Gore wins Nobel

[CCTAU 3,350]

Make up a book full of lies and you too have a chance to win. I'm surprised that M. Moore wasn't a close second. I knew after Carter won that something was amiss. Now I am sure that this prize does not mean $hit.

Gore Wins the Nobel. But Will He Run?

By ERIC POOLEY 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

For the past year, Al Gore has gone about his considerable business without showing much interest in running for president. While picking up an Oscar and an Emmy, publishing a very smart book and playing host at a global concert for the planet, he's never done more than tease the idea. And yet all that time, the leaders of the Draft Gore movement have been clinging to a single fervid dream: that Gore would win the Nobel Peace Prize and use it to catapult himself to an eleventh-hour bid for the presidency.

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Now the Nobel Committee has done its part, awarding Gore the Peace Prize for being "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted" to combat climate change, according to his citation. (The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was also a joint winner of the prize.) And so, after the obligatory spasms of celebration and the equally obligatory gnashing of Rush Limbaugh's teeth, will Americans finally get to enjoy one of the great spectacles in political history, as Gore's ultimate honor levitates him beyond his leading rival, Hillary Clinton, and into the Oval Office?

Nope.

Let me be clear. If Al Gore gets into the presidential race, I'll eat my copy of An Inconvenient Truth. (The paperback, not the DVD.) I've spent a good deal of time with Gore this year, while writing a TIME cover story about him. I think he's staying out of the race - and I think I know why. But before I get into that, let me offer a few thoughts about what's not keeping him on the sidelines. I don't think Gore is staying out because of all the logistical difficulties that running would entail. Sure, it would be challenging to staff up a national organization and build the county-by-county teams he'd need to compete in the early states. True, he has no shadow campaign lurking in the background and waiting to be deployed. But he could hire one, recruiting first-rate people from other campaigns as they fade; and he could enlist his vast army of grassroots followers as well as his Silicon Valley friends in a rainmaking operation mighty enough to compete against the fundraising prowess of Clinton and Barack Obama. So the logistics, though daunting, aren't what's keeping Gore out.

Nor do I believe that Hillary Clinton is keeping Gore from running. It's true that Gore's late-entry presidential calculus always required Hillary to stumble, and it's true she has not done so - to the contrary, she has extended her lead nationally, edged ahead in Iowa, and taken on an aura of invincibility that has brought the Democratic power structure into line behind her. One hundred and thirty-six thousand people may have signed Draft Gore petitions, but most Dems seem pleased with their current candidates - and especially with the frontrunner. To borrow a phrase from Barack Obama, the Clinton machine is fired up and ready to go, and Gore doesn't relish the idea of being caught beneath its wheels.

But that's not the nub of it either. Hillary is just a sideshow; the main event is unfolding deep inside Gore. Consider: He put himself in position to win the Nobel by committing to an issue bigger than himself - the fight to save the planet. If he runs for president now, he'll be hauling himself back up onto that dusty old pedestal, signaling that he is, after all, the most important thing in his world. Sure, he'd say he was doing it because he feels a moral obligation to intervene in a time of unparalleled crisis. But running for president is by definition an act of hubris, and Gore has spent the past couple of years defying his ego and sublimating himself to a larger goal. Running for president would mean returning to a role he'd already transcended. He'd turn into - again - just another politician, when a lot of people thought he might be something better than that.

And he'd be risking a hard-won happiness. Gore is happier these days because he is living the kind of life he always wanted to lead. He's happier these days because he is free from the excruciating requirements of electoral politics, the glad-handing and the money-grubbing that drove him deeper into himself the more he was forced to reach out. And, finally, he's happier now because he has been vindicated. The Nobel is an acknowledgment that Gore was right about the greatest global threat we face (and that this is the year when most everyone else finally figured out he was right). Winning the Peace Prize may not place Gore among the global saints, the Nelson Mandelas of the world; but it does place him among the laureates who are beloved in some quarters and loathed in others - those highly charged Prizewinners like Jimmy Carter.

That's not a bad place to be, but you won't find Gore gloating about it. This Prize, after all, is a recognition that Gore has done more than anyone else (excepting Mother Nature) to bring about a sea change in public opinion. An overwhelming majority of Americans - 90% of Democrats, 80% of independents, 60% of Republicans - now say they favor "immediate action" to confront the climate crisis. Gore helped make that happen, but he can't take too much satisfaction in it. As he told me last spring, "Time is running out, and we still haven't done anything."

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[TitanTiger 20,511]

How does running off at the mouth about global warming merit a Nobel Peace Prize? That's moronic.

[CCTAU 3,350]

How does running off at the mouth about global warming merit a Nobel Peace Prize? That's moronic.

