"A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama," Gore said in an email sent to his supporters. "From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States."

Obama told the press that although Gore offered Obama support throughout the campaign, he did not openly back any Democratic hopeful.

"Obviously, he hasn’t been speaking exclusively to me. He obviously spoke to senators Clinton and Edwards and others," Obama told the press.

Gore has kept politics at arms-length since 2000.

"Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges — including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis,” Gore said. “Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.”

Who will be the next president of the United States? Get your presidential election odds in the Bodog Sportsbook now.

Italian composer Giorgio Battistelli is helming the project in hopes to draw more attention to the world's environmental issues. Battistelli, who is the artistic director of Verona's Arena Foundation, is a prolific composer of operas who has turned works by Shakespeare (Richard III), Jules Verne, Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Pasolini (Theorem) into operatic performances.