Al Gore: Basic Science (Wizbang)

Over at the Corner John Derbyshire links to a clip of Al Gore on the Tonight Show explaining geothermal energy to Conan O'Brien. Let's take a listen.

In case the clip gets taken down, here's the quote of interest, where Gore is explaining the source of geothermal energy.

It definitely is, and it's a relatively new one. People think about geothermal energy -- when they think about it at all -- in terms of the hot water bubbling up in some places, but two kilometers or so down in most places there are these incredibly hot rocks, 'cause the interior of the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees, and the crust of the earth is hot ...

Emphasis mine. Of course the core of the Earth is a few thousand degrees, not a few million. For reference, the sun is a few million degrees at its core. But what's a factor of a thousand between friends. Perhaps Al can claim only to have only made a million or so off of global warming and his connections in congress when it is actually a billion. Being off by three orders of magnitude is so convenient sometimes. Ed Morrissey adds his thoughts over at Hot Air.

Can you imagine if Sarah Palin made such an utterly ridiculous comment on national television?

Comments (22)

SO, is he a liar, or just a... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by GianiD | November 18, 2009 10:50 AM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)

GianiD:

SO, is he a liar, or just another clueless libbie?

Posted on November 18, 2009 10:50

And isn't it comforting to ... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by Hank | November 18, 2009 10:51 AM | Score: 11 (11 votes cast)

Hank:

And isn't it comforting to know that On April 2, 2008, Barack Obama said,

"I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this [climate] problem. He's somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I'm already consulting with him."

As for Gore, I knew he was nuts but not this bad.

Posted on November 18, 2009 10:51

Al wouldn't know the scient... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by recovering liberal democrat | November 18, 2009 10:53 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)

recovering liberal democrat:

Al wouldn't know the scientific method if it hit him in his fat head.

Posted on November 18, 2009 10:53

Maybe AP should put a dozen... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by bobdog | November 18, 2009 11:05 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)

bobdog:

Maybe AP should put a dozen full-timers to fact check Gore. They're no longer needed in Alaska, where they were assigned long enough to become legal residents of the state. Or they might take them off the Great Palin Book Inquisition.

Posted on November 18, 2009 11:05

Excelsior!... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by davidt | November 18, 2009 11:16 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)

davidt:

Excelsior!

Posted on November 18, 2009 11:16

Summary: Al Gore wrong by s... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by _Mike_ | November 18, 2009 11:39 AM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)

_Mike_:

Summary: Al Gore wrong by several orders of magnitude.

And this is news to whom ?

Posted on November 18, 2009 11:39

Al was probably distracted.... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by GarandFan | November 18, 2009 11:59 AM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)

GarandFan:

Al was probably distracted. He's thinking of the MILLIONS he'll make in Crap and Tax. Too bad that bill is DOA in the Senate. Al might have to go out and get a real job.

Posted on November 18, 2009 11:59

Al Gore is wrong about AGW ... (Below threshold)

8. Posted by Mac Lorry | November 18, 2009 12:11 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)

Mac Lorry:

Al Gore is wrong about AGW and has made a rich fool of himself selling that scam. That said, hot dry rock geothermal energy has real potential that shouldn't be ignored just because some scum bag talks about it.

Here's an excerpt from this article about HDR geothermal energy.

Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal energy offers considerable advantages compared to other renewables such as Solar or Wind - including the potential for 95% availability and the ability to load-follow and peak.

Posted on November 18, 2009 12:11

"Al Gore is wrong about AGW... (Below threshold)

9. Posted by 914 | November 18, 2009 12:51 PM | Score: 5 (7 votes cast)

914:

"Al Gore is wrong about AGW and has made a rich fool of himself selling that scam"

He already was a rich fool. The scammin part just comes naturally for lib shucksters.

"but two kilometers or so down in most places there are these incredibly hot rocks, 'cause the interior of the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees,"

Ummm, Moron.

Do You think this imbecile could shut His yap and reduce the "greenhouse gases", He espouses threaten the Universe ?... No... Did'nt think so.

Posted on November 18, 2009 12:51

several million degrees? w... (Below threshold)

10. Posted by Falze | November 18, 2009 1:13 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)

Falze:

several million degrees? well no wonder it's getting warmer! glad we cleared that up...surely using plastic bags at the grocery store isn't going to offset that.

