Original subtitles

Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth

won him an Oscar, and yet,

much of the movie is nonsense.

"Sea levels may rise 20 feet" is absurd!

But this is Al Gore.

He always goes down the road of hyperbole.

Not only is he losing the argument

on climate change,

but he's losing the science as well.

You don't go see Joseph Goebbels' films

to see the truth about Nazi Germany.

You don't want to go see Al Gore's film

to see the truth about global warming.

And it's the most severe

winter storm in years, which would seem to contradict

Al Gore's hysterical global warming theories.

Donald Trump says

he's had it up to here with Al Gore

and is calling for the Nobel Peace Prize committee

to take the prize away.

Yes or no, do you believe

that human-caused global warming

is a moral, ethical, and spiritual issue

affecting our survival?

Yes, I do.

Yes or no, do you believe that reducing

fossil fuel-based energy usage

will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions?

Basically, yes. I don't think we...

That's... That's good. Senator Gore...

If I could just, uh, continue...

Well, you can't.

Now, it seems that everything is blamed

on global warming.

Last summer, we had a heat wave, and everyone said,

"Oh, that's proof it's global warming."

Then we had a mild December. "Oh, that's proof"

"it's global warming that's taking place."

Now, I wonder how come you guys

never seem to notice it when it gets cold?

The National Academy of Sciences

here in this country

and in the 16

largest or most-developed countries in the world

agrees with the consensus that I've stated.

Senator Gore, my time is almost expired completely.

Are you aware of that? It seems that everybody...

I would like to respond. May I respond?

...global warming in the media joined the chorus...

Excuse me, Senator Imhofe.

How can you ask a question

and not give the man a minute to answer?

Please.

Senator, thank you. Um...

I've been sitting here trying to think

what I could do or say

that, uh...

That might make it possible to reach out to you.

And I'm serious about this.

I'd love to, um,

talk with you without the cameras

and without the lights and...

And tell you, uh,

why I feel so strongly about this.

And we've got to call the other,

I think, three or four speakers

for the Generation Client Conference, too.

All right, so now back to the Paris conference.

I'd like a briefing on the must-do meetings in Paris.

And I'll circle back to Christiana

well before then on how I can best help her.

I need to talk to Secretary Kerry

- about the long-term goal. - Mmm-hmm.

I want to schedule the China climate training

during the first three months of the year.

I think it would be good to lock that down.

Yeah, definitely.

Morning. Morning. Thank you for your help.

Since An Inconvenient Truth came out ten years ago,

climate-related extreme weather events

have gotten so much worse.

And so I've continued to give my slideshow

all around the world.

Now, I want to add the latest images

of the flooding going on right now in Louisiana.

Okay, I think both of those'll fit really well there.

I mean, every week now this stuff

just keeps getting worse and more of it.

But...

Actually, there were times when

it really looked bleak and dark

because the forces trying to stop the change regrouped

and poured tons of money

in trying to paralyze the political system

in the U.S. and in other countries.

I got really discouraged.

And there came a time for me when I felt, wow, we could

lose this struggle.

We need to recruit more people.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

I hope you're having a productive

and enjoyable, wonderful time at this training session.

I've been doing this a long time.

And I was reminded recently

of how long it's been since I started this.

I was sitting in a restaurant.

A woman came walking by in front of my table,

just staring at me.

And I didn't think anything of it until,

a few moments later, I saw the same woman

coming from the opposite direction,

just staring at me.

So I looked up and I said, "How do you do?"

And she took one step forward and she said,

"You know, if you dyed your hair black,"

"you would look just like Al Gore."

And so I said, "Thank you."

And she said, "You sound like him, too."

But anyway...

One of the comedians on TV said recently,

"The way you know global warming is real"

"is if the hottest year ever"

"is the year you're currently in."

Fourteen of the 15 hottest years ever measured

have been since 2001.

The hottest of all was 2016.

This graph shows average temperatures

from 1951 through 1980.

The white are the normal days,

the blue are the cooler-than-average days,

and the red are warmer-than-average days.

And in the 1980s, the entire curve

shifted to the warm side.

And we saw, for the first time,

the appearance of a statistically significant

number of extremely hot days in the lower right.

In the 1990s, the curve shifted further.

And in the last ten years,

the extremely hot days have become more numerous

than the cooler-than-average days.

We still have cool days. We still have cold days.

But these extremely hot days

are becoming much more numerous.

In April of this year, the temperature over Greenland

was much higher than normal.

An engineer on one of the helicopters took a video

during this temperature spike.

Those are parts of the glacier

just exploding with the high temperatures.

Hey, Eric. How you doing?

Good to see you again.

So, you see the line on the ridge here?

Yes.

That grey line is where the ice surface was

back in the '80s.

- Not so long ago. - Not long ago at all.

It's amazing to think that just 30 years ago,

where we are right now,

it was all covered by the big ice sheet.

- You ready for me? - Yeah.

Yeah, I'll hold the ladder.

- Thank you, Bianca. - Yeah, no problem, Al.

Welcome to Swiss Camp!

We have 20 automatic weather stations

measuring the climate.

Swiss Camp is just one of them.

This is the cumulative height change of melt.

Yes. I see.

Since 2000 to now, we lost 12 meters

- of ice at that elevation. - Wow.

That was our former station, level with the surface.

- Yes. - Very deep pillars.

We came back next season.

That's where we are now.

This is okay here?

- Around there? - Yes. Yeah.

That would be a hole you don't

- want to step in, right? - Yes.

So, it's going straight down there?

So the water rushes down.

And since it's heavier than ice,

it pushes its way underneath the ice sheet.

And we can measure how the ice is lifted up

a few millimeters to a centimeter.

And then the ice moves fast and you reduce the friction.

And, in effect, the ice sheet starts speeding up

in its flow toward the ocean.

That's correct.

So this makes the ice mass

like Swiss cheese.

It is frustrating that for many years,

I've tried to communicate

that we've got to act on the climate crisis.

But it's not happening fast enough.

If I said there weren't times when

I felt this was

a personal failure on my part, I'd be lying.

So where is all that water going?

I'll tell you where some of it's going.

It's going into the streets of Miami Beach, Florida.

High tides continue

to bring a flood of frustration.

