Inhofe says Gore still won't take energy pledge

Inhofe says Gore still won't take energy pledge

The most vocal global warming skeptic in the U.S. Senate says he believes former Vice President Al Gore is losing the debate over climate change. Last month, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) challenged Gore to sign a pledge to reduce his home energy use to that of the average American household; but Gore, whose Tennessee home consumes 20 times as much energy as the average American's home, has refused to take the pledge.

Inhofe is convinced he and other skeptics are winning the fight over global warming. He says, "There is a level of desperation [on Gore's part]; his entire life, his career, everything in his life is wrapped up in this assumption that man-made gases are causing climate change, and most of his supporters, the scientists of 10 years ago, who believed that he was right have come over to the other side now because the science just isn't there."

MIT meteorology professor Richard Lindzen recently said Al Gore's goal is not to battle global warming but to become a billionaire. Inhofe also points out a possible financial motivation for Gore, observing, "When you stop and think about the fact that he gets $200,000 a speech, he has to be concerned that that's going to come to an end."

And the Oklahoma Republican says Gore cannot refute several specific points posed by him and other global warming skeptics. "Number one," the lawmaker contends, is the fact that "if we did everything that he wants to do, in 50 years it would only reduce the temperature by .07 of one degree Celsius." And there is more, says Inhofe. "Secondly, that there's no relationship between the severity of hurricanes and global warming; three, the sea level rise that he tries to scare little kids with is bogus; four, money is driving this whole thing."

Gore's "believers are converting," Inhofe asserts. Meanwhile, he says the action the former vice president proposes to fight global warming would constitute the largest tax increase in history, and he still refuses to pledge to reduce his home energy use to that of the average American household.