Former Vice President Al Gore Criticized for Global Warming Comments

Former Vice President and possible future presidential candidate Al Gore has been criticized domestically and internationally for his comments about climate change and global warming. United States Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) Wednesday criticized Gore for recently saying global warming is a "dire emergency" that threatens mankind. Internationally, a former advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said Gore "doesn't have the guts or the facts" to debate him on the subject.

Wednesday the former Vice President urged Congress to take immediate action to "save the planet" by adopting an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases. Former Vice President Gore claimed that global warming is a "planetary emergency" that threatens mankind. He told a Senate Environmental Committee hearing that debate on the topic is over because of a consensus among scientists.

At the hearing Senator Inhofe challenged the former Vice President's facts. He said the contention of Gore that global warming is responsible for an increase in the number of hurricanes and for hurricanes being of a longer duration is not believed by meteorologists. The senator said that the World Meteorological Organization "very clearly rejected this assertion."

The former vice president also has said that rising earth temperatures are caused by carbon dioxide, which is used in various ways, including heating homes and by motor vehicles. At the hearing Senator Inhofe asked former Vice President Gore to promise to consume no more energy than the average American, but Gore did not take the pledge.

Senator Inhofe called global warming the "biggest hoax ever perpetuated on Americans." He also said Gore lacks the scientific knowledge to say the earth is sick and getting sicker, scaring everyone in the process.

Senator Inhofe quoted Gore saying that East Antarctica might melt, raising sea levels by 20 feet. The Senator said if that were true, everyone's life would be in jeopardy. "According to many scientists, Antarctica is gaining ice mass, not losing it," Senator Inhofe was quoted as saying in a press release for the website, www.onenewsnow.com. He said a 2005 study published in Science magazine showed Antarcticaice mass was increasing.

Former British journalist Lord Christopher Monckton, a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, was equally critical of former Vice President Gore for his comments about global warming. He said that while some Democrats in Congress call Gore an "environmental prophet," Gore "doesn't have the guts or the facts" to debate him on the subject.

Monckton said Gore makes "extravagant statements," and he called the former Vice President's Oscar winning film about the environment, An Inconvenient Truth, a "sci-fi/comedy/horror film."

Monckton noted that Gore won't take reporters' questions about global warming and won't debate the subject with anyone, whether or not the person is a scientist. He called Gore's assertion that carbon monoxide raises the earth's temperature, "fatuous." He said there is "absolutely no credible scientific evidence" that proves Gore's assertion.

Monckton has challenged Gore to an internationally televised debate on global warming. He said he doubts Gore will "face up to the challenge or the facts" about climate change. He said instead Gore will continue to push his "gloom-laden scenario" throughout the world, ignoring whatever scientists say about the matter.

Monckton claimed a "lot of innocent" people, including schoolchildren, were forced to watch the "ludicrous, mawkish movie" Gore made. He said people believe Gore's claims at face value. Monckton said he has read scientific journals which show that the former Vice President's claims about global warming are "simply nonsense."

Monckton noted Gore is a paid advisor to the British government on climate change, and there is no opposition in Great Britain to Gore's views. He said for that reason Gore would have a good reason to debate him.

In an Associated Content article by Eric Fleming on March 6, 2007, The Inconvenient Truth About Al Gore's Electrical Bill, the author noted that despite Gore's movie and claims about global warming, the former Vice President spends in one month what the average family spends in a whole year on electricity.

Whether or not Gore runs for president again, he ran against President Bush in 2000. In a close contest, Gore won the popular vote by a narrow margin, but Bush was elected by the Electoral College.

This author believes the only way the liberals have to gain power is to scare people, and former Vice President Al Gore is just continuing to act in that vein.