Gore: Humankind Waging War On Earth Itself

OSLO, Norway — Saying it's "time to make peace with the planet," Vice President Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment.

America and China — the world's leading emitters of greenhouse gases — will stand accountable before history if they don't take the lead in that global challenge, the former vice president said.

"Without realizing it, we have begun to wage war on the Earth itself," Mr. Gore said in his acceptance speech. "Now, we and the Earth's climate are locked in a relationship familiar to war planners: 'Mutually assured destruction.' It is time to make peace with the planet."

Mr. Gore was awarded the prize for sounding the alarm over global warming and spreading awareness on how to counteract it. His co-winner, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was represented by the panel's leader, Rajendra Pachauri.