Present: Social Responsibility with Particular Emphasis on the Environment

Al Gore may have done more than anyone to raise worldwide awareness to the detrimental effects of man’s energy consumption on the environment, and the imperative to take action. 

Gore has been a tireless advocate for the environment throughout his career; as a U.S. Senator, as Vice President of the United States and more recently, as a private citizen. He has eloquently sounded the alarm on the importance of combating the world’s increasing reliance on carbon dioxide emitting fossil fuels as its primary energy source. His book Earth in the Balance, first published in 1992 and since translated into many languages, remains a classic. It is not only a call to action but also an important educational resource. The Oscar-winning movie he produced and starred in – An Inconvenient Truth (2006) – has carried the message to an even larger audience.

Gore’s interest in climate change dates back to his time as an undergraduate student at Harvard University, when he took a course taught by the late Roger Revelle. Revelle first introduced him to the now famous Keeling curve, the steadily rising record of atmospheric CO2. This experience sparked in Gore a lifelong interest in environmental science.

Although Gore has little formal education in science, he has devoted his life to learning and understanding the complex processes that underlie the function of the global life support system, specifically the climate system, and is dedicated to communicating this science to the general public.

The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Al Gore in the field of Social Responsibility with Particular Emphasis on the Environment for his multiple contributions in raising global awareness to the challenge posed to the continuing sustainable function of the global environment and life support system