For Immediate ReleaseOctober 12, 2007 Contact: David Willett, 202-675-6698 Praise for Gore and IPCC For Nobel Peace PrizeWorld Leaders Must Follow Their Example Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director "The Sierra Club congratulates Vice President Al Gore and the UNIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for winning this year’s NobelPeace Prize. Their victory underscores the need for more of our leaders totake a stand and meet the challenge of global warming head-on. The IPCChas shown there is global consensus on the causes and impacts of globalwarming--Vice President Gore has brought the issue home for millions ofpeople. "Vice President Gore is, quite simply, the indispensable player in thedrama of mankind’s encounter with the possibility of destroying theclimactic balance within which our civilization emerged and developed.Once, when I was particularly frustrated by challenges I faced in my job,Gore heard me out and replied, 'Never, ever give up.' That would seem to behis motto, as reflected in the thousands of speeches he has delivered, theLive Earth concert he built from scratch, the nay-saying he has endured,the movement he inspired. "In the Nobel committee's words upon awarding the 2004 Peace prize toKenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai: 'Peace on earth depends onour ability to secure our living environment.' The committee clearly seesthe work of Gore and the IPCC in a similar light, as those who work stavingoff the conflicts by uniting strange bedfellows behind the common cause ofprotecting humanity's only home. "Between his earliest political career in 1976 as a representative ofTennessee’s Fourth District, and his two-term vice presidency beginning in1993, Gore helped set the political and popular stages for prime-timeenvironmentalism. He was one of the first politicians to grasp theseriousness of climate change and to call for a reduction in emissions ofcarbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. He held the first congressionalhearings on the subject in the late 1970s. "Since then, he has presented the science behind global warming and itspredicted catastrophic effects more than 1,000 times. His message finallyreached the broad public consciousness with the 2006 documentary, AnInconvenient Truth. The film has won numerous awards, including two AcademyAwards. His paperback book of the same name also reached number one on theNew York Times Best Seller list. "Last month the Vice President accepted the Sierra Club’s top honor, theJohn Muir Award. Sierra Club President, Robert Cox said at the ceremony,‘Al Gore is the embodiment of the principles for which John Muirpassionately devoted his life: to protect a place for its own sake, for oursake, and even in spite of us; a place we call Earth.’ "The Sierra Club has also long praised the work of the IPCC, whose worklays to rest the notion that the alarming and increasingly rapid increasein the earth's temperature is due to anything other than human activity.Today we can already understand the effects of global warming all around usbecause of their efforts. Their reports point to the extremely troublingand dire consequences on the horizon if we don't act soon and begin todramatically lower our carbon emissions. "The vast majority of the American people understand that global warming isreal, is serious, and needs to be addressed. Mayors, governors, and statelegislatures are taking the lead and implementing policies that protect ourenvironment, create jobs, and fight global warming and our dangerousdependence on oil. Even major corporations are calling for action. Themarket stands poised to provide the solutions. The time has come for ournational leaders to listen to the IPCC and follow Al Gore’s lead." ### - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp