Al Gore Challenged to Climate Change Debate

Al Gore is challenged to debate the merits of global warming as a theory, according to an advertisement placed in Tuesday's Washington Post by The Heartland Institute.

"[Gore] is getting hundreds of millions of dollars in free publicity from the press and from environmental groups that echo his warning, but he refuses to debate those who say global warming is not a crisis," said Joseph Bast, president of non-profit group. "The public deserves that debate."

The ad, which states "Global Warming is Not a Crisis" in bold letters across the top, will also run in future editions of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the group said.

Bast said the ads were run because Gore was asked to debate against Lord Monckton, a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher and a member of the Scottish aristocracy. That debate was proposed March 14, and Bast said his group has not yet heard from the Gore camp.

"Gore refuses to debate Lord Monckton, just as he refuses to debate a growing list of prominent scientists, economists, novelists, and policy experts," said Bast. "If the scientific debate over global warming is over, as Gore and other climate alarmists so often claim, why is Al Gore afraid to debate?"

Monckton argues global warming is not as much of a threat as it is made out to be, a position in direct opposition to calls by Gore and others to institute environmental change immediately in order to prevent climate change.

In a submission to the Sunday Telegraph, Monckton spelled out his point of view.

"That global warming is likely to cause harm rather than good is an opinion, to which Gore is entitled," he said. "That there is no scientific consensus as to the rightness of that opinion is a fact, to which all are entitled."

In response to the criticism, Gore said the London paper should rely on more authoritative and reliable sources than Monckton.

Monckton said he wants the debate to be held at Oxford University's Victorian-Gothic Library, the site of a historic debate about the merits of evolution.