His latest book, “Our Choice,” is essentially a fifth-grade textbook (full-page photos, pie charts, an illustration of turbine power, etc.). Gore delivers lots of unobjectionable scientific basics intermingled with attacks on Republicans and cheers for Democrats (including himself) and the kinds of companies (such as makers of geothermal turbines) that he, as a venture capitalist, will profit from — if they get enough taxpayer handouts.

Many of Gore’s ideas are inevitably familiar, but the clarity of his argument and the fissile power of his analysis combine to elevate Our Choice into the top-ranking environmental books of our time.