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Well, Al Gore is taking on another venture.  As Fortune phrased it,

 The recovering politician, environmental activist, and Nobel laureate is adding another title to his résumé: venture capitalist.

Gore is hooking up with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers for clean energy technologies, with an expectation of over $200 million in new investments in technologies seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. 

 And, one of the key partners from KPC&B, John Doerr, will be joining the board of Generation Investment Management to foster even greater collaboration and interaction between the two comapnies.

In the long term, though, they want to help drive something much larger, “bigger than the Industrial Revolution and significantly faster,” as Gore puts it.

They argue that to halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. “What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally,” Gore continues. “It’d be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part.”

Hat tip to FireDogLake for bringing this to my attention.  Their conclusion:

So that pretty much answers the lingering questions about “will he or won’t he,” doesn’t it?

Path toward saving the world?
In considering this, a question to ask is how does Gore see the levers for achieving real change when it comes to Global Warming?

Is he going to continue to speak as a voice of morality, ethics, and power to those in power about Global Warming? Seek to be in the good graces, if not the ‘kitchen cabinet’, of not just the next US President but other political leaders around the world? And, at the same time, seek to leverage private capital, private business to develop new solutions, new options, new paths even faster than might otherwise be seen?

Does he combine his own personal contentment (perceived by many as high right now) with a perception as to the best paths to continue to affect the world’s approaches to dealing with Global Warming? Does he think that his presence in the boardroom and lecture hall will, in the end, have a greater impact that sitting in the Oval Office?

They argue that to halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. “What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally,” Gore continues. “It’d be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part.”

And, well, is this latest venture an indication of that decision?

It’s a luxury to be able to focus on what you are most passionate about all the time,” he says. When asked to elaborate he adds, “Casting about for words to describe this with precision is less productive than just saying that what I’m doing feels like the right thing to do.” So the answer is probably not, though like any good politician, he’s left the door open.

So … what is the best path

for influencing the world?

Would it be sitting in the Oval Office, with a mandate for action on Global Warming? Seeking to use ‘revenue from political capital’ for federal change (regulatory, fiscal) and for legislative/legal change? Yet, fighting for time to focus on Global Warming amid all the other priorities and issues that a President must face?

Or, is it from the massive bully pulpit of Nobel Prize Winner, Academy Award Winner, ‘super star’, as voice of reasons and imperative? Combined with financier and ‘fixer’ to get action in the business and technology arenas? Yet, uncertain as to real influence on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the government and without ability to simply order Federal agencies to take action/change regulations?

Where is the most effective leverage position to create real, meaningful, necessary change in the Global Warming arena?

Al Gore: The President-Elect who never serves?

In any event, as deadlines pass for getting on ballots, as debates continue, as Gore continues to add new activities and new approaches to his portfolio, his busy (and, reportedly, happy) schedule, at what point does it become definitively clear that Al Gore will not be the next President of the United States? That he will remain the President-Elect who never served as President?

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*NOTES*

• From this article: “He was chatting with California Senator Barbara Boxer “on the way over,” he reports, and he isn’t optimistic that Congress will extend the [renewable energy/solar] tax credits.” Okay, time to consider calling your Representative/Senators, if you have not done so already, to urge strong support for renewable energy in the Energy Bill. Lots of discussion on this in recent days, for example: Could the Democrats be THAT stupid? and Will Renewable Energy Survive Political Compromising?