Al Gore Calls For 'Bold Action' Ahead Of Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Former Vice President Al Gore is currently testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. leadership on climate change solutions ahead of a United Nations conference in Copenhagen later this year.
"We have arrived at a moment of decision," Gore said in his opening statement. "We must face up to this urgent and unprecedented threat to the existence of our civilization."
Gore, 2007 Nobel prize winner and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee, said it was "increasingly clear" that global warming, the nation's weak economy and the threat of terrorism were all "linked by a common thread" that is the "dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels." He said U.S. leadership in addressing global climate change is needed to ensure a successful Copennhagen summit.
Before presenting a slide show on the effects of climate change, Gore called for "bold action" and urged members of the Senate panel, chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), to pass "in its entirety" President Barack Obama's recovery package. He also praised Obama's renewable energy program, saying it makes "unprecedented investments [that are] long overdue."
World leaders are in talks led by the United Nations about a new framework to replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. The U.N. is set to hold a two-day conference on Dec. 11 in Poland for the next round of discussions.
During the G8 Summit in Japan last year, the world's richest nations pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050. They also called on emerging economies such as China and India to make concrete commitments in cutting emissions.
During the committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking Republican in the the panel, praised the President for "consistently promot[ing] good science to address the causes of climate change." Lugar also said he had been heartened by Obama's "forthright inaugural address" to work with poor nations.
The President had said after being sworn in last week, "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."