Al Gore

Let me be honest - the very first time I heard about Al Gore was through a Leno joke. Truly Jay Leno’s been my source for figuring out lots about American politics.

Al Gore however has come a long way - since he won his Oscar, he’s no longer “Second Place Al”.

I knew that the Oscar was for his film “An Inconvenient Truth”. What I didn’t know is that Al Gore had studied in Harvard with “legendary” geochemist Roger Revelle, who was one of the first scientists to study global warming and the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates.

In fact Gore apparently started conducting hearings on global warming as soon as he was elected to Congress in 1976. This is what he did, even way back in those days:

He investigated the science, holding round table discussions in his office with climatologists. Just as important, he learned how hard it would be to overcome the resistance of special interests, whose strategy would be to cast doubt on global-warming science, just as cigarette manufacturers cast doubt on the link between smoking and cancer.

As today more & more people become aware of Global Warming - and it’s effects on all of us - it’s more & more apparent that 45th Vice-President Gore will not be remembered for what he did not win, but rather for what he’s still trying to do for our world.

Other interesting facts I found out about ex-vice pres:

* He and actor Tommy Lee Jones were roommates at Harvard!
* He spent six months in Vietnam as an army journalist (he opposed the war though)
* His parents wanted him to go to divinity school!!
* He met his wife at his high school prom (awww, how cute!)
* He has jokingly introduced himself in the past as “the former next President of the United States”. Despite the fact that many still want him to run for 2008 elections, Gore still has not officially stated that he has any interest in contesting elections again.
* He travels the world talking about Global warming and training volunteers - already having given at least 1,000 such presentations.
* He and Virgin head honcho Richard Branson announced the ‘Virgin Earth Challenge’, a competition offering a $25 million prize for the first person or organization to produce a viable design which results in the removal of atmospheric greenhouse gases.
* He was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
* Besides “An Inconvenient Truth”, he has written at least 7 other books / publications.

The first time I heard about Al Gore, I laughed. Now, I applaud. I truly am impressed sir.

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Tags: 2008-Elections, Al-Gore, American-Politics, An-Inconvenient-Truth, Global-Warming, Harvard, Jay-Leno, Online-Learning, Oscar-Awards, Richard-Branson, Roger-Revelle, Scientists, Thinkers, Times-Magazine, Tommy-Lee-Jones, US-President, US-Vice-President, Vietnam