The dictionary defines an oracle as “a person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority.” AlGore has promoted himself from failed presidential candidate to The Oracle of Global Warming. He has transformed himself from pitiful, whining poor loser to movie producer, rock concert promoter, scientist and counselor to the Congress.
Who died and made AlGore a scientist? Other than making a dubious movie full of falsehoods and conjecture, what qualified him to give scientific testimony to a joint hearing of subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Science and Technology Committee? Nothing. Yet that’s exactly what AlGore did this week. Of course, the fact that the committees are controlled by Democrat buddies that share his hysterical view of the world helped in getting him an invitation.
With deep tones of authority, AlGore intoned his OPINION that the planet is in grave danger of disintegrating in a matter of a few years if the Congress does not act immediately. He emphasized the fact that the Congress must act in a “bi-partisan” manner if it wants to act like Superman and save the world.
This was particularly amusing in light of the fact that just minutes before he gave his long, droning “opening statement”, he REFUSED to listen to the Republican opening statement. He hid out in a little room across the hall, stating that he feared the Republicans would be “negative and cynical.” Poor baby. To think that anyone would say something negative about him must have crushed his fragile ego.
When AlGore threw his temper tantrum and refused to enter the hearing room until the Republicans finished, the politicos got together and worked out a deal. The Republicans offered to give up their opening statement in return for an extra five minutes per member to question AlGore. But the model of bi-partisanship fooled them. He dragged out his ridiculous “opening statement” so long that there was very little time left for questions. This would never have been tolerated by the committees if a Republican had been testifying.
AlGore has made a number of “speeches” (in which he screamed a lot) since 2000, but this is his first formal appearance since he lost the White House to George W. Bush. Fortunately for the politicians, he didn’t scream during his “testimony.” But the testimony was just as hysterical as his screaming speeches.
While pretending to be a scientist before the Congress, he made a number of statements that even the farthest-left wacko extremist scientists would hesitate to make. And all of his statements have been repeatedly refuted by real scientists who are NOT far-left wacko extremists.
Is there a real debate between genuine scientists who are on both sides of the issue of global warming? Of course. Is there a consensus among respected scientists that global warming is a threat to the world? No way. In fact, there is not even a consensus among real scientists that global warming even exists. (See LINK below, “Scientific Debate Surrounds Global Warming Theory.”)
A few decades ago the wacko extremist environmentalists were warning us that the world was about to enter another Ice Age. This “dangerous situation” was blamed on Republicans and automobiles. (Bush wasn’t around then, so they couldn’t blame him.)
They had some short-term evidence to support their outlandish claims. From the 1940’s to the 1970’s the globe did cool somewhat. Unfortunately for today’s environmental extremists, fossil fuel emissions increased steadily during those same years. So does the mean old human race cause cooling or warming? Hmmm.
Today this hysterical bunch has changed their song from “global cooling” to “global warming”. George Bush is, of course, the cause of “global warming”. If I follow their “logic” in the matter, it is all due to the fact that he will not sign the Kyoto Accord, which would put all the responsibility for reducing carbon emissions on the US, and let other countries pollute to their hearts content.
A few quick notes on the Kyoto Accord (also known as the Kyoto Protocol). Even though there is no evidence that the Kyoto, if implemented, would change anything, even its advocates admit that warming would drop a mere 0.19 degree Celsius over 50 years. In return for that miniscule presumed effect, the US economy would suffer greatly, while the biggest polluters of the world would go on their merry way.
When Bill Clinton signed the Accord, the US Energy Department estimated that within ten years real gross domestic product (GDP) would be down 4.1 percent, or $397 billion; the price of gas will be up 66 cents per gallon; and the price of electricity would be up 86 percent. The economic consulting firm, WEFA predicted that the price of home heating oil would be up 70 percent; manufacturing wages will be down 2.1 percent; there would be 2.4 million fewer jobs; and real GDP per household would be down $2,728. (These figures were from 1998; costs today would be much higher. See LINK below.) Fortunately, in 2001George Bush rescinded our nation’s participation in Kyoto, calling the treaty “fatally flawed.”
