Gore Deserves Nobel Prize For Propaganda

Now that Al Gore as won a Nobel Prize, what is next? What more can he do? Will he make another "documentary" film?
Peter

Gore Deserves Nobel Prize for Propaganda, Warming Skeptics Say
By Randy Hall CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor October 12, 2007(CNSNews.com) -

Critics of Al Gore believe that the former vice president should not receive a Nobel Prize for his efforts regarding global warming - including his film "An Inconvenient Truth" - but should perhaps get an award for his efforts as a climate change propagandist. "The real 'inconvenient truth' is that Gore seems to have intentionally omitted it from his movie," Steve Milloy, publisher of JunkScience.com, charged in a news release on Thursday. Instead, the film presented "false facts" and major inaccuracies that fit the Democrat's personal agenda, he said.

Milloy pointed to a ruling last week in a British court that "An Inconvenient Truth" contains at least nine material falsehoods and can be shown to students only if it is identified as containing "partisan political views" that promote only one side of the global warming argument. "It is plainly, as witnessed by the fact that it received an Oscar this year for best documentary film, a powerful, dramatically presented and highly professionally produced film," Judge Michael Burton said in his ruling.

However, "it is now common ground that it is not simply a science film - although it is clear that it is based substantially on scientific research and opinion - but that it is a political film," the judge added. Then on Thursday, the BBC aired a report claiming that Gore knew his "alarmist" movie presented "false facts," because he feared any uncertainty in his film would only fuel opponents of global warming regulation. "If this is true," said Milloy, "then Al Gore should win the Nobel prize for propaganda."

"The BBC report and the judge's ruling came as no surprise," he said. "Our YouTube video 'debate', entitled "Al Gore Debates Global Warming," between Gore and expert climatologists spotlights the false assertion by Gore that carbon dioxide drives global temperature. "Timothy Ball, a retired climatologist who leads the National Resources Stewardship Project, told Cybercast News Service he agrees that "An Inconvenient Truth" is a "wonderful piece of propaganda, but that's all it is. "Calling the film's scientific errors "huge," Ball said that the movie "would fail as a grade 10 science project," because it depends on "visual imagery and gimmickry" to make its point.

Ball also said it's a "travesty" that Gore is being considered for such a prize since "you can spin the lies but you can't spin the truth. I hope that one day soon, we'll be able to have a calm and rational debate about climate change. "The fact that the former vice president has refused to debate skeptics of manmade global warming was also on the mind of Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow with the libertarian Cato Institute, who issued a statement that called Gore's candidacy for the Nobel Peace Price "a tribute to persistence." "For 20 years, he has not changed his story: climate change is the most important issue confronting our planet, it should be the 'central organizing principle' for civilization, and it is caused by a conspiracy of a few greedy individuals," Michaels said. "He's like the proverbial nut that grew into a giant oak by standing his ground."

"We can only hope that he can parlay his prize into a run for the U.S. presidency, where he will be unable to hide from debate on his extreme and one-sided view of global warming," he added. Michaels wasn't the only person wondering if winning a Nobel Prize might cause Gore - who was vice president during Bill Clinton's two terms in the White House and who narrowly lost the 2000 presidential race to Republican George W. Bush - to jump into the field of Democratic candidates for 2008. A group called Draft Gore took out a full-page advertisement in Wednesday's New York Times calling on him to get into the race.

"You say you have fallen out of love with politics, and you have every reason to feel that way," the ad states. "But we know you have not fallen out of love with your country. And your country needs you now - as do your party and the planet you are fighting so hard to save." "You have done a superhuman job of bringing world attention" to the issue of global warming, but "this effort needs to be raised to a higher level," the group said. "Only from the Oval Office can you wield the kind of influence needed to move countries, policies, and corporations to bring about meaningful change. "Mr. Vice President, there are times for politicians and times for heroes," the ad continues. "America and the Earth need a hero right now - someone who will transcend politics as usual and bring real hope to our country and to the world. "Please rise to this challenge, or you and millions of us will live forever wondering what might have been," the group concludes.

Even though the ad states that 136,000 people have signed the petition at draftgore.com, Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said in a statement that the former vice president "truly appreciates the heartfelt sentiment behind the ad; however, he has no intention of running for president. "Milloy said he was focused on the claim that Gore knowingly included falsehoods in his film and was more interested in taking things off Gore's resume than adding to it. "We call on the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the prize to a deserving candidate, rather than someone who plays fast and loose with the facts to advance his personal agenda," he said. "Also, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should revoke the Oscar 'An Inconvenient Truth' won for best documentary. "Neither the Nobel committee nor the AMPAS should "risk their brands on Al Gore's chicanery," Milloy added.