Al Gore

Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton, is a Democratic politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the U.S. Senate. Since his defeat in the 2000 election, Gore has been a major force against global warming, starring in the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming.

With his staunch support of efforts to reduce global warming, Gore has come under attack from global warming detractors. One of the most vocal detractors has been John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel. According to Coleman, the science behind the global warming issue is flawed and motivated by political and financial gain. He calls global warming the biggest scam ever.FOX News: Weather Channel Founder Blasts Gore... (January 29, 2009)

Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 from Tennessee's fourth congressional district at the age of 28. Gore was reelected three times, and successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1984. While in congress, Gore supported a number of environmental causes and wrote Earth in the Balance in 1992, shortly before being elected vice president.

Al Gore served as Bill Clinton's vice president from 1993-2001. Early in the administration, Gore engaged in a series of debates with Ross Perot over NAFTA, arguing that the trade agreement would benefit American workers and help improve Mexico's economy. NAFTA was eventually passed and signed into law by Clinton. He was also instrumental in promoting the "Information Superhighway" and the use of technology and the Internet in American business. In keeping with his push for environmental causes, Gore championed the Kyoto Protocol which was designed to help curb global warming emissions .

Gore was locked in a close general election contest with George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election. He won the popular vote, but lost by several hundred votes in Florida, which cost him the Electoral College. After a month of recounting ballots, the dispute was settled when the Supreme Court ruled that the ballot counting was to end in its 5-4 Bush v. Gore decision. Gore accepted the court's decision and conceded the presidency.

Gore has used his status as former vice president to promote his environmental agenda since leaving office in 2001. He has also been a vocal critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq. He starred in the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth which warned of the consequences of climate change. He also shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue.

On June 16, 2008, Gore announced his support for then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. In an e-mail to his supporters, Gore urged the group to contribute to Obama's campaign.