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I believe that are a lot of difficult choices we have to make to save our planet from environmental catastrophe. And I agree with Al Gore that "an attitude that says it's OK to ignore scientific evidence" is a threat to our future existence.
But I'm not ready to listen to Al Gore tell me this, because I remember when he thought it was OK to ignore scientific evidence himself. Back in 2000, he told the public numerous times on the campaign trail that that a panel of doctors brought together by the government concluded there was "absolutely no evidence" for medical marijuana. In fact, the panel of doctors was a committee from the Institute of Medicine commissioned by the Clinton administration to study the science behind medical marijuana, and they found a wealth of scientific evidence for the medicinal properties of marijuana claimed by physicians over the last five thousands years of human history, and they recommended clinical trials be conducted on the basis of this scientific evidence.
Why would Al Gore misrepresent this report? Because he needed the support of antidrug groups during his campaign, and he couldn't get their support and tell the truth about the scientific evidence for medical marijuana at the same time. So he made a choice, and the choice was that it was OK to ignore science.
I will trust a lot of people to warn me of the environmental problems this planet is suffering, but because of this nasty episode in Al Gore's past, Al Gore won't be one of them, sorry. He has shown by example that he cannot be trusted around facts or science when his own political interests are at stake.
People who like Gore are going to hate me for saying this, but too bad. If we have a country where politicians can get away with misleading the public about science, we aren't going to last very much longer on this planet. And this warning has to apply to the left just as strongly as it applies to the right, otherwise it doesn't mean anything.
