I think I will agree with Charles Krauthammer when studying this Al Gore promulgated 'environmental penance' known as Carbon Footprint Offsets. Here is the plan from "PhD" Gore; Burn as much gas and fossil fuels as you like but offset the damage to the atmosphere by planting trees to absorb your contribution to the "planet's fever" (Global Warming). The former Democratic Vice President and failed presidential candidate seem to have found his niche in the environmental arena. Mr. Gore uses about 20X the energy of the average household and does indeed fly around in Lear jets and, of course, from the airports and even to film debuts in entourages which climb into SUVs to spread the word about conserving fuels at all costs. Unless......unless one is rich and can pay for their carbon sins.

Reminiscent to the Indulgences some corrupt Roman Catholic Bishops and Cardinals used to collect for the sins of the wealthy in the Middle Ages? Then a wealthy landowner could commit adultery or rape and simply make a payment to the church to "cleanse the soul of the sin". Today, the secular progressives who seem to worship the creation as they deny any creator can do the very same thing. Contribute to global warming with gluttonous abuse of fossil fuels? Fine. I said Fine...no I mean FINE. Al Gore and others will collect (for no small sum) a "Carbon Offset," which cleans the guilt off of the environ-sinner. Mother Earth forgives her child...for a fee. Plant a tree or twenty depending on what your carbon abuse counselor dictates (have fun learning how accurate this grift is) and if you are rich enough, you can continue to do what Al Gore does; burn outrageous energy and then plant trees.

As if this wasn't bad enough, we know that the Carbon Offsetting practice in Europe for example,  has caused an inadvertent food embargo on African produce farmers, which has now left thousands of tons of food to rot and are now long gone to waste on the docks and in the storage facilities owned by companies which also economically rely on the produce market . Europeans are so diligent about buying food grown as close to home as possible to minimize the carbon dioxide produced in the delivery.  Consequently,  without so much as a warning to the Africans they trade with, the hysterical eco-maneuver by our European carbon conscience friends has already harmed many. 
  Another fiasco that has a negative effect on Africa are the new disputes over what was always up until now, traditional farming grounds. In Uganda and Zimbabwe for example, farmers have been shot at, intimidated or worse and in many cases, their cattle confiscated by bribed park rangers who are invading these lands to plant "Al Gore's" trees. In this case, Al Gore has invented something. He's invented a crisis. A crisis based  on a theory, which many people are buying into without questioning and poor Africans are now the first casualty in this war against... well specifically against American fuel consumption.

Let's remember this; Al Gore has no problem with China's plans to build 2,200 electricity producing coal burning plants in this century. Hey..didn't Al get caught accepting Chinese intelligence $$ during the 2000 elections?
He says he completely understands them. I'm left to wonder if Al himself has seen "An Inconvenient Truth". It is possible that Al Gore and his team of climatologists (which study the effects, not the cause of global warming), have dismissed the accompanying study of the sun and the cycle of it which many scientists suggest is near peak in terms of solar energy distribution and as the dominant cause of any temperature change on Earth. The ice caps around the poles of planet Mars are receding at basically the same rate as those on Earth. I'm pretty sure Mars is SUV free so I'd like Mr. Gore to publically comment on this. At best, we may be confronted with an honest error of science with a result being  a $550 Trillion dollar global reaction to something mankind can do little to nothing about. At worst, we may be smelling an intelligent design from a liberal rat looking to bleed the GOP from one of its primary sources of campaigning; Petroleum, while at the same time cashing in on the carbon 'crisis'. So maybe I do smell a rat.....a Democ-rat.


* edited 4/7/07 by KP