The Gore Effect

Snowed Out Global Warming Rally

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had to cancel an appearance Monday at a global warming rally in Washington, D.C., that was hit by a snowstorm because her flight was delayed, her office told CNSNews.com.

Brianna Cayo-Cotter, the spokesman for the Energy Action Coalition that held the rally, told a group of reporters that she had been in contact with Pelosi and that her flight had been delayed because of inclement weather.

A blizzard Sunday night and early Monday morning blanketed the nation’s capital with snow, causing events to be cancelled and delayed across the city.

House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who was scheduled to speak at the global warming event, also canceled his appearance because of the inclement weather, a spokesman from his committee’s office told CNSNews.com on Monday. .....

The event did occur, however, and despite the lawmakers' absence, about 500 protesters braved temperatures in the mid-20s and congregated on the Capitol lawn. ....

God has a wicked sense of humor:

"Global warming activists stormed Washington Monday for what was billed as the nation's largest act of civil disobedience to fight climate change -- only to see the nation's capital virtually shut down by a major winter storm.

Schools and businesses were shuttered, lawmakers cancelled numerous appearances and the city came to a virtual standstill as Washington was blasted with its heaviest snowfall of the winter.

It spelled about six inches of trouble for global warming activists who had hoped to swarm the Capitol by the thousands in an effort to force the government to close the Capitol Power Plant, which heats and cools a number of government buildings, including the Supreme Court and the Capitol."

Nancy Pelosi had planned on attending the global warming protest, but her flight to Washington was canceled due to the weather. This is yet another example of the so-called Gore Effect, which the website Urban Dictionary defines as, "the phenomenon that leads to unseasonably cold temperatures, driving rain, hail, or snow visits an area to discuss global warming." Some examples of the Gore Effect:

• January 2004: Gore delivers speeches in Boston and New York City on one of the coldest days in either city's history
• November 2006: Gore visits New Zealand, New Zealand experiences unusually cold October, hurting local Farmers
• November 15, 2006: Al Gore visits Australia
• November 16, 2006: Snow falls in Queensland Australia for the first time in at least 65 years.
• March 2007: Capitol Hill media briefing on global warming canceled due to a snowstorm
• October 2008: Gore gives global warming speech at Harvard in 125 year record breaking cold temperatures