‘Frozen Gore’ sculpture returns in Fairbanks to fuel climate change debate
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Craig Compeau speaks to a small crowd during the unveiling of an Al Gore ice sculpture Tuesday morning, January 5, 2010 at Thrifty Liquor on the corner of Cushman Street and Airport Way. This is the second year local businessmen Compeau and Rudy Gavora have had an Al Gore sculpture displayed at the location, with this year's creation being commissioned to sculptor Steve Dean. Eric Engman/News-Miner
Craig Compeau unveiled an ice sculpture of Al Gore on Tuesday at the corner of Airport Way and Thrifty Liquor. The sculpture features "smoke" coming from Gore's mouth - exhaust from a truck. Photo courtesy of Craig Compeau
The two-ton “Frozen Gore” sculpture isn’t exactly a tribute. It’s a tongue-in-cheek critique of Gore’s vocal belief in man-made climate change, complete with hot air pouring out of his mouth.
Local businessmen Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora contracted the piece from award-winning sculptor Steve Dean and say they’ll keep erecting one each winter until Gore accepts an invitation to discuss the global warming issue in Fairbanks.
“We do want to invite debate,” Compeau said. “We don’t agree with his theories — we’re suspicious of the financial motivation behind them.”
This year’s version includes special effects, thanks to a system that pipes the exhaust from a Ford F-350 out of Gore’s open mouth. Compeau will fire up the truck periodically this winter to create the “hot air” effect.
With temperatures in the single digits, about 10 people laughed as smoke poured out of the sculpture as it was unveiled Tuesday morning. An excerpt of a recent Gore speech on climate change played over a loudspeaker.
Compeau said the sculpture is inspiring a contest, in which the winner will receive winter gear and an Al Gore bobblehead doll.
He’s asking people to guess how long an F-350 would need to run to match the emissions of a Lear jet flight from Gore’s home in Tennessee to Copenhagen, the site of a recent international climate change summit.
In an e-mail, a Gore spokeswoman said the former vice president doesn’t own a Lear jet and flew to and from Copenhagen aboard commercial flights.
Compeau said he’ll change the wording so his Web site doesn’t claim Gore took a private jet but said the contest will remain the same. He said Gore has been guilty of hypocrisy in the past on the climate change issue.
“I know he’s gone out of his way to be seen flying commercial, but in the past, he’s flown on a Lear jet,” he said.
Last year’s inaugural Gore ice sculpture got national attention, including mentions on The Drudge Report, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Compeau said his Web site, which included photos and information about the sculpture and contest, attracted 1.7 million visitors.
Compeau said he was swamped with feedback, including hundreds, if not thousands, of e-mails. He said only a few were negative and that most people found the sculpture entertaining.
Compeau said he’s not denying that human activities might play a role in global warming but he’s skeptical of political solutions that Gore and others are advocating. He said huge sums of government money are unlikely to solve the problem.
“Before we start carbon taxing … let’s try and educate ourselves,” he said.
Climate change scientists say Alaska has warmed by 3 degrees Fahrenheit during the past
50 years. The average temperature for 2009 was 27.8 degrees in Fairbanks, about one degree warmer than normal, said Rick Thoman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Last winter, however, was unusually cold in Fairbanks. Temperatures in the winter months of
2008-09 were about 4 degrees below normal, according to National Weather Service figures.
A video of the sculpture and contest entry forms are available at www.frozengore.com.
Contact staff writer Jeff Richardson at 459-7518.
Have a wonderful day...not too much bagging now...running out of bandages in ALASKA!!!
http://www.dp.ru/?ArticleID=357ff34d-fc03-4a0e-88d4-768ab16d3b2c&readcomment=1&orderBy=up&page=1#comment
Russia, too. : )
Airport security is no different than it ever was, regardless of what they're telling you.
Stay Warm! Say hi to my family in Fairbanks, will be home soon. : )
Someone might want to google "ladronesmentira" and "al gore" and see how far reaching this and similar posts are.
I'm particularly impressed that you've been able to post to the Buenos Aires Herald and the lil' ole News-Miner in the same day, with the same message. How's the weather down there in Argentina? Any problems with airport security? We can't wait to see you back here in lil' ole Fairbanks.
http://globalwarmthis.blogspot.com/
So "chicken little" Al Gore has warned us of our upcoming doom from man-made Global Warming. We are led to believe we will all soon fall off the edge of the earth into the pits of Hell if we don't start using electric lawnmowers, and stop using those pesky road flares they're claiming puts rocket fuel into our water aquifers and consequently into our own bloodstreams. I am not a scientist, nor am I a climatologist. I'm just a simple person leading a simple life. I am not, however, a follower blinded by propaganda, status, greed or deception, and that is precisely what this Global Warming concept has been generated by.
