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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
-12:38 AM
The politics of Climate Change
Gore's war
The Economist: March 24th 2007
Al Gore withdrew from politics ever since his failed attempt at presidency, and began concentrating his efforts on environmental conservation.
Recently, he spoke up in Congress, belaboring the government for dragging its feet on the issue of climate change. Mr Gore insists that America is largely to blame for the pollution that is slowly killing the earth, and is badgering the American population to do something drastic about it.
But someone else has the situation going for him too - and it is none other than Mr Gore himself. He is an extremely influential player, and is breaks the mould of a typical environmentalist. He has has powerful (and rich) friends, his film 'An Inconvenient Truth' was a major hit, even winning an Oscar. But even more than that, he has the sympathy - and support - of many Democrats, and perhaps a considerable number of Republicans as well, bearing in mind his advice not to invade Iraq, and his constant reminders on the issue of global warming.
Perhaps a main reason why Mr Gore has enjoyed much attention is the fact that he has been absent from the political arena, and is thus not perceived as having ulterior motives in demonstrating such environmental concern - unlike, say, a political candidate, who might use the issue of global warming to his advantage during the elections. Should Mr Gore decide to contest once again, his cautions regarding the dire state of the climate could lose their edge.
Another important issue to consider would be Mr Gore's comparative effectiveness as a president and as an environmentalist; his track record hints that he might not gain a huge percentage of votes should he try again. His record as an environmentalist, however, shows a path of much greater potential. His aforementioned characteristics confer him great opportunities that other environmentalists could only dream of.
