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Former U.S. vice president Al Gore ahead of accepting the Dan David prize at Tel Aviv University on Monday. (Tomer Appelbaum)
Last update - 07:53 21/05/2008
Al Gore says Israel should lead the way in renewable energy
By Ido Solomon, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Tags: Global Warming, Israel 

Speaking at Tel Aviv University's Renewable Energy Conference on Tuesday, former U.S. vice president Al Gore, called on Israel to take the lead in the development of renewable energy sources.

"The people of Israel stand in my moral imagination as guardians of the proposition that we as human beings are answerable to moral beauties, that there are ethical laws that should guide our decisions and choices at this moment in history in which for the first time all the people of this earth have to make a clear, seemingly difficult but quite clear -moral judgment about our future. The people of Israel can lead the way to renewable energy."

"We do face a planetary emergency. The phrase sounds shrill to many, but it is unfortunately quite accurate," Gore said during his address at Tel Aviv University Monday, where the Dan David Foundation awarded him its annual prize in the "present" category for alerting the world to the crisis caused by overuse of fossil fuels. Prizes were also awarded in the "past" and "future" categories.
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Noting that "30 percent of the icebergs at the North Pole have melted over the past 20 years," Gore warned that unless humanity brings about a change, it will be facing disaster. He called for urgent action for "our children" and future generations, adding that he understood he would have to pass the message from town to town and person to person.

President Shimon Peres also spoke at the conference and said that 'from an Israeli point of view, it's better to hang on the sun than to hang on oil-producing countries. The sun is more permanent, more objective, is not a member of the Arab League. We have direct connections and there is plenty of it."

The prize was awarded to Gore and others for their contribution to raising international awareness of environmental issues. The judges termed Gore the "world's leading politician" in his field, adding that his intensive activity, including political activity, lectures, films and books, has created a real change in awareness of climate change among both people and governments.

Gore, already a Nobel Prize laureate, said he would donate 10 percent of the prize to young researchers and the rest to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

The prize recipients in the "past category" were author Amos Oz, English playwright Tom Stoppard and director Atom Egoyan, who jointly received $1 million for their contribution to reflecting the past in works of literature, theater and cinema.

Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Lonnie Thompson and Geoffrey Eglinton jointly received the "future" prize for their contribution to earth sciences. Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken and TAU Rector Dan Levitan jointly presented the prize to Eglinton, a professor emeritus and senior research fellow in earth sciences at the University of Bristol.

The $3 million Dan David Prize has been awarded annually since 2002 to people and institutions that made outstanding contributions to humanity in the past, present and future categories ($1 million for each). Prize recipients all contribute 10 percent of their winnings to stipends for Ph.D. and post-doctoral students.

The Shani Choir sealed the ceremony with John Lennon's song Imagine in English, Arabic and Hebrew, while the symbol of Israel's 60th anniversary was screened on the wall.

In his address Monday, he said that 40 minutes of sunlight would provide a year'sworth of energy for the world. On Tuesday Al Gore gave the keynote address at TAU's Renewable Energy Conference.

Gore told his TAU audience that the Middle East's water shortage is a major part of the global climate crisis.

Gore praised Israel for irrigating its desert landscape. But he warned against decreasing water levels in the region's lakes and rivers and called for action, as water levels in both the Dead Sea and Jordan River are dropping quickly.

Environmental groups say the nation's water-hungry agriculture industry puts too much strain on its limited natural resources. Jordan and Israel have joined together in a campaign to save the Dead Sea, which borders both nations.


On Monday, Gore received the $1 million Dan David prize for his work helping the environment.

