Thursday, September 25, 2008

Al Gore Encourages Law-Breaking

Reuters reported yesterday on a speech given by Al Gore.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

This is a man who at one point in his life swore to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Now he's encouraging America's young people to violate the law, risk arrest, and hurt their chances of getting jobs in the future. What a guy.

"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."

He's gone off the deep end. Let him lobby the state attorneys general and leave our kids alone.

The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.

But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.

So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage.

So Gore wants to send our youths to jail to stop all coal plant construction unless the plants install unproven technology. That would add a huge price tag to energy at a time when energy costs are already high. Let him start saving the planet by keeping his hot air to himself and by turning off the lights in his own house.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gore hasn't gone off the deep end. You seem to think that civil disobedience is some sort of sin. Would you be the guy to tell John Adams to shut-up and sit down?

This country was born in the street. A war was stopped, a government brought down through pressure and the era of segration ended in the street. A lot of Americans think it's time for that to happen again - for a variety of reasons.

Ghandi, Martin Luther King and those who marched against the war in Vietnam all share one thing in common. We won.

You should probably read Gore's book, The Assault on Reason. In it there is an interesting quote:

"The road to liberty is bathed in the blood of patriots and traitors."
-Thomas Jefferson

SkyePuppy said...

Erwyllian,

In my opinion, Al Gore is an assault on reason. He spends thousands of dollars a year in utility costs for his house, flies to save-the-planet events, and pays his own carbon-offset company money to assuage his conscience and make himself even richer. And he expects the rest of us to make the lifestyle changes that he won't make.

My issue is not with civil disobedience as a concept. It's with the purpose Gore would use it for. Stopping every single one of the coal plants that are being built is a grave threat to our economy.

We need energy, and I can't believe that the coal plants under construction don't already have anti-pollution equipment in their plans.

I do not condone Gore's encouragement of civil disobedience for this purpose.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

Malott said...

Erwyllian,

I'd be in favor of a little civil disobediance... If it was in an effort to cut taxes and return to us some of the freedoms that the federal government has taken away from us in the name of Liberalism.

When Gore moves into a smaller home and stops private-jetting around the world... Then I'll listen to him lecture us on how to build coal plants. If man-made global warming was really happening, I figure a stand-up guy like Al would be setting an example.

janice said...

erwyllian,
it seems you've been taught history thru the lens of liberalism. The vietnam war was not stopped by marchers in the street as you say. But you're too far gone for me to explain it to you.

So I'll limit this to an affermative comment to Skye. To think this idiot was a heartbeat and a few chads away from the oval office. Yes, Gore is an assault on reason, he's lost his mind.

Tsofah said...

Skye:

It seems Gore would not have known what to do if he had become president since he doesn't remember his oath as VP. His hypocritical lifestyle vs. what he preaches doesn't impress me at all.

Besides, is he going to go out there and break the law alongside these young people? Will he post their bail?

What an idiota!