Gore: Next President Will Be Greener

Former VP Urges U.S., China To Make "Boldest Moves" In Fighting Global Warming

(CBS/AP)  Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said Monday he believes the next U.S. president will shift the country's course on climate change and engage in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

"The new president, whichever party wins the election, is likely to have to change the position on this climate crisis," Gore told The Associated Press in an interview before the Nobel Prize ceremony. "I do believe the U.S., soon, is to have a more constructive role."

Gore said it was not too late for the administration of President George W. Bush to join efforts to draft a new global treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

"I have urged President Bush and his administration to be part of the world community's effort to solve this crisis," Gore said. "I hope they will change their position."

This morning Gore received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in educating the public and world leaders about the ramifications of global warming and the urgency to take steps in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

In accepting the prize he shared with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the former vice president said humanity risks sliding down a path of "mutually assured destruction."

"It is time to make peace with the planet," Gore said in his acceptance speech that evoked Churchill, Gandhi and the Bible. "We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war."

"We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency - a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here," Gore said at the gala ceremony in Oslo's city hall, in front of Norway's royalty, leaders and invited guests.

The United Nations panel was represented at the ceremony by its leader, Rajendra Pachauri.

In his acceptance speech today, Gore urged nations to impose a CO2 tax, and called for a moratorium on the building of new coal plants without the capacity to trap carbon.

He directed special attention to the United States and China, the world's biggest emitters of carbon emissions.

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Read Al Gore's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

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"While India is also growing fast in importance, it should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest CO2 emitters - and most of all, my own country - that will need to make the boldest moves, or stand accountable before history for their failure to act," Gore said.

"Both countries should stop using the other's behavior as an excuse for stalemate and instead develop an agenda for mutual survival in a shared global environment."

His remarks came as governments met in Bali, Indonesia, to start work on a new international treaty to reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions. Gore and Pachauri plan to fly there Wednesday to join the climate talks.

The governments hope to have a new pact to succeed the Kyoto accord in place by 2012, but Gore has said the urgency of the problem means they should aim to come to an agreement by 2010.

The Bush administration opposed the Kyoto treaty on climate change, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy and objecting that fast-developing nations like China and India were not required to reduce emissions.

At the Bali conference, representatives of the Bush administration last week dismissed calls for mandatory reductions in emissions called for by other nations, scientists and environmental advocates. "We will not alter our posture here," said Harlan Watson, the president's representative at the talks.

Pachauri described in his speech today how a warming climate could lead to flooding of low-lying countries, disruptions to food supply, the spread of diseases and the loss of biodiversity.

The impact "could prove extremely unsettling" for the world's poor and vulnerable, he said, and ended his speech with a question for the Bali conference: "Will those responsible for decisions in the field of climate change at the global level listen to the voice of science and knowledge, which is now loud and clear?"

Each Nobel Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma and a $1.6 million cash award.

The Nobel Prizes, first awarded in 1901, are always presented Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of their creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

The ceremony Monday will be followed by a parade and banquet in the winners' honor, and the traditional Nobel peace concert on Tuesday.

The other Nobel awards - in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and economics - will be presented at a separate ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

Speaking in a suite at the Grand Hotel in downtown Oslo prior to the ceremony, Gore said "Fate does not always give us the choice we'd like to make.

"I am under no illusion that there is a position in the world with as much potential for influencing the future as president of the United States, but that was not to be."

Despite the outcome of the disputed Florida vote count which was halted by the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, the former vice president said he was "grateful I found a way to play a useful role in helping to form the world's resolve to solve this crisis," following the 2000 election.

The 59-year-old politician turned climate campaigner repeated that he had "no plans" to run for the U.S. presidency again.

"I don't expect to ever be a candidate for public office again, but I don't see any reason to completely exclude the possibility of reconsidering that at some point in the future. I don't expect to, but I don't rule it out," he said again Monday.

