Brent Budowsky: Where's Al Gore?

[babylonsister]

Where's Al Gore?

By Brent Budowsky
August 9, 2008

Editor’s Note: Though Al Gore has long argued that continued reliance on carbon fuels and the resulting global warming could make the Earth uninhabitable, he has stayed silently on the sidelines at key moments this election year when politicians have exploited the issue of high gas prices to push for more oil drilling.

In this guest essay, former Democratic congressional aide Brent Budowsky asks why?

Anyone can champion the Earth when it's easy, yet too many remain silent when it's hard.


The forces behind oil are taking charge in the great energy debate – and the issue of global warming has virtually disappeared from the political campaign, with barely a word from its strongest advocate.

I have supported Al Gore for a generation but am profoundly troubled by his silence and absence from the great debate during this election year.

Gore did not run for President; Gore did not endorse when it mattered; Gore did not push his issues during the primaries; Gore did not challenge the phony gas tax holiday idea; Gore does not challenge the Mother Earth of all flip-flops and sellouts from John McCain, who went from pretending to be a global warming leader to being the great shill for oil company profits.

John McCain is a second-tier Teddy Roosevelt impersonator with zero in common with TR's championing of the environment, trust-busting attacks on corporate abuses, regulation to prevent children from being poisoned by bad food, and the rights of American workers.

Why is Gore not challenging John McCain visibly, aggressively and clearly?

Why is Gore not challenging the American people to take the hard actions that are needed to conserve energy, to save the planet, and to change the world at such a critical moment?

more...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/080808d.html

[Radical Activist]

1. He was on Meet the Press two or three weeks ago.

Maybe this guy slept in?

[trumad]

2. Maybe Al is sick of the bullshit

---I know I would be if I was in his shoes.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

3. I hope

Al Gore will be front and center in an Obama administration on global warming - our own Energy Czar. For now he's probably doing more than anybody, including T.Boone Pickens, behind the scenes. He's up to his eyeballs in global warming and has been pretty much all his adult life.:loveya:

[orleans]

4. good questions. good point.

i'm fucking tired about hearing how we have to drill

why the hell isn't he coming out and and letting people know it's a bunch of shit?

[spanone]

5. that's a good point too, he could make a lot of noise whereas the congress just whines

[Apollo11]

6. Al Gore was on NBC's Meet The Press - July 20th

You can read the transcript here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25761899/

What you have to remember is that Al Gore was on the Democratic ticket in 1992, 1996 and 2000. More than anyone, he understands the importance of the whole party getting behind the nominee and supporting the Democratic ticket. He will not publicly criticize Barack Obama or do anything that might be interpreted as disagreeing with Obama.

Al Gore has even postponed publication of his book "The Path To Survival" (his follow-up to An Inconvenient Truth) to June 2009. See: http://www.amazon.com/Path-Survival-Al-Gore/dp/1594867348