Vienna - Positions on climate change will play an important role in the 2008 presidential elections in the United States, former US vice president and climate crusader Al Gore said Wednesday in Vienna. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate visited the Austrian capital to speak at an event organized by a local mobile phone provider.
In his speech, Gore reiterated that he did not intend to run for president, but did not rule out a political comeback in the future.
"Maybe I will do it in the future," Gore told the Vienna audience, but said now he was happy in his role advocating climate issues.
Gore said he was doing what was the right for him, the Austrian press agency reported. As long as he believed that he would continue to urge people to rethink their opinions and save the planet, Gore said.
After meeting with the politician turned climate fighter, Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said Gore believed the tide on the environment debate was turning in the United States, with environment and climate-related issues receiving more public attention, and bipartisan agreements were possible. Gore cited his close cooperation with the Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Gore, who did not talk to the press, expressed scepticism ahead of the UN-organized climate conference on Bali, Indonesia in December, Gusenbauer said in press release. Gore doubted that the current US administration would constructively contribute to finding a post- Kyoto solution.
Gore, who is said to have received 200,000 dollars for his one- hour appearance in Vienna, focused his speech on the future of mobile technologies. Mobile phone companies are the latest in a number of industries attempting to carve out an environmentally friendly image. Telecommunications may be able aid reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by causing people to travel less and rely on long distance communication.
On his first trip to Europe after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Gore visited Berlin on Tuesday and will continue to Paris on Thursday.
