The clamour for an Al Gore 2008 presidential candidacy stepped up several decibels on Monday after the evening award of two Oscars to An Inconvenient Truth, a film on global warming starring the former vice president.

Appearing twice on stage – first with Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrayed Mr Gore as something close to a modern prophet, and second to accept jointly with Davis Guggenheim, the movie’s director, the award for best documentary feature – Mr Gore was by a long way the most adulated celebrity of the evening.