To be perfectly honest, I received the news about Al Gore coming to Israel to collect a $1 million prize for his achievements in raising environmental awareness with a dose of skepticism. Does Al Gore really need more money or recognition, especially when there are so many committed, homegrown environmentalists in Israel, many of whom are so under-appreciated? Wasn’t his movie just a glorified Power Point, containing no significant new insights? And even if Gore is a relentless activist today, where was his sense of commitment when he was working from the White House?

However, after pondering it over a little, it became clear to me just what an enormous impact Al Gore has had on environmental awareness in Israel.

Although it is difficult to image today, with discussion of environmental issues so mainstream and widespread, it was only a couple of years ago when environmentalists were considered an obscure special interest group in this country. I remember being told by a distinguished professor in Tel Aviv University a couple of years ago that the environment was a “luxury” issue, which only the well-off could be expected to care about.

All of that has changed during the past year or so.