[co2max]

realpatriot1--You are simply wrong in your statements and beliefs. The vast majority of inland, polar glacier fields are growing and thickening. It is the glacial margins in these areas that are suffering the decay and these ice regions lie mostly in sea-border areas. I do not make this up. As a geologist with colleages who know what I say is correct, I side with many highly recognized scientists who have publicly stated these facts. The climate zealots can only attack their them with character assassinations in a futile attempt to undermine their positions. Science really is on our side. The global warming phenomenon truly is almost entirely natural and the passage of time will show that we are correct. You have divorce yourself from your passions in order to see this issue clearly. As long as you seek to be polticially active and promote a popular cause, you will only continue to delude yourself and ally yourself with people who say silly, uneducated things like Nashgirl. I do not fault her for what she said; instead, I would like her to do some research on the subject and find out how glaciation works and what the interaction between oceans and polar ice really is. The dynamics of polar ice and alpine glaciers are completely different.

[realpatriot1]

CO2Max,

I''m not nearly as impressed by your 30 years of earth science experience as I am by the unanimity of the world''s National Academies of Science.

No one is saying that there have not been prior periods when the glaciers receded. That''s not the only evidence of what''s going on, it''s just your primary focus. Scientists far more eminent than you have studied past periods and the present and have found the rapidity of these factors to be unprecedented. The fact that inland glaciers not submerged in a lake are melting as rapidly as those submerged does render your previous response to Nashgirl to be a pile of *** in the context of her point that you attempting to refute.

[co2max]

A basic understanding of science would help all of you to understand what is happening in the world today. A focussed attention to Earth Science would be invaluable to you. Please try to keep up. I have 30 years experience in this field. Far from confused on this issue and topics relating to climate change, I have the geologic record on my side to know that abrupt climate change is not new and that what is happening presently pales by comparison to what has happened naturally just within the Holocene period. Take a look at what is termed the Younger Dryas cold phase of 11,200 years ago. Nothing like that is happening today.
As for the melting ice in the world. The vast majority of the decaying glaciation IS indeed the sea ice, that which is IN or ON the ocean. So no steaming pile of **** here whatsoever! The reduction of alpine glaciers is much more easy for us to see, but mountain ice coverage is a comparatively miniscule portion of the effect. Just keep in mind that glaciers are not living beings. It is sad to see them go, but we are witnessing the advanced stages of a process that began thousands of years before humans really started to get their act together. Please don''t let politics interfere with your intelligence. I have confidence that you can figure this out if you do some research and keep an open mind.

[aldee41]

The next President will be a Democrat.
Chose wisely. Chose Richardson.

[zuggerjack1]

Realpatriot1, you are right on the mark! We desperately need Al Gore in the Oval Office right now. And you''ve got the patience of Job for putting up with all this pseudoscience neocon nonsense. Keep up the good work, along with erasmus6, rheola, Nashgirl2, and the other intelligent folk.

These neocons, as they call themselves, want to pollute and dominate the world by spending money we don''t have, thereby driving our national debt into high-Earth orbit and destroying our planet in the process. Shame on them. BTW, it was none other than famous columnist William F. Buckley Jr. who coined the phrase "neoconservative" (shortened over the years to neocon) to describe these insulting, non-thinking, overly-aggressive types who are hellbent to ruin the planet to pad their bank accounts.

[realpatriot1]

CO2max,

The governments represented in Bali have much better access to scientific data and eminent scientists than you ever will.

Receding and expanding Glaciers are not new but the rapidity of the receding ice, the loss of natural habitat,and the rate of rising sea levels are.

You don''t have to be a scientist to observe what''s happening,you just have to have common sense greater than a gnat. Just the same, the National Academies of Sciences of every developed nation on earth recognize the obvious even if you don''t. By the way, your response to NashGirl regarding the majority of melting ice being in the water is a huge pile of steaming ***; go to Glacier National Park or the Glacial inland parks in Canada and check it out Einstein!

In 40 years Gore will be recognized as the man who saved the planet. People like you will also be rembered, but in a far different light.

[erasmus6]

CO2Max

I am not confused about anything, but you are.

