Gore's truths

Al Gore been jetting down here every year or so to promote one or another of his ventures. Not only is he a former Vice President, author, film maker and global warming expert but apparently he now is an investment fund manager. You and I can invest in a fund thats been “approved by Al Gore” as the TV ad says. Also he the odds on candidate for this years Noble Peace Prize.

Well, the Noble Prize Committee can make their own decisions and I'll do proper due diligence before investing money in any fund , but there been a interesting report regarding his film Inconvenient Truth. Andrew Bolt reports on a British court case:

So, when Stewart Dimmock, a truck driver and school governor from Kent, heard that Britain’s Labour Government was sending copies of Gore’s film to more than 3800 schools he sued. “I wish my children to have the best education possible, free from bias and political spin, and Mr Gore’s film falls far short of the standard required,” said the father of two.

What followed was three days of argument in the English High Court on just how truthful Gore’s Academy Award-winning film really was.

Justice Michael Burton is yet to give his final ruling, but has already said the film promotes “partisan political views” and schools must warn students of that.

Worse for Gore’s reputation, Burton also said the Government had to rewrite the guidance notes for teachers that accompany the film to point out that An Inconvenient Truth contained 11 serious untruths or unsubstantiated claims. Only then could it be shown in class.

Here are those 11 corrections to Gore’s film - and many will be familiar to readers of this column:

Gore presents Mt Kilimanjaro’s melting snows as proof of global warming. In fact, the snows are vanishing thanks to local factors, including deforestation.

Gore suggests Antarctica’s ice cover is melting. Most studies says it is increasing or stable.

Gore shows scary graphics of cities drowning in seas that rise 7m, causing millions of refugees. But the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the seas will rise at worst by 59cm this century.

Gore uses images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests it was caused by global warming. The Government’s expert in this case admitted such one-off events can’t be blamed on warming.

Gore suggests ice-core evidence shows rising CO2 caused temperature rises, which ended the past seven ice ages. In fact, the CO2 rises followed temperature rises by 800 to 2000 years.

Gore claims global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, causing an ice age in Europe. Recent studies deny it.

Gore blames global warming for species losses and coral reef bleaching. The Government couldn’t show evidence to back this claim.

Gore claims a study showed polar bears had drowned because of vanishing ice. The study actually said just four polar bears drowned, and only because of a bad storm.

Gore suggests Greenland’s ice could melt, causing a dangerous rise in sea levels. In fact, Greenland’s ice won’t melt for thousands of years.

Gore shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The Government’s expert agreed this was not the case.

Gore claims rising seas have forced people to flee Pacific islands to New Zealand. There is no record of any such warming-caused evacuation.

I don’t know why the court stopped at just 11. Hyperbole overload? But this must be enough to make rational viewers sceptical of all Gore’s case.

The British Government has now rewritten its guidance to teachers to take in those 11 objections, while trying very hard not to make Gore’s film seem fraudulent.

Update the court has delivered its decision:

High Court Judge, Mr Justice Burton, stated that "there would have been a breach of sections 406 and 407 of the [Education] Act [1996] but for the bringing of these proceedings..." He awarded two-thirds costs against the Government and required it to make an interim payment of £60,000.