Al Gore Nobel Peace Prize Winner

[Sabin]

And all I can hear right now is "Will he run? Will he run? Who will he run with?" Honestly, maybe he will.

A Gore/Obama ticket would dominate -- fucking dominate! -- in '08. The youth turnout would be unbelievable.

[OscarGuy]

Some would say that had Al Gore's prominence not been attached to the campaign, it might not have acheived the generally-global recognition that it has. Scientists weren't getting anywhere with regard to getting people to take it seriously. Gore actually got out there and made it a bigger issue and brought visibility that the scientists who had done research had not yet achieved. And who says that the UN agency that he was co-awarded with doesn't have leading climatologists and scientists among its membership?

And who better to get other governments to recognize and act than a politician? To say that politics isn't involved is an invalid assessment.



Edited By OscarGuy on 1192211305

[Heksagon]

No, if it's about peace negotiations or promoting civil rights, etc., I have nothing against awarding politicians. That's the kind of stuff politicians are supposed to handle. But environment is different. It would be more appropriate to honor the achievements of scientists and NGOs on environmental issues, rather than honoring politicians.

(Actually, I remember I objected it when Carter won the Nobel Prize. The reason wasn't that he's a politician, but that I had hoped they would award someone more clearly opposed to what was then only a plan to invade Iraq, such as the UN weapons inspectors. I still don't think much of Carter's prize)

[OscarGuy]

Then obviously you opposed most of the winners of this prize. Especially Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson, huh? Wilson's League of Nations didn't pan out, so that was a bit of a wash, but Jimmy Carter's done amazing work since he left office. You would oppose his winning the prize just because of his status as former President? Had Al Gore won during his vice presidency, I might have been more apt to agree, but despite that, he's more frequently known (by those who didn't vote or want GWB in the white house) as the man who should have been president.

[Heksagon]

I may have used the wrong term when I said that Gore is "a representative of goverment". What I mean is that, when he is running around the world with the title of ex-vice president, he is always, to a degree, representing his goverment as an establishment, even if technically he is currently in opposition and not holding any office. Because, when the Nobel Prize goes to him, a part of its prestige rubs off to the office that he has held - even if the current office-holder belongs to a different party. The same way, when a Nobel Prize in sciences is awarded to a member of a university's faculty, the entire university shares in its prestige.

Actually, I don't complain about the fact that this award may have little to do with world peace, because the Nobel Commitee has never suggested that they give the prize strictly for people who prevent or end conflicts. What I do question, is that on the subject of climate change, they should not have awarded a high-ranking politician.

[OscarGuy]

The thing is, Al Gore, has NOT been a representative of our government on the matter. He's been working against the government trying to create change where the Bush administration won't budge. The scientists may have helped him, but he's done his own research and is passionate for the cause. And it's not just HIM that's getting the prize. He's sharing it with those whom he is working with to bring about a change in global control of global warming.

I don't see how it's a "peace" accomplishment, but let's not go overboard here, Heks.

[Heksagon]

This award is a joke. The U.S. goverment has done a lot to stall agreements on climate change... so now when the Nobel Commitee decides to award achievements on this issue, it doesn't seem very logical to award a representative of the said goverment.

Besides, why did they have to award a politician rather than a scientist or a non-govermental organization? The implication is really that when you're worried about the environment, politicians - American politicians in particular - are the ones who take the lead.

It just seems like on this issue, Gore just took credit for somebody else's work. Perhaps next someone will award him for inventing the Internet.

[OscarGuy]

I know there were rumblings that he could get it, but I'm still surprised he won. He's the only Vice-President who didn't get to take a term in the oval office ever to win this prize.

[Big Magilla]

From Reuters:

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N. climate panel shared the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for work on global warming, and the award committee urged action "before climate change moves beyond man's control."


Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Bushie.