Al Gore's 'moonshot'

But questions are already arising as to whether such a transformation is is politically feasible. The Hill, a daily newspaper that covers the US Congress, reports that some Democrats are finding Gore's timing to be inconvenient, as Americans seem to be more concerned about rising energy prices.

"I think the American public will be much more receptive to arguments about climate change when gas prices aren’t so critical,” Ohio Rep. Zack Space told the paper.

Adding to this uncertainty are the results of a May Pew survey that showed that only 47 percent of Americans believe that humans are responsible for climate change.

But others have praised Gore's challenge. Barack Obama did not explicitly endorse the challenge, but he says some very nice things about it:

"For decades, Al Gore has challenged the skeptics in Washington on climate change and awakened the conscience of a nation to the urgency of this threat. I strongly agree with Vice President Gore that we cannot drill our way to energy independence, but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels, and those are the investments I will make as President. It’s a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and one that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer."

John McCain's website has not yet posted a statement about Gore's speech.

Update: The New York Times's Dot Earth blog reports that a McCain spokesman issued the following statement:

"John McCain has been a leader in the fight against global climate change, working with Democrats on this issue since 2003, but no one has more successfully recruited Americans into this effort than Al Gore. This is a key issue, and John McCain has put solutions over partisanship to pursue meaningful, market-driven cap and trade legislation aimed at drastically reducing harmful carbon emissions."

The Associated Press quotes McCain saying of Gore's plan:  "If the vice president says it's doable, I believe it's doable."

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