[zuggerjack1]

When you have a seasoned, straight-talking, well-respected U.S. Senator like John McCain stating unequivocally that global warming is real, it''s here and we''ve got to stop it fast, then we''d all better listen up and pitch in. Remember, we don''t want to give our kids an uninhabitable, polluted planet. They deserve better.

[zuggerjack1]

When you have a seasoned, straight-talking, well-respected U.S. Senator like John McCain stating unequivocally that global warming is real, it''s here and we''ve got to stop it fast, then we''d all better listen up and pitch in. Remember, we don''t want to give our kids an uninhabitable, polluted planet. They deserve better.

[co2max]

erasmus- You have obviously confused carbon dioxide (a vital component of our environment, including the atmosphere) with real pollution. You activists have to get your campaign straight. The true environmental movement is being sacrificed while all this global warming paranoia frenzy is taking the spotlight.

[erasmus6]

We are DOOMED. There are too many idiots in the world.
There are probably more people with common sense but it won''t take many idiots to undo any progress that is made. The vast majority of people need to be on board or it just isn''t going to work.

People don''t even have to believe in global warming, they just have to believe that the world has become toxic from all the c-r-a-p that is going into our air and water and want to clean it up.

I don''t know rheola, I think that you have more faith than me that people will come to their senses.

[co2max]

rheola- Yes, indeed. Those fools in Bali are quite the bunch: selected governmental pawns who are not scientists, not climate experts (with a few exceptions) and certainly not interested in helping humanity or saving the poor in the world. They are on a political crusade. They will not succeed.

[rheola-2009]

Nashgirl12

Please do not confound the Climate change skeptics, with common sense.

They are so used to listening to their gods, the Psuedo scientists, they have great difficulty understanding logic.

[co2max]

Nashgirl2- You have initiated a good discussion with your idea. The failure in your thinking though is that it is almost entirely the ice in the water that is melting, in contact with the generally warmer water. The polar ice that is land-bound, higher therefore, remains almost entirely in sub-freezing-point conditions year-round. Any melting that takes place there is due to sublimation but is typically replaced by snowfall and subsequent firn-ice formation on a seasonal basis. It is true on the other hand that much of the Alpine glaciers are retreating, but this is not a new phenomenon. You should be aware too that that there is a number of anomalous glaciers which are advancing, often in close proximity to those which are in decay. Much more than temperature is at work here.

[nashgirl2]

If a piece of ice is placed in a glass of glass of water (ocean) without spilling any over, it won''t spill over when it melts. HOWEVER, when you place a large piece of ice in a glass of water (ocean) that towers above the glass, it will spill over when it melts. Much of the glacier ice in this world is not in the water - it is on top of mountains. If it melts, it will cause flooding as it enters rivers and eventually, the ocean. A majority of Earth''s freshwater is contained in glaciers and ice caps which cover about 10% of the land on Earth (well above sea level). In the case of glacial ice, the ice isn''t even in the glass of water, so it will overflow when it joins the glass of water (ocean). I guess I''ve heard the "ice in the glass won''t spill over" excuse once too many times because it just doesn''t apply to the melting of glaciers. Let''s stick with logic.

[rheola-2009]

All those fools are so misinformed.

Posted by rheola

I just loveit when pot calls kettle black.


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Posted by mudrose at 04:26 PM : Dec 11, 2007


And to whom was I referring.

[mudrose-2009]

What do we need the Bali conference for when we have an expert as is Gaye 5.

All those fools are so misinformed.

Posted by rheola

I just loveit when pot calls kettle black.

[rheola-2009]

What do we need the Bali conference for when we have an expert as is Gaye 5.

All those fools are so misinformed.

[mudrose-2009]

THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL BE A TREE. DEFINITELY MUCH, MUCH GREENER.

[prairiefox1]

THEmagic07::

Just check obamas voting record! of 60 issues in the senate he was there to vote only 6 times! check his voting record and let that speak for its self!
I have talked to friends in Illinois and they would not elect him for garbage man! He knows he has blown his job and trying to get another one!
FROM HIS PAST RECORD HE JUST IS NOT EMPLOYABLE!