Feature Article

Al Gore Is a Greenhouse Gasbag

By John Marchese

Page 7 of 7

Bob Giegengack likes to point out that there was a time when people like him were called natural philosophers, and he wouldn't mind a return to the days when scientists spent more time asking questions and less time testifying before committees.

But that won't happen soon. Now that Democrats run Congress again, they're likely to ramp up the hearings to chide the Republicans for what they see as nearly a decade of stonewalling and misinformation on global warming. After all, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment, Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, ignited a wildfire in the groves of environmentalism when he called the idea of catastrophic global warming a "hoax."

Movie stars will continue to move in on the action. And look for Al Gore to keep rolling along as the Energizer Bunny of global warming, beating his drum incessantly, powered by a carbon-neutral battery.

In the long view, a geologist like Giegengack can take some comfort in, well, the long view. "There's all this stuff about saving the planet," he says. "The Earth is fine. The Earth was fine before we got here, and it'll be fine long after we're gone."

That will probably be on the final.

John Marchese is a contributing writer. His book The Violin Maker: Finding a Centuries-Old Tradition in a Brooklyn Workshop will be published in the spring.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, February 2007
 

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One comment, one correction
Posted by | Oct. 24, 2007 at 5:16 PM
COMMENT:
Correction- Michael Crichton's book is skeptical of global warming, not for it. I met a man two years ago who has taught climatology at University of Virgina and now North Carolina. He is not connected with big oil or big anything. He says that there is absolutely no evidence of man's contribution to global warming. He says just follow the money to those making millions off this hoax. Good reporting. I would like to see an article detailing the incorrectness of each of Gore's points in The Inconvenient Truth for argumentative purposes with my left leaning sister and aunt.
Nonsense
Posted by | Oct. 29, 2007 at 9:50 AM
COMMENT:
No scientist is making millions from Global Warming - follow the real money to the coal and oil companies. They ought to be paying a carbon tax for their pollution instead of funding skeptics. I'm no fan of Gore but the science in his film is accurate according to dozens of climate experts I've talked to.
"accurate science" endorsed by "dozens of climate experts"
Posted by | Nov. 2, 2007 at 10:17 AM
COMMENT:
I would like to see the names of twenty-four (two dozen) people who say they are climate experts and who also say that the "science" in An Inconvenient Truth is "accurate" without qualification. The "science" in that film consists ENTIRELY of two uncontested facts: (1) CO2 is a greenhouse gas, and (2) CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and global temperatures have fluctuated essentially in lockstep for at least the last 500,000 years. Ergo the changing CO2 concentrations cause the global temperature fluctuations. It is a simple application of the well-known logical truth, "post hoc, ergo propter hoc."
Global Warming
Posted by | Nov. 8, 2007 at 11:54 PM
COMMENT:
Al Gore's film "An Inconvienient Truth" shows an enormous graph which statistically clearly shows temperature increasing first and then this is followed later by an increase in the concentration of C02 in the atmosphere. This proves that Al Gore is a fool and that an increase in C02 does not lead to any significant global warming. C02 at only 380 parts per million is much to small to cause any significant global warming.
air and climate
Posted by | Jan. 8, 2008 at 1:36 PM
COMMENT:
i am doing a project on air and climate polution and i need to interveiw someone i was wondering if i could get anyone to give me their input on global warming air pollution and green house gases if anyone could get back to me at ggsteiger@aol.com
have any of you read the IPCC reports?
Posted by | Feb. 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM
COMMENT:
first of all, "post hoc, ergo propter hoc" is a logical *fallacy* not a logical truth. second of all, al gore is someone who is just bringing about awareness. he's not a scientist nor claims to be leading the research in climate change, so arguing against him is like shooting the messenger. if you're going to follow the lazy, money motivated psuedo-science of big oil cronies at least address the real challenges to it.
Okay
Posted by | Feb. 26, 2008 at 6:07 PM
COMMENT:
yeah, burn!
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Posted by | Mar. 22, 2008 at 12:31 PM
COMMENT:
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