Monday, May 12, 2008

Al Gore caused the global food crisis

That's the latest dirty rotten smear from the transparently stupid Sean Hannity - who apparently has some kind of pathological inability to be intellectually honest. It is bewildering that someone so lacking in moral fiber can get rich being such a dishonest jackass while working for a network that calls his relentless efforts to demonize Democrats "news".

Hannity said that Gore caused the global food crisis because of the push to use biofuels as an alternative to C02 releasing fuels that contribute to global warming. During the segment Hannity featured a quote from Gore from 1998 about supporting a tax exemption for corn ethanol. But guess what the dimwit forgot to mention? That Gore no longer supports corn ethanol and favors the development of cellosic ethanol or that there are other factors besides corn ethanol which have contributed to the food crisis. He also fails to mention that the corn lobby which is currently lobbying politicians who are not Al Gore might have something to do with the current corn ethanol policies which Gore does not himself support.

See, for instance, the Fresh Air discussion we were just talking about. At 25 minutes into the discussion Terry Gross asks Gore about ethanol and the global food crisis and if there were policies that he watched being created that contributed to the problem. Gore answers that corn ethanol is at best a transition fuel, that the nature of the global food crisis is complex, and that some biofuels are good, some are bad yet we should continue to attempt to develop workable fuel alternatives.

Hannity followed up the "Gore caused the food crisis" segment* with the lie that Gore said global warming caused Cyclone Nargis.

*A google search shows that this meme is one of the latest never-ending stream of anti-Gore bullshit that circulates the conservative movement media circuit. What is particularly sickening is that Hannity is essentially saying that the very act of working towards sustainable biofuels is causing a food crisis - just what the oil industry wants the world to think. In reality, global warming is also a threat to the world's food supply.

Update: To give you an example of what a hypocritical bullshitter Sean Hannity is.

President Bush on Friday defended his emphasis on ethanol to help the nation meet its energy needs even though increased production of the corn-based biofuel has been blamed for contributing to sharp increases in food prices.

"As you know, I'm a ethanol person," he said, explaining his belief that it can help reduce U.S. dependence on oil. "It makes sense for America to be growing energy."
I won't hold my breath waiting until Hannity does a segment saying that George W. Bush caused a food crisis.

2 comments:

FRCA said...

Yeah, I bet you'll never hear them report about how the falling dollar is causing record oil prices. Or why the falling dollar is likely related to the war in Iraq and the fact that we're financing the war (and lots of other things) by borrowing from China.

I hope a democrat wins the presidential election this year just to put every staffer at Fox into convulsions. It will be sweet.

Jennifer said...

Oops, that last comment was from Jennifer, I was signed in under the wrong name...