Fort Lauderdale gets the award

for the "something you don't see every day" video.

Fish swimming on Cordova Road.

Experts say in 30 years or so,

a drive along Ocean Drive could be a drive in the ocean.

Downtown Miami could be awash.

We're showing you an area that hasn't been

actually fixed at all, as you can tell.

And then, on Wednesday, we're gonna show you

some of the areas that used to be like this,

but now we raised the road and put in pumps.

We've seen dramatic results. It's so much better.

So you raised the road with

saltwater-resistant materials?

Yes.

And what level of sea level rise

is this designed to protect against?

We are building in about a foot of sea level rise.

And I'm sure the projections are gonna continue to move.

Kinda hard to pump the ocean.

That's why we've got to raise above it.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Yeah, it's not easy.

It's not easy. This is not a simple fix.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

You can only raise so much

before you change everybody's lives around here.

Yeah.

Scott and I grew up here.

This wasn't the case 40 years ago.

So if anyone wants to argue that it's not happening...

It's happening.

It's happening.

It's coming out of the manholes,

coming out of the drains.

And this is while the pumps

are operating at full capacity.

This is a stopgap measure at best.

Look, it's coming out into the street there.

Well, I've got to go onstage in about 15 minutes.

- So... - Right.

Show me where the new slides are,

and then try to fix these videos.

Put them on a stick, and I'll try

to download them to my computer.

Okay.

I thought those boots were gonna be high enough,

but they weren't.

All right.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I am so excited to be here and so excited

that you are here for this training.

I'm a little bit late getting here

because I got up early

and put on some wading boots

and went over to a couple of the streets

that are filled up with water this morning.

Miami, in terms of assets at risk,

is the number one city at risk

in the entire world for sea level rise.

This is a major crisis.

Projected sea level rise in South Florida,

possibly seven feet or more in this century.

By population, the top ten cities at risk:

Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka, Guangzhou, China, et cetera.

West Africa. A lot of people at risk there.

And, of course, the low-lying islands,

the Maldives have an enormous amount at risk.

Kiribati has already purchased land

to move its entire population.

And again, this is from the city we're in right now.

I mean, I just wonder how the governor

sloshes through this and says,

"I don't notice anything. Do you notice anything?"

So, Florida...

- Florida. - ...is a challenge, and so...

- I can confirm that. - Okay.

So, that's the big question we have.

I cover the climate,

environmental stuff all the time,

and you have a state with a governor

who wouldn't even meet with scientists

- to talk about climate change. - Yeah.

How do you move forward on it?

In order to address the environmental crisis,

we are gonna have to spend some time

fixing the democracy crisis.

Because big money has so much influence now,

our democracy has been hacked.

Large contributors call the shots.

Have you ever thought about running for office again?

I've used this line before, so forgive me,

but I am a recovering politician.

And the longer I go without a relapse,

the less likely one becomes.

So, I just wanted to say,

we'll probably do, sort of, three buckets of stuff.

- All right. - So, there's...

- Is one of them climate? - Yes, climate.

Yes. One of them is climate,

one of them is sort of broadly like how politics

are different now than they were,

- say, 15 years ago. - Sure.

Citizens United...

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on that.

- Okay, yeah. - And then some 2016 stuff.

Okay. But I'm not gonna...

You can decline. I know you're not gonna...

I'm not gonna commit news.

Yes, I know. But I'll try to get you to.

Okay.

But we will talk about climate?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I got to feed the beast, Mr. Vice President.

Sometimes it seems to me that

the climate crisis is simply not getting the kind of

coverage in the media that it should.

You have a Republican Party right now...

Historically large field, right?

There's no one on climate...

Yeah, it's odd, isn't it?

...in the entire lineup.

Since when did the United States

abandon its traditional world leadership role?

Especially at a time when, just this past week,

the President of China says,

"Okay, we're going to adopt a cap and trade program,"

"and we're reducing our CO2 emissions,"

"and we want to create jobs"

"in solar and wind and efficiency."

This is the most serious

global challenge we've ever faced.

No other country can play the role

that the U.S. can play.

Do you think that we're reaching

that tipping point to the point that

it's not going to be any more denial?

We are at a turning point.

And we can successfully reach an agreement

in this big global negotiation in Paris

at the end of November

to have a real meaningful turn in the right direction.

At what moment did you decide that you wanted to leave

politics aside and actually move into this, uh,

new career that you have?

Well, to be honest, that decision was one made

by the Supreme Court of the United States.

I enjoyed politics, but this is a mission

that I have dedicated myself to.

And there's a hunger for information

about what's happening, why it's happening,

and how we can fix it.

I usually start with a black screen.

And, trust me,

after only two or three times through,

you will associate your own way of telling each story

with the picture, and it'll come so easily.

The way the memory works...

Ten years ago, I made the decision

to launch a training program,

so that anyone who wanted to learn

the skills to communicate to thousands of others

could come and get trained.

...'cause really, all we're trying to do

is get the first stage going,

which is just waking people up.

There were only 50 of them in the beginning.

But I look back on that first training

and it makes me smile,

because they were real pioneers,

in my way of thinking about it.

This is the first picture that any of us ever saw

of the Earth from space.

It was taken on Christmas Eve, 1968,

during the Apollo 8 mission.

And this was the first time that human beings

left near-Earth orbit and went far enough into space

to see the planet whole, floating in the void.

And I've always started my slideshows

with those pictures.

When people can see the Earth from space,

they naturally find it easier to feel a connection

to our shared home.

And the last image from the Apollo program,

The Blue Marble,

the one picture of the entire Earth fully illuminated,

completely changed the way people think about the planet.

It energized the modern environmental movement.

I put that picture on my office wall

in the West Wing of the White House,

and I looked at it every day.

I called up NASA and I said,

"Hey, I've been looking at this same picture here,"

"and I'm just wondering if there's another one."

I thought, what if we could have images on a daily basis?

Might that help to build the commitment people have

for saving the climate balance?

And that's when I learned

there's really not another one.

That's what led to the idea of the DSCOVR satellite.

Not only for these pictures, but because of

the amazing scientific data gathering that you can do

from that special point in space.

There was opposition in the Congress.

I was about to run for president,

and that may have had something to do with it.

