Al Gore: Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Al Gore has already won an Acadamy Award. Now he has won a Nobel Peace Prize. Not bad, I would say. Here is the Culture Kitchen quote of his statement:

I am deeply honored October 12, 2007 : 8:32 AM

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.

Who knew big Al had a blog? Would that make him the first President blogger ... or would that be John Edwards' honor?

I would add that the scientific data that Gore discussed in what got him this award is proving wrong. Things are actually WORSE than Gore discussed. Bottom line is this: global warming is proceeding FASTER than scientists have predicted, which means my earlier urging that we only have 10 years to deal with the situation may be too optimistic. We probably have LESS than 10 years to mitigate the effects of global warming. This year I am in the process of planting trees in Israel, Kenya and Palestine. My calculations of the carbon footprint of my family suggests somewhere between 6 and 24 trees are what I need to plant to compensate for my family's carbon footprint. I am on my way to planting between 60 and 70 trees this year to far MORE than make up for my family's footprint. Please, help me this year to plant trees. It may be the most important thing we can do to preserve our children's standard of living.