In the academia community this is a very big week. Nobel awards are handed out to the very best and brightest in a number of fields. The fields of literature, science, chemistry, physics and medicine are all honored, but the most prized award is the one for peace. When it comes to peace and Nobel, that always means politics is involved. So many prominent figures have won it before, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, The Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr. to name a few. And now the political figure of the year looking to become the newest Laureate is Al Gore.
From The Times UK:
Gore, a former American vice-president and failed presidential candidate, has reinvented himself as the “Goracle” with a rock star following after presenting last year’s Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, about the dangers of climate change.
He was nominated for the Nobel prize jointly with Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuit activist who has campaigned about the effect of climate change on Arctic peoples.
“A prerequisite for winning the Nobel peace prize is making a difference and Al Gore has made a difference,” said Boerge Brende, a former Norwegian environment minister who nominated Gore and Watt-Cloutier.
“I think they are likely winners this year,” said Stein Toennesson, director of Oslo’s International Peace Research Institute. The winner will receive $1.5m (£750,000) in prize money.
The money aspect of it is irrelevant, it is a great chunk of change that can go for good works but the important part is that it highlights the importance of our environment and what it means for peace on this planet. Many military experts predict that a changing climate can lead to devastating destruction, whether that comes from the conditions themselves (rising sea levels, monstrous storms, etc) or actual war fought over the increasing scarcity of water.
Combating climate change now is essential for peace and Al Gore has made a tremendous difference by using political power to highlight the coming problems that we have brought on ourselves with the Industrial Age. Critics say that this a new thing for Gore after his "failed" Presidential attempt, but followers know that he has been a vocal advocate for the environment for decades.
Although I would love to congratulate him on his Nobel Prize, I think I can wait until they announce the winner on Friday.
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