Democrats should focus on the environment

By Rebecca Fox-Bivona

Al Gore will no longer be known simply as the former vice president or the man that created "An Inconvenient Truth." He will now forever be remembered as one of the 2007 winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

For Gore, winning the Nobel Peace Prize reaffirms the belief that the global community is recognizing the importance of rapid climate change.

The activities of humans for the past decade have depleted the ozone layer, allowing harmful gases into the air which warm its temperature and cause the ice caps in the northernmost and southernmost parts of the globe to melt.

This is what Gore is trying to emphasize. It's simple and clear, but most are ignorant of the situation at hand. Hopefully, with Gore's prestigious award, more people, politicians and international organizations will pay attention to the matter.

Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize certainly adds greater validity to the environmentalists' call to recognize the problem of global warming. So how will this greater recognition affect Americans?

Well, it could mean that more politicians will recognize the importance of environmental issues. However, when looked at in light of the current state of politics, this will most likely not happen.

So what about the Democratic Party? How will democratic 2008 presidential hopefuls focus their agendas now that Gore has won the Peace Prize and caught the attention of news media and citizens everywhere?

Will the democrats choose to frame their presidential campaign agendas around, or at least give more attention to, environmental issues?

I think that the democrats will choose to ignore Gore's efforts. His efforts have had an impact on the global community, and are obviously seen as important, but Americans continue to ignore his warning. I think that because not enough people recognize the changing environment as a critical issue, it will continue to be ignored.

However, this is the perfect time for the Democratic Party to rally behind Al Gore and soak in his victory with him. If the environment is truly important to democrats, then now is their opportunity to show that they are willing to take a stand.

Democratic Party leaders continue to ignore environmental issues in favor of attending to the more popular issues of security in Iraq and immigration because they think it's what Americans will remember when voting day rolls around.

Even when Gore initially recognized that there were environmental issues to be addressed, the issues were not taken seriously. Since not enough people recognize the environment as a critical issue, it will continue to be ignored.

What will it take for the Democratic Party to recognize the importance of the environment? How many Peace Prizes need to be won by environmentally conscious citizens? Apparently the high price of gas, the depletion of the ozone, the warming of our oceans and air, and the continuing lack of natural resources are not enough.

Rebecca Fox-Bivona is a sophomore sociology and political science double major.