Frederica Freyberg:
Well, weather patterns and climate change lead us into our next segment. Those are just two of the many topics that are the focus of a conference that took place in Madison today. The Society of Environmental Journalists hosted a wide range of expert panelists throughout the today including former vice-president Al Gore. We have highlights of his speech this morning, starting to his congratulations to President Obama for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Al Gore:
I think it's thrilling that President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I think it's an honor for our country. It's an honor for him, first and foremost, of course, but it's an honor for our country. I think it's extremely well-deserved. I think that much of what he has accomplished already is going to be far more appreciated in the eyes of history as it has been by the Nobel committee in their announcement early this morning.
There is much more bipartisan dialogue underway behind-the-scenes in the United States senate than is presently publicly visible. The legislation that emerges from the center, and I think it will emerge, again, will not be legislation that I would have written. It will likely include some provisions that I'm not happy about or excited about. But I think that the net result is likely to be similar to the legislation in the house. And I think it's now more likely than not — the Las Vegas odds-makers still disagree, I'm sure, but I think it's more likely than not that we will have a Senate-passed bill and a conference committee pending when the Copenhagen negotiation takes place. What is important is that directly or indirectly we put a price on carbon, that carbon emissions be recognized. Though CO2 is only one of the six pollutants that are the primary causes of the climate crisis, it is the largest, and the mechanisms for securing reductions in CO2 will bring in their wake the ability to bring about reductions in all of the others.
And indeed the choice facing the present generation is an awesome one because never before in human history has a single generation, using the word to describe those of us who are alive today, never has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions that will have implications for all succeeding generations. I believe that we are more than up to it. I believe that we have all the tools we need to solve three or four climate crises. And the good news is we only have to solve one. We have everything we need, as I often say, with the possible exception of political will. But in the United States of America political will is a renewable resource. Thank you very much for having me here.

Frederica Freyberg:
Vice president Al Gore speaking this morning in Madison at the Society of Environmental Journalists gathering.