Al Gore: The Crisis Comes Ashore

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A cogent discussion linking the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with global warming by Al Gore. He makes a lot of critically important points, emphasizes the risk involved with burning fossil fuel, and calls for reforms that might help point our society in the right direction. Well written and scary. Definitely take the time to read through the whole essay, it'll probably be the best few minutes you spend all day.

Published on The New Republic (http://www.tnr.com)

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The Crisis Comes Ashore

Why the oil spill could change everything.

• Al Gore
• May 8, 2010 | 12:00 am

The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them.

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Source URL: http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-crisis-comes-ashore