Al Gore calls on Barack Obama to 'act boldly' on climate change

[bananas]

Source: Guardian

The former vice-president and climate champion, Al Gore, has called on Barack Obama to seize the moment and use his re-election victory to push through bold action on climate change.

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The vice-president's intervention for a carbon tax could give critical support to an idea that has gained currency since the election – at least among Washington thinktanks. The conservative American Enterprise Institute held an all-day seminar on the carbon tax on Tuesday.

<snip>

Gore will ratchet up his own pressure on Wednesday evening when he hosts a 24-hour live online broadcast from New York city on the connections between climate change and extreme events such as Sandy.

The Dirty Weather Report, produced by his Climate Reality Project, will kick off with footage from New Jersey's devastated shore and interviews with governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo. It begins at 8pm eastern time.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/13/al-gore-barack-obama-climate-change

[sasha031]

1. notice this is in the Guardian & not the fossil fuel network CNN

Thank you, Mr Vice President

[still_one]

2. Agreed, but first focus on jobs

[NoOneMan]

3. There will be plenty of jobs once the drought induced famine hits

So yeah, focus on jobs and sure enough, youll be swimming in them

[still_one]

4. A lot of people are hurting badly right now, and if they don't focus on jobs first, there will not

Be an opportunity to work on climate change. In two years there is a midterm election, and if the focus is not on jobs, we will lose

[NoOneMan]

5. Seeking a job for the end of the world

That as a catchy tune.

Sometimes Im not sure if people are aware of the recent drought, ice melt and outrageous storms.

Well, how about killing 2 birds with 1 stone? Hire people to plant trees and restore wetlands. You know, show vision and leadership and genuine concern about the extinction that is underway.

Or we can give more tax breaks to encourage companies to hire people, burn fossil fuels and continue business as usual. Then just maybe people will like us enough to vote for us! Yeah, sure, thats the road to salvation.

[still_one]

7. I do not think we can, the media will not be with us. If the economy visibly shows recovery, and

People are significantly getting jobs, we will have carte Blanche and can call the shots for the environment, universal healthcare, etc.

It is not the highest priority right now for most people. They want and need jobs

[NoOneMan]

9. We must keep our powder dry

Its alright ma. Our world is only dieing

[still_one]

10. I am not saying it should not be done, I am saying timing is everything

[progressoid]

11. Yes, timing.

Unfortunately, we may not have anymore time.

But if it's jobs you seek, fighting climate change can be the job creator we need. It could be a win/win if we act now.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. Timing is nothing...

because every time we try to push for something, we are reminded about timing and that there is another election around the corner.

[mrf901]

28. if timing is everything...

the time was when Obama
had the House and 60 votes in the
Senate Democratic caucus

[Demeter]

6. I concur. Even after all this time, it's still the Economy; all the stupid out there, take note.

There may be no need to worry about climate change in this world if the global economy collapses, or even if only the US economy collapses, but...

I wouldn't want to live there.

And this is more proof that he never had the gift of timing....

[still_one]

8. I believe in climate change, however, that will not trump jobs now. We have a two year window, and

We will not get help from the repukes on climate change for sure, and we have a chance with a jobs bill, because that is what people are screaming for

If we can pull that off, we will get our cake and eat it too

[limpyhobbler]

12. Environment and jobs are not not opposites.

That's a wrong and dangerous historical way of thinking.

Create millions of jobs instantly by hiring people to build and install wind, solar and geothermal power. Hire people to modernize the electric grid, convert to electric vehicles, and insulate buildings.

Unfortunately the dirty energy companies have spent billions advertising on TV channels like CNN and MSNBC to get liberals to believe that if we want jobs, we have to put climate change on hold.

It's false choice. Addressing climate change can create jobs, but we have to be willing to take the common sense steps.

[NoOneMan]

13. Don't you think a whole lotta oil needs to be burned to build that stuff?

Hire people to plant trees, not to increase immediate levels of atmospheric carbon.

[limpyhobbler]

14. But it's building stuff that will let us then greatly reduce the amount of oil we burn in the

following decades.

Planting trees is also good. Likewise for bicycling and other forms of conservation. Reducing consumption and reusing "disposable" items, and many other such lifestyle changes.

Anything that will help us make the transition off of fossil fuels, almost completely.

[NoOneMan]

15. Itll take decades to reach carbon neutrality

And, well, we are sort of in a crunch now in case you haven't been reading climate news. Maybe the most immediate course of action shouldn't be further polluting the atmosphere by making more stuff? Who knows. Likely nothing will be done anyway, so nothing to worry about.

