Al Gore is planning to address Wal-Mart executives next week at the retailer’s quarterly conference on sustainability, part of the company’s recent efforts to become “an environmental leader”.
I hope they start a trend.
Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur
Al Gore is planning to address Wal-Mart executives next week at the retailer’s quarterly conference on sustainability, part of the company’s recent efforts to become “an environmental leader”.
I hope they start a trend.
Graham English is a musician, author, and entrepreneur.
Graham is a singer/songwriter and jazz-trained keyboard player, music producer and studio musician, best-selling author of Logic Pro X For Dummies, and serial entrepreneur.
Roy Brown says
As frequent Walmart customers my wife and I resent Al Gore being chosen to lecture Walmart executives, UNLESS they
listen to an expert offering the “other side” of the subject. Is such a “counter-ideas” talk planned?
We live very close to the Walmart store in Richmond, Indiana
and are watching this story carefully. We believe Al Gore is far removed from reality with many of his global warming theories. Scientists we have heard refute much of Gore’s claims.
We would loke to hear from you about this subject.
Roy Brown
310 Rose Hill Lane
Richmond, IN 47374
alan c says
They should not appease the people that want them taxed out of business
Oink says
What in the hell are the Wal-Mart Execs thinking? Why does anybody care what Al ‘the inventor of the internet’ Gore think about any issue. Wal-Mart Execs should be spending their time figuring out how to get the stock up after 6 years of dismal performance. Wal-Mart Execs need to figure out that tree hugging, dope smoking liberals are going to hate them no matter what.
mike dolan says
Al Gore, is back, the next lib. savior, the man who knows when the end of the world will come. Al has a death certificate on file, that says, death due to Global Warming.No matter what, did you know the reason Bill and Al refused to kill Bin laden before he killed 3,000 Americans, Al went to the Clinton oval office and massage parlor advised Clinton, risky to kill Bin laden might hurt poll numbers. Gore told Clinton not to worry, Bin laden will die any day now he is in the final stages of GLOBAL WARMING. Al missed the only warming in his White House, maybe a new strain, intern warming, Al, you seem to be sweating lately on tv even on cool days, are you concerned, could that be a syptom of the dreaded GLOBAL WARMING. Oh Al, by the way how could you allow a young girl to abuse tobacco in the oval office at your house.
mike dolan says
what is it you object to ,i have nothing good to say about Gore, and his idiotic theory of how he knows when and how the world will end. If this was BUSH going arouhd the country saying the same things as Gore, he would be labeled a nut case by the media. time to stand up to unstable people like GORE, who are so egostical fanatics , he thinks he is going to save the world. Al you need help, you wont find the help you need at Walmart.
Graham English says
@Roy: In peer reviewed scientific journals, you can’t find a dissenting opinion about global warming.
@alan: “they,” “the people,” and “them”? Are you forgetting something in your sentence?
@Oink: Hmmm. Stocks vs. Life on this planet. Which should I choose? Let me think about that one.
@mike: Way to change the subject. Great technique. Unstable people? I hear a sign of unstable people is poor spelling and sentence structure.
L. Shepherd says
While there hasn’t been a lot of dissent in “peer reviewed scientific journals” there are a number of meteorological heavy hitters that strongly and publicly disagree that the warming trend that we are experiencing (vs the global cooling that guys with the same credentials were having a fit about 30 years ago) has little or nothing to do with human behaviors. And further, these same experts have no hope that anything that any behaviors we might change would have any desirable long term benefit.
Mr. Gore’s theory that the sky is falling, or at least is warming due to activities of people and industries, strikes a familiar chord with a crowd of people who are looking for any environmental cause to join. Loved the Stocks vs. Life on this planet rhetoric, but as often as unfounded conclusions are repeated, truth doesn’t begin to grow from it. The major news networks have had great success with that tactic but it’s growing tepid.
