We saw Al Gore today. He was in Berkeley to urge people to vote "yes" on Proposition 87, which will tax Big Oil and fund alternative energy programs.



He showed up in a hybrid with "100+ MPG" painted on the side, but he had such a heavy police escort that I'm sure his travel wasn't as efficient as he'd like us to believe. Of course, I don't know if he'd even be allowed to travel without all of the security so it's a moot point. Besides, ever since I saw An Inconvenient Truth, I've been a big fan of the former Vice President, so a small amount of hypocrisy from a man who has done so much good seems permissable, no?

Security was on him at all moments except when he was on stage. He stood by a tree as he was waiting to be introduced, and that tree was surrounded by men in suits. Police officers were wearing riot gear. All understandable but unnecessary precautions, because this was Berkeley: the only statement that got a negative reaction from the crowd was given by some man (Steve Bing, maybe?) who said it was so great to be near Palo Alto and Stanford. Dude, duh.

But it was a beautiful California day, and Gore got the crowd excited about alternative energies or, at least, about him, and I was very glad I was able to take a long lunch to see a man who I've only recently learned to respect but who has earned so much of that respect in the past few months.