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Oslo: Former US Vice-President Al Gore has ruled out joining the US presidential race after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to highlight the dangers of climate change.
Gore, narrowly beaten by US President George W. Bush in the 2000 race, said that it was a "great honour" to win the prestigious award, announced in Oslo on Friday. Gore will share the $1.5 million (Dh5.5 million) prize with the UN climate panel.
"I don't have plans to be a candidate again - so I don't really see it in that context at all," Gore said when asked in an interview that aired on Norway's NRK public television yesterday about how the award would affect his political future.
Speculation revived
NRK said it was Gore's first interview since the prize revived speculation that he might make a late bid for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
An organisation called www.draftgore.com said that 200,000 people had signed a petition to urge Gore to run, with a jump of 70,000 signatures in four days after the prize.
"I'm involved in a different kind of campaign, it's a global campaign," Gore said. "It's a campaign to change the way people think about the climate crisis."
Gore has repeatedly said that he has no plans to run, without completely ruling it out.
It would be hard, but not impossible, for Gore to enter the race. The first contest on the road to the election in November 2008, the Iowa caucuses, is less than 100 days away.
Asked how it was to win the Nobel Prize, Gore said: "It's impossible to put it into words, it's such a great honour. For me personally, it means the chance to be more effective in trying to deliver this message about the climate crisis and the urgency of solving the climate crisis."
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