AlGore wants to go even further than Kyoto (and damage our nation even more). This week he called on Congress to sharply reduce emission of carbon dioxide and other warming gases by 90 percent by 2050 to avoid a “crisis.” The US Energy Department said Kyoto would cost the US $400 Billion. AlGore’s program would cost us TRILLIONS.
AlGore couldn’t get elected as Commander-in-Chief, so he has accepted a new position: Exaggerator-in-Chief (also known as Alarmist-in-Chief). He claims that the earth faces "faces a true planetary emergency." And, without a shred of scientific proof, he categorically states, "Global warming is real, and human activity is the main cause."
The piece “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years,” (see LINK below) makes the case that global warming has always been with us – long before there were fossil fuel emissions. The piece is by S. Fred Singer, an Adjunct Scholar with the National Center for Policy Analysis, is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science at the University of Virginia, and President of the Science and Environmental Policy Project. He was the first Director of the U.S. Weather Satellite Service and served five years as Vice Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmospheres. He received the first Science Medal from the British Interplanetary Society and won a NASA commendation in 1997 for his research on particle clouds. Although AlGore claims no respected scientists question his exaggerated view of global warming, Singer is just one of thousands of respected scientists whose research proves that AlGore is all wet.
Singer points out that although the earth is currently experiencing a warming trend, there is abundant scientific evidence that this warming is part of a 1,500-year cycle of temperature swings. It has long been accepted that the earth has experienced climate cycles, most notably the 90,000-year Ice Age cycles. But in the past 20 years or so, modern science has discovered evidence that within those broad Ice Age cycles, the Earth also experiences 1,500-year warming-cooling cycles.
AlGore opened his statement before the committees by talking about how the world population has increased. He stated clearly that he believes the human race is responsible for all global climate change (a theory refuted by many respected scientists). My question to the former VP: Which humans do you want to get rid of?
It’s the same old story we get from all extremists. Animals are good, humans are bad. They want to kill anything that reduces animal population. Thus, hunting is bad, farmers protecting their crops are bad, communities threatened by wild animals are bad if they thin out burgeoning numbers of wild wolves or other predators. But by all means, stop humans from reproducing. The ultimate end of AlGore’s theories is China’s one-child policy, where you must get a license from the government to reproduce. And if you have more than one child, draconian punishments (which can include killing the child) are meted out.
AlGore is also anti-technology. In his infamous book, “Earth in the Balance,” he called for the abolition of the internal combustion engine. That’s that big metal thing that runs your car. That’s right. Even though there are no viable alternatives to fossil fuels that would not bankrupt our economy, he thinks we should walk until new fuels are developed.
Finally, AlGore is a hypocrite. Tucker Carlson, the shrill liberal anchor on MSNBC’s “Tucker” show, said after the hearings, “Gore is an appalling phony who should shut up!” Now, Tucker is just as liberal as AlGore and believes in the same extremist environmental policies as the former VP. The reason he’s upset is that AlGore won’t take the “carbon neutral” pledge that the wackos have put forth, wherein one promises not to cause more carbon emissions than one mitigates by doing something green.
Tucker is upset that AlGore continues to uses fuel-guzzling private jets while preaching environmentalism. He stated that this is a “scientific” issue, but AlGore insists on casting it as a moral issue. According to Tucker, if this is a moral issue, then “Gore is going to Global Warming Hell.”
I will let respected scientist S. Fred Singer have the last word: “So, is the Earth currently experiencing a warming trend? Yes. Are human activities, including the burning of fossil fuel and forest conversion, the primary - or even significant - drivers of this current temperature trend? The scientifically appropriate answer - cautious and conforming to the known facts - is: probably not.”
Dr. Tom Barrett has been an ordained minister for 30 years. He has written for local and national publications for most of his life, and has authored several non-fiction books. He has been interviewed on many TV and radio programs, and speaks at seminars nationwide. Tom is the editor and publisher of Conservative Truth, an email newsletter read by over fifty thousand weekly which focuses on moral and political issues from a Biblical viewpoint.
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