Gore Defends Live Earth Concerts, Self

Says Participating Performers Aren't Hypocritical, And He's Not Using Event To Further Presidential Aspirations

(CBS)  Al Gore is striking back at his critics and those of the worldwide Live Earth concert series.

The former vice president says Live Earth is exactly what it's being billed as: a 24-hour, seven-continent succession of concerts Saturday to draw attention to the threat global warming poses to the planet.

Live Earth will indeed be "a global affair," CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer observed Friday on The Early Show, with performers such as Madonna, Bon Jovi, Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Gore, described by Palmer as the "driving force" behind Live Earth, personally lobbied some of its stars to take the stage, she said.

"Critics have accused Gore of using the event to grab attention for himself and a possible run at the White House, but he says, no, he's just passionately green," Palmer added.

"I'm involved in a different kind of campaign, not for myself, not as a candidate, but to change people's minds about the most dangerous crisis we've ever faced," Gore said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Asked on The Early Show Friday by co-anchor Harry Smith if he has plans to be in early presidential battleground states New Hampshire or Iowa anytime soon, Gore responded, "No, I have no plans for that. I'm involved in this … campaign to try to change the way people think about this climate crisis.

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To see photos of preparations for Live Earth, click here.

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"This is no joke, Harry. The North Pole is melting. A huge area of snow near the South Pole, an area the size of California, has been melting. The scientists are practically screaming from the rooftops on this, and the solutions are things we ought to be doing for other reasons, anyway.

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Photos: The Greening Of Hollywood

Photos: Al Gore "Green" Media Star

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Gore defended Live Earth's performers against charges of hypocrisy. Critics point to their using such decidedly environmentally unfriendly items as private jets, big limos and SUVs, but Gore insisted to Smith that Live Earth will set "a new green standard" for the music industry.

"A lot of these groups actually have been in the forefront in the vanguard of awareness of how to have a lighter impact on the environment," Gore continued. "Others are new to the cause, but the standards being set by these concerts will actually have a huge impact in and of itself, but this is all about changing the way people think, all around the world."

"We're gonna be delivering the same message worldwide to the largest audience ever for an entertainment event in the world, an estimated 2 billion people, and we're going to ask people to take a seven-point pledge to be a part of the solution to the climate crisis and, in their role as citizens in every nation, to put pressure on the leadership of their nation regardless of political party to make the changes necessary to solve the climate crisis."

Gore rejected the suggestion that Live Earth is simply preaching to the choir, appealing to those already fearful of the impact of global warming, while falling on deaf ears for others.

"You don't think Dick Cheney and George Bush will be watching this concert, do you?" Smith asked.

"Well, I hope they will. They do need to hear this message," Gore responded with a chuckle, "but, actually, studies show very clearly that, even though a majority of the people now do accept the fact that we are in the midst of this climate crisis, the sense of urgency that's appropriate for what is truly a planetary emergency is still not anywhere close to where it needs to be.

"We'll get there, but this Live Earth series of concerts is completely unprecedented."

Gore announced an additional Live Earth venue, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian on the mall in Washington, D.C. He said he, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will open that concert.

"There were some naysayers who tried to say, 'No, you cannot have a concert on the mall,' but the cavalry didn't ride to the rescue, the American Indians did," Gore told Smith.

[sjc_1]

Hey alphaa1: Has the younger Gore been sentenced already?
Posted by no2koolaid at 04:17 AM : Jul 08, 2007

Leave it to a right wing fascists to try and obscure the point. How many times have Bush's kids gotten into trouble and have had it covered up.

How many times has Bush been drunk and high on cocaine and daddy covered it up.

Get real you right wing goose steppers, you are on the side of evil and you will be defeated.

[name_verify]

Democrat Party contribution to American history: slavery, segregation, IRS, nuclear weapons, CIA, gay marriage.

- Courtesy of Hillary/Barak 2008 Campaign to Save the Planet! -

(from the party that voted for it before they voted against it)

[sjc_1]

Try to stay current. WMD's are not the issue. The issue is to contain and eliminate the islamofascists OVER THERE so they don't come OVER HERE!!
Posted by no2koolaid at 11:28 AM : Jul 08, 2007

Unless that was sarcasm, I would say that YOU drank the Republican koolaid. Those clowns change the story every week. This week it is this next week it is that ...and the implication is that it always has been...revisionist history that Orwell wrote about.

ubrew12 said -- "Your fearless leader is about to spend a trillion dollars and 4 to 5 thousand American lives securing WMD in Iraq, a country that doesn't have any?"

Try to stay current. WMD's are not the issue. The issue is to contain and eliminate the islamofascists OVER THERE so they don't come OVER HERE!!

