Pelosi Brings Surprise Guest: Al Gore-- Meat-Eating Carbon Machine --to Netroots Nation

Pelosi Brings Surprise Guest: Al Gore-- Meat-Eating Carbon Machine --to Netroots Nation.

So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is about 40-odd minutes into her "Ask the Speaker" session Saturday at the Netroots Nation confab here in Austin,TX and about to field a question about energy and the environment, when she says she's got to call a friend. Offstage is heard the voice of Al Gore. No, wait he's actually here and the Netrootsters in the airline hangar sized hall greeted him with a nearly a minute long standing O. It was like a surprise guest showing up to jam at a Bridge School Benefit Concert. -- if you're a political geek, which we presume you are if you're reading this on a a Saturday night.

Lucky Big Al showed up to enlist the bloggers help in promoting his renewable energy challenge because the heat was starting to rise on the Speaker. A half dozen Code Pinkers were in the back of the room, silently parading around holding up a two-fingered peace sign. (Hey, it beats one finger). They're ticked at the Speaker for not ending the war once the Dems controlled the House. (Weird thing No. 1: Before Pelosi spoke, the audience was told that anybody disrupting the proceedings, like, uh, you in the George Bush mask in the back next to the woman in the pink glitter mask, would have their convention pass revoked. Guess bloggers prefer to be disruptive online instead of in-person.)

"I have serious sadness over two things in the Congress," Pelosi said. The passage of an unsatisfactory FISA bill and not being able to end the war. "I know it's the two biggest issues that you're concerned about but...107 days until the election, maybe it's 106 by now. And things will be better," she said.

When asked about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki calling Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal" Pelosi said it could meant it's time to chat with the Iraqis. "The end could be in sight." But, she quickly added in one of about 952 similar plugs, "This will not happen without the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States."

So anyways, this is Al's crowd because, of course, he invented the Internet. Ho-ho, we kid, we kid. Everybody knows Howard Dean invented the Internet. It's saying something about the power of the Netroots that one of Al's first stops was here. As he told the faithful Saturday "I need your help. You speak to and influence and connect with so many people."

Opening up sensitive areas in the U.S. to more oil drilling is insane, Al said.

"Proposing to get a little increase in oil driiling for fuel to be sold to China 10 to 15 years from now as a solution to our rising gasoline prices makes about as much sense as responding to an attack from Afghanistan by invading some other country."

They gave him much love back. They asked if he'll work in an Obama Administration. He's honored, but feels "The highest and best thing for me to do is to focus on trying to enlarge the political space in which elected officials address the climate crisis. I’m devoting my life to bring about a sea change in public opinion across party lines that supports the truly massive policy change we need to have."

Our favorite question: If meat causes more carbon emissions than cars, what should we do?

Al said, "It is true that it would be healthier for us as if we consumed less meat." How come that hasn't been a more prominent? "I myself am a meat eater and perhaps that has something to do with it." We've got to walk before we run, Al said. "None of us are perfect."

Weird thing No. 2: Before Al took off he threw out a plug for his San Francisco TV network Current TV. "Wearing another hat, I have tried to find ways to break down the walls surrounding the television medium and invite people to express themselves on the television medium in a democratized way on Current TV."

Ah, when you've got a Nobel Prize, you get one free plug.

Posted By: Joe Garofoli (Email) | July 19 2008 at 05:14 PM