Al Gore spoke today at the U.N.'s one-day "High Level Event" on the Climate Crisis at UN Headquarters in New York. He opened with the news, based on a report from just 3 days ago, that the north polar ice cap will be gone within 23 years if we don't act. This was just the beginning of his litany of conditions that could lead to 450 million "environmental refugees" worldwide. You can hear his whole 20-minute speech here:
http://www.divshare.com/...
Gore's main theme was that the need for an all-out response is NOW: "We need a global Marshall Plan that links the battle against the climate crisis to the struggle against global poverty.... We must link poverty reduction with the sharp reduction of CO2 emissions."
I believe the most important thing ordinary citizens can do right now is convince Al to run for President. I just don't see anyone else being able to get the country and the world to move with the speed needed. And I don't see how even Gore could do it without the power of the Presidency.
Please join Netroots for Gore, join your local Draft Gore group, circulate petitions to get Gore on your state's primary ballot, and do anything else you can to convince Al that if he runs this time, we WILL have his back.
At the end of the speech, Gore talks about how important it is for the "Heads of State" around the world to work together on this. He NEEDS to be one of those Heads of State. Please do what you can to help this happen.
In the poll below, I am not including "he's not running" as an option. If you don't think there is any chance of him running -- despite his repeated statements that he has (no plans BUT has) not ruled it out -- then either don't vote or treat the question as a hypothetical. And, btw, Business Week is reporting Gore as saying "I am intending to make an announcement" (although what the announcement will be about he apparently didn't say).