Mr. English is quite adept at parroting the mantra of the Left but a little shallow in knowledge on the subject and hasn’t shown much research to include dissenting expert opinions, which there are many out there. Doesn’t mean the he can’t be an expert in things musical and things environmental–but his case is far from proved–certainly on the second.
One review that I recently read of “An Inconvenient Truth” put the number of misstatements of fact quite high, not nearly as high as Michael Moore’s disaster but enough to remove it from the category of scholarly work and put it in with any number of other political whines.
Graham English says
Never before has carbon gone above 300 parts per million, not in any of our last 7 ice ages. This is not a natural cycle.
You definitely should not be coming here for global warming research. But I’ll debate the issue with you vigorously.
Interesting how every opinion presented here has no scientific basis. It’s pure anti-left rhetoric. How many of you have read the book or seen the movie?
The truth is inconvenient, indeed.
L. Shepherd says
Mr. English,
With all respect to your passion on the subject, none of us really know what happened during these last millions of years, even the last 7? ice ages. You not only weren’t here but I doubt you would know a part per million if it dropped in your coffee. We have some indications from items from glaciers but they are indicators, not absolute or necessisarly the truth.
And I’m not coming here for global warming research but while I was here, I noted that all the research that was being bantered around was in lockstep support of Gore’s movie. There is a lot more out there that doesn’t–I have read both sides.
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie on that or Area 57 either but have better things to do with my time. I’ve spent hours online reading opinions, cloaked in scientific jargon, that take me around in circles.
The truth is neither convenient or inconvenient — just seems conspicuous by it’s absense in what you represent as scientific, irrefutable truth. The truth, whatever it is, will not be obvious in our lifetimes. Ask the experts now about the global cooling scare and the initiative to melt an iceburg in hopes of balancing it.
You are convinced of all this being an emergency and man made; if a bucket of bricks fell on your head you would be just as certain that it was a result of global warming caused by big business. I have no need to try to convince you but I do seem to be inspired to point and call something baloney when I see it sliced thin.
Good luck. Sometimes it is just comforting to be so convinced.
Graham English says
The thing is, if I’m wrong, oops. If you’re wrong, we’re dead. Meet you back here in 5 or 10 years for the answer.
tick tock tick tock…
Sean says
Great post, Graham.
So it is true. Conservatives have declared war on science in addition to the American worker they sold out long ago. How blind does a person have to believe that there “global warming isn’t real” and big business, including Wal*Mart, is some how an worth supporting as friends and family members loose jobs to outsourcing?
There is such a thing as objective fact, and conservatives who ignore the reality of these objective facts do themselves and their children a great dis-service. Why? All of us are going to suffer, but some will just keep their eyes closed a bit longer.
Mike Dolan: Wow. Six years of Bush failures and you’re going to bash the Clinton-Gore administration? In case you haven’t watched anything but Fox News, you may be interested to know that the Clinton administration stopped many attempted terrorist plots. He was actually confronting the problem. When Bush came to office he ignored the advice of Clinton officials and then read a children’s book as planes smashed into the World Trade Center. Crawl out of your Fox hole pay attention to what’s really been happening.
L. Shepard: Try paying attention to actual scientists. By that I mean, check to see if their work is funded by a conservative (or liberal) think-tank or organization. If you use a truly objective yardstick, trust real scientists, you too will be alarmed. If you’re not willing to do that, please stop spreading your ignorance.
John says
The facts of the situation are not in dispute – there is no “both sides” in terms of human effect on global warming. All scientists agree. There are no “expert” dissenting opinions.
Before passing judgement without the facts, I would recommend seeing the movie, and reading up on the science.
All of the objections raised in comments here, have no facts to ground them.
L. Shepherd says
Actually, I’ve attached a site of links, see below, about 40 of them of dissenting scientific opinions.
http://personals.galaxyinternet.net/tunga/OSGWD.htm
Cut and paste it in your address block at your peril. You will certainly find scientific dissent. You may even find out that many heads nodding doesn’t make a thing so. And I’ll continue to spread my ignorance, thanks, and hope that those who have not already made up their minds will consider that just because research is funded or news is reported by Liberal sources, that it isn’t necessisarily true. Perhaps a few will consider to be comfortable in ignorance until they do more research on both sides of the issue. And I really hope that we don’t leap off in major projects to correct a problem that will self correct if left alone–or made worse for the changes.
