NBC: On a Mission from Gore

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.

"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."

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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

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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If the planet is warming it's

If the planet is warming it's because we orbit the sun. I will continue to use incandescent bulbs ,because they are controlled by dimmer switches.

A President algore will  embolden Evil humans to destory our oil refineries, there by saving energy.

I will continue to use inca

I will continue to use incandescent bulbs ,because they are controlled by dimmer switches.

As are liberals.


A "progressive" = a liberal = a socialist = a commie in drag =
laughably wrong about life, the universe and everything.

What is that saying about bre

What is that saying about brevity and wit? By jove I think you've got it! 

Thank you sir! A "p

Thank you sir!


A "progressive" = a liberal = a socialist = a commie in drag =
laughably wrong about life, the universe and everything.

Our Mission today.

"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."

Our mission: to turn off NBC and MSNBC so that all the idiotic gasbags on the networks cease expelling their dangerous CO2 into the air.

Our Mission today.

"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."

Our mission: to turn off NBC and MSNBC so that all the idiotic gasbags on the networks cease expelling their dangerous CO2 into the air.

Carbon footprint...Is that wh

Carbon footprint...Is that when a coal miner kicks Al Gore's a$$?

Human beings are without do

Human beings are without doubt a terrestial viral infection and must be quarantined, reduced in numbers and influence, and eventually eradicated. No footprint at all is better than a light tread, natch? That is the environmental ethos endgame. To leave the stage as bare as a Beckett play.

I guess you can't blame Timbe

I guess you can't blame Timberland for doing this.. it's probably going to garner more biz than any conventional advertising. But I still think it's pretty irresponsible of TL to jump on this snake oil bandwagon. I say BOYCOTT TIMBERLAND!

Timberland

I don't blame Timberland either.  They'll either do it voluntarily and with probably less expense than to wait for the govt to mandate green compliance.  And you know that's going to happen.

If Al Gore would just shut up he'd be carbon neutral.

Did they happen to mention

Did they happen to mention how much land Timberland is going to cover in solar panels? Because I doubt a couple of roof panels are going to do it. Also, they are lucky they're not located in Ted Kennedy's state, or their wind farms would never see the light of day.

Hi dee Hi dee Hi dee Hi! I

Hi dee Hi dee Hi dee Hi! I don't take advice from Mini the Moochers with their Homes built of Steel and Gold, diamond cars and platinum wheels.

My carbon is better than their carbon without their lecturing.

Hi dee Hi dee Hi dee Ho!

Unplugging device chargers? L

Unplugging device chargers? Laurie David said that last year and I nearly wet my pants laughing so hard that she actually thought unplugging our cell phone chargers was going to stop "global warming" or whatever world-ending disaster they think is happening. "The world is ending! The ice caps are melting! The cities will drown! We're all gonna die!!! UNPLUG YOUR CELL PHONE CHARGERS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!"

 I can't believe this nonsense is catching on. How about NBC shuts down all its stations? That would help a whole lot more than all of us unplugging our chargers when we're not using them (in more ways than one).

Seriously, even if I believed that humans are causing the world to heat up, I'd have to give up and decide we're all doomed if the solution depends on Americans changing their behavior. We just don't do it, not even the "environmentally sensitive" ones among us. They make themselves feel better by doing useless little things, but the vast majority don't really make any genuine sacrifices. Good thing they don't really have to, huh? ;-)

She claimed unplugging char

She claimed unplugging chargers would save $250/yr in electricity charges per household. Can that be?

chargers

I can't imagine that they pull any current at all if the phone is not plugged in and charging, however, if they do - then possibly if one lives like David and Gore does and they have 3 or 4,000 chargers plugged in (their fleet of cars, private jets, massive homes, vacation homes, etc.) well, who knows? If we all unplug them, just possibly, the sea instead of rising 23 feet will more likely than not rise by only 22.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 feet.

