Al Gore Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for Work on Global Warming

February 1st, 2007 5:45 PM

So which do you think will be a greater source of indigestion at the Clinton dinner table this evening: Barack Obama possibly getting the Democrat nomination for president in 2008, or Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007?

Regardless of the answer, as amazing as it might seem, the former vice president was actually nominated for such an honor according to the Associated Press (emphasis mine throughout): "Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday."

Extraordinary. Before you read the rest of this nonsense, please remove combustibles and sharp objects from proximity:

"Al Gore, like no other, has put climate change on the agenda. Gore uses his position to get politicians to understand, while Sheila works from the ground up," Brende said.

During eight years as Bill Clinton's vice president, Gore pushed for climate measures, including for the Kyoto Treaty. Since leaving office in 2001 he has campaigned worldwide, including with his Oscar-nominated documentary on climate change called "An Inconvenient Truth."

Excuse me, but during the Clinton years: absolutely nothing was done to increase CAFE standards on automobile fleets; federally mandated maximum speed limits were increased across the country, and; Kyoto was defeated 95-0 by an act of the Senate on July 25, 1997.

In sum, the administration that Gore served in for eight years -- as the second-most powerful person in the world -- did absolutely nothing about this issue, and any suggestion to the contrary is an extraordinary act of historical revisionism.

Yet, that’s not really the funny part about this, is it?

After all, let’s imagine Gore actually receiving this honor. Won’t it be hysterical thirty years from now when the media and his Party try to advance legislation to prevent the coming Ice Age?