Gore says Oscar bid helps shift public opinion on climate crisis

"An Inconvenient Truth," former U.S. vice president Al Gore's dire warning about the threat of climate change, won the Oscar for best documentary Sunday.

Making use of a vast body of scientific data, the film represents a stinging rebuttal to the dwindling and increasingly discredited band of skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the extent of climate change, AFP reported.

Though the film is directed by David Guggenheim, Gore is the undisputed star, interspersing persuasive presentations about the environment with personal recollections from his life.

The central thrust of Gore's claims is that global warming is a genuine threat and largely man-made, an assertion that is backed by recent research.

The Kyoto Protocol assigning mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been ratified by 169 countries. However, the United States has failed to ratify the protocol.

But what Gore did as number 2 man in the White House for global warming during his time was very different from his documentary.

Online newsletter Green Left writes "The Clinton-Gore years were anything but environment-friendly. Under Clinton-Gore, more old growth forests were cut down than under any other recent U.S. administration.

'Wise Use' committees, set up by the timber industry, were permitted to clear-cut whole mountain ranges, while Clinton-Gore helped to 'green-wash' their activities for public consumption.

Former Vice President Al Gore said the Oscar nomination for his global warming documentary is shifting public opinion, but he's not happy about being right.

"An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary about Gore's crusade against global warming, is the odds-on favorite to win an Oscar tonight.Gore said he hopes to pull the global warming argument out of a partisan context and frame it as a moral and spiritual issue that involves responsibility to future generations.Skeptical at first at the idea of turning his slideshow into a movie, Gore said now he's grateful for all the people the movie has reached.Once criticized for his stiffness, Gore now mingles among celebrities with rock star fame, but he said his wife, Tipper, keeps his feet on the ground.