It was only three years ago that an environmentalist, Wangari Muta Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Is the Nobel committee prepared to award this year's prize to another champion of the environment? Betsafe.com, a live-betting site, is giving the best odds to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (3.25 to 1) and Al Gore (3.35 to 1). In third place at 4 to 1 is Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuit who has made drawing the world's attention to the effects of climate change on the Arctic her raison d'être for the last few years.
The best bet on someone who is actually involved in peace-making is Martti Ahtisaari, a UN special envoy for the future of Kosovo, at 5.5 to 1.
Interesting. Climatologists are the favorite for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nice to know that even if your field of scientific expertise doesn't fall into one of the actual science-oriented prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine), you still get a shot at Nobel, which is worth 1,548,603.45 USD at today's exchange rate.
Incidentally, perpetual nominee and one-hit wonder Bob Geldof, and his significantly more successful compatriot Bono, are each running at 50:1. George W. Bush manages is the longest-shot at 1000:1.
UPDATE: A day later Gore has taken the lead at 2.65 to 1. And the IPCC (now more specifically including its head, Rajendra Pachauri, has fallen to 4 to 1. Watt-Cloutier remains at 4 to 1.
Also of note, Al Gore's odds of taking the Democratic Party nomination have risen --slightly -- in the last few days, according to the Slate magazine political futures market.
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And its a tie!
Well done, Al Gore!! Take a bow, IPCC!