Long ago in Britain there was a King named Canute who became frustrated with his courtiers and advisers constantly fawning and flattering and telling him that his word was law and acting as if he could do anything in the world just because he was king.
One day when a courtier told him that he was so mighty he could command the stars in the heavens and the tides of the sea, Canute got fed up and told his courtiers to grab his throne and meet him on the beach at Southampton. He had them place the throne below the high-tide mark and then sat there in his finest robes.
As the incoming waters approached he commanded the sea to recede and respect his royal presence. As the waves lapped around his feet and soaked the bottom of his robe, it became clear that even though he was king, he was not all-powerful. Legend says that he then either renounced the crown and entered a religious order, or had the courtier buried up to his neck in the beach to experience the incoming tide first hand.
Regardless of which version of the story you like, Canute made his point. Neither a king, nor any other mortal, can command the forces of nature no matter how great he is and how hard he tries. This is a lesson which some contemporary politicians and celebrities might want to take to heart. In particular, former Vice President Al Gore comes to mind.
While watching snippets of the Live Earth concert it occurred to me that rather than broadcasting from 11 different cities around the world they should be trying to broadcast from below the high-tide line on the beach at Southampton and see how much respect the tide has for the commands of the likes of organizer Al Gore or participants along the lines of Madonna, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Xzibit, Snoop Dogg, Cat Stevens (Yusif Islam), Ludacris, James Blunt, Kanye West, and Snow Patrol. Even the incalculable ego synergy of John Meyer and Leonardo DiCaprio can't stop the tide, though it might be fitting to see Spinal Tap go up in a final shower of flame and sparks as the waves hit their giant amps.
I doubt they'd stay any drier than King Canute did. But unlike Canute, I suspect that the kind of sycophantic entertainment thickies Gore has drawn to his banner wouldn't get the moral of the story, even as the waters closed over their heads. For his part, Gore has become a monster of messianic ego, believing his own press and feeding on flattery to the point where he no longer knows the limits of his own power. In his mind he can turn the tides, stop the sun in its tracks, and probably part the Red Sea on demand.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Les Slater
I agree.
2 - Clavos
In the final analysis, the GW alarmism is all about power, and "Ponzi scheme" pretty well sums up the carbon offset idea.
Offsets allow people to salve their consciences about their "carbon footprints" without their having to make any meaningful changes in their lifestyles, yet the offsets have no net effect on the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere.
But carbon offsets DO make a difference to Mr. Gore's net worth; it has been reported that he owns a firm which brokers them.
3 - Dave Nalle
I don't see any obvious connection between Gore's company and the sale of carbon offsets going on through Live Earth, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's some money to be made for him in the process.
What troubles me about carbon offsets is that they appear to be a way for people to invest in companies in the alternative energy industry while essentially never receiving a return on their investment. They're basically donations to the businesses in question, giving them an unfair advantage over competitors, and in this case that advantags is going solely to the selected groups Gore and his partners have selected. That's pretty unfair to alternative energy businesses which don't happen to be associated with Gore but could use some free capital.
Dave
4 - zingzing
for fuck's sake. he's raising money to help us produce alternate fuel sources. what's wrong with that?
you waste a lot of time speaking out against something with almost no downside and the potential to save us from ourselves.
5 - Dave Nalle
Zing, he's raising the money under false pretenses and then passing it on to a handful of the more politically correct recipients who he's chosen to grace - for whatever reason - with his largesse.
Where are the biodiesel fuel producers and fuel-cell technology developers on his list? It's all wind power and methane. Methane production can produce byproducts which are worse than anything biodiesel puts out. In fact, recent studies on Biodiesel show it producing less direct output of greenhouse gasses than methane.
Dave
6 - moonraven
If Nalle could come up with a scheme where someone would give him media attention and money--to do ANYTHING--he would mercifully disappear from this site.
7 - DrDichotomous
So what's your solution, Nalle? I normally don't mind it when people pee on other's parades, but I am getting sick of people just offering negativism in place of "political Bono"'s insight. If Gore is doing wrong, say so, say why, and give an alternative. Otherwise for all your insight and metaphor you are basically just pushing the mountain, not the envelope.
Why not talk about alternatives? Or devote more time to the "meat" of this article, the suggestion that Gore and others are in it for the money (or some similar ulterior motive)? That would make for less a sensationalist and more informed pseudo-attack on Gore. And believe me, there are many out there who are just as ill-at-ease with it, even if we "get his message". We just need less of this (possible unintentional) smearing, and more positive reasons to switch to another campaign.
8 - Les Slater
DrDichotomous,
It isn't that there is no possible technical solution. We might not know all the answers but we need to get serious about doing something. Mr. Gore is not serious. His direction will not solve the problems that he does a fair job of pointing to some of them.
Les
9 - Dave Nalle
DrD. I've proposed some solutions in other articles. In this one I'm just pointing out the bizarreness of this particular facet of the giant turd of fearmongering which is the climate change movement. The answer in this case is not to take these people anywhere near as seriously as they take themselves.
And MR, my name - often accompanied by a scary photo - appears in our local paper about once a month. That's probably sufficient media exposure for me at this time.
Dave
10 - sr
Please give us the solution Drdick. I have none however I get better fuel consumption from Capt Morgan. At least I think I do.
11 - Anthony Grande
I always thought all the Canutes were Danish but it's still a good story.
Do you blog anywhere else besides blogcritics?