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  1.   Such an Idiot 12:35  |  B`Galil 20/05/08
  2.   Why is this guy still free? 12:56  |  A Life 20/05/08
  3.   Thanks to Bush oil costs 200 D a barrel, thanks to Al Gore food 13:14  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/05/08
  4.   30% of icebergs melted in the Arctic 13:17  |  Chris Linthwaite 20/05/08
  5.   Making Money from Global Warming 13:23  |  Jerualemite 20/05/08
  6.   Israel warming 13:32  |  alex 20/05/08
  7.   That should pay al gores electricity bill 13:41  |  Truthmonger 20/05/08
  8.   BEWARE Israel: Jeremiah 31:35-38 "harnessing the sunlight" 13:50  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/05/08
  9.   The warming of Earth is a perfectly natural phenomenon 13:52  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  10.   Planetary emergency 13:52  |  Brod 20/05/08
  11.   Why such negative comments? 14:01  |  DC 20/05/08
  12.   Not global warming but climate change. 14:05  |  The Equalizer 20/05/08
  13.   #9 Clickfool; great mail! Way to go! 14:07  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/05/08
  14.   For Chris Linthwaite # 4 14:09  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  15.   Global (B.S) Warming 14:32  |  Mary 20/05/08
  16.   Big Fat Al 14:37  |  Mary 20/05/08
  17.   Global Warming hoax 14:43  |  Said 20/05/08
  18.   Talkbackers` wisdom 14:47  |  EJ 20/05/08
  19.   Al Gore "forgets" the noble purpose of the Amazon-jungle 14:55  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/05/08
  20.   al and the taboo none speak about! 14:57  |  v hardman 20/05/08
  21.   Money Well Wasted 15:24  |  AnakAdeen 20/05/08
  22.   Freudian slip, Mary? # 15 15:30  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  23.   Question for EJ # 18 15:32  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  24.   Clickfool, your first and only rational piece in years 15:36  |  Sam C 20/05/08
  25.   al gore 15:43  |  bill rohrabaugh 20/05/08
  26.   A short answer... 15:53  |  EJ 20/05/08
  27.   Clickfool 16:28  |  Mike M 20/05/08
  28.   Shame On You, Israelites ..... 16:33  |  Infidel 20/05/08
  29.   Isreal NEEDS to develop alternative NEEDS TO! 16:34  |  Diplomat 20/05/08
  30.   Global Warming is real 16:36  |  Rabbi Science 20/05/08
  31.   We face a planetary emergency 16:38  |  Chaim Bravda 20/05/08
  32.   Cyclic climatic changes are quite normal..! 16:45  |  Stephen. 20/05/08
  33.   For EJ # 26 16:46  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  34.   Goredecptions 16:53  |  Sabra 20/05/08
  35.   Hey Al, Did You Fly Commercial or Did You Take a Private Jet? 16:53  |  MIKE 20/05/08
  36.   There is nothing wrong with making money on a truth 17:16  |  Money Lender 20/05/08
  37.   Dirty tactics by Global Warming believers 17:19  |  Gili 20/05/08
  38.   There are a LOT of people making money off us not believing him 17:34  |  FACT 20/05/08
  39.   Research the issue before you believe it 17:49  |  Jerusalemite 20/05/08
  40.   wipe and dry 17:52  |  montgomery rosen 20/05/08
  41.   A Waste of Prize Money 19:03  |  MarcM 20/05/08
  42.   Clicky and Jerusalemite (what a team!) 19:57  |  EJ 20/05/08
  43.   El Nino 20:10  |  Mike 20/05/08
  44.   For EJ, still not answering my points # 42 20:48  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  45.   Why it is the sun that is behind global warming 20:56  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  46.   al gore would just be another Bad Joke except 21:02  |  Avram 20/05/08
  47.   By the way 21:07  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  48.   For Gili and snake-oil # 37 21:13  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  49.   Gore - give the money back. The Little Ice Age is coming 21:17  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  50.   Gore better spend it quick then! 21:19  |  hollingsworth 20/05/08
  51.   Blatant liar!!! 21:21  |  Webster 20/05/08
  52.   Al Gore, Israel, planetary emergency 21:27  |  Ricardo Kolbe 20/05/08
  53.   global warming or not 22:16  |  Harry 20/05/08
  54.   Said, U R right, a no one wants to mention :Population explosion 22:27  |  Simon 20/05/08
  55.   renewable energy 22:29  |  Dov Ber 20/05/08
  56.   Unless 2/3 of world population perishes..... 22:30  |  Nora 20/05/08
  57.   Webster and others 22:58  |  Russ 20/05/08
  58.   Human activity is exacerbating the natural changes 23:14  |  Raymond in DC 20/05/08
  59.   Algore give America a break 23:15  |  Wendy 20/05/08
  60.   # 3 Alicia Yasmeen 23:45  |  THE TEACHER/INSTRUCT 20/05/08
  61.   For Nora, on Thomas Malthus # 50 23:58  |  Clickfool 20/05/08
  62.   The warming I don`t care about..but oil... 00:09  |  Miransky 21/05/08
  63.   ranting about gore 00:26  |  hollingsworth 21/05/08
  64.   Al Gore`s $30,000++ yearly home light bill. 00:44  |  The Gentile 21/05/08
  65.   Sam C and Clickfool 00:56  |  The Gentile 21/05/08
  66.   # 9 Mr Fool 01:10  |  James 21/05/08
  67.   Al Gore 01:39  |  Avni 21/05/08
  68.   Do the math 02:31  |  Mark Lincoln 21/05/08
  69.   Russ, #53 02:32  |  Webster 21/05/08
  70.   Clickfool and the Talkback Skeptics (a new band!) 09:23  |  EJ 21/05/08
  71.