Albert Gore, Prodigal Son

Former Vice President Albert Gore returned to Washington this past week like a conquering hero, even if the Supreme Court gave the Presidency to a conquering fool. Gore was back to testify before House and Senate committees on global warming, and he pushed hard for both chambers to act on legislation to combat the problem now. Republicans, ticked off about all the attention on an issue many of them prefer to ignore (honorable exception: John McCain) tried to laugh off Gore's dire warnings about the environment as paranoid alarmism, took him to task but failed to ruffle his fathers. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the Republican lawmaker who declared global warming to be a hoax, even tried to usurp Senate Environment Committee chair Barbara Boxer's authority, Inhofe having chaired the committee in the last Congress, and made a bigger fool out of himself than he usually does.

There are suggestions that Gore may be using his new-found respectability to run for President again, but he insists he's not, despite that he beats out John Edwards for third place among Democratic presidential candidates in some polls. Personally, I don't think he wants to run again. I think Gore believes he can do more for the environment as a private citizen than as President.

There are those who insist Gore could have won the 2000 presidential election handily if he had campaigned on this issue. I doubt it; I don't think Americans were ready to give up the oil-dependent suburban living pattern that our over-reliance on fossil fuels makes possible. In fact, they still may not be. Although a majority of Americans want something done about global warming, how many are ready to give up their Chevrolet Tahoes for Honda Fits, pay more for electricity generated by wind power, and live in smaller houses? How many of them are ready to give up their cars and suburban houses entirely, move back to the cities, and share public transportation with poor people? Not much, I bet.