Al Gore's New Campaign

When Al Gore ran for president in 2000, he was often ridiculed as inauthentic and wooden. Today he is passionate and animated, a man transformed. His documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Oscar, and last year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now he's a certified celebrity, the popular prophet of global warming, and has helped change the way the country thinks about the issue.

And yet while 70 percent of Americans believe global warming is a big problem, they still rank it near the very bottom of their list of top 25 concerns.

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Photos: Al Gore "Green" Media Star

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And so Al Gore is about to wage a new campaign to emphasize the urgency of what he says is the greatest challenge facing our time. But as correspondent Lesley Stahl found out while spending time with him and his wife Tipper, for the moment at least, there's another campaign Americans care about most.

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"We were with you in the San Jose Airport. And a man came over to you and he says 'Who are you supporting, Obama or Hillary? Who are you supporting? Who are you supporting?'" Stahl asked.

Gore's response to the man? "Uh ha."

"So, let me ask you. Who are you supporting?" Stahl asked.

"I'm tryin' to stay out of it," Gore replied.

Getting Al Gore to talk about politics these days is hard work. But as a party leader and uncommitted superdelegate, his staying "out of it" isn't easy.

"Are they calling you every minute?" Stahl asked.

"Not every minute," Gore said.

"No? Lotta pressure though, I'll bet," Stahl remarked.

"We unplugged the phones for this interview, so I can't say with authority. But no, everyone -- they both call. And I appreciate that fact," Gore replied.

"And what about the idea of the honest broker who goes to the two candidates and helps push one or the other of them off to the side?" Stahl asked.

"Yeah, kind of a modern Boss Tweed," Gore remarked.

"Except his name would be Al Gore," Stahl said.

"Well, I'm not applying for the job of broker," Gore replied, laughing.

He's not ruling it out, but he says he already has a job, as he puts it, "P.R." agent for the planet.

"You have said, and I'm going to quote you, 'If I do my job right, all the candidates will be talking about the climate crisis,'" Stahl said. "I can't think of a time I've heard the candidates talk about it."

"Right. Well, I'm not finished yet," Gore said.

The Gore campaign on global warming went into high gear when his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" was an unexpected hit. What he's been doing is holding seminars, where he trains other people to give his famous slideshow about the effects of greenhouse gases.

So far in all, he's coached about 2,000 people, teaching one little workshop at a time.

His slideshows are tailored to his audiences. For example, when he talks to evangelical Christians, he includes passages from the Bible.

Gore is trying to redefine this as a moral and spiritual issue. "We all share the exact same interest in doing the right thing on this. Who are we as human beings? Are we destined to destroy this place that we call home, planet earth? I can't believe that that's our destiny. It is not our destiny. But we have to awaken to the moral duty that we have to do the right thing and get out of this silly political game-playing about it. This is about survival," he said.

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[ghendric]

Ok, let's say cap and trade tax passes and becomes law. Instead of Al Gore and the creators of the bill getting rich off it like they are intending, why not take all that new tax money and give it to the poor?? They want to spread the wealth right? Then spread it! Throw some my way. I'm poor..

[natb1]

Catastrophic Man Caused Global Warming is a theory of many scientists. It was politically hijacked to become undisputable fact. As for scientific motivations, warmers stand to gain more with this "fact". Atmospheric scientists are largely payed by grants and universities. If there is no impending catasrophy, they are less important to us. To the degree they are paid by private industry (weather people), they still need the crisis to talk about. The whole topic dominates television and advertising revenue now; Nat. Geo., Discovery, Hist. ChH, Weather Channel, MTV, Nightly News, Cable News, etc...
All manner of Industies are now trying to attract the "green" dollars, and create an eco-friendly image.

Anyone notice how HUGE this issue became after G.W.B. was sworn in?

We are NOT having an honest discussion on this topic at all. Noboby is honestly considering the merit of others arguments. Further evidence of complete politization of science.

[natb1]

1. Leslie shows once again what a political hack she is. CBS, get a "counter hack" for balance please. "*** Cheyne is the most credible denier"?

2. The Hundreds and Thousands of qualified Scientists (The most authoritative and experienced in the field) are never mentioned. Especially when 60 Minutes goal is to prop up its political "Luke Skywalkers".

