The former US vice president is in line to make a large profit from a firm producing smart meters which monitor household electricity use.
He is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested £45 million in Silver Spring Networks, a small California company which has been developing technology to monitor household power use to make the electricity grid more efficient.
Last week the US Energy Department announced £2 billion in grants and a proportion of that, thought to be more than £305 million, will go to utility operators with which Silver Spring has contracts.
The venture capitalists who invested, including Mr Gore, now look set to receive a handsome return.
Since leaving office Mr Gore has campaigned relentlessly on green issues. His 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth”, which followed his attempts to educate people about the dangers of global warming, won an Oscar for best documentary. It showed Mr Gore giving comprehensive slide shows about the catastrophic effects of climate change. He has presented the slide show more than 1,000 times.
Mr Gore, who won a Nobel Prize in 2007, has also just published his latest book on global warming “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” which advocates new energy saving technologies and policies.
Since he quit mainstream politics, Mr Gore’s personal fortune has risen from £1.2 million to an estimated £60 million.
He has made significant investments in environmentally friendly projects like carbon trading markets, solar power, biofuels, electric vehicles, sustainable fish farming and waterless lavatories. He has also invested in non-climate change related investments, including putting money into Google and Apple.
Mr Gore said it was “certainly not true” that he was going to become a “carbon billionaire” and that the suggestion came from global warming deniers.
He said: “I am proud to put my money where my mouth is for the past 30 years. And though that is not the majority of my business activities, I absolutely believe in investing in accordance with my beliefs and my values.” At a hearing earlier this year on clean energy legislation, Mr Gore was challenged by Republican congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, over his investments.
She said: “The legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?”
Mr Gore said: “I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us, and I have invested in it.”
He added that he had put “every penny” he has made from his investments into the non-profit Alliance for Climate Protection, which campaigns for solutions to climate change.
In a heated exchange Mr Gore said: “If you believe that the reason I have been working on this issue for 30 years is because of greed, you don’t know me.”
Mr Gore said he was “proud” of his record of investing in green technology.
But global warming sceptics are not convinced. Marc Morano of climatedepot.com said: “Al Gore wants to become the first carbon billionaire and he is poised to do it.
“As much as Gore’s made now, it is going to be a piker league compared to what he is going to make in five years if all these new carbon trading mandates go through.”
"From these postings it's obvious the UK Telegraph is the church in which AGW deniers worship."
No... people are no longer buying into AGW Theory.
Funny you should mention church - belief in Global Warming has been given the same legal status of a religion.
�The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.� Thomas Henry Huxley
I am highly sceptical of the AGW Theory. I�m sorry to offend your religion. Instead of the word pathetic label "Denier" why not say what you really mean. Call me a heretic.
i say good for al gore. i wish i would have thought of it. win an oscar, a nobel prize, and make a crap load of money doing it, all while working on big issues. well played.
I suggest those who believe in the religion that is Man Man Climate Change (previously Global Warming, but we're cooling now so they had to change it) get a copy of Air Con by Ian Wishart.
This book brilliantly shows up the lies, manipulation, inaccurate science, bias and stupidity of those suggesting that CO2 is responsible for any of the - little - warming that happened.
It is a superb piece of investigative journalism.
Al Gore was proven to be a liar by the UK House of Lords. His movie was not factual, it was a work of ficton.
He and the IPCC have absolutely zero credibility.
More and more of the real experts are speaking out. The Global Warming Emperor really is wearing no clothes, and more and more people are seeing this.
Smart Meters...... Toys for geeks and the bored rich..
If the commissariat in London insists on us having these things (most of which are made overseas) then I'll pretty much guarantee that only a minority will take an interest in what they tell us and that will probably last about ten minutes.
The big danger is that companies (and the commissariat) will be able to monitor our electrical consumption.. That could lead to them increasing taxes when our consumption exceeds limits set down by the Commissariat's energy consumption commission..
