First, I respect Al Gore. I think he was a bad Presidential candidate, a forgettable vice-president, and a disappointing Senator (see: his support, and then denial of support, of the tobacco industry).
But nevertheless, I think he’s right on climate change. It’s a defining issue. Any skepticism I had regarding anti-environmentalism went out the window when I read Bjørn Lomborg’s The Skeptical Environmentalist, which was one of the worst researched and least rational books I have ever read. I need not go into detail on Lomborg’s inability to comprehend basic statistical methods. Needless to say, if Lomborg is one of the most educated that the “skeptics” can trot out, well then there’s not much to be skeptical about (other than Lomborg’s credentials).
Anyway, my point isn’t to bash Lomborg (although it sure is fun). It’s not about Lomborg, it’s about Gore.
Gore recently announced a plan to make the US independent from carbon-based and foreign energy sources. I believe that making the US independent from foreign and carbon-based fuels by 2018 is a strategic, noble, and laudable goal.
My only concern is that Al Gore is a partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture fund heavily invested in Cleantech/Greentech. In other words, Al Gore stands to make a lot of money if we pull off his energy policy. Nothing wrong with making money off helping to clean up the world…but why won’t he remind his adoring public of these obvious conflicts when he gives these high-profile speeches?
Al Gore risks being to Clean Energy what Dick Cheney is to Big Oil: An abuser of the public trust to enrich the self.