Posted on November 18, 2009 13:13

"Having researched this sub... (Below threshold)

11. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | November 18, 2009 2:36 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)

Jeff Blogworthy:

"Having researched this subject for some 40 years, nobody understands the issue better than Al Gore and nobody can explain it more clearly and compellingly to the lay person." -- Laurie David

Yeah. That Palin is soooo stupid.

Posted on November 18, 2009 14:36

Give him a break, he probab... (Below threshold)

12. Posted by Staylor | November 18, 2009 3:16 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)

Staylor:

Give him a break, he probably just watched 2012 and is now convinced that mutated nuetrinos from the sun that are artificially raising the temperature of the Earth's core is now the new threat to humanity. This makes even more since when one considers his superficial resemblance to the corpulant Oliver Platt.
Based on this new information we can now deduce that Gore's Global Warming fixation was a product of watching The Day After Tommorrow and in the 90's he was probably more concerned about giant mutated lizards and vast city destroying spaceships than any of the silly global warming stuff.
I predict he will begin warning people about the dangers of Manbearpig in three... two.. one....

Posted on November 18, 2009 15:16

C'mon guys... he's trying t... (Below threshold)

13. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | November 18, 2009 4:23 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)

SCSIwuzzy:

C'mon guys... he's trying to solve a cereal problem. MBP must be stopped.

Posted on November 18, 2009 16:23

the earth is extremely h... (Below threshold)

14. Posted by James Cloninger | November 18, 2009 10:35 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

James Cloninger:

the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees

I don't think even Dr Evil would be this far off in orders of magnitude.

Posted on November 18, 2009 22:35

Eh - algore's sounding mor... (Below threshold)

15. Posted by apb | November 19, 2009 12:02 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

apb:

Eh - algore's sounding more like a big, steaming Number Two instead of Dr. Evil ...

Posted on November 19, 2009 00:02

"but two kilometers or so d... (Below threshold)

16. Posted by 914 | November 19, 2009 12:27 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

By this illogical blithering inane logic, since this non existent summer has been so damn cold I would say the center of the ice berg that sank the Obama administration must be at least a sound -12,000,000,000,000 degrees celcius.. And I have the science to prove it. Look at the deficit.

Posted on November 19, 2009 00:27

Notice how our resident lib... (Below threshold)

17. Posted by Patrick | November 19, 2009 1:26 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

Patrick:

Notice how our resident liberal trolls fail to weigh in when one of their own gets exposed as an idiot and a total fraud? If Sarah Palin had said anything this amazingly stupid they would be here in force and would probably never leave. Al Gore is an embarrassment to their side. How he has managed to profit to the degree he has through this insane global warming hysteria is utterly amazing and it is absolute proof positive that fools and their money are soon parted...

Posted on November 19, 2009 01:26

Thank God this once upon a ... (Below threshold)

18. Posted by Brian Richard Allen | November 19, 2009 7:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Brian Richard Allen

Thank God this once upon a time world's potentially most dangerous dullard is now three places removed from that title. Held, now that he has left both Al-Fredo Gore-leone and Mr Julia Stimson Thorne Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira Heinz AKA "John" Kohn-Kerry way way behind in the race to being the world's dumbest ever dangerous dullard, B Milhouse 0zero.

(Or was it Missus Cli'ton? So hard to tell one dumb "Democrat" from every other dumb "Democrat")

Posted on November 19, 2009 07:11

At 1.9-2.3 km below, the te... (Below threshold)

19. Posted by Phil | November 19, 2009 4:44 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Phil:

At 1.9-2.3 km below, the temperatures average 3*10^7 degrees Gorium. What scale do you use?

Posted on November 19, 2009 16:44

So....Algore's claim of tem... (Below threshold)

20. Posted by Saterp | November 19, 2009 6:56 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Saterp:

So....Algore's claim of temps inside the earth is verifiably off by a factor of 100,000%, but we should trust him that surface temps are going to go up by a degree or two, and THAT will be the death of us....

Could I have a second opinion, please...from an ADULT?

Posted on November 19, 2009 18:56

#15... No, that would be B... (Below threshold)

21. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | November 19, 2009 10:11 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

#15... No, that would be Bono.

Posted on November 19, 2009 22:11

BEDEMIR: Who are you who a... (Below threshold)

22. Posted by Mike miller | November 19, 2009 11:29 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Mike miller:

BEDEMIR: Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?
ARTHUR: I am AlGore, King of the Gullible!
BEDEMIR: My liege!

Posted on November 19, 2009 23:29