Saturday, October 20, 2007 Libre: Never count a good man out By Mel Libre Seriously Now
AL GORE was supposedly destined to fill the shoes left by Bill Clinton as president of the United States. Though affected by the Clinton-Lewinsky debacle, Gore was still able to obtain more votes from the electorates than his rival; but he failed in getting the majority of the states in America’s unique presidential voting system. As we all know, George W. Bush claimed the White House, and Gore pursued a path that was more sci-fi than real.
Scientists studying the environment have been branded as doomsayers for painting a horrific picture of the world going through another ice age as a result of global warming. Most leaders eventually realized that the catastrophic scenario was unfolding before their very eyes. What were annual gatherings among earth lovers became serious dialogues that culminated in the adoption of definitive documents including the Kyoto Protocol.
But the US under the Bush Administration did not want to have anything to do with the Kyoto Protocol as such would make a huge financial burden on American companies emitting gases that strain the earth’s ecosystem. Mr. Bush could not possibly turn his back on corporate America suffering from competition from all corners of the globe. Or it could be that the American president has been tied up with fighting wars in the Middle East that have gone awry?
The involvement of Gore in an issue put in the dustbin by Bush pushed the former US vice president to the forefront of the pro-environment movement that was in search for an establishment figure, rather than one with an activist mold. Articulate, well connected and high profile, Gore is any campaigner’s dream. Taking full advantage of media and technology, Gore and his supporters made a documentary film, “Inconvenient Truth,” which became a must-see film. It became as popular as such breakthrough documentaries as Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and Luc Jacquet’s “March of the Penguins.” Knowingly or unknowingly, the film catapulted Gore into rock star status in the level of Bob Geldof and U2’s Bono.
Many may have been caught by surprise when Al Gore became the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Does a film about the environment and the global concert on climate change make one worthy of the award previously won by such luminaries like Jean Henri Dunant (founder of the Red Cross), Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela? A further look at Gore’s career will reveal, though, that as early as the ‘70s, as a congressman, he had co-sponsored hearings on toxic waste and in the ‘80s, on global warming.
He has been involved with Earth Day celebrations and pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Treaty, which called for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions though he was opposed by the US Senate.
The award, shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was given “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
In accepting the prize, Gore said: “The climate crisis is not a political issue it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.”
Congratulations, Mr. Gore. You may have lost the presidential elections in the US, but the world has embraced you and your cause.
