Gore's Law

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'''Gore's Law''' states, as coined by Terence of blog "Long Ago And Not True Anyway" in March 2008:
{{cquote|As an online [[climate change]] debate grows longer, the [[probability]] that denier arguments will descend into attacks on [[Al Gore]] approaches 1.<ref name="Gore's Law">[http://laanta.blogspot.com/2008/03/gores-law.html "Gore's Law"], Long Ago and Not True Anyway</ref>}}

Immediately after making the post, commenters proceeded to nitpick at Gore — thus proving his point.

==Why Gore's Law is relevant==
The problem with attacking Al Gore is that he has absolutely fuck all to do with the [[science]] of climate change, no matter his [[Tu quoque|carbon footprint]],<ref group="note">[http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp He quickly acknowledged the criticism and lived up to it.] So, you know, good for him.</ref> [[PMRC]] involvement, [[South Park|Manbearpig]], etc.  You really can't find a better instance of [[poisoning the well]]. He could live in a mud hut and walk everywhere and they'd call him a hypocrite because the aglets on his shoelaces were made of plastic, a petroleum product.

Common examples and the reasons they are fallacious include:

*Al Gore is a [[Democrat]].
::Even if this ''were'' a problem, [[association fallacy]].  It's the equivalent of a leftie rejecting calls for [[alternative energy]] because [[T. Boone Pickens]] wants it too.
*Al Gore stands to profit from climate change mitigation. [[Shill gambit|Conflict of interest]]!
::This old saw. If money drove the science, then the [[Koch brothers]] would make it rain all over the science world, and this debate would have ended a long time ago. Also, if you see Al Gore [[capitalism|making money]] as a bad thing, this is an [[appeal to motive]] ''and'' an [[argument from adverse consequences]].
*There are <math>x</math> number of errors made in [[An Inconvenient Truth|Al Gore's film]][https://wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Sequel:_Truth_to_Power s.]
::[[Fallacy fallacy]]. Just because a sub-set of ''his'' arguments could be proven wrong doesn't mean that anthropogenic global warming isn't happening.<ref group="note">In fact, "[[Warmist]]s" like [[Potholer54]] have been [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2B34sO7HPM&feature=plcp quite scathing with him on occasions.]</ref> Gore is a politician with zero [[academic]] expertise in climatology;<ref group="note">He shares this title with almost all of the most voracious [[Global warming denial#Notable deniers|climate deniers]].</ref> all he did was put the [[scientific consensus]] into [[Hollywood]] format.
*If Al's claims were at all genuine, he would lower his standard of living. He doesn't practice what he preaches! 
::When you see wildly-exaggerated claims like Gore telling people to "turn off all the lights in your house", you know they got their "facts" from conservative talk radio. Go look up the list of tips from ''An Inconvenient Truth'': it's simple stuff like "check your tire pressure" and "buy energy-efficient light bulbs". Furthermore, the argument is a fallacious [[tu quoque]] anyway.

In Laanta's words: 

{{quotebox|"Al Gore could be short, [[evil]] and fond of [[Human sacrifice|child sacrifice]]. He could emit more CO2 snoring at night than [[Christopher Monckton]] does all year. And his movie could be even ''more'' inaccurate than ''[[The Great Global Warming Swindle]]''. But this wouldn't change a thing."<ref name="Gore's Law"/>}}

Was ''[[An Inconvenient Truth]]'' [[Nobel Peace Prize|Nobel]]-worthy?  It's certainly debatable. While Gore was awarded for [[Popular science|popularizing]] the issue to the general public, others believe he received too much credit because the data involved [[Bandwagon#Examples|was never his in the first place]].<ref>[http://sandwalk.blogspot.ca/2007/10/al-gore-wins-nobel-peace-prize-for.html "Al Gore Wins the Nobel Peace Prize for Framing"], Sandwalk</ref>

==See also==
*[[Godwin's Law]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Eponymous laws}}{{logfal}}

[[Category:Climatology]]
[[Category:Denialism]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Fallacious arguments]]
[[Category:Global warming]]
[[Category:Science]]

Categories: Climatology, Denialism, Informal fallacies, Fallacious arguments, Global warming, Science