This just came in via an e-mail alert:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Oregon prosecutor says Al Gore won’t be prosecuted over masseuse’s allegations.

Like this had any credibility whatsoever. Nice try, Family Values Hypocrites.

Back story here.

The other day I skeptically posted about a masseuse who accused Al Gore of all kinds of creepy, nefarious things. There wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against Gore. Surprise!

A transcript was released about two days ago, filled with sleazy details. That was then. This is now:

[Q]uestions are being raised about the accuser’s motives and why media outlets did not report the story sooner.

Mark Garber, the editor of the Portland Tribune, said his paper investigated the matter for months but ultimately concluded there was not enough evidence to run the story. [...]

Garber also said the paper was concerned with the fact that the woman “attempted to make her cooperation contingent upon her having a degree of editorial control that we couldn’t allow.”

Well, at least she didn’t demand money from anyone for her little tail, er, tale:

Barry Levine, the executive editor of the National Enquirer, told Washington Post media critic and CNN contributor Howard Kurtz that the still-unidentified woman demanded the tabloid pay her $1 million for the story.

Oh.

Okay then, at least she wasted no time getting her story right out there, because she was so, so upset and rattled and traumatized:

Levine also suggested the tabloid was troubled the woman did not make a statement to the police for more than two years after the alleged incident took place.

Oh.

Here’s how Howard Kurtz justified reporting such a dubious story:

“The reason this story was fit to print – even though we don’t know the woman’s claims are true – is that there are police records involved,” said Kurtz. “So there are plenty of reasons for mainstream journalists to be skeptical about a four year claim by a woman who declined to be interviewed by the police for at least two years. But once the Portland authorities looked into the matter and generated public records, it becomes hard to ignore such a story when a former vice president is involved.”

It also becomes hard to ignore their quest for ratings, stirring up a meme, accusing Al Gore, and ignoring real stories.

Get ready… Here comes an oy vey post.

First we hear that Al Gore and Laurie David were carrying on (denied), now this. What, is Al Gore making too much progress on his quest to rein in climate change? Who exactly is out to get him now, and why? And why now?

(This screen grab consists of portions of two pages edited together)

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office confirmed today that a woman who alleged unwanted sexual contact by Al Gore reported it to police in 2006, and the prosecutor’s office was briefed by the Portland Police Bureau in late 2006 and January 2007.

H/t: Greg Sargent

Via.

Holy crap. 40 years is a long time in a marriage.

Al and Tipper Gore, whose playful romance enlivened Washington and the campaign trail for a quarter century, have decided to separate after 40 years of marriage, the couple told friends Tuesday.

In an “Email from Al and Tipper Gore,” the couple said: “We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate.

“This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration. We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.”

The e-mail was obtained by POLITICO and confirmed by Kalee Kreider of the office of Al and Tipper Gore. Kreider said there would be no further comment.

Big Oil’s Katrina and the coal industry’s tragedies are eye-opening. However, there is a bigger problem.

Together, [coal and oil] account for the main reason the Earth’s climate is gradually changing.

The oil volcano’s devastating effect on fishing and tourism, and the workers’ deaths are horrific. However, compared to the deaths and financial catastrophe  that global warming will cause, what’s happening now is, well, less catastrophic.

You can read the rest in the L.A. Times editorial that includes this:

Climate change is a little like weight loss: When you’re on a diet, it’s hard to see the fat melting away day to day, but compare photos of yourself before and after losing 20 pounds and the difference is dramatic. Our political system functions well when it’s reacting to a discrete disaster such as a mine explosion, but a slow-motion catastrophe such as climate change doesn’t spur the same outrage because most people don’t see it happening until long after the damage is done. [...]

Lawmakers today aren’t seeing the forest for the trees; that will change when the forest has burned or been destroyed by bark beetles, but by then it will be too late.

Slo-mo simply won’t cut it. Too little too late won’t work. Meanwhile, a climate bill is stalled, because it’s an election year, lawmakers are “busy”, and then next year, there will be fewer Democrats in Congress.  While they’re dragging their feet, Mother Earth is getting sicker.

