US:AL GORE yesterday launched a drive to mobilise 10 million volunteers to force politicians to act on climate change - twice as many as the number who marched against the Vietnam war or in support of civil rights during the heyday of US activism in the 1960s.
During the next three years, his Alliance for Climate Protection plans to spend $300million (€190 million) on television advertising and online organising to make global warming among the most urgent issues for elected American leaders.
The www.wecansolveit.org initiative aims to build up pressure on the next US president to support stringent mandatory emissions controls when they come before Congress, and take a leadership role at the renegotiation of the Kyoto Treaty.
Environmental activists yesterday described the plan as the most ambitious public campaign launched in the US.
"The resources are completely unprecedented in American politics," said Philip Clapp, of the Pew Environment Group. It is equally ambitious in targets. The alliance has already reached out to organisations as diverse as the Girl Scouts and the steelworkers union to try to broaden its appeal.
Mr Gore told the Washington Post that he launched the initiative because of his concerns that US politicians had balked at supporting strong legislation on climate change.
"This climate crisis is so interwoven with habits and patterns that are so entrenched, the elected officials in both parties are going to be timid about enacting the bold changes that are needed until there is a change in the public's sense of urgency in addressing this crisis," Mr Gore said. "The way to solve this crisis is to change the way the public thinks about it."
Environmental activists said it was crucial that the campaign focus attention on green jobs and other positive consequences of going green - rather than the potential costs.
"What I am particularly hopeful about is that their advertising campaign will emphasise the economic opportunities," said Reid Cretchon, executive director for energy and climate change at the United Nations Fund. "That is where the political leverage is, particularly at a time when the economy is faltering. The opportunities for business and job creation are very large in this transition."
The initiative was widely seen as the logical extension of campaigns such as Moveon.org. -