Bush welcomes Gore to White House for talks on climate

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday welcomed defeated Democratic presidential rival Al Gore to the White House for the first time since 2001, celebrating Gore's Nobel Peace Prize and discussing global warming.

Gore, who lost the bitterly contested 2000 U.S. presidential election and has clashed with Bush over environmental policy, had a private meeting with Bush in addition to the traditional photo with the American 2007 Nobel award winners.

"It was very nice, very cordial, he was very gracious in setting up the meeting and it was a very good and substantive conversation," Gore told reporters after a 40-minute talk with Bush in the Oval Office.

Bush has rejected the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which was a treaty Gore helped negotiate to set limits on industrial nations' greenhouse gas emissions. Bush, who has said mandatory caps would hurt the U.S. economy, favors voluntary targets.

Despite the warm White House visit, there was no sign of detente between Bush and Gore over climate change policy.

"It was a private conversation," Gore said repeatedly to a throng of reporters, avoiding giving details. "Of course we talked about global warming, of course, the whole time."

Bush stood silently next to Gore during the group photo and the White House declined to comment on their chat.

In addition to moving the date for the gathering to accommodate Gore's schedule, Bush personally phoned the former vice president to confirm he could attend Monday's event and congratulate him for winning the prize.