Israeli Foundation Awards Al Gore For Environment Work

An Israeli foundation has awarded former U.S. vice president turned environmentalist, Al Gore with a $1 million prize for his work on environment conservation.

At a ceremony Monday held at the Tel Aviv University, the Dan David Foundation awarded Gore with its annual "present" prize, the Dan David Prize in the Social Responsibility with Particular Emphasis on the Environment category for alerting the world to the crisis caused by overuse of fossil fuels. The foundation also gave prizes in "past" and "future" categories.

In his address, Gore said, "We do face a planetary emergency. The phrase sounds shrill to many, but it is unfortunately quite accurate." Gore said that 40 minutes of sunlight would provide a year's worth of energy for the world.