Green Politicians

BARACK OBAMA: Obama's environmental activism stretches back to his undergrad days at Columbia University, during which he did a three-month stint with a Ralph Nader offshoot organization trying to convince minority students at City College in Harlem to recycle. Later, when he worked as a community organizer, he fought for lead abatement in a Chicago south side neighborhood. In 1996 he was elected to the Illinois state senate, where he distinguished himself as a leader on environmental and public-health issues. In 2003, Obama was one of six state senators to receive a 100 Percent Environmental Voting Record Award from the Illinois Environmental Council. His efforts on behalf of the environment have been so consistent and comprehensive, that LCV and the Sierra Club endorsed Obama in his bid for Congress this year over half a dozen other Democrats competing in the primary.		"Environmentalism is not an upper-income issue, it's not a white issue, it's not a black issue, it's not a South or a North or an East or a West issue. It's an issue that all of us have a stake in. And if I can do anything to make sure that not just my daughter but every child in America has green pastures to run in and clean air to breathe and clean water to swim in, then that is something I'm going to work my hardest to make happen." --Barack Obama

AL GORE: Gore was one of the first politicians to grasp the seriousness of climate change and to call for a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases. He held the first congressional hearings on the subject in the late 1970s. As Vice President, Gore was a proponent for environmental protection. On Earth Day 1994, Gore launched the worldwide GLOBE program, a hands-on, school-based education and science activity to increase student awareness of their environment. In the late 1990s, Gore strongly pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Treaty, which called for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. However, many of these proposals were not enacted by Congress and/or were not implemented. In recent years, Gore has remained busy traveling the world speaking and participating in events aimed towards global warming awareness and prevention. His presentation on global warming has received standing ovations, and he has presented it at least 1,000 times. The presentation and training program inspired the documentary film and book, An Inconvenient Truth which won the 2007 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.		"There is no longer a debate about the fact that global warming is real. We're causing it. The consequences are serious, and could be headed towards catastrophe if we don't fix it. And it's not too late. I don't want to imagine a future in which our children say, What were our parents thinking? Why didn't they wake up when they had a chance? And I know you don’t either." --Al Gore