Al Gore in the news - twice

1. You may have heard media reports that a UK judge has ruled that Al Gore's film “An Inconvenient Truth” is one-sided and contains nine errors. In fact his ruling is more complicated and favorable that that but the British press reported it very badly.

In a briefing note, Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's Campaigns Coordinator, says:

A High Court judge has ruled that Al Gore’s award winning film is “broadly accurate” in its “presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change” and that it can be shown in schools.

However, Mr Justice Burton also identified a number of “errors and omissions” in the film that depart from the mainstream “in the sense of the ‘consensus’ expressed in the IPCC reports”. He ruled that An Inconvenient Truth could be shown but the Guidance Note to schools must address these departures from the mainstream view.

But Mr Justice Burton rejected calls for teaching staff to also present a sceptical view of climate change saying “the High Court has made clear the law does not require teaching staff to adopt a position of neutrality between views which accord with the great majority of scientific opinion and those which do not.” He also said that:

"The Film advances four main scientific hypotheses, each of which is very well supported by research published in respected, peer-reviewed journals and accords with the latest conclusions of the IPCC:

(1) global average temperatures have been rising significantly over the past half century and are likely to continue to rise ("climate change");

(2) climate change is mainly attributable to man-made emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide ("greenhouse gases");

(3) climate change will, if unchecked, have significant adverse effects on the world and its populations; and

(4) there are measures which individuals and governments can take which will help to reduce climate change or mitigate its effects."

NB: This Judgement followed an application to declare unlawful a decision by the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills to distribute to every state secondary school in the United Kingdom a copy of former US Vice-President Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, as part of a pack containing four other short films and a cross-reference to an educational website ("Teachernet"). A full judgement can be found at: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2007/2288.html

FoE also recommend reading an explanation of the background to the case: http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4340/29

2. Al Gore and the UN Climate Panel share the Nobel Peace Prize

The committee awarded the prize from a near record field of 181 candidates for their efforts to draw attention to mankind's impact on the climate and measures needed to address it.

The committee said that the case for action to stop global warming had been made convincingly by science, and it warned that climate change -- linked to droughts, floods and rising seas -- could threaten living conditions across the world, prompt mass migrations and increase the risk of wars.

Al Gore was “probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted” and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming.”

The IPCC groups 2,500 researchers from more than 130 nations and issued reports this year blaming human activities for climate change ranging from more heat waves to floods. It was set up in 1988 by the United Nations to help guide governments.

The award was seen raising pressure on the world to agree a new deal to combat global warming at a U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia in December.

The debate on global warming has focused partly on the certainty of the science, and some sceptics say that observed climate changes are within the range of natural variations. Not surprisingly, there have been criticisms of the award, notably from the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, which has frequently questioned the impact of global warming and strongly opposes Al Gore's views. (Main Source: Reuters Report)