‘Netroots’ deeper this year

Last year it was about the candidates. This year it’s the climate.

Former Vice President Al Gore made a surprise appearance Saturday at the Netroots Nation conference, a gathering of nearly 2,000 left-leaning bloggers and political organizers. He urged the activists to mobilize for global climate protection, amplifying his call to generate all the nation’s electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy in 10 years.

At last year’s conference, then called Yearly Kos, seven Democratic presidential candidates -- including Barack Obama, now the presumptive nominee -- vied for the support of the bloggers, whose political influence has grown exponentially since they emerged as a significant factor in the last presidential campaign. Obama skipped this year’s conference.

Gore, who joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) during her session at the convention, praised the bloggers as being at the forefront of reclaiming American democracy.

Much of Pelosi’s time at the convention was spent speaking out for an end to the Iraq war and for Obama’s election.

“The end could be in sight,” she said to cheers. “This will not happen without the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.”

Gore said the seriousness of the climate problem was related to the economic and security crises of U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Recent Republican calls to battle rising oil prices with more drilling are “absurd” and a bit like curing a hangover with another drink, he said.

Gore said he was trying to enlist 10 million grass-roots environmental activists and asked the online organizers for help. Pelosi said she supported that effort and was working with evangelical activists on protecting the environment and helping the poor.

Gore downplayed the suggestion that he might accept a position in the next president’s Cabinet, but he left the option open.

“I don’t think that’s the best thing for me to do. I could be wrong,” he said.