But once I finally got it approved,

other instruments started being added to it.

And one was the crucial

early-warning device for solar storms

that threaten electric utility grids and pipelines.

And NASA built the satellite, gave it a launch date.

And then after the Supreme Court decision

and the inauguration of Bush and Cheney,

they canceled the satellite launch.

Please stand for the invocation.

Reverend Graham.

The new administration,

they didn't really realize they were also canceling

this solar storm early-warning system.

And the businesses that depend on it

started making a lot of noise.

And they proposed to resolve that quandary

by taking all of the climate instruments

and the camera off of the satellite,

replacing them with the equivalent of sandbags

and only leaving the one instrument

that these powerful industries wanted to be put into orbit.

I thought, "Wow, that is extremism."

By the end of it,

this satellite was put in storage.

We had a real opportunity

to start building enough public support

to really get on track to solving the climate crisis.

But we lost that opportunity.

And now, we cannot afford to lose it again.

Okay, Bo.

This house was my home

when I was growing up as a boy.

My mother and father built it.

LBJ came to this farm.

He fell out with my dad when my dad became one of

the leading opponents of the Vietnam War,

but they served in the Senate together a long time.

Here's a picture of my dad doing Meet the Press, and...

Then, many years later, me doing Meet the Press.

Here's a, uh,

handwritten note that my second-oldest daughter,

Kristin, wrote back in 1987,

when we had a family meeting to go over

whether or not I should run for President.

It's divided into good parts and bad parts.

"Number 1: Wants to do it."

"Number 2: Has a good chance."

"Number 3: A lot of people"

"who know the other candidates don't like them."

Um...

"He might get elected."

"It would be a good time to run things."

"He thinks he could solve problems."

"The bad points. Number 1: He would not be here a lot."

"Number 2: Uh..."

"It would be hard to get more publicity"

"than some of the others."

"Number 3:"

"Would not like to have Social Security around all the time."

Meaning the Secret Service, of course.

Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush

and congratulated him on becoming

the 43rd President of the United States.

Neither he nor I anticipated this long and difficult road.

Let there be no doubt

while I strongly disagree with the court's decision,

I accept it.

I accept the finality of this outcome,

which will be ratified next Monday

in the Electoral College.

And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people

and the strength of our democracy,

I offer my concession.

I had a detailed plan for my life.

But it turned out that life had a different plan for me.

You know, anybody who decides to be a part of

helping to solve the climate crisis has

a constant struggle between hope and despair.

Uh, and so when you see these slides about

all the damage that's being done, hang on,

because hope is coming. Don't sink too low!

Despair can be paralyzing.

But we're building up speed and we're seeing

a tremendous amount of positive change

that gives me the optimism that I feel about this.

Let me give you some exciting examples. Look at wind.

One day this month,

Scotland got 100% of its electricity from wind.

In Portugal, they had four days straight

last May on renewable energy alone.

And on a global basis, wind alone can supply

40 times the entire global demand for energy.

But let's look at solar.

This, to me, is the most exciting new development.

Fourteen years ago the best projections available

were that we would be able to install worldwide

one gigawatt of solar electricity per year.

Well, when 2010 arrived,

we beat that goal by 17 times over.

Last year, we beat that goal 58 times over.

This year, we're on track to beat that goal 73 times over.

This is an exponential curve, and it is astonishing!

And it continues to go up at a steeper rate

because the cost of silicon solar cells

continues to go down.

I wish that every state would encourage solar.

Including Florida.

You know, Florida's called the Sunshine State?

The head of the second-biggest fossil fuel utility there

was actually quoted as saying,

"Yes, we're the Sunshine State,"

"but, remember, we're also the partly cloudy state."

And they have lobbied the state legislature

to basically make it illegal

to lease a solar panel for your rooftop from anybody

but the fossil fuel-burning utility!

And they're trying to use their legacy political power

to bend the politicians to their will.

What the public wants doesn't seem to matter.

It's pathetic!

In Campaign 2016 segment tonight,

an interview with Donald Trump.

Not a believer in global warming.

Obama thinks it's the number one problem

of the world today,

and I think it's very low on the list.

If you were President,

would you invest a lot of money in

alternative energy to get away from fossil fuels?

Now solar always sounds better than it is.

You know, you get your money back in 36 years.

The problem is the panels

destroy themselves after ten years.

...you know, one of the top, top professors at MIT.

Hey!

Hey, Mr. Vice President, thank you so much for coming.

Thank you.

So, we're in relatively early stages

of the investigation, but

some of these companies and the denial organizations

and groups like the American Petroleum Institute

have been actively seeking to distort the market,

to suppress investment in renewables

through this relatively new line of propaganda,

which is,

"Even if everything"

"Al Gore's been saying since the '80s is true,"

"it's gonna cost so much money,"

"it's gonna cripple the economy."

It's an insidious theme that we've seen before,

but it's coming back with a new force.

And I think that

this is something we're focusing on very intently.

We want to know who the groups are who are doing this,

what is their analysis, what's the science,

and what are the government actions that are being taken?

Assuming for the moment

that the facts prove that's what they did,

that's a violation of the law, isn't it?

That's consumer and securities fraud.

But it's clear that what they've done is

essentially tried to cripple

our ability, mankind's ability,

to respond to this existential threat.

A few days ago,

the Attorney General of the State of New York

launched an investigation of ExxonMobil

for fraud and funneling money to this new form of denial

where people are out there minimizing solar, saying,

"It's not going anywhere."

"Why are you wasting your time on this?" Et cetera.

Utility monopolies really, really fear disruption,

and have woken up and said,

"Wow, this solar thing,"

"I need to crush it before it kills me."

The last two weeks, we had 55,000 people

sign up in Nevada to say, you know,

"I want choice, I want energy freedom."

What happened in Nevada

will send a massive message to the rest of the country.

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Thank you. Will there be bumps in the road?

You bet there will be.

But, at the end of the day,

you really are on the front lines.

On the rooftops, if you will.

And we're seeing this play out in every part of the world.

We've had 150 years of burning fossil fuels

with the many blessings, poverty's gone down,

living standards have increased.

So naturally, there still are some people that say,

"Well, we just have to keep relying on oil and gas"

"and even coal."