I guess because he "raised" world awareness. Well Sadaam raised world awareness about not running off at the mouth about having WMDs. Where is his nobel? He at least saved Kadahfi by his example.

[Justin5 20]

I understand why people don't like Al Gore. I really do. That said, just because you don't like him doesn't make what he says lies. There has been exhaustive research on global warming and not ONE reputable source has come back saying its not happening and that human are a main source. (I dare you to find one.)

But lets even take it a step further. Say they Global Warming is a big lie. All he is advocating is more intelligent and efficient uses of energy. Is that really such a bad thing?

Sometimes I just don't get people.

[TexasTiger 13,032]

Don't worry, my Republican friends...the Supreme Court just stepped in and awared it to Bush.

[AURaptor 1,126]

So AlGore finally won SOMETHING in his life. Hurray! Never mind the fact that he basically rigged the voting by having his fact challenged movie serve as his cause celeb, a crisis which doesn't exists. Shows ya how worthless the NPP has become.

[AFTiger 282]

I understand why people don't like Al Gore. I really do. That said, just because you don't like him doesn't make what he says lies. There has been exhaustive research on global warming and not ONE reputable source has come back saying its not happening and that human are a main source. (I dare you to find one.)

But lets even take it a step further. Say they Global Warming is a big lie. All he is advocating is more intelligent and efficient uses of energy. Is that really such a bad thing?

Sometimes I just don't get people.

Au Contraire my naive friend. The Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to a propogandist. He not advocating a more intellegent use of energy but is attacking the fundimentals of free enterprise.

Man made global warming is a false religion not founded in fact. In fact, most reputable climatologists are questioning the man made theory.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

A convientint fiction

[japantiger 4,051]

Justin5, first off, as other posters have shown, there is a large body of the scientific community that disagrees with man made global warming (will be glad to provide other references..of just pick up a copy of Nature most weeks where they regularly debunk "truths" of the global warming religion. The reality is, you don't disprove specious arguments, you ask the people making them to prove them. For example, if I said, Justin5, how come you're an idiot....do you think you should be forced to disprove it...or should I be forced to prove it? The reality is no one has proven man made warming. There are no observations, no imperical evidence...there are "climate models" that predict it...

All of this comes from computer models. These models ignore most of the major contributors to atmospheric heating and make the leap that CO2 is the cause. It is true CO2 and heating correlate...but CO2 does not cause heating..it actually follows heating. Your point that "even if he is wrong, he is right" is childish. He is proposing massive tax hikes and crippling controls on our economy. We need to be damn sure before we do that... In the likely event he is wrong (like his global cooling counterparts of the '70's), why would I cripple our economy, put thousands out of work, and degrade our quality of life?

Rather than walking the talk himself, he has shown no willingness to alter his lifestyle....so if he truly believes this, why doesn't he change his behavior? What he actually does in response is buy and sell carbon credits (jee, that's sort of like nasty old capitalism isn't it?). He continued his decadant lifestyle, but buys a carbon credit that keeps an Indian peasant using a handpump instead of an electic wellpump. Wow, what a human being....he keeps his lifestyle by denying those in the developing world economic and technological development...guess that explains why they give him the same award they gave Yasir Arfat....he was a real humanitarian too...if you can get past the hundreds of murders he committed when he was the leading terrorist in the middle east.

[TexasTiger 13,032]

So AlGore finally won SOMETHING in his life. Hurray! Never mind the fact that he basically rigged the voting by having his fact challenged movie serve as his cause celeb, a crisis which doesn't exists. Shows ya how worthless the NPP has become.

[AURaptor 1,126]

So AlGore finally won SOMETHING in his life. Hurray! Never mind the fact that he basically rigged the voting by having his fact challenged movie serve as his cause celeb, a crisis which doesn't exists. Shows ya how worthless the NPP has become.

Seems you're inability to deny anything I said is an admission of truth. Oh, but you'll make silly emoticon faces, as that's all you have the guts to do. John Stewart does much of the same on his show. No substansitive reply, no counter, but just childish face making. Works for the dimwits in his audience though.

[AFTiger 282]

So AlGore finally won SOMETHING in his life. Hurray! Never mind the fact that he basically rigged the voting by having his fact challenged movie serve as his cause celeb, a crisis which doesn't exists. Shows ya how worthless the NPP has become.

Seems you're inability to deny anything I said is an admission of truth. Oh, but you'll make silly emoticon faces, as that's all you have the guts to do. John Stewart does much of the same on his show. No substansitive reply, no counter, but just childish face making. Works for the dimwits in his audience though.

I read his reply to mean that he agreed with you!!?

[CCTAU 3,350]

So AlGore finally won SOMETHING in his life. Hurray! Never mind the fact that he basically rigged the voting by having his fact challenged movie serve as his cause celeb, a crisis which doesn't exists. Shows ya how worthless the NPP has become.