Of course, Al Gore is the go-to hero when it comes to the subject of  WMD otherwise known as pollution:

Just as the oil companies told us that deep-water drilling was safe, they tell us that it’s perfectly all right to dump 90 million tons of CO2 into the air of the world every 24 hours. Even as the oil spill continues to grow—even as BP warns that the flow could increase multi-fold, to 60,000 barrels per day, and that it may continue for months—the head of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack Gerard, says, “Nothing has changed. When we get back to the politics of energy, oil and natural gas are essential to the economy and our way of life.” His reaction reminds me of the day Elvis Presley died. Upon hearing the tragic news, Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, said, “This changes nothing.”

And that is one of the important points of this post. This changes nothing.

The article I just linked to is a must-read, and has too much information to post here. Please take a look, because it is detailed and jaw-dropping. Here is another excerpt:

Scientists are always careful in the way they describe the cause-and-effect relationship between global warming and such events: It is a mistake, they say, to attribute any single extreme weather event only to global warming, because there is large natural variability in weather—but the odds of extremely large downpours, scientists repeatedly insist, are steadily increasing with global warming, and such events are predicted to become far more common with each passing decade because when water evaporates from the warmer oceans, warmer air holds more of it. [...]

It is understandable that the administration will be focused on the immediate crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. But this is a consciousness-shifting event. [...]  Unless we change our present course soon, the future of human civilization will be in dire jeopardy. Just as we feel a sense of urgency in demanding that this ongoing oil spill be stopped, we should feel an even greater sense of urgency in demanding that the much larger and more dangerous ongoing emissions of global warming pollution must also be stopped to make the world safe from the climate crisis that is building all around us.

And finally, via L.A. Times letters to the editor:

Re “Oil drilling outpaces regulation,” May 9

The Times reports that over the last decade, “as [oil drilling] operations have expanded, federal watchdogs haven’t adjusted accordingly.”

Wasn’t that the whole point of the George W. Bush era? Decrease regulation to get government off the back of business and allow companies to regulate themselves?

Isn’t this the reason for the mining disaster in West Virginia? Isn’t this the same argument the big banks are making now in Congress in opposition to proposed safeguards?

The watchdogs couldn’t adjust because they work at the behest of big business.

::

Re “Spill could take crippling economic toll,” May 7

It’s not enough to raise the corporate economic liability limit from $75million to $10 billion, as Congress is proposing. BP would fork over the cash to pay for damages and then immediately go back to drilling.

After this incident, why should we let BP return to this risky business? If it proved to have been negligent, I say revoke its corporate charter and shut down BP for good.

Permanently neutralizing a corporation is not done often nowadays, but why not? We do it all the time with human criminals, by locking them away for life. And since corporations are people under the law, why not give BP the same treatment that would be given to me or you?

A lot of us are angry, but wheels are still spinning, and our planet is still sick. We can’t afford to wait to treat it any longer, and not just the symptoms. We must treat the cause.

By GottaLaff

I’m liveblogging a conference call with Al Gore. I came in 10 minutes late… they never called and I had to get a call-in number.

In progress:

Gore is talking:

The fundamental conclusions are UNchanged in any way. We have to act. The consensus has been attacked by skeptics, but no matter what they blow out of proportion does not change that EVERY academy of sciences in the world has been the same.

We’ve seen the changes, physically for ourselves.

The N.E. snowstorms: They’re evidence of winter! And evidence that the increasing temperatures accelerated evaporation of moisture from oceans, putting it into the atmosphere. Overall moisture worldwide has increased 4%.

The downpours, winds are consistent with warnings from scientists.

We must do something. Rather than spend billions on foreign oil, must invest in clean renewable energy at home.

Security threat must be addressed. Admirals, generals say fossil fuels pose security threats: “Our approach to energy and climate change impact on our national security.”

Our energy $ should go to American businesses. Reduce energy linked conflicts overseas.

Military leaders, including CIA, include climate change in longterm planning.

90 million tons of pollution are dumped into atmosphere daily.

Wind, solar, retrofitting buildings, fuel efficient cars, all can restore U.S. economy and manufacturing jobs (850,000 jobs in fact).

