Former Vice President Al Gore gave a major speech today on the environment. He used the occasion to criticize Bush Administration policies that are undermining attempts world-wide to control global warming. Gore also criticized Bush’s call for trips to the Moon and Mars :
"Instead of spending enormous sums of money on an unimaginative and retread effort to make a tiny portion of the moon habitable for a handful of people, we should focus instead on a massive effort to ensure that the Earth is habitable for future generations," Gore said to a cheering Manhattan crowd.
This was the second speech this week by a prominent American political leader taking issue with Bush Administration policies. Senator Ted Kennedy on Wednesday told an audience that the Bush Administration created the conflict with Iraq to draw attention away from the dire economic situation since Bush assumed office.
I believe that this Administration is indeed leading this country to a perilous place. It has broken faith with the American people, aided and abetted by a Congressional majority willing to pursue ideology at any price, even the price of distorting the truth. On issue after issue, they have moved brazenly to impose their agenda on America and on the world. They have pursued their goals at the expense of urgent national and human needs and at the expense of the truth. America deserves better.
You can read the Gore speech here and the Kennedy speech here. Both are worth the read.