 The White House on Friday praised former US Vice President Al Gore and the UN climate panel for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to raise awareness of the threat of global warming. "Of course we're happy for Vice President Gore and the IPCC for receiving this recognition," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, referring to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the award with Gore. Gore, a Democrat, has been a vocal critic of the environmental policies of President George W Bush, a Republican who beat him narrowly in a disputed presidential election result in 2000.