You might remember Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. Well she tried some bullshit McCarthyite tactics on Al Gore testifying today and Al gave it right back to her. She accused Gore of monetarily profitting from cap and trade. Asked him to "clear the air" about how he would benefit if cap and trade were passed. From TPM:
"If you believe that the reason I have been working on this issue for thiry years is because of greed, you don't know me."
More, after the fold.
Yes, that Marsha Blackburn:
Shuster: "Let’s talk about the public trust. You represent, of course, a district in western Tennessee. What was the name of the last solider from your district who was killed in Iraq?"
Blackburn:"The name of the last soldier killed in Iraq uh - from my district I - I do not know his name ..."
Blackburn grilled on MSNBC
For those who cannot watch the video, Blackburn asked Gore "to clear the air" about his relationship with a company that invests in alternative energy solutions. She asked if he would personally benefit from the legislation. Gore saw right through her McCarthyite games and told her, yes, I know that company and I'm a partner, but all profits I get go to a nonprofit organization raising public awareness about climate change and solutions. "Every cent."
Gore answered, "If you believe that the reason I have been working on this issue for thiry years is because of greed, you don't know me."
When she tried to weasel out of what she was doing, Gore said, "I know, everyone knows exactly what you are doing here."
Gore took her on, asking if she thought it was wrong to be involved in business. He then said he was proud of his work.
Here's some of what Al said from his prepared remarks:
I believe we have arrived at such a moment. Our country is at risk on three fronts. The economic crisis is clear. Our national security remains at risk so long as we remain dangerously dependent on flows of foreign oil from reserves owned by sovereign states that are vulnerable to disruption. The rate of new discoveries, as you know, is falling even as demand elsewhere in the world is rising. Most importantly, of course, we are— along with the rest of humanity—facing the dire and growing threat of the climate crisis.
It is at the very heart of those threats that this Committee and this Congress must direct its focus. I am here today to lend my support to one of the most important pieces of legislation ever introduced in the Congress. I believe this legislation has the moral significance equivalent to that of the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s and the Marshall Plan of the late 1940’s.
By Repowering America with a transition to a clean energy economy and ending our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels, which is the common thread running through all three of these crises, this bill will simultaneously address the climate crisis, the economic crisis, and the national security threats that stem from our dependence on foreign oil.
We cannot afford to wait any longer for this transition. Each day that we continue with the status quo sees more of our fellow Americans struggling to provide for their families.
Each day we continue on our current path, America loses more of its competitive edge. And each day we wait, we increase the risk that we will leave our children and grandchildren an irreparably damaged planet.
Passage of this legislation will restore America’s leadership of the world and begin, at long last, to solve the climate crisis. It is truly a moral imperative. Moreover, the scientific evidence of how serious this climate crisis is becoming continues to amass week after week after week.
snip
Our country cannot afford more of the status quo, more gas price instability, more job losses, more outsourcing of factories, and more years of sending $2 billion every 24 hours to foreign countries for oil. And our soldiers and their families cannot take another 10 years of repeated troop deployments to regions that just happen to have large oil supplies.
Moreover, the best way to secure a global agreement that guarantees that other nations will also reduce their global warming pollution is for the U.S. to lead the world in meeting this historic challenge. The United States is the world’s leader. We are the only nation in the world that can. Once we find the moral courage to take on this issue, the rest of the world will come along. Now is the time to act before the world gathers in Copenhagen this December to solve the crisis. Not next year, this year.
I urge bipartisan support of this crucial legislation.
Al Gore's Prepared Remarks
Tennessee, Ms. Blackburn is a weasely embarrassment to your state.