Wow! That seems far-fetched t

Wow! That seems far-fetched to me. My A/C is by far the biggest electricity-sucker in my house, and I'd have to make a change of several degrees to save $250 over the course of a few months at the height of summer. I think electricity in my area costs about 14 cents per kwh. That means she's saying that chargers are using almost 1800 kwh per year? I don't know--like I said, that doesn't quite seem right, even if electrity costs a lot more where she lives. On my last electric bill, we used 1658 kwh for a 2500 sf house. We leave three computers on almost non-stop, two refrigerators, lots of chargers, 3-4 televisions, TiVos, washer/dryer several times per week, lights in every room, etc., etc. Is she claiming that, by unplugging our chargers, we could save over a month's worth of electricity in a year?! I've just talked myself out of it. No way.

"likely"

A little off topic of the post here - solly bout that. But, was just reading the IPCC report. Interesting indeed - for a 21 page report, which they are promoting as 90% "for sure," the word "likely" appears 58 times. For sure, man. Carry on. I'm likely to have a good day - well, unless I get stuck in a GW caused cyclone.

I've been keeping my thermo

I've been keeping my thermostat at 62. think I'll bump it up to 64.

D

Want your elected reps to know what you think? Go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/, it's real easy.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to address

Oh, yeah, I forgot to address your main point in this piece--YES, I think it's highly inappropriate for NBC to endorse Al Gore this way, politician or not. Their job is to report the arguments of both sides and let the public decide. Instead, in their vast scientific wisdom, the powers-that-be at NBC have simply decreed that the argument is over, and Al Gore is the Prophet. What hubris!

Calfing Glaciers

Speaking of Calfing Glaciers, where do these morons think the iceberg came from that sank the Titanic, in 1912? Oh, that was an iceberg not a calfing glacier....

What's that old saying about those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. In this case, if you don't know and understand history, you're bound to come to illogical conclusions.

 from the NY Times (scroll d

 from the NY Times (scroll down to the bottom for the date)

NEXT GREAT DELUGE FORECAST BY SCIENCE

WE still speak of "the Ice Age" as if it belonged to the remote geological past. Geologists have reached the conclusion that there were several ice ages. What is more, the last Ice Age, known as the Quaternary, is only about half over, despite our blistering Summers.

Very slowly, the great ice sheets in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions are melting and pouring their torrents into the ocean.

The earth must inevitably change its aspect and its climate.

How the change is slowly taking place and what the result will be has been considered by geologists, physicists, and meteorologists.

In the course of about 700,000 years, the glacial sheets that now cover the North and South poles have melted down to their present area of 6,000,000 square miles from 12,000,000 square miles in extent.

The earth is steadily getting warmer. As all the ice at the two poles melts, a stupendous volume of water will be released. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney conservatively estimates that the sea level will rise fifty feet.

Such floods are nothing new, as we see from the marine fossils found on the tops of the Rockies, Andes and other mountain ranges.

So within 30,000 to 40,000 years, there will be another deluge. Salt water will sweep over the continents, leaving only the higher lands dry. Holland will be inundated. Fish will swim in the Buckingham Palace. The desert of Sahara will be a great inland sea. Palms and alligators will flourish at the poles, as they did millions of years ago.

No one can tell what would happen if a new carboniferous era should follow the warming of the earth. Man is about as old as the present Ice Age. It is a question if he will survive it.

The New York Times Archives | May 15, 1932 | SPECIAL SECTION SUPPLEMENT

Costello emphasized an expert

Costello emphasized an expert's opinion that "it's up to each one of us to cut our own carbon emissions."

Whoa!!! Wait a second!!! Does this mean I have to stop farting??? Cuz I'll explode if I don't. Curse you gobal warming....<shakes fist>

If these rich Hollywood types

If these rich Hollywood types wanna reduce carbon emissions, they should sell their expansive Beverly Hills estates with 25 rooms. How much energy does it take to heat and cool a house like that??? But how likely is that to happen???

Mr Kafir,Albore's house has

Mr Kafir,

Albore's house has probably the same footprint as any hollywood star's. Hypocrisy galore.