But it is worth pointing out that in northern China,

life expectancy has gone down five and a half years

because of air pollution.

And in Beijing, the mayor said,

"My city is not livable."

But in many parts of China

it is already cheaper to get electricity

from solar and wind.

So this is the time when your presentations

can provide support for your government's determination

to do even better with renewable energy.

Fine. How are you?

There are so many commitments

that governments are thinking about making right now

for hundreds of new coal plants.

Even as the revolutionary drop in cost from renewables

is picking up speed.

China's one of these countries.

And there are numbers of others. India, others.

Unfortunately, they've looked at the price of coal.

They see the price low,

and they feel they're compelled

therefore to try to provide for their people.

So if India proceeds to build the number of plants

it is currently planning, and they are coal fired,

it can erase everything everybody else

is trying to do in terms of reductions.

We've got to figure out a way to crack that nut.

Absolutely.

Now, climate change is high

on world leaders' agendas.

And that's because the crucial U.N. talks in Paris

start in less than two months,

when the world gets together to try to agree

on a global deal.

One of the sticking points remains financing.

My agenda is dominated right now

by the preparations for the climate conference in Paris.

The world's been preparing for it a long time.

And the main objective is to speed up

the transition to renewable energy,

so that the entire world

can bring down the pollution levels

while continuing to reduce poverty.

But there is still a big divide

between rich countries and poor countries.

So, thank you for arranging this,

and for the privilege of talking with you.

As you know, I have this passion for

solving the climate crisis that goes back 40 years. And...

Because I have studied it so closely, I'm hoping that

the United States and India will accelerate

our transitions to renewable energy together.

India has always looked at the United States

as a valuable partner.

But sadly, the Western world, the developed world

does not seem to be coming forth with

significant amounts of support.

And seems to be creating more impediments.

All this talk about supporting climate change

seems to be only talk,

and there's hardly any action on that.

- In the U.S.? - Yeah, from the U.S.

I don't think it's fair,

with all due respect, if you may?

- Sure, please. - Well, in the U.S.

in calendar year, uh, 2015,

if you look at the investments in the U.S.

in the building of new, uh, electric generating capacity,

three-quarters is from solar and wind.

- May I respond to that? - Yes. Please.

I'll do the same thing after 150 years.

After I've used my coal.

After I've got my people jobs.

After I've created my infrastructure

and highways and roads.

When I have technology.

When my people earn

$50,000-$70,000 per capita income,

using low-cost fossil fuels-based energy.

The way the United States did for 150 years.

It's very easy to say now that,

"Oh, we are not using coal!"

What about in the past?

So I'm only asking for that carbon space

which you utilized for 150 years.

My point is not to deny your right

to make your own choices as to what kind of energy you want.

Obviously you have that right.

But what I am saying,

when is the sun coming up today?

I don't see it anywhere.

I don't see the blue sky.

When any of us walk outside

and look up at the sky,

our natural impression is

that the sky looks like it's a vast and limitless expanse.

Goes on forever.

Actually, the atmosphere of the Earth

is a very thin shell surrounding the planet.

And, of course, right now

we are putting 110 million tons

of heat-trapping global-warming pollution

into that space every single day.

We're using this as an open sewer

for all of the gaseous waste in our global civilization.

Agriculture is a big cause of it.

Burning of forests and burning of cropland.

But still, the main part of the problem

is the emission of carbon dioxide

from the burning of coal, oil, and gas.

And that builds up heat energy and raises temperatures.

India just set their all-time high temperature

record in May. 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

The streets are melting.

We have built a civilization for conditions

that we are now in the process of radically changing.

All-time records have been broken this year

in Thailand and Cambodia and Laos.

In Pakistan, over 1,200 people died in the heat wave there.

This year, they have dug anticipatory mass graves

for the people they fear will die

in this year's heat waves.

And we're seeing that the higher temperatures

are shifting the balance between microbes

and human beings.

The transportation revolution has a lot to do with this.

Air travel.

But the climate conditions have a big impact on that.

Let's look at Zika.

Here is the range of the one mosquito

that they're most worried about.

And warmer conditions

increase that range considerably.

But here is the kicker on this.

It's not just the mosquito, it's the virus.

And the warmer temperatures speed up

the incubation rate inside the mosquito.

So we get an explosion in the number of cases.

And now it's spread to Miami, Florida.

And for the first time in history,

pregnant women have been advised

not to go to part of the United States of America.

In many areas of

Central America and South America,

the doctors are delivering a message

that I've never heard in my life.

They're telling women, "Don't get pregnant"

"for two years, while we try to get a handle on this."

That's something new in the history of the human race.

How long can we just sit back and say,

"Oh, well, maybe some genius will think up some miracle"?

I'm sorry, I'm getting all, um,

fired up here.

But let's step back and take a global view

of the increasing temperatures and the extra heat energy.

93% of all this heat energy is going into the oceans.

And it has several consequences.

A direct consequence is

that when ocean-based storms cross much warmer ocean waters

the storms get stronger and more destructive.

Just a few years ago

Superstorm Sandy in the Atlantic

crossed areas of the ocean 9 degrees Fahrenheit

warmer than normal.

And it caused tremendous destruction

in New Jersey and in New York.

And, by the way, ten years ago,

when the movie An Inconvenient Truth

came out, the single most criticized scene in that movie

was an animated scene showing

that the combination of sea level rise and storm surge

would put the ocean water into the 9/11 memorial site,

which was then under construction.

And people said,

"That's ridiculous. What a terrible exaggeration!"

Something happened last night

at one of the most iconic locations in New York

the World Trade Center, Ground Zero.

A flood of water with a current so strong

it flooded the reconstruction.

There is a wakeup call here,

and that is climate change and our vulnerability to it.

It was true ten years ago, it was true five years ago.

It is undeniable today.

Years before,

the scientists predicted that this would happen.

One year later,

in the Philippines, Super Typhoon Haiyan

crossed areas of the Pacific

three degrees Celsius warmer than normal.

And it became

the strongest and most destructive ocean-based storm

ever to make landfall.

Uh, in the city of Tacloban and nearby areas

there were 4.1 million climate refugees.

Thousands of people were killed.

Even just remembering it now,

after more than two years,

just remembering the sound of the wind.

