Gee thanks, Al Gore: Ultra-wealthy former politician who made stupid public policy decisions because of special interest influence warns us about the evils of policy influence by wealth and special interests

Stanford Daily | Al Gore calls on audience to reclaim “hacked” democracy

Former Vice President Al Gore pulled no punches in a 45-minute speech in Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday evening, calling on students to “change the conversation” around climate change and reclaim a democracy that has been “hacked” by the wealthy and special interests.

2008: Gore Launches $300 Million Climate Change Initiative

Former Vice President Al Gore is set to unveil a three-year, $300 million climate change campaign Wednesday, one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history, the Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports

January 2013: $100 Million in Oil Money Richer, Al Gore's Unsure Why Critics Are Being So Critical - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire

Lauer asked Gore if there wasn't a "bit of hypocrisy" in a climate change crier like himself selling Current TV for half a billion fossil fuel dollars, $100 million of which went straight to Gore.

Nov 2010: Al Gore Reverses View on Ethanol, Blames Politics for Previous Support | Fox News

"It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," Reuters quoted Gore saying of the U.S. policy that is about to come up for congressional review. "First-generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small.

"One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president," the wire service reported Gore saying.