It's like total abbandoment o

It's like total abbandoment of journalistic principles in favor of unfettered propaganda for the hip new version of doomsaying. Personally I prefer hearing demons will rise from hell and do battle with god then the icecaps are melting, much more interesting, and doesn't stifle freedom as much.

Getting off subject,  for people who care so much about nature they sure don't seem to care much about its natural course, mankind is just another part of nature if you accept evolution as the creator of man, therefore all its products are natural and all changes from its existence natural. Of course these are the same people who try to preserve endangered species for reasons beyond putting them in zoos, which really is hard to justify if you believe in evolution by the way, so I don't expect much better from them.

Ok back on subject seriously though, I think while it may be foolish, the Today show is more of a talk show then a newsreport right? I don't watch it so I don't know for sure, but if so its not neccesarily journalistically irresponsible for them to choose a side. Sure it would be better if they were neutral but whatever, I don't think Campbell was neccessarily speaking for NBC as whole, not that I don't think NBC has chosen his side, I just don't think its fair to say he was speaking on the behalf of NBC, unless I missed something...

Today is a part of NBC News

Today is a part of NBC News. Although there are some fluffy features, the show purports to report seriously on the news. GW is a highly-contentious, political issue. I find it highly inappropriate for Today to so closely identify with Gore's cause in this way.

What are they announcing? I t

What are they announcing? I thought they were already on board.

I hereby declare:

I will drive my 6.0 liter Denali always, continue to have outdoor fires, and everything else that promotes Global warming.

I will try to grab the aerosol hairspray from the wife, but that would cause too much carbon emissions.

Lackofinfo

I know several people that watch shows like this on a daily bases. They consider it to be a prime news source! They do not read a newspaper, watch cable news or any news shows. Around Thanksgiving or there about one of them tried to convince me that her son could not get a job because the economy was so bad. There are millions of voters like this.

Which will be HilLIARy's slog

Which will be HilLIARy's slogan in '08?

It's global warming stupid!

              or

It's the Iraq war stupid!

BRRR

Predicted low tonight and tomorrow night where I live:  -15 to -20.  I'll be burning Al Gore in effigy.  For warmth.

Hey NK,While your burning him

Hey NK,

While your burning him...I suggest you chant "Death to Global Warming".

P.S.  I've got my a.c. on...working on my carbon footprint.  ;-)

Metaphysical question

Why is it every time there's some major event or conference on Global Warming the bottom drops out of the thermometer?  I don't want to presume to speak for God, but it's tempting to think that someone's trying to send these people a message.

Between the furnace and the extra time spent running the car to warm it up, my carbon footprint looks like Bigfoot's!

NK,Good point.Maybe it's just

NK,

Good point.

Maybe it's just Mother Nature's response Al Gore.  Every time he opens his big fat mouth, there's another big weather event. 

That tornado disaster in Central Florida yesterday was a tragedy.  And the result of an odd confluence of meteorological events.  But I'm sure the warmers will shortly use it as "proof" of AGW.  What balderdash.

Everything is caused by global warming

Blonde, I've been waiting for it.  Maybe they can explain why here in tornado alley we've had several fairly quiet years in a row when it comes to tornado activity.

By the way, the Florida event should be a lesson for people in tornado prone areas.  Get a weather radio with an alarm that will go off when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning.  When these things happen in the middle of the night, that's when the death tolls are usually the highest.  A weather radio may just save your life.

Believe it or not, Al Gore oversaw expansion of the weather radio station network in the 90's.  The only positive accomplishment he's ever had, IMHO.

NK,Thanks for the tip.  I le

NK,

Thanks for the tip.  I learn something new every day. I suppose that is something I should have here in South Florida, where we're tricked out to the nines in hurricane preparedness...but we do get the occasional tornado, and that never occured to me.

&quot;I've got my ac on...&qu

"I've got my ac on..."  Blonde, that's just cruel.

