Al Gore, Guru of Greenbacks Too

The questions about Al Gore milking his high profile advocacy for carbon cap legislation* for all the green he can are getting louder. Last night on the Daily Show with Jon, Gore was selling his latest book on the subject of climate change. As posted here previously {11.14.07}, Al Gore is a partner in the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, a big player in developing alternative energy companies. Some of those companies like Fisker and Silver Springs Networks are receiving millions in government investment. He also co-founded Generation Investment Management, a London based firm with holdings in green energy companies. Of course Gore maintains that his business activities and climate advocacy are compatible, saying he has put his money where his mouth is for thirty years. Gore also earns in excess of $100,000 a year for his speaking engagements, and his book and film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth was a smash hit. The scale of his wealth can be gauged from a single investment of $35 million in Capricorn Investment Group, another private equity fund focused on green tech. It is perhaps inevitable that he would earn along with accolades the enmity of the right who can use the fact of Gore's great wealth to undercut his credibility on climate and energy issues.

*Because pending carbon cap and trade legislation creates another type of market subject to speculation and unregulated derivatives trading, US Person has previously expressed his preference {6.29.09} for a carbon tax scheme that would be more efficient, easier to police, and would provide needed revenue to invest directly in clean technologies. By the way, big Al will get one of the first deluxe hybrid "Karmas" by Fisker to buzz off the Finnish assembly line. Sweet.