Al gets his Nobel

Just moved over the wires at a little past 5 Eastern time (yes, I'm an early riser these days):

Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hey, the guys at the Financial Times are awake:

Mr Gore has given the hour-long lecture which gave rise to the film to thousands of audiences around the world, from students to heads of state. His performances are occasionally free but more often he charges up to £50,000 a time.

Mr Gore is also a prominent investor in environmental technology, chiefly through Generation Investment Management, a fund management company he helped to set up in 2004 with David Blood, former chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The choice of Mr Gore will give rise to concerns - for US conservatives at least - about the perceived politicisation of the prize, previously awarded to Jimmy Carter and Mohamed ElBaradei. It raises questions about the broadening of the prize’s criteria beyond the traditional understanding of peacemaking.

The prize also added to speculation that Mr Gore would be persuaded to have another attempt at the US presidency.