[ubrew12]

no2koolaid said: "Yeah andor3 -- Al Gore is the Don Quixote of our generation. "

Just to understand you: Your fearless leader is about to spend a trillion dollars and 4 to 5 thousand American lives securing WMD in Iraq, a country that doesn't have any?
And GORE is Don Quixote???
Hmmm, maybe you're suffering from dehydration?

Yeah andor3 -- Al Gore is the Don Quixote of our generation. Enjoy your Kool Aid.

Hey alphaa1: Has the younger Gore been sentenced already?

[andor3]

Gotta love Al Gore! He's happy, he's successful, he's funny, and he's working for a great moral cause.

The whole fiasco where Bush stole the election is behind him and actually helped him--not only is he more of a leader than Bush ever could be, he is also more powerful than George Bush and more popular and is carving a legacy any of the Bushes can only dream of.

Shows what brains, perseverance, and knowing when to ignore the idiots can do to improve life anc change the world for the better. And have fun doing it. Just proves liberals know how to do good and have a good time!

[alphaa10-2009]

infidel_us spoke with forked tongue (again) as he joked, "'Hi, I'm ALGore.....please join me for the premiere of my next movie, "An Inconvenient Son."'"
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Both Al Gore and Bush1 share the burden of such inconvenient sons. And, yes, Bush2 has a complete list of "youthful" offenses to rival Gore's son. Papa Bush1 once said of the dissolute Bush2, "He's killing us!"

And now, we can only conclude it is jealousy which keeps Bush from recommending leniency for the younger Gore, to spare him from serving an "excessively harsh" sentence.

[alphaa10-2009]

There are some scientists who dissent from the prevailing view of human agency in global warming, but their number is relatively small. The accumulating evidence is becoming more difficult by the day to deny.

Even Bush agrees with German Chancellor Merkel to recognize human causation of global warming. Said Bush recently, "Each country needs to recognize that we must reduce our greenhouse gases and deal obviously with their own internal politics to come up with an effective strategy that hopefully when added together that it leads to a real reduction."

Bush has been on both sides of this issue, but apparently has wandered across the divide, if only for the sake of keeping the UK and EU happier with US policies. We should not forget Bush is the ideologue who in 2001 abrograted the just-signed Kyoto Treaty, in order not to burden any of his political donors in the US with pollution abatement.

Denial of global warming is a pet GOP cause, because taking responsible measures against climate change threatens the GOP cash cow of Big Oil. Ultimately, the GOP argument against global warming is about money, not science.

Ironically enough, any postponement of climate measures will be even more costly for all of us, GOP bozos included.

[alphaa10-2009]

SlipSter01 attempted to belittle ubrew12's academic background, but did SlipSter01 mention his own credentials? SlipSter01 invites this comparison.

So, how does SlipSter01 compare with climatologists concerned about human agency in global warming? Is SlipSter01 their professional peer-- or not?

[ifihadacat]

by the way, why the hell can i say hell and not cra p?

[ifihadacat]

why the hell should it matter? this big argument over whether the planet is freezing or melting and solar patterns and *** is annoying. instead of arguing about it just do something. i don't really know what the hell the problem is, but when i walk outside and look around i notice that the only *** around me is a bunch of lies and delusions. we may say we're living environmentally friendly. we may say that a bunch of people playing music will somehow get people to rid themselves of this delusion. we are slowly destroying this planet in one way or another and we can't do anything about it because we think we're better than nature itself. it's what we do as the human race. we just need to accept what we're doing and live with it. it's not like anything else is going to happen.

[SIDNEYWILLIAMSMD]

Moral Imperative: Strange word from a guy who did not know he was in a Buddhist temple, or the fall guy for the greatest moralist of all time. Next thing we will here is that Al talked with Jesus and he was 77 stories tall, telling him to build an Ark to save mankind when the ice melts. In fact it is because we are the tail end of the recent Ice Age. The Piri Reis map proves that the antartica was likely free of ice in historic times. Why do we think it should always be covered in ice. Why is Greenland called greenland, not because it is presently covered by ice and snow. Why was Iceland once called Vineland, not because it was covered as it is now by Ice. Times are changing as is the position of rocketship earth as we hurl through the cosmos. We are incapable of changing the path of the tragetory nor the immence natural forces of the earth and the cosmos. Would be better for the UN to concentrate on cleaning up the corruption in that organization.

[SIDNEYWILLIAMSMD]

Actually the reforestation of the Amazon is a great idea but try to sell Brazilians on that. Deforestation in the northern hemisphere would help cool the earth but try selling that to the tree huggers. In fact, doing nothing but ADAPT is likely the best solution, not some big brother trying to scare the be-jesus out of everyone and acuse the protestors to the panic of being conservatives. Hell I am a heterosexual and I think it is genetic, not environmental, not a conservative.