And then the water came after.

Like a wall of water just rushing in.

That's why we had to climb to the roof.

In fact, I was shouting, giving them orders

"Break that ceiling, we've gotta"

"get out of here and we've gotta climb up."

If we went to any other place, we would have died.

Because that had a concrete structure,

and that's where we were able to climb up.

People are running, are crying

because they don't know what happened to their family.

We see a lot of dead people.

I saw Sir Alfred helping...

Helping, uh, the other people to, to...

What do you call this? To...

- Recover the bodies? - To recover the bodies.

Then...

Sorry.

No, that's okay. It's okay.

Thank God you're safe.

Actually, sir, I am so scared

when I'm telling this to my friend...

It brings it back, doesn't it?

Yes, sir. I felt so, so scared.

When Tacloban was hit,

I knew that I wanted to organize a training here

in the Philippines

to meet face-to-face with the people

who were on the front lines of this and empower them

to translate an excruciatingly painful experience

into a focus on changing policy,

confronting public officials.

I don't know any other way to do it.

The loss of life was very tragic.

What a blessing it was that Pope Francis came to Tacloban

to the ground zero of that tragedy,

and delivered a very powerful message that

"the gravest effects of the climate crisis"

"are visited upon the poorest people."

This is true everywhere in the world.

Now, the second order consequences

of the warming oceans

include some that we're all experiencing

on a regular basis now.

When the temperature goes up,

the water vapor coming off the oceans

into the sky is increasing significantly.

This means that every storm is different now

because it takes place in a warmer and wetter world.

Water vapor is often funneled

thousands of kilometers from the oceans over the land,

and then much more of it falls at the same time.

Look at this downpour that hit Tucson, Arizona,

and watch the water splash off the city.

They're now calling these things "rain bombs."

Houston's been hit between May of last year

and May of this year.

Two 1-in-500-year floods and one 1-in-1,000-year downpour.

Now, that's unusual. Almost Noah-like.

This was in Spain last fall.

In Chile, last year. Epic event.

And now, today,

there are water rescues underway

in southeast Louisiana.

Give me a knife, give me a knife.

Now, the same heat

that is bringing all that water vapor off the oceans

is sucking the soil moisture out of the ground.

And it's making the droughts deeper and longer.

In China, in Vietnam, in Thailand,

and all around the world.

And where there is drought,

the vegetation dries out

and the fires increase.

Every night on the evening news is like a nature hike

through the Book of Revelations.

But the dots are very seldom connected in the media.

This is global warming.

When we have scientists tell us the dots connect,

we need to have in our democracy a conversation

about cause and effect.

Let's look, for example,

at the story of what has happened in Syria.

From 2006 to 2010,

they had a record-breaking drought.

This farmer is one of many who lost his farm.

60% of all the farms in Syria were destroyed.

80% of all their livestock were killed.

A climate-exacerbated drought

during that period contributed

to the displacement of about 2 million people

before the conflict broke out.

Yes, many other causes.

The dictator there is a bad guy,

it's a multi-sided civil war, and all of the rest.

But this drought is the worst in at least 900 years.

As far back as the records go.

It is unprecedented!

And, of course,

since then the country has been plunged

into horrific civil war.

The next generation,

if they live in a world

of floods and storms and rising seas

and droughts and refugees by the millions

escaping unlivable conditions,

destabilizing countries around the world,

they would be well-justified

in looking back at us and asking,

"What were you thinking?"

"Couldn't you hear what the scientists were saying?"

"Couldn't you hear what Mother Nature was screaming at you?"

Um, so, first off, Mr. Gore...

Tell us why you're here. What's going on today?

This is a 24-hour global broadcast

that is covered live in every nation

around the world.

And we are attempting to further mobilize

people in every nation

to support even more ambitious outcomes

in the negotiation that will take place here in Paris

just two weeks from now.

We are on air in four minutes, please!

Rio, are you there?

Mr. Vice President, welcome to the stage.

Thank you very much

and welcome, everyone, to this global broadcast.

So, as I stand here today,

now just two weeks from the opening of

the United Nations Conference

on Climate Change here in Paris,

what we need now is for people

all over the world to speak out.

And that's what the next 24 hours are all about.

Stand by. We're gonna come to the toss.

We're on you. Go.

We've got to say to Mr. Gore

we'll cut this short to get to Pharrell.

I'll get it settled. Just don't do anything rash.

Can we cut it down? Can we take it out early?

They've asked us to bring your car over

by the trailer just in case

we need to get you out of here.

Okay. Is it terrorist related?

They don't know yet.

Probably, because there's several shootings

around Paris.

There's several dead people.

And, uh, so it's pretty sure it's terrorism.

"Police officials in France say"

"there's been an explosion in a bar"

"near a Paris stadium"

"and a shootout in a Paris restaurant."

"President Hollande evacuated from Stade de France."

And there are apparently

18 dead, and AFP is reporting hostages at the concert hall.

- Hostages? - Yes.

That's all coming from police.

Wow.

Paris terror fear.

Multiple people are reported killed in a shooting.

There's also word of possible explosions...

Paris is under an effective police state.

A curfew is in effect.

Police don't seem to have a full handle

exactly what's going on.

But this is exactly the kind of terror scenario

that the U.S. has long feared.

Okay.

Before I go on to make my statement,

I just want to say something.

Those of us who are Americans stand with you.

We express our heartfelt condolences

for the tragedy here in the city and in your country.

This scourge of terrorism in our world...

Um...

We have to defeat this.

But we have to defeat it not only with force of arms,

but with the force of our values.

Caring about the future

and doing what the world needs to do.

But, for now, I just wanted to

say to all of you,

especially those of you from France,

what's in my heart is in the hearts

of all the Americans here who

love you and care about you and stand with you.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we are suspending our broadcast

because of the tragedies that have unfolded here.

The fact that those

terrible attacks took place in the city

where the climate conference was about to begin

caused many to connect these two events

at a deep level that is difficult

to articulate in words.

There have been

so many times when big setbacks have tempted me

to deep despair.

But if I can draw upon my faith tradition,

God said, "I lay before you"

"a choice between life and death."

"Therefore, choose life."

We have come to Paris

to show our resolve.

