Breakthrough: News Roundup: The Many Sides of Al Gore

Al Gore has been a leader both technology development and the struggle to raise consciousness about global warming. His visionary support for the Internet paved the way for its commercialization; his award-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, raised national consciousness about global warming to a new level.

And yet despite his dual passions, Gore has been slow to embrace investment in technology as a solution to the climate challenge. In the past, he's been heavy on the doomsday rhetoric, emphasizing "sacrifice" as a solution to global warming. But Gore's thinking on the issue may be evolving -- in a landmark speech in the summer of 2008, he called for large public investments in clean energy. Who will win out -- Google Gore or Gaia Gore?

Breakthrough's coverage of the many sides of Al Gore:

Al Gore Misrepresents the Emissions Challenge
Gore makes it look easy to address the emissions reduction challenge, when in fact, it is far, far more difficult.

The Many Sides of Al Gore
The former vice president has been many things over his political career, and one of those permutations is worth revisiting.

A Post-Partisan Al Gore?
Why Gore should not endorse a candidate.

More Inconvenient Truths
You'd almost believe we have a long row of clean energy darlings, politely waiting their turn out in the hallway.

Gore Issues "Moon Shot" Call...
...and investment takes center stage -- maybe. Gore's rallying cry to the American people was incredibly strong, but his ambitious plans vague. Much more will be revealed when he lays out the details.

Will Google Gore Overcome Gaia Gore?
Al Gore has finally embraced large public investments in clean energy, after years of insisting on a paradigm focused centrally on pollution regulation. Unfortunately, he doesn't address how to deal with the energy tech (and price) gap between dirty energy sources like coal and clean energy sources like solar. The question is: will the Google Gore be able to trump the Gaia Gore?

Special Feature: Al Gore's Climate and Energy Speech
In a landmark speech on July 17, Al Gore called for the country to produce all its electricity from renewables within the next ten years. He finally embraced large public investments to make clean energy cheap, and in doing so, may reframe the debate for climate activists worldwide.

Al Gore, 8 Days Later...
With the standing ovation long over and the media for now satiated, it seems appropriate to take a look at how Gore's speech was received. In the applause and critique, I find the kernels of that elusive narrative that will somehow galvanize the nation into bold action on energy.

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