According to Al Gore, energy companies have an iron grip on the Republican party and a John McCain victory would result in continuing a “50-year lease” they hold.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Gore also compared Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama to former president Abraham Lincoln, saying, “The experience Lincoln’s supporters valued most in that race was his powerful ability to inspire hope in the future at a time of impasse.”

After eight years as Vice-President and a loss to President George W. Bush in 2000, Gore became one of the most outspoken and public figures for the green movement.  His film “An Inconvenient Truth” helped bring concerns of climate change to the mainstream and earned him several accolades, including a shared Nobel Peace Prize.

The unofficial assertion is that a vote for Obama is a vote for the environment.

(via Bloomberg)