In his summer movie, "An Inconvenient Truth", former Vice President Al Gore demands that we are on the brink of catastrophe, and that only through drastic actions can we avoid suffering the consequences of global warming. He insists that we need to live "carbon neutral lifestyles".
This despite the fact that in 8 years as Vice President, he did not do anything meaningful to advance the United States in this pressing issue. This despite the fact that he has never encouraged developing countries to develop along a greener path, instead supporting them as they make the same mistakes we did when we polluted our air and waterways. This despite the fact that environmental initiatives were not even on the radar in his 2000 Presidential bid.
Now author Peter Schweitzer has even more interesting news for us (Link ). Not only is Al Gore's public policy not green, his private practice is not even CLOSE to the standard he demands be LEGISLATED for all of us. Gore has two homes, one a "10,000 square foot, 20 room, eight bathroom" (as Schweitzer tells it) home in Nashville, and the other a 4,000 square foot home in Arlington Virginia. And although both Nashville and the DC area offer options for "green energy", Gore has not signed up for programs at either home (although the federal government has done so for some of its offices).
And while Gore preaches the necessity of weaning ourselves from fossil fuels, his family still has substantial holdings in Occidental Petroleum. Perhaps Gore is simply fueling his own self interests, by laying the role of environmental alarmists to help drive up the skyrocketing oil prices? At any rate, Democrats have no right demanding that President Bush is a "rich oilman" when one of their party's white knights is tied in with the same industry that he decries as evil.
While I am no fan of Ralph Nader, I will say that he does at least attempt to lead a green lifestyle as he encourages others to do so. Al Gore apparently feels no compulsion to lead a greener lifestyle, even as he demands the rest of America make sacrifices to head off a questionable crisis.