Andrew Reeves ([info]schizmatic) wrote,
@ 2008-07-17 13:36:00
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And I Would Like to Have the Power of Telekinesis by 2018
You know, I wish that when politicians had an overall decent point, they wouldn't ruin it by saying stuff that's patent nonsense.

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[info]arcana_mundi
2008-07-17 05:52 pm UTC (link)
"A shift away from fossil fuels would make the United States a leader instead of a sometime rebel on energy and conservation issues worldwide, Mr. Gore said. Nor, he said, would the hard work of people who toil on oil rigs and deep in the earth be for naught. “We should guarantee good jobs in the fresh air and sunshine for any coal miner displaced by impacts on the coal industry,” he said by way of example. “Every single one of them.”

So much for providing former hard laborers with training and access to skilled labor - the supposed benefit of making it to late-stage, post-industrial capitalism. Evidently we're going to just put them to work in the great freaking outdoors. I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

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[info]schizmatic
2008-07-17 07:07 pm UTC (link)
There is just so much collective stupid in Gore's latest pronouncement that words pretty much fail me. I am consistently annoyed that he decided to make the shift from "competent technocrat" to "martyr of the left" sometime circa 2003/4. The latter role has, to be sure, granted him lauds and accolades, but it's done precious little in terms of tangible benefits.

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[info]arcana_mundi
2008-07-17 07:27 pm UTC (link)
Ja, but... Nobel, and Hollywood. He likes it.

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[info]schizmatic
2008-07-17 07:49 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I know he gets a lot more media fellatio now than when he was the plodding, boring, presiding-over-peace-and-prosperity Vice President.

It's just immensely frustrating, because Gore is not stupid, and he knows that the Government can't simply wave it's magic Government want and Government an end of fossil fuels into place. I detest "lying for a good cause."

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[info]arcana_mundi
2008-07-17 08:24 pm UTC (link)
I think that Gore would argue that there is a legitimate role in society for visionaries (and that it's a hell of a lot more fun than the role for policymakers).

He's banging the gong. And of course plenty of people agree with him - but when you ask them how to make it happen, they get confused and angry.

I'm pretty sure that the only thing that will give us a quick fix for our dependence on fossil fuel is radically reducing our need-based demand for personal transportation fuel, not changing the source of our supply. But our whole culture - the shape of most of our towns and cities - is based on our ability to drive to shops and so on. For the most part, mass transpo in most of America is unreliable, icky, slow, undesirable, and a pain in the ass.

However, if Gore told everyone it was time to mothball their personal vehicles for most of the year and start taking the bus, walking, or biking everywhere his popularity would go WAY down.

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[info]rfmcdpei
2008-07-17 08:43 pm UTC (link)
Canada, too. Downtown Toronto's OK, but even suburban Toronto's in poor shape.

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[info]rfmcdpei
2008-07-17 08:43 pm UTC (link)
We need to launch the solar power satellites into orbit! And we need light rail in Phoenix!

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