Anthony
12 - Dave Nalle
AG, Canute was indeed Danish, but he was King of England during a period where the Danes dominated the country after the decline of the Wessexian dynasty and before the Norman invasion. By all accounts he was a pretty decent king for being a Dane and all. It was the struggle between his half-saxon son Harald Harefoot and Harald Godwinson over the throne which created the situation which William the Conqueror took advantage of to invade.
Dave
13 - Anthony Grande
Is this the same Canute that was King of Demark, Sweeden, Norway and England and then split his kingdoms up among family members after his death?
14 - zingzing
dave, i don't know why he chose to give money to methane and wind power people. i really don't. but do you really think that he's doing all of this to make money? or to make money for other people (why would anyone do that)?
regardless of where the money goes (and i doubt it goes to him), he's raising awareness of something that is a probable danger. i don't care what you think about it. you have very little clue, and neither do i, but i'll go with science on this one, instead of blind faith.
you really are an optimist. good for you.
15 - Dave Nalle
Zing, I'm not sure what his motivations are beyond raising his personal profile to the point where he will be annointed King of the World at some later date.
The favoring of methane over other alternatives does trouble me. Methane conversions for existing vehicles cost $2000-$3000, while you can buy plenty of production models which will run on biodiesel or ethanol. Pushing methane doesn't make much sense to me, excep that it has a coolness factor. It suggests that his interest is sort of superficial and going for the flashy over the meaningful.
I have no faith in the science, and clearly Gore doesn't either, since he couches the whole issue in feel-goodism rather than science. You may have noticed that the whole climate change movement has been edging away from hard science as more and more evidence surfaces to contradict their past arguments. I just wish Gore had made the other really GOOD argument and provided a national security component to his argument for alternative energy.
Dave
16 - rodeojack
Maybe the writer has a better plan than Al Gore ... having held so many jobs in various capacities, from freelancer to bartender to history professor and what not! He should publish a blue print with statistics about exactly how his plan is going to work. Stop vacuous mudslinging you skim milk.
17 - Les Slater
Dave,
"The favoring of methane over other alternatives does trouble me. Methane conversions for existing vehicles cost $2000-$3000, while you can buy plenty of production models which will run on biodiesel or ethanol"
This is interesting if that's what he's proposing. Burning methane from most current sources adds to the Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. Burning biodiesel or ethanol does not.
Les
18 - Dr Dreadful
Dave writes: "The problem is that anyone who watches the concert must have a TV and anyone who has a TV is bound to already be aware of global warming."
Not necessarily. Having a TV for many means keeping in touch with Paris Hilton's latest moroncapades or the delightful spectacle of UFC fighters ripping one another's heads off. To such folks, who number in the millions, global issues of pressing concern mean next to nothing and they may have only the foggiest notion of what global warming is.
A brief perusal of some of the comments in the music and TV sections of this site will give you a good idea of the intellectual level of this population.
The idea behind something like Live Earth is that people who would not listen to politicians or scientists might actually pay attention when the message comes from their pop icons.
19 - Dr Dreadful
The version of the Canute legend which was prevalent in kids' history books back when I was a Britling held that the King had such a huge ego he believed he could hold back the tides, and staged the demo in an attempt to prove it. I suspect that the historical chauvinists who wrote this kind of crap were of the opinion that all English kings prior to the Norman Conquest were one step out of the Stone Age, and couldn't possibly (with the exception, for some reason, of Alfred, though even he was accused of being a rotten cook) do anything sensible or smart.
As for Canute dividing his empire up among his sons (Mr Grande, comment #13), I believe this may have been standard Danish practice at that time - much as it was among the Celtic peoples up until the medieval period.
20 - sr
Doc, #18 and #19. Not bad you fuddy duddy. Interesting.
21 - Dave Nalle
The Canute legend is a little suspect because the standard version which I've seen most often is that he declares that only jesus has the right to be a king and renounces his crown. That sounds to me like blatant church propaganda.
The reason the Danes and other Scandinavians were always invading people and going viking was that they had primogeniture and normally did not divide holdings up among children, instead passing everything to the eldest child. Canute's situation was unique because he had multiple sons and also multiple kingdoms.
As for Gore and his love of methane, it's inexplicable. It does produce some pollutants, but it's still very low, actually beating out biodiesel on NOX emission. But it's certainly not superior or anywhere near as economical.
Dave
22 - Joe
This is why I thought about setting up a carbon offset company, you paypal me $50, I'll hold my breath for a minute. Nalle is right about that, it's a Ponzi scheme you enter into knowing there will never be physical evidence of progress.
Snake oil, ladies and gentlemen. Get it while it's hot.
23 - Dave Nalle
Perhaps all of the people writing on BC could accept carbon offset payments not to ever print out any of our writings on environment-destroying paper.
dave
24 - Baronius
To me, the most confusing thing about "carbon offsets" is that there already is a way to pay for the fuel you use. It's called a fuel bill. Gore and his ilk want to cap electricity prices, increase the gas tax, and pay people who aren't providing fuel. Then, I guess, go down to the 7-11, give away their Big Gulps, and yell at the owner when they run out.
Zing asks what's wrong with Gore's activity. It's screwing around with the markets, and that never helps. He's pushing money toward companies that have no incentive to succeed, and no track record of success.
Will this concert really enlighten the Paris-obsessed masses? I imagine that if you're dim enough to not have heard about global warming, you could sit through the show and think it was just a concert. But if you're somewhat aware of global warming, and concerned about it, this concert could make you feel like you've done something by sitting in front of the tv all day.
If you want to do something for alternative fuels, try something proven, and split an atom or two.
25 - sr
Toilet paper is the answer. I run my whole house and cars on used toilet paper. Once you get over the smell it's a cake walk.