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Are you saying that Al Gore's above-average energy consumption (private jets, mansions, etc) invalidates his claims about climate change? Are we meant to infer
by jacobwilliamroy 8y ago
Are you saying that Al Gore's above-average energy consumption (private jets, mansions, etc) invalidates his claims about climate change? Are we meant to infer from his behavior that nobody needs to make any significant changes to their lifestyle?
- whatshisface 8y agoMost people have some faith in scientists and close to zero faith in public figures.
- mrexroad 8y agoDoes that still hold if you replace “public” with “religious?”
- throwawaymath 8y agoI think you should reevalute your confidence in this assessment, because in the United States alone there are demonstrably millions of people with non-negligible faith in public figures - of all kinds and political affiliation. It's also fairly straightforward to find people who don't exactly hold scientists in high regard.
- ams6110 8y agoYes. If you're unwilling to live by the charges you are demanding others make, your credibility is weakened. The jet travel may be justified, but if he believes what he is saying he should be flying commercial and the extravagance in the rest of his lifestyle looks really hypocritical.
- jacobwilliamroy 8y agoI would agree if Al Gore existed in a vacuum. There are other, less extravagant people who also claim that: >climate change is real >climate change is man made >climate hazards will impact people all over the world >climate change quickly creates additional hazards which need to be dealt with on top of whatever problems already affect us (erosion of infrastructure, salination of farmlands/aquifers due to flooding, traffic trapping people during a forest fire) Perhaps Al Gore believes that individual actions are completely insignificant compared to the acts of corporations and governments. Maybe he is a closet climate-denier. If either of those things are true, it is inconvenient that many see him as the face of climate activism. I think the case for climate mitigation should hinge upon scientific evidence, rather than the lifestyle and personal opinions of a single man.
- ramblerouser 8y agoAl Gore created the climate hysteria I was responding to and profited immensely from it. I have yet to see any compelling evidence for anthropogenic warming. People (even scientists i've seen talk about it) will invariably fall back to an appeal to authority and explain how the greenhouse effect works, which is not proof the sky will start falling.
- twblalock 8y agoIf something is true, it's true no matter who says it.
- anigbrowl 8y agoSince when does the whole thing hang on the reputation of Al Gore? What a ridiculous argument, unworthy of HN.
- ForHackernews 8y agoSeriously. Are we really at the point where "I don't like Al Gore, therefore climate change is a hoax" is something we're supposed to rebut?