Gore accepts Nobel Peace Prize

[bexx09]

Former VP urges U.S., China to make bold moves on climate change
The Associated Press
updated 2:56 a.m. PT, Mon., Dec. 10, 2007

OSLO, Norway - Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize on Monday and urged the United States and China to make the boldest moves on climate change or "stand accountable before history for their failure to act."

"We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency — a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here," Gore said in his acceptance speech.

Gore shared the Nobel with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for sounding the alarm over global warming and spreading awareness on how to counteract it. the U.N. panel was represented at the ceremony by its leader, Rajendra Pachauri.

"It is time to make peace with the planet," Gore said at the gala ceremony in Oslo's city hall, in front of Norway's royalty, leaders and invited guests. "We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war."

The former vice president urged China and the U.S. — the world's biggest carbon emitters — to "make the boldest moves, or stand accountable before history for their failure to act."

New treaty?
His remarks came as governments met in Bali, Indonesia, to start work on a new international treaty to reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions. Gore and Pachauri plan to fly there Wednesday to join the climate talks.

The governments hope to have the new pact, which succeeds the Kyoto accord, in place by 2012, but Gore has said the urgency of the problem means they should aim to come to an agreement by 2010.

Before his speech, Gore said in an interview with The Associated Press that he believes the next U.S. president will shift the country's course on climate change and engage in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

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

He said it was not too late for Bush administration to join efforts to draft a new global treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

"I have urged President Bush and his administration to be part of the world community's effort to solve this crisis," Gore said. "I hope they will change their position."

The Bush administration opposed the Kyoto treaty on climate change, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy and objecting that fast developing nations like China and India were not required to reduce emissions.

The other Nobel awards — in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and economics — will be presented at a separate ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

Each Nobel Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma and a $1.6 million cash award.

Lavish white-tie affair
The Nobel Prizes, first awarded in 1901, are always presented Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of their creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

In Stockholm, the winners of the science Nobels receive their awards Monday from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf before being treated to a lavish white-tie banquet at City Hall.

The 2007 awards in medicine, chemistry and physics honored breakthroughs in stem cell research on mice, solid-surface chemistry and the discovery of a phenomenon that lets computers and digital music players store reams of data on ever-shrinking hard disks.

Three U.S. economists shared the economics award for their work on how people's knowledge and self-interest affect their behavior in the market or in social situations such as voting and labor negotiations.

One of the economics winners, Leonid Hurwicz, 90, and the literature prize winner, 88-year-old British writer Doris Lessing, could not travel to Stockholm. They will receive their awards at later ceremonies in Minnesota and London, respectively.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22173586/wid/18298287/

[austinmomto2]

Bet this is gonna fire up Kristen

[bexx09]

Originally Posted by austinmomto2

Bet this is gonna fire up Kristen

Lol... oops, I forgot about that.

[kristen.c]

I'm trying to be good!

[bexx09]

Originally Posted by kristen.c

I'm trying to be good!

Lol, you don't have to hold back KC.... at least not for me.

[austinmomto2]

Ya, no need to hold back- it's an open forum and everyone can express their opinion. nothing really offends me. But then again, I am a blunt person. I'd like to hear your thoughts actually.

[kristen.c]

Ok...since you're all so curious...

My biggest problem with Al Gore stems from his use of carbon offset services. If you don't know what a carbon offset service is I'll give a bit of background for you. There are a bunch of companies that have set up websites where you can log on and estimate through their calculators how much carbon (called your "carbon footprint") you are releasing into the environment based on your lifestyle and choices. Based on that estimate they will charge you a fee which is supposed to go to other places that will balance out that carbon- sometimes referred to as a "carbon credit."

This drives me nuts because he utilizes a private jet, has multiple homes- one of which is gigantic (8 bathrooms/10k sq ft for a 2 person residence??) and buys credits to offset his carbon emissions. I just think that's really hypocritical considering he believes that this is the most pressing problem of our day. My thought is that if he really and truly believed that this is as huge of a problem as he says that it is then he would be doing more things to reduce his own footprint other than driving a hybrid SUV and making big-budget films to educate and scare other people into following his beliefs. I've often wondered in the end if the economic "costs" of his "documentary" actually outweigh the benefits of spreading his message to others. In England there was actually an inquest (I think it was the Dimmick case) into the movie and they actually found multiple errors in the movie of things that were said to be fact and had no scientific data to even support them as theory.

I just think that the person who gets the nobel peace prize shouldn't be someone who won't even practice what they preach. He expects us to make big changes and all he can do is throw a paycheck at some company who will be an environmentalist for him? To me that just doesn't sit right. I'm all about making green choices, but I expect those choices to be followed by action if you're going to expect others to follow in your footsteps.

I mean could you imagine the mods on the site just living our regular lives and posting all of this information on making better environmental choices...expecting all of our members to make changes to their lives but we don't have to because we all paid our 99$ to carbonfung.org?

[derketchup]

In my mind, Gore has at least acknowledged there's a problem. That's more than others behind him.

Yes, he should totally reconsider changing several factors in his life, in my opinion. And, no, I wouldn't vote for him for President. But at least he hasn't sat around completely idle.

Let's face it; politicians who are that successful really aren't a part of regular society, are they? I mean, they're like movie stars in that regard. Well, except that there are a lot more vegan/environmental celebrities vs. politicians.