Global Warming Burns Hole In Al Gore's Pockets!

Here's my Al Gore scenario, which more than one person has criticized as extremely cynical (my brief journo background coming back?):

Al invests in, obtains varying degrees of ownership in, and sits on boards of companies that will enjoy better profits if global warming awareness increases.

Al fans the fires of Warmie hysteria with well-produced and magnificently hyped overstatements on global warming's potential impact and our ability to do anything about it.

Al's companies' value increase.

Al gets richer.

You know it's true. Sure, he may have a wholy pure (if ridiculously simplistic) alternative motive of helping mankind and being an all-round worthy guy, but you can't deny this backstory is there as well.

And actually, it's even a bit worse. Blogger Bill Hobbs dug about and found this:

But how Gore buys his "carbon offsets," as revealed by The Tennessean raises serious questions. According to the newspaper's report, Gore buys his carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management:

Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe...

Gore is chairman of the firm and, presumably, draws an income or will make money as its investments prosper. In other words, he "buys" his "carbon offsets" from himself, through a transaction designed to boost his own investments and return a profit to himself. To be blunt, Gore doesn't buy "carbon offsets" through Generation Investment Management - he buys stocks.

In other words, Gore is acting very much like a Republican. Or a magician: "See the money in my right pocket? Shazzam! Now it's in my left pocket!"

But it's even worse. Generation Investment Management is supposed to be taking money from Al and others and investing it in ways that help reduce global warming or find solutions to it. Look at Generation Investment Management's portfolio and you find some stock holdings that raise an eyebrow or two:

• Aflac. What can a disability insurer do to offset global warming? Throw ducks at it?
• Autodesk, a computer automated design (CAD) equipment manufacturer. CAD is used to, you know, make industrial stuff that burns fuel and sucks up electricity
  
• General Electric, a noted manufacturer of diesel locomotives, incandescent lightbulbs ... and the owner of Al-friendly NBC.
• Labcorp, a medical testing lab company. It might come in handy if we have to test for saltwater poisoning from rising oceans that we're too dumb to get out of the way of.
  
• Staples, the office supply company that sells tons of non-renewable products shipped to stores via fleets of diesel trucks
• Sysco, the restaurant supply firm, that ships tons of restaurant products -- including such global warming no-no's as styrofoam to-go boxes -- via, you got it, fleets of diesel trucks
• VCA Antech, a veterinary medicine lab company. There appears to be a lot of rabies among the Warmie hysterics, so there may be a real link here.

Can you see any justification here for the claim that this firm "invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe?"

Look, if you are a crook, your best bet right now is carbon offsets.

Mark my words: Scandal will rock this industry as it's found again and again that the offsets promised are instead spent on frivolous, greenhouse gas-producing toys like mansions as big as Al's, high powered cars and boats, and a jet-setting lifestyle.

hat-tip: Best of the Web