[limpyhobbler]

16. The longer we wait to switch, the worse it will be.

Wait, are you suggesting we should not build clean energy like wind, solar, or geothermal?

Likely nothing will be done anyway, so nothing to worry about."

I'm not even sure what that means.

[NoOneMan]

18. Im suggesting you have to burn oil to do it

Which is a fact, and a big part of the problem.

But us smart apes still think we can produce our way out of an overproduction problem.

[limpyhobbler]

19. Burn oil to build things that will allow us to stop burning oil.

simple.

We are already burning tons of oil to build more dirty energy infrastructure. Such as pipelines, tar sands, arctic drilling, deep water ocean drilling, shale gas fracking, more pipelines, mountain top coal blasting, etc.

We should take a a part of that dirty energy investment and invest it in clean energy instead, so that we can gradually move from dirty energy to clean energy.

This just seems like common sense to me.

[NoOneMan]

20. Common sense or common myth

Mind the energy trap

Its interesting how humans--when faced with a crisis from burning too much energy--think the sanest answer is to burn even more energy in the short term. Something must be wrong with me; I think we need to burn less "dirty" energy, immediately (not in 3 decades).

[limpyhobbler]

22. Already

I just said, do not burn more dirty energy, just take the expenditure we are already burning to drill for fossil fuels, and spend that instead to build clean energy instead.

Sorry what are you suggesting we do to get off of fossil fuels?

[NoOneMan]

23. My suggestion is easy

All you have to do is do less. Much less.

Abandon this 10K year old disaster of infinite growth and exploitation.

Ta da. Ill pick up my Nobel Prize at the back on my way out.

[limpyhobbler]

24. So are you suggesting a sort of

back to nature primitivism, or something like that?

[NoOneMan]

27. oh, is that too ghastly?

Living in harmony with nature instead of destroying it?

Does that mean we can't have Starbucks and iPads?

[limpyhobbler]

29. Does that mean we can't have hospitals, x-ray machines and canned soup?

I'm into canned tomatoes and not willing to give it up.

[NoOneMan]

30. Can your own

Our oil addiction has allowed us to learn a lot very quickly. Some of which we can continue to use without a significant carbon footprint. Some of which we can't. Being faced with extinction, Im ok with that.

With a better diet, a cleaner environment and a less stressed life, theyll be far less need for those fancy machines we built by burning so much oil.

We can all live with things just a little bit slower

[limpyhobbler]

31. want me to build my own x-ray machine too?

[NoOneMan]

32. Eat your veggies and chill out

Even your bones will be stronger (like our ancestors).

Or do you suggest that we all should die on account of your bone curiosity? Hey, better all of us than just you, right? Good thinking

[limpyhobbler]

33. You are advocating the end of civilization, a very weird, radical view.

[NoOneMan]

34. Thank you

Surely if the denizens of the twisted, cancerous manifestation of totalitarian agricultural classify my views as "weird", then its a good place to start.

I can assure you that I take no offense. Likewise, if you were to approach any homo sapien living sustainably in the hundred thousand year time span before the advent of agriculture, they may in find the concept of infinite exploitation and destruction of the earth as "radical" and as fruitless as fucking a Rhino to produce a Wallaby baby.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. There is no reason to worry about...

the economy if the climate collapses

[XemaSab]

21. Everyone who has ever trashed the planet has done so in the name of jobs

Hell, the people who want to cut down the 5% of remaining old growth redwoods say that they need to do so in the name of jobs, even if it involves killing off the Marbled Murrelet, the Spotted Owl, and other species.

It's a bunch of bullshit.

[Nihil]

36. You have it about face ...

> and if they don't focus on jobs first, there will not
> be an opportunity to work on climate change.

If you don't focus on climate change, jobs are most definitely the *least* of your concerns.


> In two years there is a midterm election, and if the focus is not on jobs, we will lose

So, immediately after an election is still too close to the next election to focus on the environment.

Thanks for stating the reason why we are in so much shit.

Basically, the strategy of the typical American political "activist" is to keep running
around in the hamster wheel until you drop dead. Fucking wonderful.

Epitaph for modern civilization:
"We just couldn't give a fuck about anything that interrupts our non-negotiable way of life."

[tinrobot]

17. How about green energy jobs?

That would serve both needs.

There's so much work to do on the green energy front - everything from construction jobs installing solar systems and making buildings more efficient to high tech research and development and many inbetween.

[triplepoint]

35. Nature Bats Last

It may indeed be that Total Global Economic Collapse is the ONLY way to solve "save the Planet" and/or Civilization itself. When you're in a hole....stop digging...
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