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Ad to challenge Gore's planet-saving image

By Jennifer Harper
March 8, 2008

Former Vice President Al Gore

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He has a mighty big carbon footprint.

Al Gore's opulent lifestyle and his virtuous plea to save the planet from global warming don't mesh, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which announced plans yesterday for a new national advertising campaign to showcase the contrast before the American public.

It comes at an unsure time for the former vice president, whose climate efforts have netted both an Oscar and Nobel Prize in the last year. Mr. Gore's finances were questioned this week by Business Week, Bloomberg and others, citing his recent $35 million hedge fund investment and a public investment offering for his cable network Current TV — which could yield a potential $50 million profit.

Yet his name is also being bandied about in some Democratic and progressive circles for a presidential "dream team" ticket pairing him with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

The CEI ad will highlight Mr. Gore's "hypocrisy," said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the free-market public policy group.

"He is the high priest of global warming but he continues his high-flying ways," said Mr. Kazman.

"Restricting affordable energy can affect our jobs and the well-being of this nation. To restrict affordable energy in developing countries would be incredibly disturbing. That could constitute a life and death matter for them," Mr. Kazman said.

The spot, which begins airing Tuesday on several cable networks, is also meant to counter a new outreach by the Alliance for Climate Protection, an umbrella organization founded by Mr. Gore last year. The group is planning a massive music festival in July and will spend a reported $10 million on advocacy ads promoting the "climate crisis" and eco-consciousness.

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