I have no problem with anyone profiting from what they also believe in.
It gets trickier when using a position of power to assist with circumstances to assist with such profit.
And especially when the 'good' that such profits are generated from may be in areas that are not as 'good' in an eniROI sense as claimed.
That is something that needs unravelling across the board, country by country, pol by pol, treaty by treaty, before I'll be confident that my kids' futures on the planet are the primary motivation here.
"What is the title of this article trying to imply? That Al Gore is a financial terrorist like the executives at Goldman Sachs? Ethically compromised like Bernie Madoff? Grow up."
Oh but he is much worse than those. Bernie Madoff profited from people's greed. Al Gore is profiting from intentionally misleading innocent people on a much grander scale. It is you who needs to grow up.
Isn't the issue of global climate change about science?
It does not matter if Al Gore makes a penny or a pound from his investments or speaking engagements. The reality is the same. Our carbon emissions are causing great damage to our planet.
For those of you who care about science, September was the second warmest on record.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20091015_sepglobalstats.html
Al Gore was a Yesterday's Man of a politician until he founded the Church of Global Warming.
As L.Ron Hubbard once said:
"If you want to get rich, you start a religion."
As a man made Global warming agnostic myself I have to say if you look at it rationally its not credible that Al GORE raised awareness for Global Warming in the first place just to make money. HOWEVER he knew that he would never be president and would always be the nearly man. He probably started off thinking there may be something in it and found that a great many people unquestionably believed every word he said. From that point on he couldn't stop himself. Once the momentum of the Man Made Global Warming religion had been achieved it would have been mad not to invest in it. I'm sure I will regardless of the fact that I think it's still a long way from being proven!
From these postings it's obvious the UK Telegraph is the church in which AGW deniers worship.
What is the title of this article trying to imply? That Al Gore is a financial terrorist like the executives at Goldman Sachs? Ethically compromised like Bernie Madoff? Grow up.
KRISTINE
I EXPECT YOU ARE BEING FACETIOUS with the sentence'the man who took responsibility for ce=reating the internet' Ha! Ha!
he is not even a scientist, just a trumped up has been. It has been evident for years that he is mining this Global bulls--- for ALL ITS WORTH.
Now, it has become a 'religion' in the Uk and one can sue?
What next?
Ahhh, the man knows how to profit from his sales. What about the rest of you?
Rent-seeking socialist slug.
Save the planet nuts are proliferating while Al Gore among others shows how to make money from the hype of the green meanies and the gullible.Last week we had Lord Stern with his eat less meat because belching cows affect climate change.This week we've got another nutter who wants to make worshipping it a religion.
Mr. Gore is a Politician.
What more can be said?
Mr. Gore is a politician.
What more can be said.
It's now a "hate crime" in the UK to contradict an AGW believer. All British posters are putting themselves at risk of an ASBO or listing with the Thought Police as "DoublePlus Ungood Non-Persons."
Please see:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6494213/Climate-change-belief-given-same-legal-status-as-religion.html
Wouldn't it be hilarious of this AGW thingie morphed into a Thirty Years' War type religious slaughterfest? Well, actually, no. "Hilarious" isn't the appropriate word, "inevitable," more likely. Imagine a world in which you can get gunned down for lighting a cigarette, not for the fumes, but for the heat it generates.
Anyone read the book "Elmer Gantry," or seen the movie with Burt Lancaster? I think that was set in Tennessee, too.
Good heavens! My Website's now a hate crime! Eeeek! Yawn. ZZzzzzz...
Every cloud has a silver lining!
Smells a bit fishy to me. Could this be conflict of interests.After all he knows how government works. These tenders shld be made transparent.Obama said "He would change the way Washington doe business" This is an ideal moment.
This was Al Gores wet dream from the beginning! He saw a way to scam people out of billions of dollars by promoting this climate change rubbish! He planned it all out better than Ponzi! He knew there would be book deals, investments and the talk circuit! This guy is a snake oil salesman par excellent! Bravo Gore! your scam has been quite the success for your coffers!