Seems you're inability to deny anything I said is an admission of truth. Oh, but you'll make silly emoticon faces, as that's all you have the guts to do. John Stewart does much of the same on his show. No substansitive reply, no counter, but just childish face making. Works for the dimwits in his audience though.

I read his reply to mean that he agreed with you!!?

Nobody can tell.

The NPP has slowly traveled the path of the crimson turds. It has been circling the bowl for years, this just completes the flush.

[Tigermike 3,055]

I declare an International Smugness Alert declared!

The question that should be asked is.

What has Al Gore done for world peace?

Damian Thompson

Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 12/10/2007

So Al Gore is the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Admittedly, he has to share it with the United Nations’ climate change panel - but, even so, I think we need to declare an international smugness alert.

The former US Vice-President has already taken over from Michael Moore as the most sanctimonious lardbutt Yank on the planet. Can you imagine what he'll be like now that the Norwegian Nobel committee has given him the prize?

More to the point, can you imagine how enormous his already massive carbon footprint will become once he starts jetting around the world bragging about his new title?

Just after Gore won an Oscar for his global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth - in which he asked American households to cut their use of electricity - the Tennessee Centre for Policy Research took a look at Al's energy bills.

It reckoned that his 20-room, eight-bathroom mansion in Nashville sometimes uses twice the energy in one month that the average American household gets through in a year. The combined energy and gas bills for his estate came to nearly $30,000 in 2006. Ah, say his defenders, but he uses rainwater to flush his lavatories. Is there enough rainwater in the world, I wonder?

There are so many reasons why Gore shouldn't have won the peace prize for his preachiness. Alas, it is too late to influence their decision, but I'd have liked to refer the judges to a ruling by Mr Justice Burton, a High Court judge who has criticised the Government for sending out An Inconvenient Truth to schools without a health warning. The reason? It's full of errors and unsubstantiated claims.

The judge is not saying that Gore's basic thesis is wrong (and nor am I). In a way, his findings are more damning than that.

Gore claims that the rises in carbon dioxide and temperature over 650,000 years show an "exact fit". That's wrong, says Mr Justice Burton: there is a connection, but not a precise correlation.

Gore predicts sea levels rising by up to 20ft in the near future. Not so, according to the judge: that will happen only after millions of years.

Those low-lying Pacific atolls that Gore claims have been evacuated? No evidence. Polar bears who drowned swimming to look for ice? Again, no evidence: four bears have drowned - but because of a storm.

None of which will surprise seasoned Gore-watchers. The man is not, as his enemies maintained when he ran against George W. Bush in 2000, a pants-on-fire liar. He's an exaggerator and a braggart.

He never claimed to have invented the internet; he said he "took the initiative in creating the internet", which is about a quarter true - he was among the first congressmen to support the invention.

In 1999, he boasted about having uncovered the most famous toxic waste site in America ("I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal"). Yes, but Love Canal was already notorious by the time Gore "found" it.

That's typical of his arrogance, says the non-partisan US politics website Skeleton Closet: "When he says the words 'little place', you can feel him struggling to contain his pleasure with his good deeds."

Gore struggles with his memory, too. "I certainly learnt a lot from 3,000 town hall meetings across …Tennessee over a 16-year period," he told National Public Radio. And so he would have, had he actually attended 187 town hall meetings a year, which is what it works out as: he might even have managed to hold his home state in 2000.

But my favourite Gore memory lapse is his account of being sung to sleep with the lullaby Look for the Union Label, written in 1975. How sweet: being sung to sleep by your parents at the age of 27.

Then there's his evasiveness on the subject of alleged ethical violations. He resorts to "legalisms", says Skeleton Closet: although he might technically be in the right, "he has such a tin ear for the way normal people talk that he sounds like a mafia don".

But there is a more fundamental objection to awarding Gore the peace prize that goes beyond issues of character. Climate change is a threat to the environment, not to "peace" and international order. The prize has gone to some sleazy recipients in the past, but at least you can make a case that their actions staved off bloodshed.

Lumping together global warming and terrorism, as David Cameron did in his conference speech, is a rhetorical sleight of hand typical of opportunistic politicians who are trying to hoover up liberal and conservative votes at the same time. I don't think that description applies to the Tory leader, but it sure as hell fits Albert Gore, Jr.

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[autiger4life 3]

I'm actually going to throw a few people here and say that after doing some personal research I think man caused global warming is pretty unlikely. Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize pretty much takes away any credibility it had in my opinion. How has he created any peace? Even if what he says is true(which I highly doubt) what has he done for peace. Someone said to me that with us being more green, we can be less dependent on oil and thus have more peace. Well hell, if that happens because of what he has done then we can talk about it, but scientist are awarded the nobel prize in their field for something they thought off, they get it for finding something or proving it. He has caused absolutely no peace.

