I see.  It was a clever plan...  Here is how it went, as Gore was sitting around smoking pot in the eary 1970s:

 

Gore:  Hmm...  This professor guy thinks there is global warming happening due to CO2 and other emissions.  Nobody else gives a darn - they are too busy with acid rain and stuff.  That's ok - I have a plan.  I will:

 

- get elected to Congress

- spend a couple of decades toiling in Congress while being underpaid

- work relentlessly during those decades talking about global warming, even though nobody cares

- cripple my political career by talking up global warming in the 80s when nobody cares

- glom on to an Arkansas hillbilly and get elected to the crappiest job in government

- continue talking about global warming for another 8 years, even though people still don't care

- convince a whole bunch of scientists that this global warming stuff is real, even though they are scientists and I am not

- convince those scientists to write massive reports and conduct massive research to support my made-up global warming theory that I have been talking about for decades

- make a powerpoint presentation and go on the road with my schtick, talking about global warming.  some people will finally care

- have a movie made about my powerpoint presentation, and win an Oscar.  now some more people will care

- win the Nobel Peace Prize.  and then more people will actually care

- late in the game, after decades of talking this up, I will get around to making some investments in companies that may benefit from efforts to combat global warming

- I will make these investments by joining the most 1337 VC fund in the world, a fund that always makes gobs of money no matter what industry they invest in

PHASE 3:  PROFIT!

 

 

(Of course, I could have just invested in that internet thing I will invent in the 80s, and then I could be a billionaire faster, but that's not as much fun.)

 

That's one heck of a plan.  Makes Bush's plan to bomb the WTC look like child's play.

 

 

Fun fact, scientists state that the eating of 'meat' contributes most of the methane in the atmosphere from beef production, the feeder farms are a global warming hazard, yet Al Gore has yet to become a vegitarian, but trumpets the evils of the meat industry contributing to 'greenhouse' gases.

 

Well, it is a little more complicated than that.  Clearly the meat industry is a big greenhouse player, but so is agriculture.  There are numerous factors, including transportation, storage, processing, feedsource, space clearing, and so forth.

 

To simply say that eating meat is worse for the environment than eating veggies is not accurate.  It may be that part of the solution is cutting back on meat, but that science isn't there yet to declare this "the" solution.  The logistics of the food industry are complicated.

 

Yes, that.  Which should be a hint that you are being fed lies.  When questions/challenges are legitimately raised and legitimately answered, yet continue to be raised as if they were never addressed, chances are pretty good that your source is disingenuous.

 

Scientists (including the global warming types) incorporate new data (specifically contrary data) and modify their conclusions.  Rabble-rousers do not.  Rabble-rousers ignore contrary data and proceed as if it never happened.

 

 

Unfortunately, actual scientific journals are impossible to read unless you are educated in the field.  What he wants is a layman's explanation/summary of the actual science.

 

Conveniently there is a pretty good source: the various IPCC reports.  Some politics has crept in, but they remain (as far as I know) the single most comprehensive evaluation of all relevant science on the subject.  They aren't easy to read, but they are not impossible to read either.  And they are a free download, which is convenient.

 

 

That is impressive, but what makes journals hard to read isn't just the subject matter.  OOS is a self-contained book - journal articles are usually descriptions of individual research projects with narrow conclusions.  This is why science is taught with textbooks rather than articles.

 

Reading articles can be fun and educational, but it is really hard to get the big picture from articles alone.

 

Mack wrote: Do they have pictures?

 

oldsoldier wrote: And we must remmember that Al Gore 'invented' the internet, he said so, and look how well his invention is working for the world.

 

Al Gore never said he invented the internet.

 

What he did say was that he was instrumental in getting the funding that led to the creation of the internet, and that a pretty accurate statement.  Perhaps somebody else would have stepped up in his absence, but there is little doubt that Gore was a significant participant in the early days of the internet as we know it today.

 

And, as has been pointed out, I think we can all agree that the internet is pretty darn awesome.

 

Actually, he and CERN were instrumental in developing the World Wide Web, not the Internet.  Credit for that still go back to DARPA and ARPANET (and all the smaller contributing networks, such as ALOHANET).

I still cringe when I read "Angels and Demons".

 

Of course, in the long run solar panels are the cheapest electricy of all.

 

But a more cost-effective alternative in most cases is solar water heating.  A big chunk of your gas/electric bill goes to heat water for showers and dishes, and a solar heater will defray that cost.  Solar water heating is drastically cheaper than solar electric (for residences, anyway) on a dollars-per-savings basis.

 

BUT BUT, for most people, the most cost-effective first step is a visit to the hardware store, where you buy some caulk and a caulk gun.  For $10 worth of improved insulation you will probably be able to shave a couple of bucks a month off your energy bill.  And if you want to go hog wild, you can get some door sweeps and new door seals.  Attic insulation is also a big deal.

 

Generating your own electricity is cool and sexy and can be cost-effective, but frankly, for most people they could save a lot more just by taking basic efficiency steps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...ok so I don't actually own a corvette.

 

 

Depends on how crappy your windows are...

 

 

 

The house I live in right now windows' are so bad I'm thinking about putting some insulation on them and then nail a big sheet of plywood over them.

 

Electeric bill for October was $215, last year, in a not-so-sucky apartment, the max the eletric bill was was $50

 

This is a very important point.  Everything is relative.  The caulk gun might save one homeowner hundreds of dollars and save another homeowner hundreds of cents.  It all depends on your starting point for any efficiency project, and depends on your electricity cost for any generation project.