Al Gore plans to launch grassroots carbon-freeze movement

The Incredible Bulk

When is a grassroots movement not a grassroots movement? When it's started by a kajillionaire movie-star politician, we'd say. But you can't blame Al Gore for trying. At a venture-capital conference last week, Gore returned to the "carbon freeze" idea he's been bandying about for a while, saying he would "launch an ongoing campaign of mass persuasion at the beginning of 2007" to cut greenhouse gases. The ex-veep envisions a popular groundswell similar to the nuclear-freeze movement of the '80s. Which he once deemed "naïve and simplistic," but hey, times change. Who, for instance, would ever have suspected that last week's conference pronouncement would follow on the heels of visits to Oprah and Jay Leno? Who would have guessed that "Al Bore" would be up for a possible Oscar nod for a climate-change documentary? And who'da thunk he'd be back to run for president in 2008? No, he hasn't committed, but "I haven't completely ruled it out," he said last week. We are but mice in your game, sir.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Eric Auchard, 11 Dec 2006

straight to the source: Forbes, Associated Press, Beth Fouhy, 12 Dec 2006

see also, in Grist: Gore calls for carbon freeze in major climate speech

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Mines fail to predict their own pollution

It may not be a surprise that mining company-hired consultants fail to accurately predict environmental contamination at their mines...

But this issue is becoming increasingly important. While environmentalists think a lot about the impacts of oil drilling, far more damaging mining operations are flying under the radar. (Mining is our most toxic industry - EPA data)

Metal prices have doubled or tripled in the past few years, and the US (along with the rest of the world), is in the middle of an enormous gold rush (mining claims on BLM land quadrupled since 2002).

Check out the Pebble Mine - this would build the largest open pit mine in North America at the headwaters of some of the worlds last healthy salmon rivers in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The BLM wants to open several million acres in the area to mining as well (comments due January 5).

And guess how the water quality predictions are being done for this mine? By mining-company paid consultants, of course. Not to mention that state regulators are on the mining company's payroll as well, ostensibly because the state can't afford to pay on its own to evaluate the mine plans.

-Erin McKittrick
Pebble Mine

by mckittre at 1:08 PM on 13 Dec 2006

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