Al Gore started all this for one reason only to make the American people "pay" for not electing him President.
It interesting to see just how much he wants.
Al Gore is a cheat! Lying to make a quid is rife and well practised amongst chiseller's like Gore and his AFQ mates! Pushing legislation which does not a bloody thing except inflate Gore's coffers along with these prevaricator's called Labour politicians! Gore provides these charlatans this climate change rubbish as an excuse to tax everyone into the poorhouse!
I have been saying for ages now that this whole global warming/climate change scam is just a ruse for a bunch of ultra-rich buddies of Al Gore to make a fortune off the backs of the citizens in this country. Cap and Tax will do nothing to help the environment, but it sure will make a bunch of multi-millionaires into multi-billionaires!! Follow the ties...see the relationships between all those involved and who stands to benefit. And we will all end up paying the ultra-rich to get richer.
Nice going Al chicken little Gore.
Duck Al, the sky is falling. Grab your money and run for cover.
Global warming is a scam enriching a few hucksters.
Climatologists don't support global warming theory. These are scientists who are experts on climate change.
When will people wake up and stop parroting propaganda?
"A heated exchange", yes very good.
My, what a fraud that Gore is.
Even if the Great Hunt for the Global Thermostat is not a great crusade not unlike the search for the Holy Grail and the Fountain of Youth, aren't Mr. Gore's investments just a teensy bit like selling lifejackets to passengers on a sinking ship, or worse, to people whom he has informed (perhaps fraudulently) that the ship is sinking?
In days of yore, one would have thought this activity would have been labeled "market-fixing," "anti-competitive business activity," and "racketeering." Silly, sentimental me. So would this have been: http://www.jcspstudy.org Worst of all, JCSP pay not a penny's tax. And you thought you had horrible quangos.
Once little girls played at tea parties with their dolls and the marriages they would have. Now they play with Shanda Shaygetz dolls and discuss the size of their dolls' divorce settlements over tiny glasses of wine and Margaritas.
Al Gore is the consummate "flimflam" man. How he managed to sell his snake oil global warming is beyond me. The population is so stupid that they jump to swallow any touchy feely cause that comes along. Now that it has been demonstrated that there is no global warming and that the planet is actually cooling (and has been for ten years), the mantra has been changed to "climate change". Hello, I have news for everyone, the climate has been changing since the beginning of time! Man has no more affect on this planet's ecosystem than the ants we share it with.
Misleading in the extreme Drudge hunter #25. A dollar billionaire should obviously not be called a billionaire in a British paper, though I suppose your loyal Drudge visitors might struggle.
You would never guess that from Paxo's pussyfooting interview with him.
This Carbon Footprint fraud is getting beyond a joke. This moron Gore is despicable. And so is the BBC with its unashamed PR job on his behalf on Newsnight. Paxman showed his true colours tonight as one of the establishment, not the hard hitting journalist he purports to be. Pathetic. Global warming is a myth, climate change is not caused by man, WHEN ARE THE JOURNALISTS GOING TO STOP PUSHING IT - answer - never as they are just saying what they are told to say. Get on the internet people, the only true free press and you will soon discover the truth about climate change.
The greatest lie ever - man made global warming - and its greatest proponent. A convenient lie - as they say for the parasitical industries first Billionaire
Al Gore reminds me of the character James Taggart in Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas shrugged". If only she were alive today to see her predictions for America coming true - I can hear that strong Russian accent saying, "I told you so".
How much of a carbon footprint was made in the making of his movies? And in the jets he frequently uses to promote his green causes? And energy used in his massive homes? I'm sure the man who took responsibility for creating the internet is actually laughing at all the ignorant sheep that follow him. I know I am. Problem is that it disgusts me whereas his lies and hypocracy are his normal mode of behavior/operation.