The second coming of Gore

Two days ago I wrote:

[I]f you’re thinking that Gore must be falling apart or becoming deeply depressed because of the collapse of the global warming consensus that was the basis of his prophet status, I doubt that that’s the case. As we see from Obama’s undiminished arrogance in the light of all his stunning failures and loss of support, a true false messiah never loses his self-confidence, never admits that he was wrong.

Today Gore proves me correct. He writes in a very long (almost 2,000 word) op-ed in the New York Times:

I, for one, genuinely wish that the climate crisis were an illusion. But unfortunately, the reality of the danger we are courting has not been changed by the discovery of at least two mistakes in the thousands of pages of careful scientific work over the last 22 years by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In fact, the crisis is still growing because we are continuing to dump 90 million tons of global-warming pollution every 24 hours into the atmosphere—as if it were an open sewer.

Did I see that right? He’s comparing carbon dioxide, the basis of all plant life, to human feces and industrial waste? What better evidence that the Gnostic sees the cosmos as malign?

Gore then wonders how it has it been that even as the truth of global warming has gotten clearer and clearer, so that no rational person could deny it, there has been more and more opposition to it. One reason he gives is that television—you know, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS—has been a force of conservative reaction:

Simultaneously, changes in America’s political system—including the replacement of newspapers and magazines by television as the dominant medium of communication—conferred powerful advantages on wealthy advocates of unrestrained markets and weakened advocates of legal and regulatory reforms. Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic. Their most consistent theme is to label as “socialist” any proposal to reform exploitative behavior in the marketplace.

That’s right, the most consistent theme of TV news for the last few decades has been that the expansion of government is “socialist.” With Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Diane Sawyer constantly stirring up the masses’ fears of “socialism,” how could any needed effort to expand the control of government over society possibly have a chance? The entire system under which we live is a conspiracy against the truth. Which is, of course, another axiom of Gnosticism.

The column also includes this:

From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption. After all has been said and so little done, the truth about the climate crisis—inconvenient as ever—must still be faced.

We don’t have to parody Gore as a man who sees himself as the savior of mankind. He does it for us.

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Paul K. writes:

If I were a global warming alarmist, I would be very unhappy to have Al Gore as my spokesman. With no scientific credentials, he is in no position to speak with authority on this subject. At Harvard, he got a D and a C- in the two introductory science courses he was required to take. He constantly exaggerates and is unable to resist the use of loaded phrases and sarcastic rhetoric.

Gore writes, “I, for one, genuinely wish that the climate crisis were an illusion.” Does anyone believe that? If AGW is proven an illusion, Gore will go down in history as a comic figure, the demented doomsayer. Does he “genuinely wish that”? He has also invested heavily in businesses that are counting on the passage of cap-and-trade legislation. Is he content to be proven wrong and lose his burgeoning fortune?

He refers to the leaked emails as “stolen,” a loaded term when the emails were supposed to be released under the FOIA. With loaded phrase after loaded phrase, he refers to “scientists besieged by an onslaught of hostile, make-work demands from climate skeptics.” Every government-funded agency that has ever had to respond to FOIA requests could characterize them the same way. Does Gore disapprove of the Freedom of Information Act?

Gore writes, “The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth,” in making the point that “weather” does not equal “climate.” But Gore and most other AGW alarmists are quick to ally themselves with the weather when it suits them. I distinctly recall that after Hurricane Katrina Gore announced that we would see more and more such hurricanes due to AGW, which of course was not the case.

Ann Althouse eviscerates Gore’s column pretty adroitly at her blog.

Brrrrr from CT,
Paul K.

LA replies:

How cold can it be in Connecticut? It’s mild in New York.

Paul K. replies:

I inadvertently let the wood stove burn out and it’s hard to get the heat back up quickly. (Don’t tell Al Gore I burn wood!)

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 28, 2010 08:13 PM | Send