Al Gore

Former Vice President Al Gore will make a rare campaign appearance, traveling to a Tampa rally on behalf of Democrat Rep. Kendrick Meek, running third in the topsy-turvy Florida race for U.S. Senate. The Meek campaign on Wednesday announced a Sept. 30 appearance by Gore, a Nobel Prize winner for his work in fighting global warming. “I am honored to have Vice President Gore visit Florida in support of my campaign,” Meek stated. “Together, we'll show Floridians that there is just one candidate who will stand up for Florida's environment and middle-class families in this state.

Keith Olbermann isn't mincing words in his $70-million lawsuit against Current TV. Dumped last week by the upstart cable network, Olbermann let loose a verbal barrage against co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt in a 43-page legal complaint for breach of contract filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing them of blackmail and calling them "dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives. " The lawsuit sets the stage for a high-profile legal battle between two leaders of American liberalism: Gore, a former U.S. vice president and Nobel laureate, and Olbermann, a fiery talk-show host.

Former Vice President Al Gore is condemning President Obama's decision to back off stricter regulation of ozone emissions, saying he has "bowed to pressure from polluters" instead of "relying on science. " In a posting on his official blog, Gore noted that Obama was disregarding the advice of his own EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, who called the levels of pollution now allowed "not legally defensible. " In doing so, Gore writes, Obama has "embraced" the environmental views of his Republican predecessor.

Following a turbulent year, Al Gore's Current TV finally parted ways Friday with fiery host Keith Olbermann. "Countdown," Olbermann's show, was canceled Friday and was to be replaced by another featuring former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. In a statement, Gore, the former vice president and Nobel laureate, and his business partner Joel Hyatt took an extraordinary swipe at their outspoken host, to whom they had reportedly given a $10-million paycheck as well as an ownership stake in hopes he would raise the tiny network's profile.

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal. The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. lauren.beale@latimes.com

The picture (July 11) of Clinton and Al Gore jogging together reminded me of two bookends because of their similarity in age, height and size. The symbolism is apt because they may be the best-educated running mates in the history of presidential politics. FLOYD A. OLIVER Los Angeles

Al Gore has had some tough breaks — like losing the presidency after getting more votes than the other guy — but the noted environmentalist achieved a singular honor last week, becoming the first vice president to have a Los Angeles school named after him. And, fittingly, the school will be devoted to environmental themes. But as in the 2000 election, there's a catch. Critics say the campus' location poses a long-term health risk to students and staff. School district officials insist that the Arlington Heights property is clean and safe.

The Gore dynasty includes several politicians and lawyers. The candidate's father was a lawyer and three-term senator from Tennessee. His mother became the first female graduate of Vanderbilt Law School. (Al Gore attended that school as well but dropped out in 1976 to run for Congress.) Attorney, confidant and brother-in-law Frank Hunger is the former head of the Justice Department's civil division. Daughter Karenna Gore Schiff, 27, recently graduated from Columbia Law School.

Postrel's attack on Al Gore's call to protect and save the environment in order to save our society neglected to mention one key point--he's right. We're running out of time. The ozone layer over North America is thinning at an alarming rate. In the Third World, people who have run out of resources are strip-mining the only resources they have left--their forests. When those are gone there will be even more desperately needy people and no resources. We have to act now to create a balance between man and nature that can be perpetuated to provide for not just our immediate needs, but also for the needs of our children and grandchildren.

For much of the presidential campaign so far, Mitt Romney has tried to glide above his Republican rivals - - engaging  President Obama in his stump speeches while swatting away criticism from GOP contenders. But in sign of a tightening race in South Carolina, Romney shifted strategy during a midday rally at Wofford University Wednesday - needling GOP rival Newt Gingrich him as a lifelong politician and suggesting that he had little experience creating jobs. Arguing that Gingrich and Obama had taken the same line of attack by criticizing his work at the private equity firm Bain Capital - - which he likes to describe as an assault on "free enterprise" - - Romney pivoted to Gingrich's career in government and mocked job-creation claims made recently by the former House speaker.

Former Vice President Al Gore is condemning President Obama's decision to back off stricter regulation of ozone emissions, saying he has "bowed to pressure from polluters" instead of "relying on science. " In a posting on his official blog, Gore noted that Obama was disregarding the advice of his own EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, who called the levels of pollution now allowed "not legally defensible. " In doing so, Gore writes, Obama has "embraced" the environmental views of his Republican predecessor.

Now that Keith Olbermann has joined Current TV, the question is whether the combative liberal firebrand can help elevate the 6-year-old network's profile — or whether Al Gore's cable dream will remain stubbornly earthbound. Olbermann, the controversial broadcaster who abruptly exited MSNBC last month, announced Tuesday morning that he will join Current TV, the little-watched but rapidly growing cable outlet founded by former Vice President Gore and legal entrepreneur Joel Hyatt.

Former Vice President Al Gore will make a rare campaign appearance, traveling to a Tampa rally on behalf of Democrat Rep. Kendrick Meek, running third in the topsy-turvy Florida race for U.S. Senate. The Meek campaign on Wednesday announced a Sept. 30 appearance by Gore, a Nobel Prize winner for his work in fighting global warming. “I am honored to have Vice President Gore visit Florida in support of my campaign,” Meek stated. “Together, we'll show Floridians that there is just one candidate who will stand up for Florida's environment and middle-class families in this state.

Al Gore has had some tough breaks — like losing the presidency after getting more votes than the other guy — but the noted environmentalist achieved a singular honor last week, becoming the first vice president to have a Los Angeles school named after him. And, fittingly, the school will be devoted to environmental themes. But as in the 2000 election, there's a catch. Critics say the campus' location poses a long-term health risk to students and staff. School district officials insist that the Arlington Heights property is clean and safe.

Stephen H. Schneider, a Stanford University biologist on the vanguard of climate-change research for four decades, who argued eloquently on human culpability in global warming and willingly threw himself into the political fray to explain and defend the scientific evidence, has died. He was 65. Schneider had a heart attack Monday while flying to London from a science meeting in Stockholm, according to Stanford spokesman Dan Stober. "Steve Schneider helped the world understand that the burning of fossils had altered the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere, and that this change … had led to a discernible human influence on our planet's climate," said Benjamin D. Santer, a leading climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who described his colleague as the Carl Sagan of climate science.

They were the happy exceptions — high school sweethearts whose passionate romance led to a famously stable marriage in a capital perpetually rocked by tawdry scandals and sleazy affairs. But on Tuesday, less than a month after they marked their 40th wedding anniversary, former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, announced they were breaking up. The couple, who have four grown children, disclosed the news in a brief e-mail to friends and supporters.

In a move that critics may cite as his own inconvenient truth, former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a house in secluded Montecito to their real estate holdings. The couple spent $8,875,000 on a gated ocean-view villa on 1 1/2 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, according to real estate sources familiar with the deal. The Italian-style house has high ceilings with beams in the public rooms, a family room, a wine cellar, terraces, six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms in more than 6,500 square feet of living space.