Gore predicts next U.S. president will shift court on climate change

OSLO, Norway — Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore said Monday he believes the next U.S. president will shift the country's course on climate change and engage in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

"The new president, whichever party wins the election, is likely to have to change the position on this climate crisis," Gore told The Associated Press in an interview before accepting the peace prize at a ceremony in Norway. "I do believe the U.S., soon, is to have a more constructive role."

The former vice president said it was not too late for Bush administration to join efforts to draft a new global treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

"I have urged President Bush and his administration to be part of the world community's effort to solve this crisis," Gore said. "I hope they will change their position."

The Bush administration opposed the Kyoto treaty on climate change, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy and objecting that fast developing nations like China and India were not required to reduce emissions.

Gore shares the peace prize with U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their efforts to raise awareness about global warming.

Gore said he did not see the Nobel as vindication for his failed presidential bid in 2000 but was "grateful I found a way to play a useful role in helping to form the world's resolve to solve this crisis."