3. You young people who think you know it all. History didnt start when you were born.

4. The most extreme weather on this planet is in its past. Tropical fossils in Arctic Regions and Mountain tops. Ice covering America down to Texas.

5. The sun, water vapor, and valcanic activity are THE MAJOR factors of the Earths Climate. Did you catch the documentary on Nat. Geo. teaching vulcanic activity in the "Ring of Fire" (thats the ring of vulcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean) has increased 200% in the last 100 years? Whas that a Lie?

6. We "may" be warming, as the planet has done many times, and we may NEED IT! We are going to need MORE cultivatable land in the future. Corn likes CO2!

[natb1]

1. Leslie shows once again what a political hack she is. CBS, get a "counter hack" for balance please. "*** Cheyne is the most credible denier"?

2. The Hundreds and Thousands of qualified Scientists (The most authoritative and experienced in the field) are never mentioned. Especially when 60 Minutes goal is to prop up its political "Luke Skywalkers".

3. You young people who think you know it all. History didnt start when you were born.

4. The most extreme weather on this planet is in its past. Tropical fossils in Arctic Regions and Mountain tops. Ice covering America down to Texas.

5. The sun, water vapor, and valcanic activity are THE MAJOR factors of the Earths Climate. Did you catch the documentary on Nat. Geo. teaching vulcanic activity in the "Ring of Fire" (thats the ring of vulcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean) has increased 200% in the last 100 years? Whas that a Lie?

6. We "may" be warming, as the planet has done many times, and we may NEED IT! We are going to need MORE cultivatable land in the future. Corn likes CO2!

[forge98]

I have two questions. Will someone at 60 Minutes define the word "prophet?" I can only speak for myself. Al Gore and prophet don''t often show up together in my mind. Demagogue, now that is a word that seems to describe him. Anyone who dares to defy his OPINION is trivialized by him. What credential does he have that our VP doesn''t on global warming?

[csb1021]

I''''m only 29 but in my lifetime we have witnessed more than just a few eco-systems collapse.

ok what collapses. Name some. I need to know. Prove your point.

[mrkuren]

People who doubt global warming, and encourage this rampant expansion of industry have a pretty weak argument. You don''t need to be a scientist to see the effects we are having on our PLANET (not just the climate). I''m only 29 but in my lifetime we have witnessed more than just a few eco-systems collapse. All these systems are connected and we depend on them just as much as any other creature. We are seeing changing weather patterns which effect the areas we plant crops on, live in etc. The food is about to become far less abundant than weapons. People who think otherwise are generally the same people who don''t want to look more than 5 feet in front of their face, and then act surprised when they walk into a telephone pole. Aliens would laugh at us and shake their heads the same way we do for lemmings.

[ggreeves]

Only a fool would go to a politician for scientific truth. Neither the present nor the former Vice President is competent on the science of human CO2 releases. The embarrassing errors in Gore''s movie prove his gullibility on the issue.

A competent news organization would notice that nearly all the "scientists" who say that human CO2 is an impending disaster are being paid to say so. Their careers and research grants depend on fanning the hysteria. On the other hand there is a large group of scientists who are not being paid on the issue who point out that the data does not support the hysteria.

CBS should return to seeking truth even if it gets lower ratings than hysteria. Perhaps 60 Minutes could do a story on fake paid "science". Paid "scientific" opinions which distort the facts are widely used by trial lawyers, fund raisers, and politicians.

[ggreeves]

Only a fool would go to a politician for scientific truth. Neither the present nor the former Vice President is competent on the science of human CO2 releases. The embarrassing errors in Gore''s movie prove his gullibility on the issue.

A competent news organization would notice that nearly all the "scientists" who say that human CO2 is an impending disaster are being paid to say so. Their careers and research grants depend on fanning the hysteria. On the other hand there is a large group of scientists who are not being paid on the issue who point out that the data does not support the hysteria.

CBS should return to seeking truth even if it gets lower ratings than hysteria. Perhaps 60 Minutes could do a story on fake paid "science". Paid "scientific" opinions which distort the facts are widely used by trial lawyers, fund raisers, and politicians.

[notoobrite]

Could anybody please tell me why, if the world is covered by 70% water, global warming science conveniently forgets to add this fact into its equation.