http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCris...H_.242020071210

REUTERS

Climate missing from U.S. election-Gore

Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:44pm GMT
By John Acher and Wojciech Moskwa

OSLO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore said on Monday the U.S. presidential election campaign had paid insufficient attention to the environment and climate change.

The former U.S. vice president, who lost a bid for the White House to George W. Bush in 2000 and has repeatedly said he has no plan to run again in 2008, said he would have pushed climate to the top of the agenda if he had been president.

"Some of the candidates have made speeches which are quite good and proposals that are quite responsible, but overall the issue has not achieved the kind of priority that I think it should have," Gore told Reuters.

"I don't blame the candidates for that, some of them have tried to push it higher on the agenda," he said before collecting the peace prize which he shared with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"That is just the very reason why I have put so much of my time into trying to change the way people think about this crisis in my country and around the world -- so that candidates will hear from citizens that they want this to be the top priority," Gore said in the Norwegian capital.

Asked what would have been different if he had been president, Gore said: "I like to think that I would have been able to push it (climate change) right to the top of the agenda.

"It takes time to talk to people in enough places to create a critical mass of opinion and urgency that will cause us to cross the tipping point beyond which a majority will demand that we solve this crisis," he said.

Gore has lectured widely on the environment and climate change since leaving office in 2001. Last year he starred in his own Oscar-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth" to raise awareness and urge immediate action to halt global warming.

The announcement in October that Gore and the IPCC had won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize briefly sparked speculation that the prize would catapult Gore into frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.



NO PLAN TO RUN

But Gore repeated at a news conference on Sunday that he has no plan to run for president next year, though he left open the door to a political comeback in the future.

"I have no plans to be a candidate," Gore said. "As I have also said, I have not completely ruled out the possibility of at some point in the future revisiting whether I would ever want to enter the political process again.

"I don't expect to do that. I doubt very seriously that will ever happen but I see no need to remove it entirely as a possibility in my life."

Gore told the news conference he had made no decision on whether to endorse any of the candidates.

He told Reuters that putting a price on carbon emissions would be the most important step that could be taken in the battle against climate change.

"There is one solution that by itself would be the most important change, to put a price on CO2," he said. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)

© Reuters2007All rights reserved.

You just feel like grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. Why can't he see that what's needed is HIM in the White House?

Hopefully, the lack of attention from the current candidates, combined with the lack of initiative on the part of the US delegates in Bali, and the pressure (begging?) from all the world leaders in Bali, will serve to "grab him by the shoulders and shake him".
Keep your fingers crossed...

My fingers have been crossed for seven long years. They're permanently gnarled. It appears that Gore has decided that he can better save the world as a private citizen than as president. I don't get it. The good he could do as president is undeniable. Even he acknowledges it. I just don't know what he's thinking.

I just wish that he would give a more definitive response about the next election, though the evidence is mounting that it ain't gonna happen this time. That vague "I have no plans to run" statement makes me crazy. It's like being on a ventilator for months with a 1% chance of survival. Do we pull the plug for good? Or, do we white-knuckle it out for several more months....just in case there's another "Music City Miracle"?

Hell, let's just hire a look alike to run in his name and then when he wins and Al Gore says no we simply say...well Sir if you didn't want to serve you shouldn't have run.

Any idea where we can get some fake AL Gore I.D.'s to get him on the ballot.

Would I really pull such a dirty trick to get him in...Damn right.

:cartman: :chef: :kenny: :kyle: :stan:

We might need their help.

Hey, Alec Baldwin has a striking resemblance to Al Gore. Do you think he would play the role until Al "makes plans" to run? :laugh:

I don't get it either.
I just don't, and I will never understand.

He could have won without any trouble at all, because the people would support it

Why isn't it happening?

Being President was his father's ambition for him. Maybe Gore decided to follow his own path.
Plus I don't think it would be as easy as you think. Today, CNN ran a hit piece comparing Gore to Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor. People like Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd and Tim Russert either ignore or still belittle his accomplishments while FAUX, Rush and others on the right actively attack him with lies. And he's not even running, imagine how bad it would get if he did run. If you were Gore would you want to go through all that again?

So in essence it is the Jazz Singer all over again?

(Father breeds son to do what he is born to do, son rebels...???

Are we just seeing another parent-child rebellion?

Is after all that, what this is about?

Never thought of it like that James, at least it would be some little reason...

(you don't need to put your usual retort to me back, I am just thinking aloud)

Gore has served his country for a lot of years to have to put up with this crap. It makes me sick.

Gore may have wanted to be President once upon a time, but with everything he's endured, who could blame him for not wanting to run again?

I think he could win, but I agree, I don't think it'd be easy. He'd had to fight the Repugs tooth and nail every step of the way and defend himself thru all the lies and smears.

As bad as I want him to be President, I understand his reluctance and will continue to respect him regardless of whether he runs or not.

We all know that AL GORE won the 2000 election. Yes that's history, and yes I agree with what you say, James, about what he would go through if he announced he was running again, but by not running, he is just giving the arrogant repugs and media what they want..................four more years of republicans in the White House. That's not the answer. I know I've said this many times and yes it's repeating myself, but this country is not ready for a woman or African-American president.

That's not how I feel, but if AL GORE would jump in to the 2008 race, no one could touch him. No way could it be rigged and stolen again from him. And I'm all for a woman or African-American as president, but I have a bad feeling about the 2008 election.

2008 without AL GORE, the election will be another stolen election even if there is no one named BUSH running. :bad:

Unless Jeb gets picked to run as VP.

Now isn't that a frightening thought.:wtf:

I actually haven't thought about that one. Kind of forgot about evil little Jebby.

That is a horrible thought. Wonder what he's up to these days. Haven't heard much about him since he's no longer governor of Florida.

Is there still any room for hope? Read below:

December 10, 2007
Gore: I'd only consider White House bid

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Vice President Al Gore denied again that there were any campaign plans in his immediate future, but told CNN Monday that he hadn't "ruled out getting back into the political process at some point" — and that if he did return to political life, it would be to take another shot at the White House.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, speaking from the Oslo site of Monday's awards ceremony, told CNN's Jonathan Mann that he didn't expect to ever get back in the political process, but that "if I did get back, it would be as a candidate for president."
He did not endorse any of the current Democratic candidates for president, and did not respond directly to a question about his view of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's environmental policy proposals.

He added that "the political system as it now operates makes it very difficult" for any of the current crop of candidates to make climate change issues a top priority.

Gore's political future has been the object of intense speculation since he was featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." Another White House bid would be the third for the former vice president, who also ran in 1988 and 2000.

– CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/...hite-house-bid/