[ubrew12]

SlipSter01 said: "why we have global warming, not just here, but also on Mars, Jupiter AND Saturn"

Let me get this straight: After 20 years of rejecting a Grand-Canyons worth of evidence of Earth warming, you're accepting a thimble's worth of data about Mars? Scientists currently think Global Warming on Earth is 25% due to rises in Solar Insolation, which would also affect other planets, but that warmings been measured? To your SATISFACTION? On SATURN? Dude, Saturn is as cold and dead as YO MOMMA...

BTW: Most of the posters on this thread are anti-warming, so by massive reposting you are pushing their arguments (which are better than yours) to the back. FYI.

[ubrew12]

SlipSter01 said: "20 years ago they were raving about a coming Ice Age" That's more like 35 years ago. Global Dimming is caused by aerosol pollution, reduces sunlight so temps go down, crops grow slower, etc. Aerosol pollution also causes acid rain, emphysema, etc. Clean air act took care of that. It may have been masking the effects of Global Warming in the 60s-70s.

SlipSter01 said: "If Climate was beyond your grasp because of math, you sure couldn't get Engineering down." Wanna bet? I don't need to use infinite series of complex exponentials and Heaviside step functions in engineering, thank goodness.

SlipSter01 said: "a reforestation project would take... (60 to 100 years) to offset" that doesn't sound right, trees being a major CO2 sink already. I think cap and trade is an excellent idea for this reason. Reforestation of the tropics helps with critical habitat restoration AND global warming - two birds with one stone. You get to keep yer Coal burners in China, we plant a forest in Burma. Win Win.

[slipster01]

"I did. I was in a PhD program in Atmospheric Science 20 years ago, but left and returned to get my Masters in Engineering cuz I couldn't handle the math. Twenty years ago, Global Warming was a 'no-brainer' amongst that crowd.
Posted by ubrew12 at 03:14 AM : Jul 07, 2007"

Shows how much you know. 20 years ago they were raving about a coming Ice Age, moron.
And we're supposed to believe that, because you couldn't handle the math, you went into engineering, which requires a heck of a lot of math itself?
If Climate was beyond your grasp because of math, you sure couldn't get Engineering down.

As for this "carbon-offset" scam, think of this:
The celebs say they'll pay for a re-forestation project to offset the pollution they create today. But a reforestation project would take 3 to 5 GENERATIONS (60 to 100 years) to offset that amount of pollution attributed to one day/one celeb.

People are so worked up about stopping a natural cycle of climate change, rather than doing what humans have always done: ADAPT!

Explain to me why we have global warming, not just here, but also on Mars, Jupiter AND Saturn at the same time? Read up on the various solar cycles and their effect on climate, then maybe you can go back and get your degree.

Don't make us laugh.

[slipster01]

"I did. I was in a PhD program in Atmospheric Science 20 years ago, but left and returned to get my Masters in Engineering cuz I couldn't handle the math. Twenty years ago, Global Warming was a 'no-brainer' amongst that crowd.
Posted by ubrew12 at 03:14 AM : Jul 07, 2007"

Shows how much you know. 20 years ago they were raving about a coming Ice Age, moron.
And we're supposed to believe that, because you couldn't handle the math, you went into engineering, which requires a heck of a lot of math itself?
If Climate was beyond your grasp because of math, you sure couldn't get Engineering down.

As for this "carbon-offset" scam, think of this:
The celebs say they'll pay for a re-forestation project to offset the pollution they create today. But a reforestation project would take 3 to 5 GENERATIONS (60 to 100 years) to offset that amount of pollution attributed to one day/one celeb.

People are so worked up about stopping a natural cycle of climate change, rather than doing what humans have always done: ADAPT!

Explain to me why we have global warming, not just here, but also on Mars, Jupiter AND Saturn at the same time? Read up on the various solar cycles and their effect on climate, then maybe you can go back and get your degree.

Don't make us laugh.

[slipster01]

"I did. I was in a PhD program in Atmospheric Science 20 years ago, but left and returned to get my Masters in Engineering cuz I couldn't handle the math. Twenty years ago, Global Warming was a 'no-brainer' amongst that crowd.
Posted by ubrew12 at 03:14 AM : Jul 07, 2007"

Shows how much you know. 20 years ago they were raving about a coming Ice Age, moron.
And we're supposed to believe that, because you couldn't handle the math, you went into engineering, which requires a heck of a lot of math itself?
If Climate was beyond your grasp because of math, you sure couldn't get Engineering down.

As for this "carbon-offset" scam, think of this:
The celebs say they'll pay for a re-forestation project to offset the pollution they create today. But a reforestation project would take 3 to 5 GENERATIONS (60 to 100 years) to offset that amount of pollution attributed to one day/one celeb.

People are so worked up about stopping a natural cycle of climate change, rather than doing what humans have always done: ADAPT!

Explain to me why we have global warming, not just here, but also on Mars, Jupiter AND Saturn at the same time? Read up on the various solar cycles and their effect on climate, then maybe you can go back and get your degree.

Don't make us laugh.