Gore Goes After Obama on Climate Change

In a speech delivered in New York City on Thursday, former Vice President Al Gore criticized President Obama for his failure to push policies designed to address what Gore considers to be a man-made global warming crisis. “We cannot have four more years of mentioning this occasionally,” the failed 2000 Democratic Presidential nomineee turned global warming industry promoter told a conference assembled by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Gore was a surprise guest at the New York League of Conservation Voters and Regional Plan Association event, which had been billed as an opportunity for Mayor Bloomberg to discuss the status of the city’s response to Hurricane Sandy. The devastating storm hit the New York City area hard on October 29, and was blamed for the death of 43 people in New York City and a total of 131 along the entire Eastern seaboard.

Gore praised Bloomberg’s response to Hurricane Sandy as he introduced the mayor to the gathering, but also took a shot at the federal government in doing so, as the New York Daily News reported:

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many New York City residents criticized Bloomberg for his failure to route needed supplies to stricken areas of the city beyond Manhattan. It was only after a heavy onslaught of such criticism that Bloomberg finally cancelled the planned New York City Marathon, which had been scheduled for November 4, just six days after Hurricane Sandy hit on October 29.

Bloomberg has put forward an aggressive plan for New York City to address what he sees as the perils of “man-made” global warming. The plan looks far more like a national policy than a local one. As Reuters describes it: 

His blueprint for infrastructure needs, called PlaNYC, aims to cut the city’s carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2030 and he has pushed to limit dependence on coal, a leading source of carbon emissions.

Bloomberg tried to persuade global warming skeptics that his approach was correct. “You don’t have to be a believer in climate change to know the dangers of extreme weather are already here,” he told the crowd.

While many climate scientists are skeptical that the dangers of extreme weather are greater in 2012 than they were at any other time in history, Bloomberg and Gore remain true believers in what they see as the near term dangers posed by “man-made” global warming.