Al Gore's opinion, available for $145K a pop – meanwhile Al says skeptics are the ones with money that needs investigating

Stange juxtaposition of Al Gore related stories today.

SU to vote on funding Gore, others to speak | Washington University, St Louis

The College Democrats will be appealing for almost $145,000 to pay Al Gore to speak on campus. That is equal to the amount used to fund the eight main speakers last year, including news anchor Soledad O’Brien, PostSecret founder Frank Warren, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and journalist Nicholas Kristof.

If passed, it would be SU Treasury’s first time allocating more than $100,000 toward one speaker. Last year, it rejected the College Democrats’ appeal for $127,000 to bring TV comedy personality Bill Maher to campus.

Al Gore in 24-hour broadcast to convert climate skeptics

(Reuters) – Former President Al Gore will renew his 30-year campaign to convince skeptics of the link between climate change and extreme weather events this week in a 24-hour global multi-media event.

“24 Hours of Reality” will broadcast a presentation by Al Gore every hour for 24 hours across 24 different time zones from Wednesday to Thursday, with the aim of convincing climate change deniers and driving action against global warming among households, schools and businesses.

“There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,” Trewin Restorick, chief executive of the event’s UK partner Global Action Plan, told Reuters on Monday.

“There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from.”

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I dunno, trying to convince people by attacking them while at the same time commanding exorbitant speaking fees for your opinion that most of the American public doesn’t see you as an expert in any more, according to this recent Rasmussen poll, doesn’t seem like a plan to “win the future”.  It seems more like a plan that will speak to the faithful, bolster Oreskes style stereotypes, and deepen division even more. If Al can’t argue the science anymore (not that he was very good at it in the first place) then I think that this attempt to smear will be seen as desperation.

One thing we probably won’t see from Mr. Gore will be comparative sums between his funding and that of skeptics.

Calling people deniers sure isn’t a good way to start converting them. Perhaps we’ll need to count how many times that offensive word is used in the Gore-a-thon.

h/t to Tom Nelson

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eyesonu
September 12, 2011 8:20 am

UnfrozenCavemanMD says:
September 12, 2011 at 7:15 am
If Al Gore doesn’t get $145,000, Gaia will call him home.
—————–
Humor and/or satire can be very sharp at times! 🙂

Climate Dissident
September 12, 2011 8:25 am

I think the folks here are reading this wrong.
When Al Gore says:
“There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from.”
He’ll point out that being a skeptic won’t pay the bills, but there is plenty of money on their side of the fence and he will offer bribes to (hopefully soon) ex-skeptics.

September 12, 2011 8:27 am

“There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,”
New Slides????…. AWESOME!!!!!!!! Consider me converted!!!!!!
/sarc

September 12, 2011 8:29 am

It would be better if they had 200 peer reviewed papers based on actual observation to present to bolster their case… But hey, I ask too much.

RockyRoad
September 12, 2011 8:34 am

Where do I submit copies of my tax returns as evidence? I’ll even let them audit me. Maybe when they see I get no funding at all from any climate skeptics slush fund, they’ll finally come to their senses. However, I seriously doubt they ever will.
The gall of these “holier-than-thou” Gaia/Carbon worshipers is beyond the pale.

JPeden
September 12, 2011 8:35 am

“There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from.”
No doubt the Chinese will be providing the bike pedalling throng of human dynamos needed to power the spread of the Prophet’s ‘given truth’? Oh-oh, Chico State and Jimmy Hoffa Jr., eat your hearts out, you’ve likely just been undone once again by those non-unionized Teaparty s.o.b.s and “Big Industry”! [Karl Marx]

TK
September 12, 2011 8:44 am

“Former President Al Gore”?
President of what? The Barbie Doll Club?

September 12, 2011 8:48 am

Oh dear. A bore-a-thon to miss, methinks.
As for the ‘funding of sceptics’ how many are still waiting for their cheques from ‘Big oil’ etc?

Bob Diaz
September 12, 2011 8:51 am

$145,000!!!
We have found the real motivation behind Mr Gore’s cause!!!

UK Sceptic
September 12, 2011 9:00 am

There’s been a major typo. Surely it should read 24 Hours of Surreality?

George
September 12, 2011 9:04 am

Where is the outrage from Wash U. Alums like there was for Bristol Palin? Our LinkedIn group (Wash U Alumni Association) went ballistic over Bristol Palin speaking. At least she was a real single mother as opposed to Al Gore’s creditials in climatology. And she was not asking $145k.
/WUinStL LA 83

Neil Jones
September 12, 2011 9:08 am

“There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,”
Is that more weather which is classed as extreme or more extreme classification of weather.

Nuke Nemesis
September 12, 2011 9:15 am

Obviously the funds will go to help get the word out.

Matt
September 12, 2011 9:16 am

Yep. That’s the problem with Climate Reality folks. They actually DO think they can prove their claims by “assaulting” those that disagree.
On the plus side, assault is preferable to the “Big Red Button”.

Eric Gisin
September 12, 2011 9:23 am

It would be great if Comedy Central played eps of South Park to counter “24H of Reality”.
5.05 – Terrance & Phillip – Behind the Blow (Earth Day)
9.08 – Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow
10.06 – Manbearpig (Al Gore)

Chris D.
September 12, 2011 9:26 am

Apparently Greenpeace has been keeping a funding database since at least 2004:
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/maps.php
I wonder how much they spent to create that.

Olen
September 12, 2011 9:29 am

There are those words again, extreme weather and climate change.
Gore is shoring up his falling base of believers and co conspirators realizing he can’t convert skeptics and non believers he chooses to denigrate them.
The Rebirth of Mothra is on satellite. By the way it also has a global warming or environmental message but at least they advertise the movie as science fiction.

September 12, 2011 9:30 am

Al Gore, I mocked you once as the re-incarnation of the Xhosa Prophetess Nongqawuse, but now you’re going to go on TV and convert people to your religion? Are you serial?
http://aconservativeteacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-al-gore-re-incarnation-of-xhosa.html

Leon Brozyna
September 12, 2011 9:35 am

Hmmmmmm … well, come January 2013, Joe Biden will be available … he can join Al’s traveling roadshow and together they can bore their audiences to tears.

September 12, 2011 9:42 am

Keeping track of his Denier Shtick would require watching it. No thanks.

tom T
September 12, 2011 9:44 am

“One thing we probably won’t see from Mr. Gore will be comparative sums between his funding and that of skeptics” Are you kidding we don’t even see from Gore an understanding that the temperature at the center of the earth isn’t millions of degrees.

September 12, 2011 9:46 am

Exxon associates gave Obama $42,100 during the 2008 campaign… Wonder if he’ll be on the list of bad people?

September 12, 2011 9:49 am

Politicians never want to convert the opposition. Al is simply lying about that (like everything else). Politicians want the opposition to continue talking so they can raise more funds. If the opposition disappears, the impetus to raise money disappears.
Always maintain the issue, never solve the problem.

henrythethird
September 12, 2011 9:54 am

142 thousand dollars to watch a presentation = ablity to watch it free sometime during that 24 hours.
How many here are willing to bet that your local school will schedule an assembly, gathering all their sheep together to see one of these “preentations”?
Maybe you would get credit for a “creative writing” course…

Neo
September 12, 2011 9:54 am

Re: Al Gore in 24-hour broadcast to convert climate skeptics
“There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from.”
I guess this means Al Gore will be examining the “science of the ad hominem” and the “science of fund raising,” two sub-fields of political science.