Al Gore says nonviolent disruption of polluters and airports is justified considering the grave threat posed by climate change. "Civil disobedience has an honorable history, and when the urgency and moral clarity cross a certain threshold, then I think that civil disobedience is quite understandable, and it has a role to play," Gore tells the Guardian. "And I expect that it will increase, no question about it."
The former VP and global-warming crusader is confident that the Senate will pass a climate bill before the Copenhagen summit, which he expects President Obama to personally attend—but he was speaking before new reports that a time-intensive cost-benefit analysis may postpone the Senate's work until after the summit. Gore hinted at "surprises" coming from the Senate, drawing on confidential talks between Republicans and Democrats to which he's been privy.
(More Al Gore stories.)