As of this writing, this Winter, there are record snowfalls and record shattering frigid temperatures globally from China, W. Korea, Seoul, The United Kingdom, Texas, Iowa, Massachusetts, British Columbia, Scotland, to Florida, and our "experts" have gone underground because apparently Hell is freezing over. And it appears to me that we have been duped by possibly one of the greatest hoaxes of all time, leaving the believers scratching their heads scrambling to find rationale where there is none.
I like Weatherman David's take on it here, and agree that if we don't laugh at this catastrophic deception, a lot of people might get awfully mad and lose an awful lot of money on this snake-oil concoction. You can fool some of the people some of the time, Al, but you can't fool Mother Nature.
Hats off to Weatherman David, and thanks, Mother Nature, for hitting the mule between the eyes with a two-by-four this Winter 2010.
There may be evidence for speculation or hypotheses, but it is clear from the continuing debate among respected scientists that there is not sufficient evidence to prove either of the hypotheses.
Where were you in the 70s and 80s as this was being addressed? Did you have a bunker where you were going to wait out the Soviet invasion, led by the one-world government conspiracy who were fluoridating the drinking water to weaken your mind?
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Here is a reliable source, a report from 300 leading scientists with the World Meteorological Orgranization, among others (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
United Nations Environment Programme,
European Commission)
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/assessments/2006/
[b]Ozone, Ultraviolet Radiation, and Other Related Changes to Date[/b]
The previous Assessment noted that stratospheric ozone depletion was expected to begin to reverse within the next decade or so. Now we ask: Are there any signs of this beginning? Have other factors influenced the behavior of ozone
during this period? Has surface UV radiation responded as anticipated?
[i]• Our basic understanding that anthropogenic ozone-depleting substances have been the principal cause of the ozone depletion over the past few decades has been strengthened. During the recent period of near-constant abundances of ozone-depleting gases, variations in meteorology have been particularly important in influencing
the behavior of ozone over much of the polar and extrapolar (60°S-60°N) regions.[/i]
Does it come as any surprise that any corporation with the wherewithal to patent and produce CFCs would, when the government banned CFCs, also have the wherewithal to develop and produce the substitutes to replace them, in response to demand??
Ummm, well. Yes, scientists found that the ozone hole was increasing in size, potentially resulting in increased exposure to UV radiation. Part of the cause was linked to CFCs and the like. So after a decade or so of haggling, CFC use was cut back. Lo! Some 15 to 20 years later the ozone in the southern hemisphere is shrinking.
Same post, but a couple of typos cleaned up.
[Denialist Answer: Oh, that's natural variation and just a coincidence--just a bunch of greedy overpaid scientists trying to make money; just ask Rush. Oh, and did you know that dinosaurs walked the streets of Wasilla, just 6000 years ago...?]
Although there has been speculation that ozone depletion could be linked to climate change, there has been no scientific evidence of that.
You lost this debate man. Suck it up and admit it. You're spouting nonsensical crap, and have no valid answers for any of the questions posed to you. You have no credible sources, and are dead set on disproving something with a ton of scientific validity supporting it.
It's okay man. It happens. But if you look hard enough online, I bet you can find instructions for a tinfoil hat.
Ummm, well. Yes, scientists found that the ozone hole was increasing in size, potentially resulting in increased exposure to UV radiation. Part of the cause was linked to CFCs and the like. So after a decade or so of haggling, CFC us was cut back. Lo! Some 15 to 20 years later the ozone in the southern hemisphere is shrinking.
[Denialist Answer: Oh, that's natural variation and just a coincidence--just a bunch of greed overpaid scientists trying to make money; just ask Rush. Oh, and did you know that dinosaurs walked the streets of Wasilla, just 6000 years ago...?]
Although there has been speculation that ozone depletion could be linked to climate change, there has been no scientific evidence of that.
Interesting to note that at the height of discussion over the issue, DuPont (holder of patents for very profitable CFCs) was broadcasting denials, bogus "facts", and doing everything in their power to prevent any action. Once the CFCs were banned, suddenly they were all in favor, being the good, corporate citizens all over the media, like Phillip Morris and tobacco. Guess who now owns most of the patents for the replacements for CFCs.
Sounds similar to another crisis attributed to man a number of years ago. That was the hole-in-the ozone about which we heard nothing more after massive, taxpayer-funded grants were cut off. What happened to the drastic climate change and biosphere death that the "models" predicted back then?
What money and power, to who? Cite specific examples of 'greedy' people capitalizing on the concept of global warming for financial gain.
You're 0 for 5 bud. Come on...impress me.
There are some big name scientists who do disclaim anthropogenic climate change--including a couple of very notable scientists at UAF, Lindzen, and the likes of William Gray, a retired climate researcher in the lower 48. Nevertheless, a recent survey indicated that 97% of climatologists do believe that humans are a factor in climate change: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/19/eco.globalwarmingsurvey/index.html
Now now, you denialists will get all foamy at the mouth and vindictive in your rhetoric. So here's a hanky to wipe that off your face--it's quite unbecoming and detracts from the discussion.
By all means, let us know.