March 4, 2007

Falling For Gore

National Public Radio fell for Al Gore's dubious claim that he buys "carbon offsets" to offset the atmosphere-polluting energy usage of his energy-hog Nashville mansion. Memo to NPR: The company Gore's spokesman claim Gore buys his "carbon offsets" from - Generation Investment Management - doesn't sell carbon offsets. It's a money management firm for high net worth individuals like Al Gore who, coincidentally, is co-founder, chairman and part owner of the firm.

NPR does interview Mark Trexler, president of Trexler Climate and Energy Services in Portland, Ore., in its story. Trexler's firm recently reviewed some 30 "carbon offsets" sellers and ranked them based on various criteria related to quality and effectiveness. NewsBusters

But what neither NPR nor Trexler chose to address is that, given a report performed by Trexler himself, Al Gore's method of purchasing carbon offsets doesn't pass the test. Based upon the analysis performed by Trexler's company, transparency and the ability to confirm the worth of any so-called carbon offsets are keys to evaluating if a program is any good, or even real. Because Gore opted to go to England and set up an LLP to, in part, purchase his offsets from himself, there is no ability for anyone outside Gore's firm to validate the program. Instead of pointing that out, the NPR report concentrated on the alleged validity of carbon offsets, leaving their listeners with the impression that what Gore is engaged in considered compliant with any standard at all.

The Tennessean was the first media outlet to report Gore's spokesman's claim that Gore buys carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management. The claim simply doesn't stand up to five minutes of scrutiny given that Generation Investment Management doesn't sell carbon offsets, but the Gore camp's apparent lie has nonetheless been repeated endlessly in the mainstream media in the days since. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the claim isn't true, the paper has not yet written a follow-up story to tell its readers that Generation Investment Management doesn't sell carbon offsets. ((Did the Tennessean reporter who wrote the original story even Google "Generation Investment Mangement" and check out its website? Did they look at Generation Investment Mangement's portfolio - which you can find in 30 seconds using the Securities & Exchance Commissions "Edgar" database - and see that the claims that Generation Investment Mangement has a "green" portfolio are, uh, rather dubious? Apparently not.)

Here's hoping The Tennessean - or some mainstream media outlet - will investigate to determine the following: If Gore doesn't buy carbon offsets from Generation Investment Management - does he buy them at all? Who from? How many? Are they from a highly-rated carbon offsets seller? Does he really buy enough to "offset" his decidedly non-carbon-neutral lifestyle?

And, given that Gore's spokesperson already tricked The Tennessean once, they shouldn't be satisfied until they see receipts.

Update: Mark Steyn takes on Al Gore and carbon offsets. Hilarity ensues. Also, Australian newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt nails Gore's carbon-offsets claim for what it really is: misleading spin.

Gore isn't so much buying offsets as investing in fashionable companies for profit. Lucky him. Rich him.