Nobel Peace Prize

Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) share the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. They were awarded 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."

Gore's response via Daily Kos:

STATEMENT FROM FORMER VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE
Friday, October 12, 2007

I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world’s pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. 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.

My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.

A hearty congratulations to a honorable man who has worked hard to bring to light the realities of global climate change and its consequences on the entire planet.

Some speculate that winning the Nobel Prize may catapult Gore into a presidential race, but with little insight I will speculate the opposite. I imagine that this will reinforce Gore's belief that he can be more effective educating the world and bringing about changes outside of the office of President of the United States and he will still not run. I saw earlier this morning a statement that Gore was considering entering the race if Hillary Clinton had shown any signs of struggling, but since she has run a near perfect campaign he would not want to take on the Clinton juggernaut. I'll post a link as soon as I can re-find it. It is true that Clinton has run a near perfect campaign, one much better than I think anyone expected, but Gore would be the one person who would immediately make a race of it again.

I think the pertinent question is who will Gore endorse in the Democratic Primary; Obama or Edwards or no one. Yglesias seems to think that it does not matter, but I think an Obama endorsement could lead to some real momentum. I do think it can increase Obama's awesome factor and take some of the limelight away from Hilary. There are not many endorsements that will be capable of this but I think that Gore's is one of those.

And let me add "What Atrios said."

Photo by Flickr user ereneta used under a Creative Commons license