Who’s Who in Green: Al Gore

Each week, EarthFirst.com will be bringing you a new ‘green’ figure – environmental activists, businessmen, journalists, politicians, celebrities and others who have fought to make the planet a better place. Who’s Who in Green gives an inside view of the people who are out there fighting for the environment on a daily basis, and assigns them a rating from 1,000 to 100,000 based on the green impact they’ve had on the world.

To kick off Who’s Who in Green, we’ve chosen one of the most visible people in environmental activism in history: Al Gore.

Al Gore was born March 31st, 1948 – appropriately enough, in Washington D.C. Al is a longtime environmental activist, author, businessperson, former journalist and former politician. He first got into politics in 1977 as a U.S. Representative, and was later in the Senate before serving as Vice President from 1993-2001.

Growing up, Al spent his time between his family’s farm in Carthage, Tennessee, where they grew tobacco and raised cattle, and Fairfax Hotel along Embassy Road in Washington D.C. His father, Al Gore Sr., was a U.S. Representative and Senator. This unique dichotomy no doubt had a strong effect on both Al Jr.’s political ambitions and his love for the natural world.

Ironically, in 1968 Al wrote his senior thesis at Harvard on the impact of television on the presidency, warning that the ability to communicate visually was becoming critical to governing. Al would face this issue firsthand during the 2000 presidential election when he was called ‘stiff’ and ‘boring’ compared to the charismatic, joke-cracking George W. Bush.

During his time in politics, Al worked to keep environmental issues visible. As a congressman in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he held the first congressional hearings on climate change, and co-sponsored hearings on toxic waste and global warming. As Vice President, Al was involved in a number of environmental initiatives including the GLOBE program, and was a strong supporter of the Kyoto Protocol, symbolically signing it in 1998 despite the U.S. government’s refusal to join.

After winning the popular vote for President but ultimately losing the presidency, Al focused his attention on increasing his environmental activism. He has spent the years since traveling across the globe to educate people about climate change, which he calls “the most serious crisis we’ve ever faced”, with his strikingly effective slide show. From that came the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, for which he won an Oscar and shared in a Nobel Peace Prize. An Inconvenient Truth helped bring climate change to the forefront of discussion, helping to trigger a dramatic change in public opinion about the environment and global warming. All profits from An Inconvenient Truth film and book are donated to environmental causes.

Today, Al’s still on the road. He has given his presentation thousands of times, and each time he manages to pull more people into the fold. He’s known for the engaging way in which he puts forth the facts about climate change – at times funny, at others sober – but always eloquent. Al flies commercial whenever possible, and offsets his travel with carbon credits.

Giving presentations is far from the only environmental work Al does, however. He has testified before both the House of Representatives and the Senate recommending environmental policies and urging lawmakers to make the environment a top priority. His nonprofit advocacy group, the Alliance for Climate Protection, produces television ads and amasses volunteers across the country to work on climate change education and initiatives. He’s also chairman of Generation Investment Management, a sustainable investment fund.

Global warming definitely has a higher profile in the media than ever before, but that doesn’t mean Al’s going to stop his work any time soon – in fact, his message has grown louder and more dire than ever. Last year, addressing a crowd at the University of Buffalo, he said “If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate the baby’s flame retardant! If the crib’s on fire, you save the baby!”

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2006, Al said, “The scientists are virtually screaming from the rooftops now. The debate is over! There’s no longer any debate in the scientific community about this. But the political systems around the world have held this at arm’s length because it’s an inconvenient truth, because they don’t want to accept that it’s a moral imperative.”

Al Gore’s Green Score: 91,000

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