I have seen what happens when people decide to take a hand in cleaning up a problem in nature by introducing some plant or animal into the wild or even stop the use of DDT–all of which have been disasters of Draconian proportions.
I’m not a scientist. Make no claims that I am. But I have been a professional seeker of facts and haven’t seen many here. I’ll list the website again for those of you who may have missed it.
http://personals.galaxyinternet.net/tunga/OSGWD.htm
My work here is done. Those who haven’t had an original thought for awhile won’t be changed by what either of us say. The few that actually think will not believe that meaningful debate can only exist between Liberals and Ultra Liberals.
Sean says
L. Shepard –
I took a serious look at that list of conservative links and right off the bat they fail the test I suggested you apply to your sources of information. Namely check their sources- if they are funded by people paid directly or indirectly by oil companies, they’re probably full of crap.
The Kyoto petition, which starts out putting Global Warming in “quotes” and continues with outdated pseudo-science like, “…To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful.” While real scientists may have once entertained such ideas, this is categorically false.
The next two links are directly to the Cato Institute, a conservative think-tank dedicated to spreading lies that support their far right funders. The third link is a Republican congressman’s comments. The fourth is another conservative “think-tank,” the American Enterprise Institute, which has aims similar to the Cato institute. The fifth link is an opinion piece with now real scientific merit. The sixth is yet another Republican congressman.
At that point, it was clear that this page of links is part of the right wing propaganda machine dedicated to casting doubt about human impact on global warming when there is no longer any doubt among real scientists who’s paycheck isn’t coming from an oil company or a conservative Political group.
Mr. Shepard, and all of the other folks who think there’s any doubt about human effects on climate change, please check your sources. Once the Politically motivated folks are weeded out, you’ll find that there is a clear consensus on climate change – humans are causing it.
If you think your favorite large corporation is going to be less profitable because of this fact, tough. Try using innovation to deal with the problem rather than lies.
Graham English says
Well said!
Sean says
For proof of the consesus, here’s a link to an unbiased article from the AP:
Scientists Give Gore Movie Five Stars for Accuracy
~C4Chaos says
wow Sean, you’re really impassioned about this. i like it. btw, also posted a response on ZPod:CLIMATE CHANGE. check it out y’all!
indeed, a lot of the CON against Climate Change issue are funded by corporations that will be greatly impacted by the Climate Change resolutions. i say screw them for murking the debate even more.
but just to play Devil’s advocate, what do you think is Michael Crichton’s agenda for taking Climate Change / Global Warming issue head on? since the publication of State of Fear, he had become a notorious and unpopular Climate Change skeptic. i’m not sure if even Hollywood would make his State of Fear into a movie (note: most, if not all, Michael Crichton novels have been turned into movies). does MC have stocks or have something to gain from corporations who continue to thrash the planet? i don’t know. maybe. maybe not. or maybe MC is just unconvinced by the whole politicization of the Climate Change issue? i tend to side on the latter.
~C (for Climate Change is real but is it a big deal?)
E. Daniel Ayres says
There was only one obviously not very well thought out chart in Al Gore’s book. Unfortunately, it was the assumptions which didn’t make sense. Given everything recommended, and all the efforts he assumes could be made, we have one chart showing four equal contributions to that effort leading to CO2 emission levels of the 1970’s by 2050.
He obviously has not done much work on the relative impact of various actions and policies. Who has?
By 1970, the “early warning science” had already noticed global warming was on the rise. We obviously have to do more than reduce C02 emissions, it seems to me we need to make a monumental effort, kind of like “Jurassic Park” only to bring back the “dinosaur” plants, the ones that helped oxygenate the air and laid down so much of the carbon we are now so rapidly burning.