What is Al Gore's motivation in the fervor he stirs up about global warming?

Question

Is it an Inconvenient Truth that he is profiting in the carbon sharing scams? What is his carbon footprint? Is he another do as I say not as I do elitist?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=HPIC,HPIC:2005-32,HPIC:en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=inconvenient&spell=1

Answer 1

Wow. Discerning another individual's motivation is tricky; you're never sure you've got it right.

The primary issue in the fervor is the Kyoto Protocols. These mandate that some of the countries (almost all Western-style democracies) transfer money to some other countries (mostly totalitarian regimes) to pay for the "right" to emit CO2. The drafters of the Protocols stated openly that the objective was to level the playing field internationally - wealth redistribution - and that they expected little if any effect on either carbon emissions or global warming. When he was VP, Al Gore was the administration's lead critic of the Protocols. That changed once he lost the election in 2000.

The history of the "sky is falling" movements might be instructive. More than a generation ago such a movement successfully banned DDT globally because insects ate DDT, birds ate the insects, and DDT caused the egg shells to be thinner, leading to lower birth rates among birds. The rhetoric was thre same: "We have total knowledge and perfect understanding, we have a perfect plan, only we want to save the planet, anyone who opposes us doesn't care." In the intervening years the birds have done a bit better. The only cost has been about half a million people dying of malaria every year, earlier prevented by the DDT. Since these are mostly small children of color in Third World countries nobody notices.

About a generation ago a new movement successfully lobbied to stop building nuclear energy plants. "We have complete knowledge etc etc." In the intervening years we've had to build coal-fired plants instead, which has raised the CO2 emissions enormously. Had we built nuclear energy plants in the past 25 years at the same rate as the French, our CO2 emissions would be 40% below where they are today.

The current fervor is about global warming. Again, complete knowledge, perfect understanding, perfect plan (Kyoto Protocols), anyone who oppposes blah blah blah. Sound familiar?

The science behind linking CO2 emissions and global warming is fairly sound but irrelevant. The past link between atmospheric CO2 levels and increased global temperatures is true, but the increase in CO2 FOLLOWS the increase in temperatures. Yes, CO2 is a greenhouse gas, but so are methane and water vapor. The number of factors that affect the global climate measure at least in the billions, if not trillions. Picking out one factor and ignoring all others is typical of the fervor morvements. They are run by people who either have no understanding whatsoever of complex systems, or have another agenda.

Mr. Gore's new-found support of the Kyoto Protocols has brought him increased respectability among the elitists. It has made him a multi-millionaire. It allows him to bash the current administration. Perhaps his conversion arose at least in part from these three resulting benefits.

I know the earth is warming. I also know that we have insufficient understanding of the complex system which is the global climate to have even a clue about what is causing it.

My conclusion: Either Mr. Gore has no understanding of complex systems (which would leave him totally unqualified to prescribe a "fix" for the most complex system of which we are a part), or he has another agenda here.

Answer 2

Well, he could be doing it solely for the money or the recognition. Or he could be genuinely concerned about an issue and wants to use the money and recognition that he already had to raise awareness about it.

What makes me question the money/prestige premise, is that as far as I am aware he already had both. He was a vice president, and quite wealthy before he made his movie. Didn't he fund the whole thing himself? That takes some cash. So he wasn't desperately trying to make ends meet.

So lets say he's a greedy person, had wealth but wanted more. Why would anyone with that kind of start up capital invest in something that could have just as well flopped. People could have taken one look at the film and said "yeah, that's what we've been told in science class for years, big deal." In making the movie there was a very real chance of no one caring. Most investors looking for a good ROI would not take that chance.

Answer 3

Algore is proof that so-called "global warming" is politics, not science.  

Everyone who says "global warming" is a problem votes democrat.

Answer 4

I don't know him personally therefore I cannot give or will I give a answer, it would be inaccurate and conjecture.

Answer 5

Al Gore went to Harvard; he was rich before he championed the cause, and the cause has killed his political career. So he doesn't need money nor a political boost.

Re-check that list. All it takes to be qualified to sign the list is a BS degree. In fact, only 2.9% of the signers actually had a degree in a field that pertains to climatology.

As for Mars warming: half the planets in the solar system are. The other half are cooling. All this proves is that our planets' climate is not unifactorally based. It also suggests that the sun plays a minor role in temperature anomaly, thus undermining the anti-AGW effort.

Answer 6

Well, this could be totally outlandish...I dunno...maybe he's just trying to save the ******* planet?

Answer 7

There is a lot money in it for him.   That is his real motivation and the attention he gets from it.

Answer 8

same reason that britney spears keeps getting drunk and making a fool of herself in public.  she likes attention.

The corona of the sun fluctuates from between 1 and 3 million degrees C.

but being wasteful is only going to poison ourselves.  the planet will be fine.  but we might not make it.

Answer 9

Al Gore's motivation is simple--he's trying to stop a threat to our civilization.

And repeating lies put out by right-wing psychopaths doesn't impress anyone--it just makes people think you're as unbalanced as they are.

One more thing.  When you step outside the social isolation of the neoconservative fandasy world, you'll find out that a lot of people actually do things becasue they're the right thing to do.

The policy of claiming a "moral value" to conceal dishonest and ulterior motives is a feature fof the neoconservatives--not the rest of the country.

Answer 10

Money. Popularity. Remember, he IS a politician.

Answer 11

Money and power. Environmentalists movement is the new home of the socials party, or green power. They hate capitalism and would like to destroy our way of life. By coming up with this bogus theory that tells us half-truths they have put global warming on the map and increased its net worth from nothing to a potential trillion dollar industry.

Normally I would say that such an investment in capitalism would be great, but it invests nothing while it takes away everything we hold dear to us. The private ownership of property is compromised all in the name of global warming. Carbon tax credits will a affect everything especially gas prices. We now are held hostage to these environmental principals, where drilling for oil is prohibited, nuclear and coal have been replaced by, wind and solar power in the US, but not in China or Russia. This is a double standard for sure. Saudi Arabia, Canada, Mexico, and many other countries drill for oil, but we cannot.

The UN has forbidden development in poor parts of Africa, and the use of reliable proven energies like coal, because of global warming, mean while the people their have to heat their dirt floor huts with fires made out of sticks. The life expectancy for these people is not long, and all in the name of global warming.

Global warming is an all out attack on the development of Nations.

Answer 12

First of all clear it that there is no money for him in this whole process. He is true in his way and he is even correct. He is not stirring up about global warming but he is warning us that if we dont take proper steps, we would be in loss. If you wanna argue for any Genuine Environment issue or against Al Gore first contact me: [e-mail]

Answer 13

His motivation you say?

That would be a question for Mr. Gore.  What I can tell you is that he took a class from Roger Revelle as a freshman at Harvard that made a big impression on him, and he began devoting himself to learning more about the environment and the human impacts associated with it.  Toward that end, he wrote "Earth in the Balance," and accepted the vice presidency, in part to work from within.

He followed it up with the book/presentation/film that has galvanized the cause and catapulted him into the limelight as GW deniers favorite target.  

I don't imagine he's losing any sleep over what the deniers say about him on this site or elsewhere.  I expect he'll stay the course and follow it up with another work that helps to make people think about their individual and collective role on planet Earth.

Answer 14

al gore is about al gore

he is still miffed that he blew the 2000 election

Answer 15

What is your motivation to attack Al Gore vs. deal with the science that proves global warming is a real concern and we need to address it?

Though I never voted for Al Gore or care about his personal carbon footprint, I'd suspect that he (like many other people in the world) is actually motivated to bring attention to global warming because he's convinced it's real and will cause real problems.