Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Former Vice President Al Gore attends a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday in San Francisco.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
It seems the rumor mill was right on the money. The Nobel Committee today named former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The committee said Gore was "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted." The judges cited his "political activity, lectures, films and books."
The Nobel Committee also explained why it was awarding a Peace Prize for environmental work:
Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states.
Gore said he was "deeply honored" to win the award. A spokeswoman for the U.N. panel said members were surprised. "We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue," spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said.
However, NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving said on Morning Edition that he doesn't think this means Gore will run for president — at least not this time around.
9:25 AM ET | 10-12-2007 | permalink
