Al Gore-The Crisis Comes Ashore-Why the oil spill could change everything.

Unless we change our present course soon, the future of human civilization will be in dire jeopardy. ~Al Gore




The Crisis Comes Ashore
Why the oil spill could change everything.
Al GoreMay 8, 2010 | 12:00 am


The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them.

Just as the oil companies told us that deep-water drilling was safe, they tell us that it’s perfectly all right to dump 90 million tons of CO2 into the air of the world every 24 hours. Even as the oil spill continues to grow—even as BP warns that the flow could increase multi-fold, to 60,000 barrels per day, and that it may continue for months—the head of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack Gerard, says, "Nothing has changed. When we get back to the politics of energy, oil and natural gas are essential to the economy and our way of life." His reaction reminds me of the day Elvis Presley died. Upon hearing the tragic news, Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, said, “This changes nothing.”

However, both the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the CO2 spill into the global atmosphere are causing profound and harmful changes—directly and indirectly. The oil is having a direct impact on fish, shellfish, turtles, seabirds, coral reefs, marshes, and the entire web of life in the Gulf Coast. The indirect effects include the loss of jobs in the fishing and tourism industries; the destruction of the health, vitality, and rich culture of communities in the region; imminent bankruptcies; vast environmental damage expected to persist for decades; and the disruption of seafood markets nationwide.

<snip>

During the last 22 years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has produced four massive studies warning the world of the looming catastrophe that is being caused by the massive dumping of global-warming pollution into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this process has been vulnerable to disruption and paralysis by a cynical and lavishly funded disinformation campaign. A number of large carbon polluters, whose business plans rely on their continued ability to freely dump their gaseous waste products into the global atmospheric commons—as if it is an open sewer—have chosen to pursue a determined and highly organized campaign aimed at undermining public confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the global scientific community. They have attacked the scientific community by financing pseudo-studies aimed at creating public doubt about peer-reviewed science. They have also manipulated the political and regulatory process with outsized campaign contributions and legions of lobbyists (there are now four anti-climate lobbyists for every single member of the House and Senate).

More from this MUST READ article:
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-crisis-comes-ashore?page=0,0

nt

...and the ineffectual Democrats let them get away with it. Of course it helps when you own all the major news media.

But we don't own enough major media outlets to get heard.

:(


this was a very depressing OP
:cry:

not mocked but treated as dignified & bemused by Gore's "idiocy"

I guess they tried to redeem themselves in 2008, but nobody remembers what SNL did in 2000

Will Ferrell's impersonation of Bush made him looking like the fucking buffoon that he is. Yes Gore was portrayed as overly smug and rambling (it's comedy so it's supposed to be an exaggeration). But the skit was by no means kind to Bush.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=46553889

Their portrayal of Bush was hardly kind. Unfortunately "strategery" just wasn't a memorable I guess.

On Planet Wingnut, the science of climate change was invented by Gore as part of an evil plan to install a world socialist government ruled by himself from his energy-guzzling mansion in Tennessee. In their world, "I don't like Al Gore" is considered a valid scientific argument against anthropogenic global warming.

It is high noon on the environmental stage.

Either we win this battle, or we lose.

The time for political moderation on this issue is up.

The Rubios of the world have said: Tough shit, punks.

Are we gonna back down or have a shootout?

Gore's blazing away, will we join him, or shrink away?

:applause:

No monsters knocking at our doors! YET!

maybe sunset, lights out or something like that
We drilled a very deep hole into the earth, in a place that was beyond our procedures and techniques and now we are going to have a hell of a time closing it. We were very foolish to let anyone drill like BP did and now we will have to find a way to clean it up. Just letting the oil company take care of it won't work.

....The proverbial shootout at the OK corral.

We either beat them back into the holes they crawled from and they STFU, or we lose the planet as we know it.

Either they are allowed to continue to run things, or they are stopped.

This planet isn't big enough for all us humans and big oil.

for truth
change symbol

in the article.

It's shoot the messenger, because you can't argue with the message.

that particular message was snark :)

DU went crazy castigating Gore for his housing at one point.

Oh, and K/R!

I wasn't sure because there wasn't a smilie.

And Thanks also for the K/R! :hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8237547

;)

How will my sarcasm ever work if you're running around telling people I don't mean it? :rofl:

And tell everybody else how they're ruining the environment.

or should he walk around the world to his speaking engagements?

Not doing so seems to indicate a disconnection at best.

would you have him take a vow of poverty and live like a monk or something?
what exactly isn't he doing or not doing that would suit you?

So, if Al Gore just stays at home...a home that is a small shack in the woods... that will make the environment better than of he tries to get the word out. Right. Gotcha.

being pumped in to the atmosphere every single day is incredible.

In the case of the former, it's easy for people to recognize the danger posed by the visible but as for the latter, because you can't see it or because there's already a much smaller amount there due to natural circumstances, the Inhofes of the world run around with their fingers in their ears yelling la la la la la la la la la.

Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, earth mom.:thumbsup:

K & R BK :yoiks:

After all, he didn't invent the internet.

Or maybe he did, but he bragged about it.

So either way, he's a bad guy & you can't believe him.

If Al Gore says there's a cliff there, it's really best for
anyone with doubts about 'ole Al to just jump right off
and show him he's wrong.

:headbang:

I don't know how you do it. Wallow in that smugness and self-righteousness. You deserve it!

...not just select counties.

And hordes of Dems should have been down there banging on the glass along with those paid Republican shills (banging on their heads if necessary.)

But he didn't, and we didn't and the rest is history... 8 years of war, more CO2, and a whole lotta other shit that the earth didn't need.

:kick:

:kick:

:kick: