"Ozone Al" for president in 2008? The heat is on.

[NYCGirl]

No, I don't much like the "Ozone Al" nickname (although he's been called worse), but it's a good article by Clarence Page.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0605030029may03,1,7732027.column?coll=chi-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true

Yes, despite the nattering nabobs of anti-Al negativism, there is no longer much dispute that global warming exists. The only argument centers on how quickly it is going to cause more devastation and how much of it is caused by humans. That's a debate Gore has been itching to have, and his side is looking more prescient by the day and too credible to be ignored.

And what better place to have that debate than a presidential campaign?

Sure, Gore's not running. Not yet. But he has a ready-made base of strong support from MoveOn.org and Howard Dean's army of feisty volunteers. Both groups tap him into the left's richest vein of fundraising and volunteers outside of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) political and fundraising juggernaut. She's way ahead in the polls and in fundraising, at present, but if the significant number of Democrats who doubt she can win the White House needs to coalesce around someone else, Gore is well-positioned to be wooed. And his movie hasn't even been released.

None of this means Gore is going to run, of course. But, if I were Hillary Clinton I'd be looking over my shoulder.

[IndianaGreen]

1. According to Gore and reputable scientists, we only have 10 years left

before we reach the tipping point beyond which global warming will become unstoppable.

[onehandle]

3. We are so screwed. nt

[NYCGirl]

4. And our children and grandchildren are even more screwed. NT

[IndianaGreen]

5. Global warming weakens Pacific trade winds

We are more screwed than we realize! This was posted by MSNBC:

Global warming weakens Pacific trade winds

Long-term effect could disrupt marine food chain

By Ker Than

Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET May 3, 2006

NEW YORK - The trade winds in the Pacific Ocean are weakening as a result of global warming, according to a new study that indicates changes to the region's biology are possible.

Using a combination of real-world observations and computer modeling, researchers conclude that a vast loop of circulating wind over the Pacific Ocean, known as the Walker circulation, has weakened by about 3.5 percent since the mid-1800s. The trade winds are the portion of the Walker circulation that blow across the ocean surface.

The researchers predict another 10 percent decrease by the end of the 21st century.

The effect, attributed at least in part to human-induced climate change, could disrupt food chains and reduce the biological productivity of the Pacific Ocean, scientists said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12612965/from/RS.3/

[NYCGirl]

23. That is frightening! NT

[alfredo]

30. Runaway global warming. If you want to see the end product of

runaway global warming, look at Venus.

[IndyOp]

2. Where the F* do they do these polls!?!?!

The one's in which Hillary Clinton is leading?

Is it in the Congressional cafeteria at the women's senator's table?

:puke:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

6. It could very well be Gore's time now, because of the increasing

concern over global warming. In regards to the planet, Al would certainly be the most knowledgeable and qualified candidate at this point.

[osaMABUSh]

7. It is Gore's time (again)

We all know he won in '00. A year from now when everyone is throwing their hat in the ring, Gore will be positoned as the most qualfied for the nation's problems. Frankly, I can't see Gore losing to anyone the Repukes put up (not McCain, not Condi, not Rudy).

[American liberal]

8. I agree. I am a huge fan ever since his MLK speech in Jan.

But in all honesty, I pity any Democrat who follows this nightmare of an administration. I mean, how do you turn around a $3 trillion deficit? Even if every corporate welfare program and all the tax benefits for the richest 2% were reversed, I don't see any way this country could get back in the black in the next couple of generations, let alone presidential terms. And the Culture of Corruption continues to hemorrhage money--into the coffers of the oil industry and defense contractors! No, I do not envy whoever gets to be the first to start trying to clean up the mess the warmongers have made of our country.

[slay]

24. I couldn't agree more

And while I personally would LOVE to see Dennis Kucinich as president, I would gladly accept, as well as actively campaign for, Gore. He cares about ALL people, he cares about the environment, he has experience, he won in 2000, and most of all - he's very intelligent. I feel he would not only win, but he would be the best president of my lifetime. Al Gore 2008 - The Anti-Bush. :)

[JNelson6563]

9. Member of Dean's army reporting for duty!

Run Al run! And make Feingold your running mate!!

:toast:

[saltpoint]

10. Al Gore stands tall on the environmental questions, as do many in our

party, but Al is probably unbeatable in a debate on alternative fuels and environmental crises against any Republican living or dead. Most Republicans are more dead than they are living anyway, judging from their party's fierce denials of global warming.

Gore is well-positioned to use his considerable command of environmental and energy issues to help the nation out of its difficulties.

(One of the difficulties is our insistence that we can burn fuels with impunity like drunken sailors drink on shore leave on Saturday night. Our party needs to lead people into an energy-conscious future, and Gore is no slouch on an issue like that.)

If he jumps in, he would be formidable.

[blm]

13. The moderators of the debates in 2004 kept environment off the table -

Kerry was able to link environmental efforts to national security and oil dependency, but, overall, the questioners were protecting Bush from getting hammered on this issue so they sidestepped the issue.

[saltpoint]

19. I had the same sense -- that the debate moderators steered the

questioning to favor Bush. No wonder Gore sighed the way he did. I don't blame him.

Even with that slant, though, Kerry "steamrolled" Bush in those debates, to borrow a verb from Hunter S. Thompson.

[Cha]

28. I read that it was Paul Begala

who advised Gore to "roll his eyes and sigh heavily" after Tom Downy recused himself because he had been sent a tape of bush practicing his debates.

Anyone remember that? rove at work?

