Will Al Gore be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year?

[firefox_fan]

And if so, will he run after that? What do you think?

[MADem]

1. Wouldn't it be loverly, that? nt

[Bondor]

2. i do not know about the Nobel, but...

I am hoping for a groundswell nomination. His talk about bringing reason back into the political sphere seems like a last hope for democracy.

i like him a lot. and he seems to be speaking his own thoughts -- not processed handler-poop.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi Bondor!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[SteppingRazor]

3. The prize is awarded Oct 12...

and I think he would have to declare before then to make a serious run. So, the chronology of events as you have them I don't think is likely. That said, as far as whether he wins the peace prize, there's 181 nominees, so I put his chances at 1/181 ;)

As for him running, I become more and more convinced with each new media event and the interviews surrounding it (the movie, the book, the upcoming concert, etc.) that Gore intends to run. I'm still not completely convinced, but I think the chances are probably 50/50 at this point, depending on how the primary plays out over the next few months.

[Uncle Joe]

10. I believe

it's announced in Oct, but not awarded until Dec. 10th the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. Probably not

[mvd]

5. He'd deserve it, and I'll say with more and more..

info about global warming coming out, he'll win. Cindy Sheehan would also be good.

[melody]

6. Yes and yes

He doesn't have to declare any time before the end of the year. The nomination will
be his upon his announcing, given his immense popularity. In fact, the less time between
the ring toss and the first big primary, the better.

[firefox_fan]

7. My prediction is that Obama and Hillary will

essentially spend all their energy fighthing each other. IF that happens, Gore will run and possibly win.

[northzax]

8. no, he will not win

and no, he will not run.
anyone care to put money on that?

[SteppingRazor]

9. Up until recently, I was as sure as you, but not anymore.

I won't bet on him getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

But as for whether he'll run .... hmmm.... what kind of odds would you give me?

[firefox_fan]

12. I'd say there is a 60% chance he'll run.

[melody]

24. If it were legal, I would :)

I already have a standing casual $1000 bet with a friend -- that's how sure I am.

[northzax]

27. that he'll run?

hmm, you should lay that off. the number of things that will have to happen to get him to run are immense.

[melody]

28. That he will run and he'll win

That's how sure I am.

I think he has already decided. Right now, his posture is to promote his message, so it'll
be received as coming from Gore the Citizen rather than Gore the Candidate. Also, the other
candidates get to slug it out and he'll enter the race in November.

It's pitch perfect.

[rurallib]

11. Heard Rush Limbaugh has a good shot.

<< this is sarcasm btw>>

[depakid]

13. For what exactly?

While I'm a Gore supporter and think he's the best hope for retaking the executive, I fail to see how he's earned a Nobel Peace Prize.

[RB TexLa]

14. I too was wondering which prize the OP thinks he should be in the running for

[firefox_fan]

15. The one he was nominated for, of course.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1623952.ece

From the article: "Al Gore has done a very important job as former US VP and has created so much pressure in the USA that for the first time President Bush must now say that climate change is a problem. No other single person in the last year has done so much to put the threat of climate change on the agenda, and contributed to lasting changes in international policy," Børge Brende said."

[depakid]

16. Bush has also been nominated in the past....

by some Norwegian with an agenda....

Again, I don't see how the global warming campaign- as important as it is, qualifies for the Peace Prize.

[firefox_fan]

17. Irrelevant. The point is whether the committee awarding the prize sees it...

[depakid]

19. The closest person to Gore who was awarded the prize would be

Wangari Maathai. However, there are connections here that I don't imagine the committee will see in Gore's climate change efforts:

Several prominent Norwegians have questioned the Nobel Committee for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Wangari Maathai. Why honor environmental activism in an era when war, terrorism and nuclear proliferation are even more urgent problems?

What they miss is Dr. Maathai's special genius.
...........

Maathai planted seven trees on Earth Day in 1977 to honor Kenyan women environmental leaders. Then, recognizing that deforestation could only be reversed if village women throughout her country became tree planters themselves, she launched the Green Belt Movement. Government foresters laughed at her idea of enlisting villagers; it took trained foresters to plant trees, they told her.

Because Maathai didn't listen, today Kenya has 30 million more trees, all planted by village women.

Maathai's genius is in recognizing the interrelation of local and global problems, and the fact that they can only be addressed when citizens find the voice and courage to act. Maathai saw in the Green Belt Movement both a good in itself, and a way in which women could discover they were not powerless in the face of autocratic husbands, village chiefs and a ruthless president. Through creating their own tree nurseries - at least 6,000 throughout Kenya - and planting trees, women began to control the supply of their own firewood, an enormous power shift that also freed up time for other pursuits.

Then, through popular education, village women - who had watched public forests be used by the Moi regime to grant political favors - began to see forests differently, as something they, as citizens, had a claim to.
...........

Through the Green Belt Movement, village women also came to see that a narrow focus on export commodities, such as coffee, at the expense of environmentally appropriate food crops, was an inheritance of colonialism reinforced by IMF policies.

That, too, they could change.

Through a village food-security campaign, Green Belt members are learning to re-establish indigenous crops using organic methods and to reintroduce kitchen gardens - a skill many had lost in the wake of government-promoted export-oriented agriculture.

Over the years, Maathai and members of the Movement have been jailed and even beaten for their protests of government anti-environment actions. One of the movement's organic-farming educators described to us how he was almost arrested for promoting sustainable agriculture. The government, it turned out, had lucrative contracts with major chemical agriculture companies; the teachers' education posed a serious threat.

Maathai has also become a leader in international debt-relief efforts. By the time we traveled to Kenya in 2000, the Green Belt Movement had grown into a major pro-democracy force.

In 2002, Maathai decided to run for a seat in Parliament. She beat her opponent 50 to 1. Women, we were told, danced in the streets of Nairobi for joy. A few weeks later, when President arap Moi stepped down after holding power for more than two decades, Maathai was appointed deputy minister of the environment.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1014-32.htm

Now THAT'S the sort of person who deserves a Peace Prize.

[firefox_fan]

21. Hmmm, I don't disagree with you... But in the end it's mostly politics.

Like in everything else... Who knows what irrelevant background factors go into the final decision.... Sorry, I'm cynical...

[melody]

26. You can't be serious

Don't you realize how vital to world peace global warming action is?

[RB TexLa]

18. Sorry I didn't notice that you did have the category of prize in the OP

I agree with the other reply I don't see how you get to a prize for working for peace with the climate change stuff.

[firefox_fan]

20. I've seen stranger things happen! I would not be surprised.

If one believes in global warming (i.e., that it is an imminent and sever problem) and one argues that it will lead to many more deaths and wars to control scarce resources (especially in certain countries), then it is not so bizarre to argue that his work is visionary and will results in millions of saved lives and the such... No idea if he has a real chance though...

[melody]

25. He was nominated for his environmental activism ... that's what the OP "thinks" n/t

[renate]

23. I think so

Two reasons:

1) He deserves it. If anyone is responsible for putting the brakes on global warming (and oh yeah, saving civilization itself), it is he.

2) It would be a GIANT poke in the eye from the world community to Bush.

Either reason would be enough to think the voting will go his way. The two together make it nearly a cinch.