"A communist is someone who reads Marx.  An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx."  Ronald Reagan

MikeB,Cruel but true.Alas, I

MikeB,

Cruel but true.

Alas, I just turned it off....outside temp is now 68 degrees.

This is the best time of year in Florida.  ;-)

I seem to recall the media

I seem to recall the media using these same scare tactics and hysteria over two other major events within the past 10 years:

1. Y2K - Didn't happen.

2. Bird flu would kill us all - Didn't happen.

And now, global warming will kill us all - By pattern recognition, it won't happen.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone." - Bill Cosby

Atheist two things- We'll get

Atheist two things- We'll get the demons/God battle soon enough- buy loads of popcorn- gonna be a helluva match- second- Yeah, I do believe his views represent NBC because they all share one mind amoung each of their 'newscasters'/'showhosts' - their budget just couldn't afford the more expensive common sense infused minds.

http://sacredscoop.com

You forgot one-rember the 200

You forgot one-remember the 2003 SARS scare?

In April of 2003 I journeyed from the East Coast to Honolulu by way of LAX. Several of my doomsayer friends warned me that I would catch SARS, and said I should bring along a few of those face masks to wear just to be on the safe side (which I did). On the way out, I saw exactly ONE traveler wearing such a mask. And none on the way back.

First, take a look at that pi

First, take a look at that picture of Laurie David...is it me, or does she look like a man in drag? Is "she" really David Laurie?

Second, I predict that the capitalists will continue to climb aboard this Global Warming voodoo train because of the intense Media pressure that can threaten economic ruin otherwise, and when the Earth "cools", the MSM will pat themselves on the back for a job well done in averting the end of humankind. They will spotlight themselves taking the message to the streets and throw just enough praise on the public to embolden the ones who touted the GW Mantra and to shame the ones who did not.

It's a win-win situation: Earth keeps-a-warmin', naysayers become enemies of the state; Earth "cools" off (while Corporate America bows to environmental pressure), naysayers become the bane of society. Why? Because junk-science trumps anything logical or real as long as society lives in the world of the MSM propaganda. Whatever would the Founding Fathers have done had they had foresight into this possibility...maybe have re-written the First Amendment?

 

 

The very first act of the US Congress was to authorize the printing of 20,000 Bibles for the Indians. I guess the Founding Fathers had not yet come to realise their own intentions.

Well, I see NBC is off and ru

Well, I see NBC is off and running with another important objective, unbiased "news" story.  So, once they get a chance they will air for us the presidential candidates stances and remedies for GW.  For example, I know that they will include presidential candidate, John Edwards' views and his quest to become "carbon neutral."

Here is John Edwards' stance on global warming:  http://www.blueclimate.com/blueclimate/2006/12/john_edwards_id.html

Here is John Edward's quest to become "carbon neutral:" http://carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=3848

The above article treats us to a description of Edward's new 28,200 square foot home.  Now, surely David's call for that cell phone charger thingie will  reduce Edward's greenhouse gas output!!!

As an immediate follow up to the report that NBC will surely do, they will have another report on Edwards' "two Americas!"

jd,I only hit your first link

jd,

I only hit your first link.

John Edwards' priorities....eliminate poverty and reduce global warming (I'm not even going to get into his third...Hillary care).

How do you suppose his new 20,000 square foot house addresses his priorities?

I, for one, am having a bit of difficulty reconciling that.

And I used to be an accountant...I'm very good at reconciliations. ;-)

I use fluorescent bulbs, but

I use fluorescent bulbs, but not the little bitty ones that only put out 60w worth of light for 15w of actual electricity. No, I use the big suckers that fit in regular light bulb sockets and put out 100W of light for 23W of electricity. Yeah, they don't work in dimmer switches, and yeah, they don't fit every covered light fixture, but the ones that do fit work awesome, and I've changed TWO in the 5+ years I've been doing this. That's about the only carbon-neutral thing I do, though. Thanks to Today, I now know what kinds of things I need to do to annoy the H-ll out of liberals. What a useful TV show!