'The very existence of our civilization is threatened. People have no idea!' said Al Gore. Gore calls B.S. on climate skeptics

Al Gore is calling B.S. on global warming skeptics.

The former vice president and climate crusader told an Aspen Institute communications seminar Thursday that people who doubt climate science are the same ones who helped tobacco companies over four decades question the dangers of cigarette smoking.


"Some of the exact same people — by name I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this," Gore said. "And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullsh—! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullsh—! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullsh—!”

Gore's speech to the Aspen Institute was reported by Real Aspen, which added a brief audio segment of his comments Monday. Video of the event is expected to be available later this week, according to an official from the Aspen Institute. Carbondale, Colo., NPR affiliate KDNK also reported Gore's remarks Friday morning.

“There about 10 names out there,” Gore added. “When you go and talk to any audience about climate, you hear them washing back at you the same crap over and over and over again. They have polluted the sh—. There’s no longer a shared reality on an issue like climate even though the very existence of our civilization is threatened. People have no idea!"

Climate skeptics, Gore added, have made it nearly impossible to talk about the issue anymore.

"It’s no longer acceptable in mixed company, meaning bipartisan company, to use the goddamn word climate," he said. "It is not acceptable. They have polluted it to the point where we cannot possibly come to an agreement on it.”

According to Real Aspen, Gore also railed against conservative groups like American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity for the commercials they aired during the debt ceiling debate on Capitol Hill.

“Unnoticed in Washington and New York as the debt ceiling debate was going on, the ratio of television advertisements was nine to one on the ‘Don’t-lift-the-debt-ceiling debate. Spending is the problem.’ And now we’re going to tip the country back into recession. It’s absolutely insane,” Gore said.

Gore’s climate remarks come on the heels of a June essay in Rolling Stone where he lambasted the media's he said, she said reporting on climate science, as well as President Barack Obama's handling of the issue.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:17 p.m. on August 8, 2011.