mánadagur 7. apríl 2008síða 22

22 Nr. 66 - 7. apríl 2008 T he Mr Al Gore visit today is an important event, and the organisers of TACC have done a very good job. What could be more significant for a climate conference other than the participation of one of the foremost international leaders in this area? Mr Albert Arnold Gore is, as we all know, an American politician and businessman. He was the American Vice President from 1993 to 2001, while Mr Bill Clinton was President. This era was in many ways one of the very best periods within recent American history. Together, they pursued a very sensible and targeted policy in all areas and in general terms achieved all these set goals with the notable exception of the American public health insurance system, which still represents a large problem for a large portion of Americans. Very good economics and stability reigned domestically and regarding foreign policies Clinton and Gore presented the great feat of delivering peace to the Balkans. They had also made considerable progress towards peace in the Middle East, when due to the American constituency they had to call it a day. The world was a safe place while they were in office at the White House. Mr Gore was a formidable Vice President, which nobody could point a finger at - competent, honest, reliable, and politically “clean” - all traits, which one may say are a trademark of his life to date. Mr Gore is quite a special person, commanding respect and trust in his homeland as well as all over the world. The President and Mr Gore where quite different in character as well as in origin, but this may well have been one of the reasons why they created such a formidable political team. Mr Gore is also known as one of the first high-ranking politicians, to realise the importance of the internet. He took, prior to his becoming the Vice President, steps to enact a law, which politically paved the way for computer technology becoming layman’s property, and revolutionising the information and telecommunications highway, as we know it – what we today call the internet. M r Gore was nominated for President by the Democrats in 2000. This became a very strange campaign. We still remember how the honourable Mr Gore lost the battle for the supporting votes, in spite of his supporters having the most votes. The end was that the Supreme Court decided the issue according to the situation in Florida. The court concluded that Mr George W. Bush had won the election and was to become the President of the USA. After this, Mr Gore did not wish to stand for President, although there were several requests made, in the 2008 election. He had had enough and decided to utilise his energy, his prestige, and competence upon another battlefield. There are those who believe Mr Gore is doing more in this battle than he could have done as President in the USA. He has entered the league of idealistic people trying to hinder global climatic change, which presents a danger to all future generations of humankind. Prior to Mr Gore becoming Vice President, he was very active for the protection of the ozone layer - a precondition for all life. Every child in the Faroes is familiar with his film An Inconvenient Truth, which in 2007 won an Oscar. The film details and informs of the dangers of climatic change. Personally, Mr Gore has together with the UN’s climatic team won the Noble Peace Welcome to the Faroes Mr Al Gore former By Jan Müller Editor in Chief