>FROM CANADA'S NATIONAL POST
>HEAD: Do as Al says, not as Al does
>On Thursday, former U. S. vice-president Al Gore delivered a major address
>calling on his country to abandon all fossil fuels within 10 years. By 2018,
>U. S. electricity and fuel should come entirely from "renewable energy and
>truly clean, carbon-free sources," he said. Tickets to the event encouraged
>attendees to "please use public transit, bicycling or other climate-friendly
>means" to reach the lecture hall.
>So how did Mr. Gore and his retinue arrive? In two Lincoln Town Cars and a
>full-sized SUV that sat idling with the air conditioners blasting while the
>Gore party was inside.
>It was 34 C (93 F) in Washington. Al Gore can't be expected to get into an
>overheated vehicle after he's worked up a sweat telling others how to save
>the planet.
>Remember, too, the Nobel prizewinning environmentalist lives in a Tennessee
>mansion that produces a carbon footprint 20 times that of the average
>American home. A sizeable chunk of his personal fortune comes from royalties
>on a zinc mine which had to be temporarily closed five years ago in part
>because the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled it one of the
>worst-polluting mine sites in America. Illegal toxins were frequently
>discharged into nearby rivers.
>Mr. Gore's Live Earth benefit concert last summer flew scores of rock bands
>to stages around the world in carbon-spewing private jets. To cover the
>emissions from his own frequent use of private jets, Mr. Gore set up a
>company that buys carbon offsets, so that in effect he is paying himself for
>his carbon indulgences, writing off the expense on one hand, while pocketing
>the proceeds on the other.
>Apparently if the world is ever to reach the carbon-free future Mr. Gore
>dreams of, it will have to get there without Al's help.
>But take heart, there is increasing evidence that man-made carbon dioxide
>may not be causing global warming. Indeed, there is increasing debate in the
>scientific community whether there is even any warming occurring at all. Mr.
>Gore might just be able to keep going from jet to limo to estate guilt-free
>(if not carbon-free) for as long as he wishes.
>********
>"Flatulent pig" more and more describes Al Gore. Think 9Titties, Beetle,
>Eater of Dung, Priggy Timmy Turmoil (Jello Biafra...really!!) and others of
>their ill ilk will catch on? Not a chance!