We offer our condolences, and we salute

the people of Paris for insisting

this crucial conference go on.

To show the world we are a global family

in solidarity with the French people.

On behalf of the Romanian people,

our deepest sympathies.

We show our sympathy

and solidarity with the government

and people of France.

Is there a subway stop near here

where we could take the subway?

All right, so...

Okay. And I'll meet you at Le Bourget?

Yeah, we'll meet you at Le Bourget. Let's go.

Great. Welcome.

Yeah, yeah.

No. Not anymore.

I wish you were elected president.

I wish I could call you Mr. President.

- Thank you. All right. - Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. All right, nice to meet you.

Oh, thank you!

Mr. Vice President.

- Good to see you again. - Congratulations in person.

Thank you very much, sir.

And thanks for the change you're bringing about.

- Good luck to you. - I appreciate that.

It's Canadians, not me, but thank you.

All right.

To the development of a low-carbon economy,

our government is making climate change a top priority.

Never before has a responsibility so great

been in the hands of so few.

One of the secrets of the human condition

is that suffering binds us together.

Those 150 heads of state

were moved to speak

in ways I don't think they otherwise would have.

Every one of them began

with, first, condolences, and then solidarity.

And when they turned, in the next paragraph,

to their hopes for the conference,

they could not help but say

this is an opportunity

for us to make that solidarity tangible and real.

I now give the floor to

Mr. Narendra Modi,

Prime Minister of India.

Democratic India

must grow rapidly

to meet the aspirations

of 1.25 billion people, 300 million of whom

are without access to energy.

Energy is a basic human need.

And there should be no place

for unilateral steps

that become economic barriers for others.

So, we still need conventional energy,

fossil fuel.

And anything else

will be morally wrong.

Thank you.

Hmm.

You know, I've been to all of these different

climate conferences since 1992.

We parliamentarians have an obligation

to accelerate the movement

toward meaningful changes in policies

in every nation on the face of this Earth

to stop the destruction of the global ecological system.

It began with a great deal of optimism in Rio...

Hello, Mr. Prime Minister.

...but it soon bogged down.

The process used to bring nations together

to discuss our joint response to climate change

is an important one.

But a growing population requires more energy

to heat and cool our homes.

More gas to drive our cars.

For all that time, the world has struggled

- to get its act together... - Oh! Hey!

...and connect the science to the policy.

There's no deal. It's closed down.

Good morning.

But, for me, the last 20 years

was a very painful experience.

We're not going to recognize it.

We don't want to discuss it.

Painful not only because

of the lack of a favorable outcome,

but also because there was

no way in to really

take hold of the process and say,

"Okay, let me help you here."

I was relieved when I got to Paris because

there were influential men and women

from countries around the world,

some who'd been through my training program...

...and who asked me to help in the process.

Thank you.

- There's the boss. - Hey!

How are you, dear?

- Good to see you. - Good to see you.

You ready for me?

I was in India earlier this year, and...

I think that the emergence of solar electricity

as a competitive viable option,

it opens up a pathway

that justifies realistic hope.

But, you know, I do think that India,

well, Prime Minister Modi,

has been very, very clear that their concern is

not just the existence of technology,

but their access to that technology.

So... With what trust do they let go

of the whole fossil fuel development model

that has been paraded in front of them for 150 years,

and now we're saying,

"Excuse me, this parade, it's done."

"Now we have to build a different parade for you."

It would be most helpful if that focus on renewables

can be seen from the developing

- country's perspective. - Yeah.

But is that something that you could

devote some time to while you're here?

Of course.

I'm trying to solve

an Indian problem, first and foremost.

Their plan is to build 400

new dirty coal plants.

Uh, and that's a disaster.

When India goes to borrow money

to build solar farms or wind farms,

they have to pay 13% plus an FX uncertainty.

And that is manifestly absurd.

Hey, Ben.

- Hey, Cory. - Very good to see you.

Hey, Ed. How are you?

The challenge for us

is to find a way to make renewables as cheap as coal,

and then partner with them

so that we don't build this huge infrastructure

that will continue to provide

more carbon dioxide decades in the future.

India has this plan, 200 gigawatts of coal.

I met with their energy

and power minister, Piyush Goyal, in Delhi.

I asked, what would it take to shift

another 100 gigawatts

from coal to renewables?

His answer was incredibly specific.

Access to credit.

And, of course, with the future of human civilization

in the balance, we should probably

- ratchet that up a little bit. - Wow.

More than 65%

of the world's carbon pollution

comes from the developing world.

Now, we're not pointing fingers.

This isn't a question of blame.

But we're here to change it.

The reason that talks are stalled?

Because the U.S. government

put countries like India as culprits,

as criminals, climate criminals.

And I don't think the U.S.

should be allowed to get away with that.

Fabius has asked for an urgent meeting, one on one.

They're getting frustrated

at the pace of the negotiations.

The long-term goal?

You spend a lot of time each year in India.

So my narrow interest is a way around

these high interest rates that

the Indians are so concerned about

in deploying solar and wind.

But we're not gonna sort that out

in the next couple of days.

Yeah.

The overnight deluge

of some 300 millimeters of rain

in a span of 18 hours has wreaked havoc.

The news is that it's only gonna get worse

and the flood waters are rising.

India's fourth-largest city

was paralyzed by the heaviest rains

in more than a hundred years,

which cut off more than three million people

from basic services for days.

It's amazing that while we're here

and India is a holdout, they're having this.

Part of their thing is that they need more money

to deal with it, right?

So the sticking point is also on that side in terms of

developed countries not wanting to give that money.

- Yeah, yeah. - Yes.

During the days that we are here

in this conference,

we have seen a repeat of the pattern of more floods

and landslides.

Indeed today, in Chennai, these events continue.

They have had 1,500 millimeters of rain

in the last several weeks alone.

Five feet of rain.

The number of people who have been killed

is in the hundreds.

Tens of thousands have been relocated.

This is not the first time this has happened.

Every storm is different now

because of the climate crisis.

Prime Minister Modi went from Paris back to Tamil Nadu

and said, "We are feeling climate change's"

"fast-growing impact now."

No, no, it's all right.

I'm sorry to call you on a Saturday evening.

So, the other sticking point

is, um, you know, credit

at a sufficiently low interest rate

to allow India to borrow.

