Acutally both Al and Tipper track all of their travel and buy cabon offsets for all miles. Even without this I think that the amount of awareness they have brought to the issue of global warming might justify Al"s travel.

Curious Observer, you raise a really insightful question, and I absolutely agree with K A F that the miles racked up by people like Al Gore and others are justified by the awareness-raising that they're doing, as long as they take the carbon-offset approach. The only thing K A F forgot to mention is that we, too, can and should do the same when we fly, drive, or do other carbon-emitting activities. It's surprisingly inexpensive, so if we can afford to fly, we can afford to offset.

There are a number of organizations that sell "carbon credits," but I like to get them through our own Palo Alto-based environmental organization, Acterra. Here's a link: Web Link Look for the "Cool It!" program link at the top of the page.

Joanna H

Web Link

Please do research before buying into what His Highness Al Gore is spewing. BTW, his carbon "offsets" (read hypocrisy) are purchased from a company he co-founded, so basically he is paying himself. Hmmmmmm.......in addition to the 5 billion tax payer dollars that is wasted every year in this country, ignoramouses "feel" better when they waste even more of their hard earned dollars on carbon offsets. Truly pitiful.