I understand why people don't like Al Gore. I really do. That said, just because you don't like him doesn't make what he says lies. There has been exhaustive research on global warming and not ONE reputable source has come back saying its not happening and that human are a main source. (I dare you to find one.)

But lets even take it a step further. Say they Global Warming is a big lie. All he is advocating is more intelligent and efficient uses of energy. Is that really such a bad thing?

First there is a large group of scientist who disagree with it and give specific examples of why his examples make no sense(see James Spann). Second there was a major debate in New York between three of the top global warming experts for it and three against it(Al Gore refused to debate the subject as he has done many times) and the people who claimed it wasn't true were declared the resounding winners. The people in the audience were polled before and after and an increase of like 20% said they doubt it exist after hearing the debate. There is tons of proof that a lot is fabricated.

Anyone who studies the history of the earth knows the earth goes in cycles. Before humans were here it was not uncommon for the temperature to change 10 degrees in a decade. The heating of the earth caused the polar caps to melt, which causes the change of currents and thus ice ages. It has happened several times before now and at a very similar rate. Pretty much everything Al Gore has said has been disproved by different scientist. This is one where I will agree not to just believe the media and the celebrities, its just a fun topic for them to think about while they fly their jumbo jets to visit exotic peaceful places.

Seems you're inability to deny anything I said is an admission of truth. Oh, but you'll make silly emoticon faces, as that's all you have the guts to do. John Stewart does much of the same on his show. No substansitive reply, no counter, but just childish face making. Works for the dimwits in his audience though.

If you watch Stewart with some of his political guest(not just the ones who wrote a book) you can see just how intelligent he is. I'm sure you have only seen it a few times or see it when Fox and Friends tries to make it look bad, but he does a really good show by using serious topics and making them funny. Whether you agree with his view he does a great job accomplishing the goal of his show.

[quietfan 233]

How has he created any peace? Even if what he says is true(which I highly doubt) what has he done for peace. Someone said to me that with us being more green, we can be less dependent on oil and thus have more peace. Well hell, if that happens because of what he has done then we can talk about it, but scientist are awarded the nobel prize in their field for something they thought off, they get it for finding something or proving it. He has caused absolutely no peace.

I'm not even going to join the debate over whether homo sapiens induced climate change is a legitimate threat or not--mainly because I've pretty much given up on anyone on either side changing their minds. In terms of inflexibility of opinion and anger (by both sides), I think it may have topped abortion and gay marriage as the most inflammatory debate around. (My personal opinion is that the IPCC is right--but I don't care to argue the point.)

But as far as how what Gore and the IPCC did promotes peace, the Nobel committee addresed that in their official press relief:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/l...2007/press.html

Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states.

...

By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC and Al Gore, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is seeking to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that appear to be necessary to protect the world’s future climate, and thereby to reduce the threat to the security of mankind

The debate over the reality/science of global climate change may continue. The Peace Prize isn't supposed to be a science prize anyway. But IF what Gore and the IPCC are saying holds true, then it does pose a serious threat to world peace and security in the future, a threat that might be neutralized by awareness and action early. Thus the argument for their contribution to peace .

{For what it's worth, I thought the Buddhist monks of Burma/Myanmar (sp?) were as deserving as Gore & the IPCC this year. Of course, I also thought Rush Limbough's nomination was a sad joke.}

[AFTiger 282]

Could it be said that we have been experiencing global warming since the last ice age?

Limbaugh's nomination was a joke, so was Gore's but unfortunatley, the committee fail to recognize it as such.

[CCTAU 3,350]

Could it be said that we have been experiencing global warming since the last ice age?

Limbaugh's nomination was a joke, so was Gore's but unfortunatley, the committee fail to recognize it as such.

Good one.

Anyone who thinks Gore deserved this is really delusional. There have been many chicken littles screaming over this for years. Why does Gore get the nod? Not only have they been screaming global warming for years, but not too many years ago they were screaming global cooling. So why would the liberal idiots involved in the NPP decision choose Gore? Same reason they chose some of the idiot recipients in the past...Carter...Arafat....

Used to be about peace. Now it's about pushing a liberal agenda.

Now I'm not against pushing for greener products. But not because of propaganda induced hysteria. To save the tree but lose a human life is ridiculous. Unfortunately, we are being forced to BELIEVE the extremist and not just attack this with common sense and good intention.

[autiger4life 3]

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/l...2007/press.html

The problem with their reasoning is that A. they accept what Al Gore says is true, which is highly debatable right now and B. So far, he has yet to cause peace and the thought that what he has done will cause peace is still very questionable. I would much rather give a peace prize to someone who has actually created peace.