Uh, and...

But that's a separate issue.

So, here is the idea that I had.

Elon has a record of giving up IP

on some of the core aspects in Tesla.

You know, you take it and do what you can with it.

I talked to President Hollande about it also.

I didn't mention the company,

uh, but I mentioned the general idea.

Hollande and Ban Ki-moon,

and I'm sure, at least

at the ministerial level, with India,

we could have, uh, you know,

halo equity for SolarCity that would be incredible.

But before I call Lyndon or Elon,

I wanted to run it by you.

Yeah, would you, please?

And also send me Lyndon's cell phone if you have it.

Lyndon?

Hi, it's Al Gore.

I have a big idea for you.

SolarCity could be

the corporate hero of Paris

by announcing that it will give

the technology to the new world-champion

solar cell

to India.

Well, here's the logic for it, Lyndon.

The big holdout here in the negotiations is India.

Yeah, but that's up to them, okay?

That's up to them.

I'm talking about breaking the impasse

and getting them over the hump.

Give it some thought, my friend.

Bye.

So he swallowed hard and said,

"Ugh, I might have to think about that."

We'll see.

It's crunch time

at the climate change conference in Paris.

With a deadline

for a deal fast approaching, it's clear that...

There's still some really tough

negotiations going on

among developed and developing nations.

There is an argument about who's responsible

for climate change,

who should pay for the consequences.

What do you think of the global warming summit

in Paris this week?

I think it's ridiculous.

We have bigger problems right now.

To have the President be there for an extended

period of time talking about

global warming being the biggest problem

facing this country is insane.

He ought to get back to work and solve the ISIS problem.

So, Mr. Minister,

John Kerry asked me to talk with you

and explain some of the details

on this extraordinary gift

being proposed by, uh,

the premier solar energy company

in the United States.

Give me the, uh, material.

"It's a hybrid polysilicon..."

And this is, uh...

It is a "silicon-based bifacial PV cell"

"that combines n-type substrates,"

"copper electrodes,"

"thin-film passivation layers"

"and a tunneling oxide layer"

"that yields high conversion efficiencies."

And if, in return for this,

India remove its potential

objections to the climate treaty,

then he said SolarCity would be willing to do this.

Is there any precedent for a technology

transfer to happen so quickly?

Well, you all know about computer chips,

but let's take a more mundane example.

Uh, cell phones.

Back around 1980,

I was in the House of Representatives,

and I was so excited to buy

one of the very first mobile phones.

Honestly, I felt that thing was so cool.

And now there are more mobile phones

than there are people in the world.

Most of it in developing countries

that had no landline telephone grid.

And so they could leapfrog

and get telephone service for the first time.

Well, guess what?

There are a lot of countries

where the landline electricity grids

are not so great.

In Africa. In the Indian subcontinent.

Now we're seeing this instead:

Solar panels.

This one in Africa's on the roof of a grass hut.

Parents want their children to have access

to the universe of information.

Chile. A developing country, but it has great policy.

You talk about excitement, this story gets me excited.

At the end of 2013, they had 11 megawatts of solar.

By the end of 2014, more than 400 megawatts.

By the end of last year, more than 800 megawatts.

So look at what they have under construction this year

and under contract to soon begin construction.

Isn't that great? I love this.

13.3 gigawatts!

And there are other countries and many regions in the world

that are poised for this kind of breakout.

We are seeing a real turning here.

On a global basis,

the world gets more energy from the sun each hour

than the entire global economy

uses for an entire year.

If we increase the fraction of that

that we harvest and use productively,

then we can solve that part of the climate crisis.

There's been a lot of discussion

between India and U.S.

We know that President Obama

did make a call to Prime Minister Modi.

What the outcomes were of those talks,

we don't know yet.

What we do know is John Kerry

has been having repeated discussion.

There was a one-hour meeting today

with the environment minister.

How all this translates into India's concerns

being met still remains to be seen.

Do we have a deal, Mr. President?

Do we have a deal?

Today is a historic day.

We have, in the spirit of compromise,

agreed on a number of phrases.

And we have not only

an agreement, but we have written

a new chapter of hope

in the lives of seven billion people on the planet.

We hope

that Paris will reassure this future generation

that we all together will mitigate

the challenge posed by climate change,

and we will give them a better Earth.

Thank you. Merci beaucoup.

L'accord de Paris pour le climat est accepté.

We started this COP commemorating

those fallen in tragic deaths.

We end this COP celebrating

a new chapter of hope for the world.

This is exciting. It's very exciting.

Yes, thank you, sir.

Thank you. I'm glad it helped.

The Paris Agreement would not have happened

without President Obama,

Secretary of State John Kerry,

President Hollande of France.

Without a lot of people who worked hard on that.

Virtually every nation in the entire world agreed

to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions

as early in the second half of this century as possible.

This sends a signal to markets,

sends a signal to investors.

And it resulted

in the largest solar loan in the history of the world

to help India move forward more quickly

in its installation of solar.

It needs continuing work.

And one of the reasons your role is so important

is to hold them to what they've agreed to

and to keep the pressure on.

Because even with all the agreements

put together, it's still not enough.

But the basis is there to ramp up

and make more progress.

There are cities in the U.S. that have already

reached the goal of 100% renewable energy.

Rock Port, Missouri. Greensburg, Kansas.

They were destroyed by an F5 tornado,

and when they built back, they say, "Hey",

"let's go 100% renewable," and they have.

Right here in Houston,

the home of the global oil and gas industry,

you'll hear a lot of people say,

"Wind and solar's nice,"

"but it won't really lead anywhere."

And a lot of people are now saying

that is a strange new form of denial.

But look at what's happening in Georgetown, Texas.

Howdy!

Howdy, Mr. Vice President Gore.

How are you, Mr. Mayor?

Welcome to the greatest city on Planet Earth.

Spoken like a good mayor.

- Can I have one? - Oh, sure.

I know they're for kids.

So, how long have you been mayor?

I have been mayor for two years.

This green energy initiative started

when I was on council in 2008.

I remember that. Mmm-hmm.

And the direction that we gave to Chris

and crew was, in 2008, we said

by 2030 we want our energy portfolio

- to be 30% renewable energy. - Yeah.

