The one that really gets me though is the "carbon offsets." By now it is common knowledge that Al Gore's massive use of energy, both in his palatial home and by his chosen modes of travel, could probably be used to power a third-world country.
A brilliant device of Vladimir Lenin allowed that fellow comrades might be treated a bit "more equal than others" because of the sacrifices they had to make in bringing enlightenment to the masses. He called them the "Vanguard of the Elite," and when they took power, it gave them the excuse to live the lavish lifestyles they were all already beginning to enjoy as power brokers in the new Soviet Union.
Well today, like any good Leninist, Al considers himself one of the Vanguard, who naturally is entitled to greater amenities than the rest of us poor slobs because of all he is doing to enlighten us. However, because we are as yet a democracy, poor old Al still has to answer to all of us stupid voters, damnit!
So he has invented a cute little trick that allows him to get away with his excessive lifestyle while still appearing green, and making a profit at it to boot! Al tells us that by purchasing what he calls "carbon offsets," trees, which absorb carbon dioxide, will be planted sufficient to offset his excessive use of fossil fuels, which, as we all know, produce carbon dioxide as waste.
It's a highly doubtful enterprise, with the Journal citing CNSNews as saying carbon offsets were “meaningless in terms of global warming.” But worse than that, Gore is getting these "carbon offsets" from a company that he owns. And it turns out that free "carbon offsets" are one of the benefits to company employees, so he isn't paying a dime! In fact, one of the major beneficiaries of the whole "carbon offsets" scam is Al Gore himself. It might even have something to do with the real reason he is hyping global warming so much.
Having cited "carbon offsets" as an "alternative" to true conservation, Al now conveniently offers them for sale to other similarly-minded individuals, fellow elitists who think they know everything and are willing to impose their idiotic ideas on the rest of us, while casually excusing themselves. So of course all of the wealthy movie stars who wouldn't trade their limos and learjets for a Prius or coach class if their lives depended on it, are sending big bucks to Al's offset company so they can feel good about themselves and champion global warming awareness, while continuing to maintain the profligate, self-indulgent lifestyles to which they have become accustomed.
I would call it outrageous, but the Liberals are being outrageous so often these days it has become the norm. But what else would you expect from liberals? Look up the word "hypocrisy" in the dictionary. It is spelled L-I-B-E-R-A-L.
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