Al Gore Not Looking to be ‘Climate Czar’ and Won’t Accept if Offered

I know he's still very bitter about the 2000 election, but Gore needs to get over it. With a strong position in government he'd be able to implement and drive change, rather than just encourage it through talks. It would be an opportunity for him to steer the path of American environmental awareness and policy, rather than just sit on the sidelines pointing out how bad things are and crying about his stolen election.

ofcourse not because then instead of just telling people "this is what you need to do" he'd be confronted with the difficulties of actually doing it and then he wouldn't be able to ride his high horse

Reality regarding both the global and domestic energy situation is starting to set in. A recently released national poll of U.S. opinion leaders by RT Strategies indicates very strong support for coal. The findings include:

· 72% support the use of coal to generate electricity while only 22% oppose
· 69% say coal is a fuel of the future
· 82% believe we need to rely more on American coal for our energy needs
· 80% say American coal can help lead us to energy independence
· By a three-to-one margin over the next priority, the number-one energy initiative for the next president is reducing dependence on foreign oil

Coal's favorability represents a significant increase over the past year and the highest level of support since polling began almost 10 years ago.

Coal is already America's greatest energy resource and supplies half of our electricity. But we need to do more to use clean coal to deliver energy security and environmental solutions. Coal can also be converted to liquid fuels and natural gas using established technologies.

Clean coal means new, efficient coal-fueled power plants with hundreds of millions of dollars of environmental technologies, like the Prairie State Energy Campus in Southern Illinois which has a 15% lower CO2 footprint than existing plants. And clean coal can also turn the vision of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) into reality as we solve the technology and regulatory hurdles to let America capture and store CO2.

President -elect Obama's “New Energy for America” plan explicitly states that his administration will “develop and deploy clean coal technology ... as we power our economy with domestically produced and secure energy”. That fits right in with the growing public recognition that clean coal can power our future.

@ Jude
Read this very carefully:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "CLEAN" COAL

Cleaner perhaps, through various "scrubbing" methods but certainly not "clean". That's like saying "Light" cigarettes are somehow better than regular coffin nails because they have a better filter.

I support the reforms Gore champions, but to me, it's clear there's profit to be made, and being on the government side he cannot cash in and cash out. It's what capitalism is all about, so I don't begrudge him, but that's likely the real reason why he won't join the government again. He may influence policy to help his idea, but he'll get paid all the way to the bank, that is, if his bank still exists.