Canwest News Service

Al Gore has been accused of profiting from the climate-change agenda after claims that he is on course to become the first “carbon billionaire.” The former U.S. vice-president is in line to make a large profit from a firm producing smart meters that monitor household electricity use.

he is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm that invested $80 million in Silver Spring Networks, a California company that developed the technology to make the electricity grid more efficient.

The U.S. Energy Department recently announced $3.5 billion in grants for “green” projects. A proportion of that, thought to be more than $540 million, will go to utility operators with which Silver Spring has contracts.

The venture capitalists who invested, including Gore, are poised to receive a handsome return.

Since leaving office, 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 Gore giving slide shows about the catastrophic effects of climate change. he has presented the slide show more than 1,000 times.

Gore, who won a Nobel Peace 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, Gore’s personal fortune has risen from $2 million to an estimated $106 million.

he has made significant investments in environmentally friendly projects such as carbon-trading markets, solar power, biofuels, electric vehicles, sustainable fish farming and waterless toilets. he has also invested in non-climate-change-related businesses, including putting money into Google and Apple.

Gore says that it was “certainly not true” that he was going to become a “carbon billionaire” and that the suggestion came from global-warming deniers.

“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,” he said.

At a hearing earlier this year on clean-energy legislation, Gore was challenged by Marsha Blackburn, a Republican congresswoman, over his investments.

she said: “The legislation that we are discussing here today — is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?” 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, 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.” Gore said he was “proud” of his record of investing in green technology.

But global-warming skeptics were not convinced.

Marc Morano of climate-depot.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 [nothing] compared to what he is going to make in five years if all these new carbon-trading mandates go through.”

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