musings of a different kind

When I saw this headline today on google news, I had quite a mixture of thoughts going through my head. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. It made me wonder about the purpose served by the peace prize, and what the considerations are when people are considered for it.

Al Gore is a bit of a celebrity in the US. He is the face of the global movement to increase awareness of global warming. He is definitely a superstar activist who commands respect in liberal circles and controversy and disdain in conservative/neoconservative circles. However, I was still not sure if his work till date warranted a peace prize, and whether there was any other reason for the prize being given to him.

Somehow, a campaigner for global warming awareness doesn't really seem worthy of a peace prize. Firstly, for every attempt at creating awareness, there are at least ten smears by the slimeballs at Fox news, which naturally limits Gore's success. Secondly, the politicization of issues of a primarily scientific nature is so pervasive in the US that Al Gore's message regarding global warming is always interpreted with political overtones by "pundits" on TV. Consequently, I seriously doubt if his efforts are making any kind of difference in the average American's attitude to global warming (the administration certainly doesn't appear to be bothered in the least, with Bush putting on his usual act of paying lip service and doing nothing concrete). In essence, I thought that a Nobel prize required more than just good intentions and well meaning activism. I would have thought that the committee would want the recipient to have made more substantial progress. In that sense, the reasons for Al Gore winning the prize seem a bit unclear.

Of course, I am aware that climate change could affect the lives of people in ways most of us have trouble imagining. As an example, one important aspect of the conflict in Darfur is the control of precious water resources, which are scarce because of decades of drought. On June 16, 2007, the UN released a statement which proposed that the drought in Darfur was partly due to man made global warming. This is one example of how climate change and peace may be connected.

My view of the Nobel committee's decision is that they are making a statement here. In Norway, which is one of those "evil socialist european countries", global warming is taken seriously as an issue. By awarding the prize to Gore, they are indicating the importance of global warming as an issue affecting the future of mankind and trying to force it into the limelight a little more. It is both a recognition of Gore as well as a well crafted statement of what the Nobel committee feels should be in the spotlight.

I for one do not grudge Al Gore any of the success he has had recently. One could describe the past year as a second coming for the beleaguered ex-vice president. Although I wasn't here in the US in 2000 when he lost the presidential elections to Bush, I can still see the aftereffects of the media witch hunt that was as brutal as it was clinical in destroying Al Gore's credibility. I don't need to remind people of the sordid details of how the media ripped him to pieces back then, but let me just say that perhaps the media should have at least a bit of remorse for what they did. The reason I say this is because the benefit of hindsight seems to indicate that if Gore had won instead of Bush, he wouldn't have made any of the enormous blunders this present administration has committed. Unfortunately, the americans were suckered into rejecting a well qualified, sensible, mainstream candidate and it doesn't look like Gore will give them a second chance.

In fact, why should he consider running for president again? He has been enormously successful as the crusader against global warming. He is both an Oscar winner and a Nobel Laureate. Why would he want to get back to the mudslinging and vitriol of a presidential bid when he has everything going for him right now? Given the state of American politics right now, it makes sense for him to stay right out of it and put all his efforts into something where he at least has a small chance of making a change.