Gore tells Congress of 'true planetary emergency'
Thursday, 22 Mar 2007 07:39
Al Gore told Congress that action against climate change is a "moral issue"
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Former US vice-president and environmentalist Al Gore marked his return to Congress by urging politicians to tackle climate change.
Mr Gore, who won an Academy award this year for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, brought boxes with him which he said contained letters from over 500,000 people demanding government action on global warming.
Speaking of the "true planetary emergency" caused by climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps, Mr Gore warned that the issue of action against global warming was an ethical one: "It's not partisan. It's not a political issue. It's a moral issue."
He added his analogy: "The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. You take action.
"If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say 'I read a science fiction novel that says it's not a problem', you take action," Mr Gore said.
However opposition has been found among many Republicans who fear his proposals will cost jobs and will not benefit the economy. There is further widespread doubt among US politicians regarding the validity of Mr Gore's use of scientific data with some believing the politician is an alarmist.
Senator James Inhofe, a Republican, could become one of Mr Gore's strongest critics. "It is my perspective that your global warming alarmist pronouncements are now and have always been filled with inaccuracies and misleading statements," he said.