Well, they've sort of blown by that.

That was ambitious at that time, anyway.

It was! Absolutely.

Currently we're 90% renewable energy.

We're getting our wind out of Amarillo.

Our solar farm's being built out in west Texas.

It should be up and running next spring.

Oh.

And currently, we will be the first city in Texas

to be 100% renewable.

And when we go 100% renewable,

we will be the largest city in the country

that's renewable energy at 100%.

So, I assume that the reason you did this

is that the two of you are just rabid environmentalists.

Well, not exactly, because,

um, you're in Georgetown,

which is the reddest city

in the reddest county in Texas,

and I'm a conservative Republican.

- Yeah. - Okay.

But our duty to our ratepayers is to provide them

with the lowest possible utility cost.

And money talks.

But then, wouldn't it just make sense

from a common-sense standpoint,

the less stuff you put in the air, the better it is?

- Yeah. - I mean, common sense.

You don't need scientists to debate that.

- Can I use that line? - You absolutely can.

Hey, let me tell you what.

You would be the sport of all sports

if somebody could get a picture of me

and Mr. Vice President?

That's just for personal use, right?

Oh, yeah.

- All right, here we go. - Come on.

Here's your camera right there.

Now, this is not an endorsement,

as you can well imagine.

Hi, how are you?

Hi, Beth Wade, Community Impact newspaper.

Pleasure. Pleasure.

You think this city can be a trailblazer

for other cities of like size?

Definitely.

Now, not every city has a CPA as a mayor,

so that's another advantage for you.

But when other cities really look at the facts,

I think you're gonna see a massive wave

switching over to

pollution-free renewable energy.

Well, what we always say is,

don't we have a moral and ethical obligation

to leave the planet better than we found it?

You better be careful talking like that.

T-minus 10, 9, 8,

7, 6, 5,

4, 3, 2, 1,

0.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9.

Falcon 9 has cleared the towers.

The Falcon takes flight,

propelling the Deep Space Climate Observatory DSCOVR

on a million-mile journey to protect our Planet Earth.

When President Obama was elected,

I went to see him and

told him the story of the DSCOVR satellite and

how it was cancelled.

And he allocated the money, and it finally got launched.

Second stage engine

ignition

has occurred on time.

Remember, when I mentioned the Blue Marble,

it was the only photograph of its kind.

But here's one from the first week

of last December.

This was taken by a brand-new

NASA and NOAA satellite called DSCOVR

that orbits the sun along with the Earth

and the scientists are learning so much.

For example, for the first time

they're learning about

the real energy balance of the Earth.

Energy in and energy out.

Don't let anybody tell you

that we're gonna get on rocket ships and go to

Mars and live in hermetically sealed buildings.

We couldn't even evacuate the city of New Orleans

when the hurricane hit there.

This is our home.

Delegates at the United Nations

Climate Summit are expressing panic

over Tuesday's election results,

saying President-elect Donald Trump

may threaten the future of any international agreement

to slow catastrophic climate change.

Trump has said he will "cancel the Paris Climate Agreement"

and also promised to promote coal power and fracking,

and says he will allow

for oil and gas drilling on federal land.

A famous boxer once said,

"Everybody has a plan"

"until he gets punched in the face."

Days into his presidency,

Donald Trump is sending chills down the spines

of environmentalists and some EPA employees.

This trifecta of cabinet appointments,

all staunch fossil fuel supporters

who've expressed doubts

about the urgency of climate change.

For all the years I've been involved

in this struggle, there have been lots of setbacks.

So now we have another one.

With all these new threats,

there's never been a more important time

to speak truth to power.

I do my best

to speak for

the public interest in solving the climate crisis.

Even though it sounds a little highfalutin,

I try to answer to the truth of what needs to be done.

And each of us, in our own ways,

has the obligation and some ability

to feel what is more likely to be true than not.

And if you work hard enough

to get the best available evidence,

you can feel if you're onto what the right thing is.

And that's not arrogance, that's just a feeling that

I think everybody is familiar with.

And I've been working on this issue

long enough that I feel very,

very deeply about what the right thing is.

I'm not confused about it.

I remember vividly

when the Civil Rights Movement first began to

pick up steam.

We saw Bull Connor turning fire hoses

on young African-American kids,

and we asked the older generation

why it's just and fair to have laws

that discriminate on the basis of skin color.

And when they couldn't answer that question,

the laws began to change.

This movement to solve the climate crisis

is in the tradition of every great moral movement

that has advanced the cause of humankind.

And every single one of them

has met with resistance to the point

where many of the advocates felt despair

and wondered, "How long is this gonna take?"

Martin Luther King famously answered a question during

some of the bleakest hours of the Civil Rights Movement,

when someone asked, "How long is this gonna take?"

He said, "How long? Not long."

"Because no lie can live forever."

"How long? Not long."

"Because the moral arc of the universe is long,"

"but it bends toward justice."

"How long? Not long."

We are close in this movement.

We are very close to the tipping point

beyond which this movement, like the abolition movement,

like the women's suffrage movement,

like the Civil Rights Movement,

like the anti-apartheid movement,

like the movement for gay rights,

is resolved into a choice between right and wrong.

And because of who we are as human beings,

the outcome is foreordained.

And it is right to save the future for humanity!

It is wrong to pollute this Earth

and destroy the climate balance!

It is right to give hope to the future generation!

It will not be easy.

And we, too, in this movement

will encounter a series of no's.

The great American poet Wallace Stevens,

in the last century,

one of his lines was this,

"After the last no comes a yes."

"And on that yes the future world depends."

Bye-bye, guys. Thank you!

On April 22, 2016 the world ratified the landmark Paris climate Accord at the United Nations

On June 1, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that he is withdrawing

the United States from the global climate agreement

If our leaders refuse to lead, citizens of the world will!

Thousands of Al Gore's climate trainees are now leaders in the movement

And many more are rising up.

Take the pledge to #Belnconvenient and join the millions who are stepping up to solve the climate crisis.

Use Your Choice, Use Your Voice, Use Your Vote

Convince your town, city, business, university, school to switch to 100% renewable energy

Fight like your world depends on it

Because your world depends on it!

Subtitles created by Sano Fužir