Al Gore in the New York Times
I agree with almost everything Al Gore writes in his New York Times op-ed today, but we all know that people who despise Gore (and there are more than a few on the right) are going to reject it out of hand.
Gore is a very polarizing figure, partly because of his rather extreme attacks on George W. Bush during the Bush presidency (such as the red-faced yelling speech in which he accused Bush of betraying the country).
This animus from the right damages his ability to be a good spokesman for climate change, which is unfortunate because he has a pretty good grasp of the science, and a realistic assessment of the political issues, and can argue effectively on both fronts. But the populist hatred of Gore is fully exploited by Republican politicians, who relentlessly demonize him as a hypocrite, a liar, etc.
Even if you hate Gore, though, try to put it on hold long enough to give his article a chance. There are some thoughtful points in here that deserve to be discussed instead of dismissed, starting with the title: We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change.
(I checked the comments on Twitter’s conservative feed ‘#tcot’ just to see how bad the Gore Derangement Syndrome is, and it’s raging out of control. A typical tweet: “When do Congressional hearings start into Al Gore’s criminal fraud and the man-made #GlobalWarming lie?”)
Frank says: