Al Gore launches campaign to fight global warming

NASHVILLE -- Former Vice President Al Gore launched a three-year, multimillion-dollar advocacy campaign Monday calling for the U.S. to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Alliance for Climate Protection'scampaign, dubbed "we," will combine advertising, online organizing and partnerships with grass-roots groups to educate the public about global warming and urge solutions from elected officials.

"We're trying to get a movement happening to switch public opinion so that our leaders feel, 'Wow! We really need to make this a top priority issue,"' alliance CEO Cathy Zoi told The Associated Press.

An advertising campaign will equate the climate-change movement with other grand historic endeavors, like stopping fascism in Europe during World War II, overcoming segregation in the United States and putting the first man on the moon.

Some advertisements will feature bipartisan pairs, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton with Pat Robertson and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich, Zoi said.

Robertson spoke Monday on "The 700 Club," his long-running Christian news and talk show, about his involvement, saying he was honored to be asked by Gore to participate.

"It's just common sense that we ought to be good stewards of the environment and do everything within our power to protect this fragile planet that we all live on," he said.

Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler said the former congressman is participating because he agrees on the need for a bipartisan approach to climate change. In Gingrich's new book, "A Contract with the Earth," he argues that conservatives are natural environmentalists.

Prominent Republicans also serve on the alliance's board of directors.

"This is not only an environmental issue. It's an issue of energy independence and it's an issue of national security," said Lee Thomas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan. "We need to all come together on this and the time to move on it is now, not later."