The Mendacity of Al Gore’s Rolling Stone Article, Part 1: “Bribes” and Climate Policy

by William Yeatman on June 23, 2011

in Blog

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[N.B. Ex-Vice President and massive carbon “polluter” Al Gore took to the pages of this week’s Rolling Stone in order to critique President Barack Obama’s supposedly timid response to global warming. This is Part 1 of a multipart series on the policy distortions peddled by Mr. Gore in the piece.]

Regarding the influence of “bribes” on climate policy, Mr. Gore wrote in Rolling Stone,

“…Polluters and Ideologues are trampling all over the “rules” of democratic discourse…buying elected officials wholesale with bribes…”

Clearly, Mr. Gore hasn’t been following the Congressional politics of climate change policy. Because if he had been paying attention, he’d know that the only people “buying elected officials wholesale” are the very people who are trying to enact his preferred climate policy, a cap-and-trade energy rationing scheme.

In the Rolling Stone article, Mr. Gore praised the “skillful leadership” exhibited by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) in the course of pushing H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, through the House of Representatives during the 111th Congress. This legislation was the first ever cap-and-trade climate policy passed by a chamber of Congress. When a “discussion draft” of H.R. 2454 was first introduced in the Energy and Commerce Committee in the spring of 2009, it was 400 pages. At that time, Rep. Waxman faced a big problem: His Congressional colleagues were loath to enact an energy tax. In order to garner enough votes to win passage of the bill out of Committee, Rep. Waxman increased H.R. 2454’s page count to about 750—the 350 “extra” pages accommodated various parochial interests with sundry goodies and favors. In the two weeks after the legislation was voted out of Committee, the bill grew by another 450 pages. Again, these added pages were sweeteners and perks necessary to win votes for an otherwise unpopular energy rationing scheme. Finally, at 3 A.M. on June 26, only hours before debate on the legislation was to begin, Rep. Waxman added another 300 pages of “bribes.” The American Clean Energy and Security Act was passed by the House that evening, despite the fact that no Member of Congress had yet read it.

Quite contrary to what Al Gore would have you believe, only the proponents of energy rationing are “buying elected officials wholesale.”

Ken June 24, 2011 at 12:11 pm

It’s time for Al Gore and Micheal Mann to share a cell, seems all they can do is lie.

Human Person Junior, Jr. June 24, 2011 at 6:05 pm

Nicely done!

But we all know projection is a primary failing of the left-tards. They know what they would do, and have done, and simply ascribe their own underhanded techniques to their opponents.

In a better world, there’d be several climate criminals UNDER the jail. I think Mann and Gore, both behind bars, would be an excellent start. Neither of them are stupid. That only leaves one choice: knowingly corrupt as all Hell.

Michael Snow June 27, 2011 at 8:16 am

And still, with all the pork, a change of four votes would have defeated this nonsense.

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