2007-04-03 21:56:06 -

CHICAGO, April 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today (Tuesday) a national nonprofit organization began an ad campaign calling on former vice president Al Gore to publicly debate critics of his "alarmist" perspective on global warming.

View Ad: http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/Assets/Images/Monckton-Gore.pdf

The first ad ran in today's edition of the Washington Post. Other ads will run in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The ads feature a challenge from Lord Monckton of Brenchley, who first challenged the former vice president to debate on March 14.

That challenge to debate remains unanswered.

"[Gore] is getting hundreds of millions of dollars in free publicity from the press and from environmental groups that echo his warning, but he refuses to debate those who say global warming is not a crisis," said Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute. "The public deserves that debate."

Lord Monckton, a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, has written several high-profile articles disputing the notion that global warming is a crisis, including one that Gore saw fit to respond to. Like Gore, Monckton is not a scientist or professional economist.

"Gore refuses to debate Lord Monckton, just as he refuses to debate a growing list of prominent scientists, economists, novelists, and policy experts," said Bast. "If the scientific debate over global warming is over, as Gore and other climate alarmists so often claim, why is Al Gore afraid to debate?"

The Heartland Institute has also launched a new Web site to accompany the ad campaign. The objective of the Web site, http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/, is to give visitors access to an extensive database of research that contradicts many of the claims made by Gore and other climate alarmists.

For more information about The Heartland Institute or to contact Lord Monckton for further comment on his challenge to the former vice president, contact Mike Van Winkle at 312/377-4000 or via email at mvanwinkle@heartland.org.

Source: The Heartland Institute