Gore took charge of environmental policy

From Joel Kovel's critique of Al Gore:
As Vice-President, Gore took charge of environmental policy and for all the fluffy rhetoric, was spineless when it came to standing up to big business. His tenure in office, a time of resurgent economic expansion, witnessed the highest rates of growth of CO2 emissions in history. He did nothing to stand against the ruinous trade agreements, such as NAFTA, and the emergence of the WTO. Very modest efforts to improve fuel economy for American cars were shot down by the oil industry without a peep from the White House.