Al Gore's New Campaign

Tells 60 Minutes That Doubting Global Warming Is Man-Made Is Akin To Believing Earth Is Flat

(CBS)  "It's so daunting," Stahl remarked.

"We don't have any choice. We just don't have any choice. I wish I knew a better way to do it. I constantly ask myself, 'How can I be more effective in getting this message across?' It's so clear. It's so compelling. And yet, it takes time to get the facts out," Gore said.

But it's not so clear and compelling to everyone.

"There's still a lot of skepticism about whether global warming is man made," Stahl remarked.

"I don't think there's a lot. I think there’s…" Gore said.

"Well, there's pretty impressive people like the vice president," Stahl pointed out. "He said, 'We don't know what causes it.'"

"You’re talking about Dick Cheney," Gore replied.

"Yeah, but others. And they say: we don’t know what causes it and why spend all this money till we really know," Stahl said.

"I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view. They’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the earth is flat. That demeans them a little bit, but it’s not that far off," Gore said.

What Al Gore has set out to do is mobilize a big, popular movement worldwide. And his winning the Nobel Peace Prize hasn’t hurt, since it’s given him more stature and prestige.

"Tomorrow is your 60th birthday," Stahl remarked during her interview with Gore. "Sorry, didn't want to be the one, to be the first to tell ya. Have you completely, totally put the idea of the presidency behind you once and for all?"

"Well, first of all, 60 is the new 59. So, this is a new world that we're in," Gore replied.

"So, you're a young man," Stahl joked.

"I doubt very seriously that I'll ever be a candidate again," Gore replied.

He says he's fallen out of love with politics. He's selling a cause now, and there are no consultants telling him what to say or how to dress.

"We all seem to learn the most from the most painful experiences. And would that it were not so. But it is so. And the old cliché - what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger - is sometimes true," Gore said. "And so when you go through a lot, you do have an opportunity to learn a lot. And I think I’ve been very fortunate."