Sunday November 22nd, 2009
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Does Al Gore Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?
Posted by Su Avasthi on February 4, 2007 - 3:18pm.
A few of my friends aren't convinced that Al Gore deserves the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. When they heard that he was nominated for his efforts to bring attention to global warming, they posed an obvious question.
"What does global warming have to with peace?"
"Well, climate change would destabilize so many countries and resources that it would ultimately lead to conflict," someone ventured.
The argument seemed like a real stretch to them. Maybe so. Still, I was glad to see Gore's name floated as a nominee. (Even though just about anyone can be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. It's much harder to get snag Oscar nomination for his film, An Inconvenient Truth.)
His nomination fits the prize criteria because “a prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference,” according to one of the officials quoted in this Associated Press article.
I think it's safe to say that Al Gore has had a huge impact on the public's understanding of global warming and climate change. Regardless of whether he wins the prize itself, I think he deserves credit for focusing widespread attention on these issues. His movie helped the nation (or at least the media) reach a tipping point, and now environmental issues and crises are at last getting the attention they deserve.
This year, a lot of people -- people who probably wouldn't call themselves tree-huggers -- became aware of their role in global warming. In a fairly short period of time, our country turned a few shades greener. The media covers more environmental issues and it is taken more seriously. Politicians realize that it is a critical issue. And far more people today try to live, act, design, eat, and invest in environmentally responsible ways.
True, we might wish we were better about recycling, riding bikes, lowering thermometers, and generally being greener. But at least it occurs to us to conserve our resources when we can. And awareness is the first step towards change.
It's up to the Nobel Peace Prize committee to decide whether Gore deserves this honor. Meanwhile, I am glad that he kept up his crusade to make the world a greener place.
Topics:
"It's never too late to begin anew."
If countries spent half as much time together in a room as they do sticking out their chests trying to display their machismo, we could overcome all our energy problems....The fact is our leaders have their own agendas and legacies they want to build...Too many of them are scared of being a failure, and are scared of really tackling and solving the big issues/harder issues to resolve....
I am still waiting with baited breath for one of our leaders to come out and demand that we kick the binge of oil consumption...You know kind of like a Kennedy "we are going to the moon" speech...
Let's set some goals for mercy's sake....instead of just coming up with new terms like "global climate change" to further muddle the water.... Why won't someone just come out and demand no more oil by 2020....and get people motivated to reach this goal.
Do you really think the Bush Administration really wants to solve these problems or help to solve these problems, the answer is no, and why? Because there is a line at the front of the Whitehouse that runs straight to the Crawford Ranch for special interest lobbyists...they sit there lurking in corners with big wads of cash getting ready to fork it over to anyone that will listen and act...
And give Gore a prize dammit, our we will continue to see him over and over and over again...