Al Gore: World's First "Carbon" Billionaire?

1. pwscott
   November 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm

   I consider this insider trading. People like Al Gore remind me of the old Company Store routine.

2. Joe
   November 3rd, 2009 at 4:13 pm

   This site used to be apolitical, anyways.

3. dutchboy
   November 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm

   Why must I see this jackass on neatorama? getting kind of political lately, might have to move on.

4. Captn Obvious
   November 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 pm

   because he invented the internet... Duh!

5. Nivek
   November 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm

   So, a guy who's mission in life is to bring awareness of global warming has made a BILLION dollars from global warming. . . Hmmm. follow the money and you will nearly always find the reason behind the hype.

6. randolf hurts
   November 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm

   wow. so we go from

   "Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming sceptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first "carbon billionaire,"

   To carbon billionaire as fact?

   Gore was born into money. He's also been working on this for 30 yrs. Now that he's going to see return on his investment he has ulterior motives?

   Stay off the politics neatorama.

7. BJN
   November 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm

   The article doesn't say that Gore is becoming a billionaire, or say that he will make anything like that. It says that businesses that his venture capital group have invested in may make billions over coming years and that the venture capital company's $72 million dollar investment may be returned several fold.

   Last I checked, Gore was a private citizen and if he's willing to risk his money as a venture capitalist, he's entitled to profit from well placed investments. Just as those office holders who promoted "drill baby drill" are free to go back to work for the oil industry that they love so much.

   I'm tired of seeing political posts on Neatorama. Stick to what you do best.

8. KCanathema
   November 3rd, 2009 at 5:35 pm

   Thank you for these posts, neatorama. I find them neat, and it's nice to see politics up here without one side being pushed over the other.

9. Kalel
   November 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm

   Don't blame me; I voted for Kang.

10. randolf hurts
    November 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    "He’s about to become the world’s first "carbon" billionaire"

    sounds like pushing one side to me. a side that doesn't even exist in the referenced article.

11. caveman
    November 3rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    >> "Thank you for these posts, neatorama. I find them neat, and it's nice to see politics up here without one side being pushed over the other."

    Sarcasm?

    Anyways, global warming is fake. Right?

12. Dave_Dave
    November 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    How dare someone do well by doing well!

13. Geekazoid
    November 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    Exactly Dave.

    Now if this were an article about a conservative/republican, the whine fest about 'liberal loonie bias' would be resounding.

14. lapidus
    November 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    this is so not a big deal. why wouldn't someone invest his money in something he's known for speaking in favor of? where the hell else is he supposed to do it?

15. KCanathema
    November 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    No, caveman, not sarcasm. I like seeing politics on here and I found no bias. Nothing fawning one way or the other.

16. buddhaflow
    November 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    @7 BJN: The problem is, these private investments are to companies that are going to receive massive infusions of government cash. Presumably, Gore still has quite a bit of pull with them. The problem is using political influence to funnel government money into one's own pocket.

17. secret asian man
    November 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    This is the exact same argument made about Cheney and Halliburton - except Cheney had already pledged over all his Halliburton investments to the University of Wyoming.

    There's a clear conflict of interest here when a politician uses his public position to advocate for policies that benefit his private investments. Journalists have been sent to jail for less.

18. fredsnothere
    November 4th, 2009 at 12:12 am

    "Mr Gore had said that he is simply putting his money where his mouth is."

    Sounds like he's putting everyone else's money where his mouth is too.

19. Harveen
    November 4th, 2009 at 12:53 am

    Why must advocates for any particular cause be poor to be credible?

20. Sander
    November 4th, 2009 at 2:43 am

    Technically, wouldn't he be the worlds' first "green" billionaire?
    You could argue that the first "carbon" billionaires would've been people from the coal / oil industries.

21. ted
    November 4th, 2009 at 7:28 am

    Or the diamond industry, Sander.

22. dutchboy
    November 4th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Or a forestry industry billionaire?

23. Baggy
    November 4th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    If Gore had put all his money into Big Oil and then went on his green movement kick, would we then say he is a hypocrite for giving money to the opposition? It seems to me it makes perfect sense for him to support the movement he supports with money. The fact that he's seeing a return on his investments seems to me to only mean that he's had a degree of success in what he's been trying to do.

24. jm1656
    November 5th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    hey, anyone want to buy some snake oil ?

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