Written By : John Hawkins

If tomorrow, Al Gore came to the conclusion that manmade global warming was bunk, would he be willing to say so? Certainly, it would be tough for him to do so given that he’s the face of global warming alarmism and that he’s received a Nobel Prize for his efforts.

Setting that aside, there’s a much bigger motivation for Al Gore to push global warming no matter what evidence comes in: his bank account depends on it.

Former Vice President Al Gore thought he had spotted a winner last year when a small California firm sought financing for an energy-saving technology from the venture capital firm where Mr. Gore is a partner.

The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient. It came to Mr. Gore’s firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital providers, looking for $75 million to expand its partnerships with utilities seeking to install millions of so-called smart meters in homes and businesses.

Mr. Gore and his partners decided to back the company, and in gratitude Silver Spring retained him and John Doerr, another Kleiner Perkins partner, as unpaid corporate advisers.

The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts. Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr. Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years.

Silver Spring Networks is a foot soldier in the global green energy revolution Mr. Gore hopes to lead. Few people have been as vocal about the urgency of global warming and the need to reinvent the way the world produces and consumes energy. And few have put as much money behind their advocacy as Mr. Gore and are as well positioned to profit from this green transformation, if and when it comes.

…Mr. Gore has invested a significant portion of the tens of millions of dollars he has earned since leaving government in 2001 in a broad array of environmentally friendly energy and technology business ventures, like carbon trading markets, solar cells and waterless urinals.

I’m not going to tell you that Al Gore doesn’t believe what he’s saying. He may very well believe in global warming alarmism. It certainly wouldn’t be unusual. There’s also nothing morally wrong with profiting from what you believe. Certainly, that’s not unusual in politics — so says the professional blogger who does that himself.

That being said, it does seem a bit curious that Al Gore is investing money in scientifically dubious business ventures that will thrive only if he’s successful in pushing global warming alarmism. It’s like a commission sales deal with Al Gore filling the role of Billy Mays. Think about that and how much of the “science” behind global warming is driven by who’s paying the bills of the people coming up with these doomsday scenarios. Al Gore is making money off of his investments. Most of the scientists claiming global warming is caused by mankind have to take that position to keep their jobs or get grants. Environmentalist groups can’t disagree on global warming and keep the donations rolling in. If you took the money out of global warming alarmism, the entire movement would probably collapse in short order.

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