We Have a 'Planetary Emergency'

CAPITOL HILL -- A very emotional former Vice President Al Gore made a return to Congress Wednesday to plead with lawmakers to fight global warming with moral courage. Gore said nothing about whether he will join the 2008 presidential race.

Gore has recently returned from Hollywood where his climate-change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" has won two Oscars, The House and Senate drew overflow crowds as Gore testified to both panels about a "true planetary emergency."

The Republicans were skeptical when Gore stated that the issue should not be partisan or political. The Republicans questioned Gore's personal commitment to reducing energy usage and the science behind his film.

"You're totally wrong," said Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the leading Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He challenged Gore's conclusion that carbon dioxide emissions cause rising global temperatures. The exchange between the two grew testy Barton demanding that Gore get to the point and Gore responding that he would like time to answer without being interrupted.

"The science of Global warming is uneven and evolving," Barton said.

"The planet has a fever," Gore said. "If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you do not debate it you intervene. If the crib is on fire, you do not speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action."

Gore's congressional testimony marked the first time he had been to Capitol Hill since. It comes 20 years after Congressman Gore of Tennessee, held the first hearings in Congress on global warming.

Gore appeared before a joint hearing by two House committees, and a stack of boxes beside him containing thousands and thousands of messages urging Congress to take immediate action on global warming. Later, Gore testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where bickering grew even louder.

Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma has labeled global warming a hoax. He complained that Democratic leadership has given Gore extra time and advantages not afforded typical witnesses. Inhofe upon grilling Gore about his personal energy use at his Tennessee mansion Inhofe showed the final frame of Gore's film that read, "Are you ready to change the way you live?" Inhofe cut off gore when he tried to respond.

It was a difficult feat for Democratic Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to try to bring order to the hearing. She blatantly told Inhofe he cannot control things anymore the Republicans have lost their majority. "Elections have consequences, so I make the rules," she said, holding up her gavel to cheers from the audience.

Gore said he hopes whoever is elected as president in 2008 "that they can use his or her political chips" to lead the world toward a new global climate treaty.

Gore suggested to lawmakers to cut carbon dioxide and other warming gases 90 percent by 2050 to avoid a crisis. If that is accomplished, he said, it would require a ban on any new coal-burning power plants - a major source of industrial carbon dioxide.

"The country has a sense of hope that the United States Congress will present a meaningful solution to this crisis. Gore said. "Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination."