Burt is clearly intelligent enought to raise good questions, but not to be taken as an expert. I stand by the going to the source as the better apporach. You'll get no complaint from me for dismissing Gore or any other nonscientist as a non expert either. What I do have a problem with is people like you finding fault blunders made by a nontech like Gore and acting as if it invalidates the work of real scientists.

His space safety record is what matters, because that is where he has dissed NASA. NASA has far more successes than he. NASA has tended to overlook hazards in the known and be too timid to face the unknown currently. They are paralyzed by fear of failure. It that sense they are making space hard. Burt might be overlooking the hazards of the unknown.

Regards,
Mark