Al Gore // Current

Adoption of climate treaty by 2009 in doubt

All I can state in response to this is that if it does not happen we can kiss this planet s sustainability for humans and other... more

JanforGore
added this

Layoffs at Current TV : A “Bloodbath” | Media Industry Blog | BNET

As we reported here last night, exclusively, Al Gore’s Current TV is laying off staff today. [more at the website]

dankitti
added this

Il The Climate Project di Al Gore a Roma il 20 Novembre

Arriva a Roma il prossimo 20 novembre il THE CLIMATE PROJECT DI AL GORE, la seconda tappa del road show “Una mano al... more

Killy
added this

The Ten Best (And Ten Worst) US Secret Service Code Names

From the cool (Renegade, Rawhide), to the embarassing (Unicorn), to the downright random (Clam Chowder), a list of the top 10 best... more

captainjackie
added this

Cutbacks to hit Current, Trimming 30 positions

Been wondering why CURRENT has been acting funny lately. C'mon, hire those guys back! They're all makin this happen!... more

WorldPeaceTV
added this

Layoffs hit Al Gore's Current Media

From the article: "There have been layoffs at Current Media, the cable network co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al... more

necrotized
added this

TROLL VOTING ON CURRENT

It has come to my attention and the attention of others that an immediate 10% negative vote hits everything here at Current. I... more

Reverend_Papa_Bear
added this

Al Gore New York Times Op Ed Nov 9, 2008: "Here is the good news:"

November 9, 2008 Op-Ed Contributor The Climate for Change By AL GORE Excerpts: Here is the good news: the bold steps... more

CarolynGillis
added this

Internet Revolution That Elected Obama Could Save Earth: Gore

Former US vice president Al Gore said an Internet revolution carrying Barack Obama to the White House should now focus its power... more

dirtyemowords
added this

Former VP Al Gore's 5-Point Plan for America Rebuilding

Al Gore, the vice president from 1993 to 2001, was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He founded the Alliance for Climate Protection and, as a businessman, invests in alternative energy companies.
....
Here's what we can do - now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth.

What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis - and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with "smart" features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid - $400 billion over 10 years - pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America's automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid.

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings - and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world's efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation.

Of course, the best way - indeed the only way - to secure a global agreement to safeguard our future is by re-establishing the United States as the country with the moral and political authority to lead the world toward a solution.

Looking ahead, I have great hope that we will have the courage to embrace the changes necessary to save our economy, our planet and ultimately ourselves.

- Al Gore, the vice president from 1993 to 2001, was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He founded the Alliance... more

wlwatkins
added this

2 responses

9 days ago

Al Gore and the purpose driven web

Forget about swapping party pictures on Facebook and other 'gee-whiz stuff,' says former Vice President Al Gore. Web 2.0 has to have a purpose. And since it's Al Gore, you know that purpose has got to be green. The purpose, I would urge all of you as many of you as are willing to take it up is to bring about a higher level of consciousness about our planet and the imminent danger and opportunity we face because of the radical transformation in the relationship between human beings and the Earth, Mr. Gore said Friday evening at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. In other words, Web 2.0 should be used to fight global warming. He didn't say exactly how, but that didn't stop the audience from giving two standing ovations to the Oscar-winning movie director, venture capitalist, money manager, book author, cable television mogul and Nobel laureate.

Mr. Gore said that he feared that his advocacy work, spearheaded by his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has not done its job. I feel, in a sense, I've failed badly, he said. Because even though there's a greater sense of awareness, there is not anything anywhere close to an appropriate sense of urgency. This is an existential threat.

Mr. Gore called on President-elect Barack Obama to set a national goal of getting 100 percent of America's electricity from renewable and non-carbon sources within a decade.

John F. Kennedy's declaration that the nation would land a man on the moon in ten years was thought to be impossible, but was achieved eight years later. The engineers who made it possible were an average age of 18 when President Kennedy issued the challenge, Mr. Gore said. We need exactly that all over this country, dedicated to reversing climate change, he said.

Mr. Obama has pledged to spend $150 billion over the next ten years in clean energy. That is not enough, Mr. Gore said.

The nation needs to build an electronet, a unified national smart grid, with high-voltage, low-loss underground wires that deliver renewable energy from the places that produce it like the sunny Arizona deserts or the windy Dakota plains to the cities where the majority of it is used. Such a grid would require a $400 billion investment upfront, but would pay off in just over three years, he said, because the nation spends $120 billion annually on costs from power outages blamed on the existing grid.

more at the link

original link:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/the-web-according-to-gore/?apage=1
Forget about swapping party pictures on Facebook and other 'gee-whiz stuff,' says former Vice President Al Gore. Web 2.0... more

JanforGore
added this

22 responses

9 days ago

The Climate for Change

Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth.

What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis — and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with “smart” features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid — $400 billion over 10 years — pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America’s automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid.

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings — and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world’s efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation.Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing... more