We’re not winning because we have pressure of TIME. Heat build up, etc. means that trapping of heat, we could cross a threshold that would be hard to come back from

We must lead clean energy economy. GM is going electric, but they already chose a Korean co. to supply battery cells for Volt. China is ahead of us. Germany has 5x solar panels than we do.

What to do? A clean energy revolution. Tell our elected officials that we want them to lead. Not bicker.

Sen’s. Kerry, Lieberman, L. Graham are leading, and Boxer playing role.

Reid insisted on passing a bill, isn’t wavering.

It may not have everything we want, but we should call on our leaders to make it as strong as possible. Time to act is NOW.

There is no longer any doubt that pollution affects climate.

Repower America needs your help. Be heard. Call your Senators, write letters, visit their offices.

Demand clean energy here at home. We have a moral responsibility to our kids. Call your Senator. Demand action on clean energy and climate change. Public officials must rise to the challenge, we must demand. We must not lose this fight.

Next few weeks are crucial.

Questions:

Q from Ohio, a steel worker: Urgent need for clean energy jobs. What can we do to keep jobs in Ohio, not outsourced?

Gore: Thank you! Unions have helped lead the way. Steel workers union, for example. Hiring for windmill parts to be installed in midwest. We need changes in U.S. law to counterbalance subsidies for carbon fuel. U.S. perfected technologies, but we go to other countries! We need to keep the jobs here, jobs that cannot be outsourced… like building technologies for what we’re betting on. Industrial Revolution provided jobs, so will Clean Energy Revolution.

Joe from New Hampshire: Small businesses here. Transition means what to them? Will bills go up?

Gore: They’ll go down over time if we do it right. Up? Do nothing, they’ll go up. We’ve had a roller coaster of oil prices over the decades. Production is cut, or embargoed, etc. Gas prices/heating oil prices shoot up. When they go back down, then the sense of urgency dissipates, policies lapse. Other countries don’t have the see saw pattern. Plus, in world energy marketplace, new discoveries for oil rates are down, production rate in middle east declining more rapidly than predicted, while demand goes up. Predictions: Roller coaster will crash, we’re in front car. SO, we need to accelerate shift to low carbon fuel… w/ super grid, wind/solar centers, retrofit homes/businesses… new technologies, we can reduce energy build and become efficient.

Mike in Montana, state rep. and chairman of Dem. caucus in Montana: Historical perspective on how you remain hopeful to get 60 votes for bill.

Gore: People on this call make me hopeful. Thousands! We got calls from Senators’ offices being deluged. You get busy on phones, writing to Senators… Even with all the attacks from deniers… there’s still an overwhelming majority of Americans who support this transition. When special interests create the IMPRESSION they’re the majority, they get their way. But when you do your thing, they get the real picture. The weather patterns/floods, etc. have made an impression on regular people, farmers, etc. Oil is running low, demand high, so they know it’s crazy to continue the way we are, sending troops to Gulf region partly because we need oil… esp. when we have renewable energy here. I’m optimistic because of YOU.

Thank you so much to everyone on this call. Your participation is so important. More depends on the outcome of this vote than on anything I can remember. Thanks for standing up and fighting for the future your children and grandchildren deserve.

Handwritten letters are most effective, asking to pass comprehensive legislation. Then hand deliver the letters during the recess to your senator’s local office.

www.repoweramerica.org/letters for suggestions on how to write them.

By GottaLaff

Al Gore finally does what we all need to do. He calls out the “market fundamentalists” and goes after the Senate:

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.

Wouldn’t it though?

We would no longer have to worry that our grandchildren would one day look back on us as a criminal generation that had selfishly and blithely ignored clear warnings that their fate was in our hands. We could instead celebrate the naysayers who had doggedly persisted in proving that every major National Academy of Sciences report on climate change had simply made a huge mistake.

Just like those old Three’s Company premises: One big, ongoing, silly misunderstanding.
What a laugh riot.

And just think of the spin-offs! Why, there’s no telling what Naysayers Inc. could come up with for, say, health care or the economy.

[T]he scientific enterprise will never be completely free of mistakes. What is important is that the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged.

