Al Gore, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is calling for governments to speed up the development of a new treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He believes that waiting until the Kyoto pact expires in 2012 is too long, and is urging for the new treaty to be concluded by 2009 to allow for ratification before the existing pact expires. Gore emphasized the importance of moving up the effective date of the new treaty by two years to avoid waiting until 2012 to have a stronger agreement in place. He will be delivering this message to governments while accepting his prize in Norway and at the UN climate conference in Bali. The United States rejected the 1997 Kyoto protocol, a key UN climate agreement that required 36 nations to reduce emissions. The US argued that the protocol would be too costly and unfairly excluded developing countries from emission cuts. Al Gore, a prominent figure in climate change advocacy, stated that the US should be leading the effort to address climate change. He noted that there were positive signs in the US, such as over 700 cities and many states adopting Kyoto provisions, as well as 150 US business leaders supporting mandatory carbon emission reductions. Gore emphasized the importance of making environmentally conscious choices, such as taking the train instead of other forms of transportation, to help combat climate change. Gore was ridiculed in 2006 for taking a limousine to a screening at the Cannes film festival of his Academy Award-winning movie "An Inconvenient Truth", which highlights the need for immediate action to combat climate change.