Grist is a very popular enviro blog... this is an interesting take on Al Gore's fight toward changing public opinion:
The lesson Gore seems to have drawn from his defeats in the White House is that being president is not enough to create real change, especially if powerful interests are against you. The only way to defeat them is to recondition the battlefield -- to build such a pervasive wave of public pressure that no matter which politicians get elected, each will feel compelled to take action, even if it means disappointing ExxonMobil and friends. As Gore told Time, the climate crisis "requires a fundamental shift in public opinion at the grassroots level to embolden members of the legislative branch to take action."
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/1/23/165239/215?source=weekly
