Green New Zealand was not seen as the sombre green of our bush.

FORBES: Nigel Brown: A New Zealand Original

And the sudden attention given to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader means that Gore must watch his left flank just as Bush must watch his right.

CNN: Election 2000 overview: A lot is at stake for voters

Others note that Mr Bush's speech also repeated his support for un-green measures such as his Clear Skies Initiative, a bill to regulate emissions from power plants that excludes carbon dioxide (the principal greenhouse gas responsible for global warming), and his energy bill, which strongly boosts coal and nuclear power and proposes opening up protected areas of Alaska to oil-drilling.

ECONOMIST: Clean energy