[saltpoint]

34. I didn't hear that, but there are a lot of possibilities going on at any

given time behind the scenes, so who knows...

Bush is such a sluggish, incurious man that Gore and Kerry just mopped up in those debates. But many American voters didn't watch the debates, and that's part of the problem.

[Thrasybulus]

35. Rove plays a deep game

I remember reading that Clinton allowed a Gore confidante to run his reelection campaign in 1996, can't remember his name though.

After the election the campaign manager took a lobbying job and Republicans soon charged him with a conflict of interest. They nailed Gore, who prizes his integrity, and Gore got another manager before the 2000 campaign even started.

And remember that daddy Bush ran as VP in 1980 when Carter's debate book turned up in the Republican camp, and it wasn't voluntarily exposed either.

[Cha]

36. Here's to rove's little

games being OVER..:toast: Welcome to DU, Thrasybulus!

If only we could charge all the repukes that have conflicts of interest.

[bvar22]

21. Not just the debates.

The Powers that Be inside the Democratic Party prevented The Environment from being an issue during 2004.
...too many Corporate Donors would have been upset.

Lets hope the Democratic Party has learned from the mistake.....or do they even consider it a mistake?
They DID set records in campaign contributions.


I could campaign and vote with pride and enthusiasm for Gore.

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[ieoeja]

22. No, they do NOT think they made any mistakes.

You are very correct in that asking that. McAuliffe was bragging after the 2004 elections about the tremendous "victory". And I didn't put in those quotes to mean "sort of a victory". I put them in there because that is the exact word he used, "victory".

Cause to his ilk, raising more funds than the Republicans for the first time in decades is the true definition of victory. It made me seriously wonder, do they spend that money on the campaign? Or are they just pocketing huge amounts of it?

At least, Keyes (R-nutjob-whose-never-won-an-election) has the decency to openly PAY himself a large salary as part of his campaign spending.

[blm]

26. I heard Kerry attach environment and alt-energy to national security at

least a hundred times during the campaign. His Apollo Project idea was a highpoint for me. I would say that the corporate MEDIA downplayed it more than the Dem party centrists did.

[bvar22]

29. NOT a "front burner issue" for the Dems in 2004....

...regardless of what you think you remember.

"The Environment" didn't appear until Page 35 of the 43 page Democratic Party Platform 2004 (the platform Kerry/Edwards ran on....the Platform handed to Kerry/Edwards by the Party Power Brokers)
http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v002/www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf

"The Environment" received about the same priority at the campaign events I attended, and even then the statements of "needing clean skies and water to turn over to our children" were empty platitudes without committment to a defined plan or proposed legislation.

I know. I was there.

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[blm]

31. He connected environment to national security at almost EVERY appearance

The whole idea of linking the urgency of fully funding alternative energy research to national security was started by Kerry and he highlighted it often.

I know. I watched it happen on Cspan and the rallies I attended.

The Dem party may have been off that page, but Kerry wasn't.

[bvar22]

32. Fully Funding Alternative Energy research....

...is a completely different issue (and MUCH safer) than actually confronting the current Corporate Polluters who are funding your campaign.
......think about it. :)

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[blm]

33. I don't HAVE to think about it - I have a near-perfect memory and know

that Kerry was proud of being an environmental candidate and had no problem saying so, despite what others in the Dem party were saying.

And linking the environment to national security was IMPORTANT for the American people in the election. Had it been covered with any fairness by the media, it wouldn't be taking the American people so long to awaken to the urgency.

[Mass]

11. If I was Hillary (or anybody running in 08) I would make this issue the

central point of my campaign.

This is the MAIN issue that will affect our planet for the XXI century. It will be the reason for wars of the future much more than terrorism is. It will affect economical conditions in our country and elsewhere. THIS HAS TO BE THE CENTER OF THE CAMPAIGN OF THE NEXT PRESIDENT or our world is doomed.

I want a president who does not think it is a side issue that you can address once in a while. I want a president who recognizes what major threat this is.

BTW, I recommend "The Weathermakers" by Flannery as an excellent book about global warming and the consequences it will have, if you are not convinced of how this important issue is .

[NYCGirl]

12. KICK.

[Kira]

14. Does anyone have a link

to his book tour schedule or a way to find out which theatres "An Inconvenient Truth" will be in. I am not having any luck finding any specifics.

Thanks

[NYCGirl]

15. This website has theater listings:

http://www.climatecrisis.net/

[Kira]

16. I found it

thank you so much.

[NYCGirl]

17. Click on "See the Truth" — then that'll bring up a "pledge form" —

and the link for theaters is at the bottom of the page.

Edited to add: You're welcome. I'm going to leave up these instructions for those who are still looking for it.

[Uncle Joe]

18. I am being sincere when I say,

I have never so eagerly awaited a new movie coming out. I expect to have feelings of elation and depression from this experience, however I believe it's imperative for as many people as possible to see "An Inconvenient Truth" if we as a species are to have a chance at saving our selves. You cannot correct a wrong if you don't know there is a wrong and we have kept our heads in the sand far too long.





:kick:

[bananas]

20. k&r nt

[Us vs Them]

25. I'd rather have them THINK Hillary is the frontrunner

so that Gore can jump in, unscathed, at the last minute.

I mean, the GOP goons already LOOOOOOVE to mock the shit out of Hil. Lets give them that for a while. Keep her up as a strawman, and then let Al Gore light her on fire and use her as torch to lead the way to the White House.

[Cha]

27. Green Al! Sure looks good

on the cover of Vanity Fair..