Okay, I admit: the title of this post is meant to be sarcastic.
Just 24% of Americans consider Gore an expert on Global Warming. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults found that 47% say he is not an expert on the topic.
In fact, just 36% of Americans say that Gore knows what he is talking about when it comes to the environment and Global Warming. Thirty-one percent (31%) say he does not know what he is talking about while 33% are not sure. Women, by a 2-to-1 margin, say Gore knows what he is talking about. Men, by a similar margin, say he does not.
Roger L. Simon uses these stats to back up his claim that Al Gore is hurting the global warming cause more than helping it. He makes a good point when he writes the following:
Gore’s problem may stem from the attitude inherent in his remark before a Congressional Committee quoted further down in the Rasmussen article: “Global Warming is ‘not a partisan issue; it’s a moral issue.'” Wrong, Al. It’s neither. It’s a scientific issue.
Although that’s a good point, the fact that most Americans don’t consider Al Gore to be a global warming ‘expert’, doesn’t automatically mean that he hurts the cause he has dedicated himself to. Like it or not, he got global warming on the frontpages of all major newspapers, and more and more people are convinced that something should be done.
Personally, it seems to me that science has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that human activity increases global warming, I support Gore in his attempt to change U.S. policy on this matter, but I do not consider Gore to be an expert either. In fact, just about no politician is an expert. What politicians have to do, is to listen to what experts, read scientists, have to say about matters like global warming, and act on their advice.
Now, despite some claims by the American quite far-right, most scientists support the idea that global warming is increased by human activity and that something should be done. Experts, meaning scientists, do the research, they conclude things and… when politicians are persuaded that what the scientists claim is indeed most probably true, then politicians have to try to implement policies in line with what the scientists have concluded and they, politicians, have to convince the citizens of a nation that the government (and they) should act.
Edit
H/t Iconic Midwest.
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