And now, for those who still need a refresher course… Climate Change 101:

Here is what scientists have found is happening to our climate: man-made global-warming pollution traps heat from the sun and increases atmospheric temperatures. These pollutants — especially carbon dioxide — have been increasing rapidly with the growth in the burning of coal, oil, natural gas and forests, and temperatures have increased over the same period. Almost all of the ice-covered regions of the Earth are melting — and seas are rising. Hurricanes are predicted to grow stronger and more destructive, though their number is expected to decrease. Droughts are getting longer and deeper in many mid-continent regions, even as the severity of flooding increases. The seasonal predictability of rainfall and temperatures is being disrupted, posing serious threats to agriculture. The rate of species extinction is accelerating to dangerous levels.

That Al, he’s such an optimist. Seriously, I kid Mr. Gore, but he’s spot on.

As for a remedy:

The political paralysis that is now so painfully evident in Washington has thus far prevented action by the Senate — not only on climate and energy legislation, but also on health care reform, financial regulatory reform and a host of other pressing issues. [...]

It’s important to point out that the United States is not alone in its inaction. Global political paralysis has thus far stymied work not only on climate, but on trade and other pressing issues that require coordinated international action.

The reasons for this are primarily economic.

There is so much more in the editorial, but he ends this way:

We have overcome existential threats before. Winston Churchill is widely quoted as having said, “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes, you must do what is required.” Now is that time. Public officials must rise to this challenge by doing what is required; and the public must demand that they do so — or must replace them.

Please go read the whole thing.

By GottaLaff

I’m wondering who controls this ignoramus’s mouth, The Donald or his comb-over:

With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore. Gore wants us to clean up our factories and plants in order to protect us from global warming, when China and other countries couldn’t care less. It would make us totally noncompetitive in the manufacturing world, and China, Japan and India are laughing at America’s stupidity.

Wow! He’s right! Except for this:

In reality, China, Japan, and India have all submitted greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Copenhagen Accord, and are leading the United States in the race to build the clean-energy technologies of the future.

And this:

[T]he unprecedented weather patterns that have brought snowfall to every state in the continental United States are the product of a record-hot planet. Following the hottest decade on record, we are now in the hottest winter in the satellite record, and this past January was one of the hottest Januaries on record for the planet. (H/T EcoPolitology)

That “he’s right” thing? Pfft, that was just a writer’s device… Which, of course, means Trump is wrong.

Or his hair is. One never knows who’s doing the talking, because that thing on his head is clearly alive.

Actually, his hair is so very, very wrong:

By GottaLaff

Ew! Gore cooties! Somebody fumigate so Drilly McOilGlug doesn’t get a whiff of environmental friendliness… or an education:

The customary copy of “An Inconvenient Truth” was conveniently missing from Palin’s room at the eco-friendly Gaia Shasta Hotel & Spa, where she and her daughter freshened up before Palin’s sold-out appearances at the recent Sierra Cascade Logging Conference in Redding.

“We were under strict instructions” to make sure the Gore books were removed from rooms used by Palin and other conference VIPs, a hotel staffer told me last night.

No kidding. Seems, despite her protests to the contrary, she really does ban books after all.

So, yes, she’s that insulated, that closed-minded, and that disconnected from reality.

Well, at least the next time someone asks her what she reads, she can tell them, um, what she doesn’t read.

H/t: Markos

By GottaLaff

The Becks of the world have been asking, “Where’s Gore?” He’s been busy, that’s where. Busy at what, you ask?

Calling out Republicans. Oh yeah, and Democrats.

Oh no he didn’t! Ohhh yeah. He did. Al Gore’s group, the Alliance for Climate Protection, just put up not one, but two Tee Vee Machine ads in Indiana and Maine, with two more expected in Missouri and Arkansas.

You may be asking, as you’re wont to do, so what? Here’s what. The ads, featuring regular old Americans, call out Democrats for backing off of cap and trade climate legislation.

That’s right, not just Rushpublics, but Al Gore, the former Vice President, is mentioning Even Bayh, Claire McCaskill, Blanche Lincoln, and others by name via Repower America. And that’s the so what:

Repower America, a project of Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection is upping the pressure on swing-vote Democrats to support legislative action on climate change.

Let’s hope it works… because “so what?” won’t work when it comes to saving our planet.