Sadly, Al Gore's Nobel Nomination Is No Joke

By Doug Patton
February 5, 2007

According to the rules of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the organization's "peace prize" is given each year to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Setting aside for a moment the fact that the nominees rarely fulfill those lofty qualifications, the Nobel Committee nevertheless has awarded the coveted prize over the years to some of the most outstanding recipients of the day, people who have stood head and shoulders above the rest of us in stature, vision, courage and actions in promoting peace in our world. These exceptional individuals have included theologian and medical missionary Albert Schweitzer (1952); the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964); Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1979) and Polish political leader Lech Walesa (1983).

There have been others, however, who, when mentioned in the same breath with the Nobel Peace Prize, simply make us laugh and/or shake our heads. These recipients include failed Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (1990); Palestinian terrorist Yasir Arafat (1994); U.N. Secretary-General in charge of corruption Kofi Annan (2001) and the most incompetent American president of the 20th century, Jimmy Carter (2002).

In fact, a few years ago, I wrote a column about the absurdity of awarding the prize to Carter, who had by then established his own annoying little unofficial state department for the sole purpose of embarrassing the Bush Administration all around the world. Apparently, this was the primary impetus driving the Nobel Committee to award the inept one-termer a cool million bucks and a boatload of undeserved credibility. (Not to worry: the Peter Principle has reasserted itself with the publication of Carter's new anti-Semitic book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.")

This year, we have an even more ludicrous nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Al Gore has been nominated for the prize on the strength of "An Inconvenient Truth," his film about global warming. Of course, the adoring leftist legions of Hollywood also have nominated Gore's fantasy film for an Oscar as the best documentary of the year.

The former vice-president, who still believes he won the 2000 presidential election, may be trying to leverage his continued celebrity into another race for the White House (campaign slogan: "Re-elect Al Gore!").

Gore was nominated for the Nobel by Boerge Brende, Member of the Norwegian Parliament and a former Minister of Environment, and a Socialist Left Party leader named Heidi Soerensen.

"Al Gore, like no other, has put climate change on the agenda," said Brende. "A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference."

Yes he has, and that's what makes him so dangerous. The real danger of Gore's popularity is that his speculations are helping to drive a juggernaut of pseudo-science that cannot be proven by any measurable scale. In fact, his hypotheses frequently contradict reality. For example, Gore warns that sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere is shrinking, but neglects to mention that sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere actually is increasing.

A recent "Wall Street Journal" article quotes a United Nations study that estimates Gore's solutions for supposed manmade climate change would cost a staggering $553 trillion over the next century. That means that every man, woman and child on planet earth would be 30 percent poorer in the year 2100.

Most meteorologists know they can't give us an accurate forecast beyond next week. Yet Al Gore and his cadre of "scientists" can tell us what's going to happen fifty years from now? Please.

Sadly, Al Gore probably will win the Nobel Peace Prize. After all, he is at least as deserving as Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan or Yasir Arafat.

-----------

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and public policy advisor. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including Human Events Online, TheConservativeVoice.com and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.