This week Al Gore, Barack Obama and Joe Biden met privately to discuss “energy and climate change and how policies in this area can stimulate the economy and create jobs”.

Although it seems Obama did not offer Gore to be his “energy czar” he did say that “the time for delay and denial is over”. And that “we all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now”.

Watch the video on YouTube.

Photo credit: World Economic Forum

Today Al Gore, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will meet privately to discuss “energy and climate change and how policies in this area can stimulate the economy and create jobs”.

Obama has earlier said that Gore is one of his advisors on climate change and there are rumours floating around that Obama want Gore to be his “energy czar”.

“Obama is reportedly considering creating an energy czar. Gore would be the logical pick. As czar he would be able to help oversee the Transportation department, the Interior department, and the Environmental Protection Agency. He would have a powerful voice over everything from mileage standards to conservation requirements. Even as the Bush administration continues to try to gut regulations such as restrictions on mining and drilling in Utah’s most pristine national parks, it must be awfully tempting for Gore to have the chance to put rhetoric into action.”

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Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters have launched a “Reality Coalition” to tell the American public that there is no “clean coal”.

“The reality is that there’s not a single home or business in America today powered by clean coal,” said Brian Hardwick of the Alliance for Climate Protection. “If coal really wants to be part of America’s energy future, the industry can start by making a real commitment to eliminating their pollution that is a leading cause of global warming.”

Hardwick continued: “It is high time for the coal industry to come clean and admit to the American people that today clean coal is not a reality. No matter how much they say it in their advertising, coal can’t truly be clean until the plants can capture global warming pollution. With so much at stake, we can’t afford to hang our hats on an illusion.”

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Photo credit: World Resources Institute Staff

Al Gore talked about the failing auto industry in USA, “clean coal” and the environmental work being done in China in a recent interview with Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria.

In the interview Gore said that he thinks that the whole auto industry needs to be “transformed”, and that the auto makers in USA “should make a transition as quickly as possible toward plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.”

ZAKARIA: Would you bail out the carmakers?
GORE: Whatever assistance might be forthcoming should be focused on speeding the changes that are absolutely essential to ensure that our companies are competitive in the global marketplace. When I was vice president, I initiated a program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The federal government invested over a billion dollars in partnership with the Big Three to focus on the accelerated development of advanced high-efficiency vehicles. But as soon as they felt they were off the hook at the end of 2000, they pulled the plug and walked away.

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In his first interview since the election Barack Obama talked with 60 Minutes about the economy, energy and about the failing auto industry in USA.

In the interview Obama said that “the challenges that we’re confronting are enormous” and many, and that he sometimes asks himself “where do I start?” Obama also said that the American people are looking for “action” instead of “a lot of speeches”.

I would just like to add that the whole world is looking for action, not just the American people. Watch the interview below:

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Photo credit: World Economic Forum

In an article in the New York Times, titled “The Climate for Change,” Al Gore lays out his climate and energy plan, which he says is needed “to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis.”

In the article Gore points out that IPCC has after years of detailed study and four unanimous reports now said that the evidence for man-made climate change is “unequivocal.” Climate change deniers need to “wake up” and that “our children and grandchildren need you to hear and recognize the truth of our situation, before it is too late.”

Gore says his five-part energy and climate plan, where USA commits to produce 100% of the electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years, will help solve the climate and the economic crisis while creating “millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced”.

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The time has come to decide who you will vote for in the 2008 U.S. election. Before I start it should be perfectly clear for everyone that reads this that I am not an American citizen and thus have no right to vote in the election. But, I do have the right to voice my opinion about the candidates and their political stances.

So, who should you vote for? Which one of the candidates is best fit to lead, Barack Obama or John McCain? For me, and the rest of the world, the choice is pretty obvious. Barack Obama should, and needs to be the next President of the United States of America.

When it comes to environmental, energy and climate issues, only Obama stands out as the strong and aggressive candidate with a detailed and comprehensive plan to tackle these problems.

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The image below shows why offshore drilling won’t help to lower energy or gas prices in USA. The data comes from the US Energy Information Administration.

The EIA doesn’t expect any oil production from offshore drilling until around the year 2017. And that it won’t reach peak production until around 2030, and then it would only produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day (marked in yellow below). “This would supply a meager 1.2% of total US annual oil consumption (just 0.6% of total US energy consumption)”.

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Al Gore and the We Campaign is fighting big oil and their “drill, drill” message with a new TV ad. The new TV ad will be aired on national cable TV, and if they raise enough money they will also air it on 60 Minutes and 20/20 this coming week.

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According to a new report released by Amory Lovins and Imran Sheikh nuclear energy is still dangerous, not cost-effective, and too expensive and will even worsen climate change.

“A widely heralded view holds that nuclear power is experiencing a dramatic worldwide revival and vibrant growth, because it’s competitive, necessary, reliable, secure, and vital for fuel security and climate protection.

That’s all false. In fact, nuclear power is continuing its decades-long collapse in the global marketplace because it’s grossly uncompetitive, unneeded, and obsolete—so hopelessly uneconomic that one needn’t debate whether it’s clean and safe; it weakens electric reliability and national security; and it worsens climate change compared with devoting the same money and time to more effective options.”

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