AL GORE CONTROVERSIES

'Al Gore', former Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001) and 2000 Democratic Party presidential nominee, has been the subject of some controversies.

Contents

Fund raising

Internet

Love Canal

Love Story

Use of energy in home

Response

Live Earth

References

External links

Fund raising

Main articles: 1996 United States campaign finance controversy

Gore was criticized for attending an event at the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California in 1996. He said he was unaware it was a fundrasing event, however in an interview in 1997 he said it was wrong for him to attend.
The temple was later implicated in a campaign donation laundering scheme. In that scheme, donations nominally from Buddhist nuns in lawful amounts had actually been donated by wealthy monastics and devotees.
Robert Conrad, Jr., then head of a Justice Department task force appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the fund-raising controversies, called on Reno in Spring 2000 to appoint an independent counsel to look into the fund-raising practices of Vice President Gore. Reno eventually rejected the request.Fund-raising Investigation Discussion, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, transcript, ''PBS'', June 23, 2000, Retrieved: April 14, 2006

Internet

Main articles: Al Gore contributions to the internet and technology#1999 CNN interview

Al Gore was involved in the development and mainstreaming of the Internet as both Senator and Vice-President. Campbell-Kelly and Aspray note in Chapter 12 of their 1996 text, '', that up until the early 1990s public usage of the Internet was limited. They continue to state that the "problem of giving ordinary Americans network access had exercised Senator Al Gore since the late 1970s" leading him to develop legislation which would alleviate this problem. ^[1] Gore thus began to craft the ''High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991'' (commonly referred to as "The Gore Bill" ^[2]) after hearing the 1988 report ''Toward a National Research Network''^[3] submitted to Congress by a group chaired by UCLA professor of computer science, Leonard Kleinrock, one of the central creators of the ARPANET (the ARPANET, first deployed by Kleinrock and others in 1969, is the predecessor of the Internet). ^[3]
In 1999, various media outlets suggested that Gore claimed that he "invented the internet" ^[5], ^[6]
in reference to a CNN interview in which he said, "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." ^[7]
In response to this controversy, Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn wrote a 2000-09-29 article (originally sent via email) which described Gore's contributions to the Internet since the 1970s, including his work on the Gore Bill:^[3]

Love Canal

On 30 November 1999, in response to a question about what students could do to involve themselves in the political process, Gore described to a New Hampshire high school his reaction in the late 1970s to a letter from a student in Toone, Tennessee, complaining about her family's poisoned well: "I called for a congressional investigation and a hearing. I looked around the country for other sites like that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. Had the first hearing on that issue, and Toone, Tennessee — that was the one that you didn't hear of. But that was the one that started it all."^[9] While the Associated Press story that covered the speech printed a different version of the quotation, both the ''Washington Post'' and ''The Washington Times'' claimed that Gore had actually said: "I was the one that started it all". ^[10]
The ''Post'' deferred to the AP version a few days later, but the ''Times'' never did, and continued to run editorials denouncing Gore's "boasting" of having been "the whistle blower for discovering Love Canal." http://www.bushwatch.com/goremarch.htm The Republican National Committee and several conservative commentators at the time furthered the claim that Gore was attempting to take credit for discovering the toxic waste problem at Love Canal. However, Gore's supporters have argued that the context of the speech should make it clear that what had initially sparked his interest in toxic waste issues was the Toone, Tennessee situation. ⁹ The quotation has been repeated with ", and Toone, Tennessee — that was the one that you didn't hear of. But " replaced by an ellipsis (…), which subtly alters its meaning. In October 1978, Gore did hold congressional hearings on Love Canal — however it was two months ''after'' President Jimmy Carter declared it a disaster area and the federal government offered to buy the homes. After the hearings, Gore said, "We passed a major national law to clean up hazardous dump sites. And we had new efforts to stop the practices that ended up poisoning water around the country. We've still got work to do. But we made a huge difference. And it all happened because one high school student got involved."

