Former Vice President Al Gore was in New York over the weekend for a leadership training run by his nonprofit Climate Reality Project.
Speaking in front of thousands of attendees on Saturday, Mr Gore highlighted the growing climate dangers but also talked about progress.He slams fossil fuel companies for increasing plastic production and promoting technology absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, He called it “completely ridiculous.”
Later, in an interview, Gore explained why he was not surprised that major oil and gas companies walked back their decarbonization pledges. He also said he believed former President Donald J. Trump would lose his bid to return to the White House. The following are excerpts from that conversation, edited and condensed for clarity.
Oil and gas companies recently gathered in Houston for the industry’s annual conference. Many major companies have walked back their decarbonization commitments. Saudi Aramco president in Houston said the “fantasy of phasing out oil and gas” should be abandoned.
I don’t think their commitment was sincere from the start. Europe’s access to fossil fuels has been short-circuited after Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to a squeeze on demand elsewhere in the world. There has been a sudden surge in efforts to replace Russian supplies. This has a global impact on the price of fossil fuels and the profits of major companies.
when they get a taste of these higher unexpected profits, They face pressure from investors to capitalize if earnings are good. So they decided to collectively abandon their commitment and move on, regardless of what they had pretended to be doing in the past. I think this was always a scam. Whether they can deliver on their promises without causing significant damage to the political and business communities remains to be seen.
What does this mean for the need that scientists see as imperative to stop burning fossil fuels?
We must change laws and policies.we have to Stop subsidies. We must tax carbon, just like we already tax methane.So-called carbon boundary adjustment Mechanisms emerging elsewhere in the world offer ways to achieve this.
Former President Donald J. Trump made clear he would undo President Joe Biden’s climate policies and promote fossil fuels. If he wins in November, what will it mean for the fight against global warming?
First, I refuse to accept this hypothesis. Trump is not leaving. I don’t think he’s going to win.
Why?
I think the long political tail of inflation will weaken in November. I think the growing strength of the economy and the U.S. job market will continue to benefit President Biden. As pressure mounts on Trump, he could easily make more mistakes. You can see him being a bit hesitant on issues related to choice. I don’t portray myself as a skilled political analyst, that’s not my strong suit. But the months between now and the election are, to use a cliché, a lifetime of politics. I would rather have Biden’s politics now than Trump’s.
And climate impacts, if you’re wrong?
If Trump is elected, I think the favorable trends in renewable energy, battery storage, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, circular manufacturing, regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, etc. will all continue to move in the right direction. However, what they are doing now will not get us where we need to be.
We need skilled and committed leadership from the White House to accelerate progress. The crisis continues to worsen faster than we can deploy solutions. If we gain more momentum, we can begin to respond to the crisis.
We attended the Climate Reality Conference, which trains people around the world to drive climate solutions in their communities.
Currently, it has 3.5 million members worldwide.
David and Goliath stories aside, is there a mismatch between corporations and climate activists, given the massive profits that have been made by the fossil fuel industry?
We don’t just have one David, we have 3,000 Davids participating in this training. There are millions of people around the world. If you look at all the groups that are doing this work, this is the largest grassroots movement in the entire history of the world, and it continues to grow.
I draw parallels between this movement and abolitionists, women’s suffrage, civil rights, etc. In all these movements, when the central question really crystallizes into a fatal and dangerous choice between manifest right and just and manifest injustice and wrong, the outcome is foregone.
My bet is on human nature. I believe that while we all have our well-known limitations, our susceptibility to pettiness and greed, and all the things that can go wrong, we do have the ability to transcend those limitations, as we have proven in times past. We have the ability to do this. The ability of special interests (in this case, fossil fuel polluters) to dominate law and policy is coming to an end.
