NBC: On a Mission from Gore

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"We're on a mission from God." -- Dan Aykroyd as Elwood, "The Blues Brothers"

NBC is on a mission -- from Gore.

NBC announced its allegiance to Al Gore's stop-global-warming mission on this morning's "Today." With Tom Costello narrating, Today first ran a glowing piece on Timberland shoe company, famous for its boots, which has announced that, you guessed it, it's on a "mission" to become "carbon neutral." To achieve that, it will among other things be using wind farms and solar panels to power its factories. Costello emphasized an expert's opinion that "it's up to each one of us to cut our own carbon emissions."

Costello then stated as unquestioned fact that the carbon that each of us is responsible for by flying, driving or running our homes "adds to a layer of greenhouse gases that is warming the planet." No indication of how much current climate changes are caused by non-human factors, the kinds that caused the Ice Age and subsequent warmer period thousands of years ago.

Costello closed his segment by quipping "it's all about treading lightly." Boots. Treading lightly -- we get it.

Host Campbell Brown teased the next segment by saying "You've seen how several companies are going carbon-neutral to limit damage to the atmosphere. Up next on Today, you'll see how easy it is for all of us to help in that effort."

When Campbell returned, it was in the company of Laurie David, husband of Seinfeld creator Larry David of Control Your Enthusiasm fame, and more notably in this connection, good friend of Al Gore and producer of his global-warming movie "An Incovenient Truth."

Enthused David: the movie is "required viewing in Norway, Scotland, Sweden and now Britain." Campbell found that news "pretty exciting." Others might have another reaction.

View video here.

Schmoozing done, David declared "it's now the time where we have to put the debate clearly behind us and we have to have action." Got that, you global warming skeptics? Shut up.

That's when Campbell, on behalf of NBC, pledged allegiance to Al Gore's global warming flag:

"Our mission today is to say to people, everybody watching, there are little things you can do. We're not asking everybody to go out and buy a hybrid. If you can, great, do that! But these are little things that you may not even realize can make a huge difference."

David then ticked off a list of suggestions, from using fluorescent light bulbs, to buying recycled paper products, to unplugging electronic device chargers.

Al Gore was of course the 2000 Dem presidential candidate. He hasn't ruled himself out of the '08 race, and there is some speculation that he might use the hubbub surrounding the possible Academy Award for his movie to announce his candidacy. Is it appropriate for NBC to so closely align itself with a once-and-possibly-future presidential candidate's personal cause?

Pet Peeve Update: I mentioned yesterday that my pet global-warming peeve is the way the MSM uses footage of calving glaciers crashing into the sea to illustrate global warming. In fact calving has happened since time immemorial and actually results from glaciers that are growing, not shrinking. Sure enough, what did Today show this morning? You guessed it.

Finkelstein is freezing in Ithaca, NY. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net