Gore giving his global warming talk on 7 April 2006

Love Story

Gore was quoted in the ''New York Times'' December 14 1997 edition as saying "[Erich] Segal had told some reporters in Tennessee that ''Love Story'' was based on him and Tipper." The ''Tennessean'' newspaper article indeed quoted Segal as saying that ''Love Story'' was based on both the Gores. Gore's quotation is therefore accurate since Gore was referring to what the ''Tennessean'' had reported. Although Segal said that the newspaper had misquoted him, and that his novel was not based on Gore's relationship with Tipper, Segal himself noted that the male lead in ''Love Story'', Oliver Barrett IV, ''was in fact'' based on Gore, as well as Gore's college roommate, actor Tommy Lee Jones. ^[11]

Use of energy in home

In 2007, Gore came under criticism from the conservative think tank ''Tennessee Center for Policy Research.''^[12] The organization issued a report which said that during August 2006 Gore's household consumed 22,619 kilowatt-hours — more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year.^[13] ''TIME'' stated that the ''Tennessee Center for Policy Research'' claimed to have gotten "its figures from Nashville Electric Service. But company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never gave it any information." ^[14]
Drew Johnson, the president of the ''Tennessee Center for Policy Research'', said in releasing the figures:
In an earlier article in ''USA Today'', Peter Schweizer argued that "according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. ^[15]

Response

''TIME'' quoted Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for Gore, saying that the Gore family tries to buy green energy to reduce their carbon footprint. She continued to say that since the controversy, the Gore family was "in the midst of installing solar panels on their home, which will enable them to use less power." She also added, "They also use compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy efficiency measures and then they purchase offsets for their carbon emissions to bring their carbon footprint down to zero." ^[14] WKRN-TV reported that the Gore family obtains their power from the Nashville Electric Service's "renewable energy initiative", ''The Green Power Switch program'' ^[17] which depends upon "wind, solar, and methane gas." ^[18] ''The Detroit Free Press'' further noted that "Gore purchased 108 blocks of 'green power' for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills. That’s a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources. The green power Gore purchased is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on NES’s Web site." ^[19] The figure of 108 blocks of green power per month corresponds^[17] to 16,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, Al Gore's average monthly use for 2005.
Keith Olbermann at ''MSNBC'' reported that the Gore home includes offices for both Gore and his wife and 'special security measures' making it unrepresentative of what the average US home consumes. Additionally, the green power purchased by the Gores increased the cost of their electricity by "$5,893, more than 50 percent, in order to minimize carbon pollution."^[21]
Kreider suggested in ''TIME'' that the attacks on Gore's energy use were political in nature and stated:
Chris Cillizza and Matthew Mosk in a ''Washington Post'' article quoted TCPR president Johnson as stating: "The energy he receives into his house is no different than what I receive into my house." They also noted that, "Kreider added that a renovation of the Gores' house is underway to make it more energy efficient, an update that will include the addition of solar panels." ^[22]
An article in ''USA Today'' stated, "Zoning rules in Al Gore's upscale neighborhood kept the former vice president and environmental activist from installing solar panels on his roof...New rules going into effect on April 1 will allow homeowners to install solar panels on their roofs. But there's a caveat: 'Solar panels may be installed upon the roof of a building so long as they are not visible from the street or from any adjoining property,' according to the ordinance. Gore's roof does have flat areas where the panels could be placed, Franklin said. The builders at Gore's home plan to make the application for solar panels once the new ordinance goes into effect." ^[23]

Live Earth

Live Earth was a series of concerts, which took place on 7 July 2007 to inspire global warming activism.^[24] The event was viewed by some conservatives as a possible way for Gore to promote himself for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.^[25] Al Gore has denied having presidential aspirations, and chose not to run in the 2004 Presidential Election. He currently denies any plans to run for the presidency, but does not rule it out. ^[26]

References

1. Campbell-Kelly and Aspray (1996).''. New York: BasicBooks, 298
2. Computher History Museum Exhibits:1991
3.
4.
5. Who Invented "Invented"?:Tracing the Real Story of the "Al Gore Invented the Internet" Hoax Phil Agree
6. Al Gore "invented the Internet" - resources Seth Finkelstein
7. Transcript: Vice President Gore on CNN's 'Late Edition'
8.
9.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5920188/the_press_vs_al_gore/
10. http://www.dailyhowler.com/h120899_2.shtml
11. http://www.dailyhowler.com/h052500_1.shtml
12. Tennessee Center for Policy Research
13. Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth"
14. Al Gore Draws Flak On Utility Bill
15. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-09-gore-green_x.htm
16. Al Gore Draws Flak On Utility Bill
17. Green Power Switch®
18. Controversy Surrounds Al Gore's Energy Use
19. Critics question how green Gore really is
20. Green Power Switch®
21. Media Matter Summary
22. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022801823.html
23. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2007-03-20-gore-solar_N.htm
24. Live Earth Aims to Cause Lasting Change
25. Gore campaigning for environment, not presidency
26. "Gore: 'I've fallen out of love with politics'", CNN, July 6,2007

External links

★ Gore chronology