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Gore Relishes Nobel Vindication

By DOUG MELLGREN | Associated Press
December 11, 2007

OSLO, Norway - He suffered through a divisive loss in a close bid for the U.S. presidency.

But on Monday, Al Gore basked in the vindication of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against global warming.

"Seven years ago ... I read my own political obituary in a judgment that seemed to me harsh and mistaken — if not premature," Gore said in his acceptance speech, two days short of the anniversary of the 2000 Supreme Court decision that put George W. Bush in the White House.

"But that unwelcome verdict also brought a precious if painful gift: an opportunity to search for fresh new ways to serve my purpose," Gore added.

The former vice president, 59, shared the $1.5 million prize, widely considered the world's most prestigious award, with the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for sounding the alarm over global warming and spreading awareness on how to counteract it.

In his speech, Gore called on the United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, "to make the boldest moves" on climate change "or stand accountable before history for their failure to act."

"The future is knocking at our door right now," Gore said, paraphrasing the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen during a regal, 90-minute ceremony in Oslo's ornate city hall.

"Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions," Gore said. "Either they will ask: 'What were you thinking? Why didn't you act?' Or they will ask instead, 'How did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?'"

Gore's name is now etched in Nobel history among the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.

Already an Oscar-winner for his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," Gore has found the peace prize giving him an even larger platform to spread his message about global warming and the need to rein in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

"I am under no illusions that there is any position in the world with as much potential for influencing the future as that of president of the United States," he said before accepting the award. "But that was not to be, and I am grateful I have found a way to play a useful role in helping to form the world's resolve to solve this crisis."

Gore told AP he believes the president elected next November will have to shift course.

"The new president, whichever party wins the election, is likely to have to change the position on this climate crisis," Gore said. "I do believe the U.S., soon, is to have a more constructive role."

During an appearance on the British Broadcasting Corp.'s "Hard Talk" program, Gore noted climate change has not been a big issue in the U.S. campaign. But he said he was "far more optimistic now than I've ever been before" because he felt more and more people are coming to adopt his view of global warming's threat.

"We're close to it, we're not there yet, but we're getting closer and closer to it," Gore said.

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