I remember when I first saw An Inconvenient Truth, with a close friend at a packed theater on Manhattan's East Side. I couldn't believe so many people had come out to see a documentary—especially one about climate change based on a slideshow by Al Gore.
But the film was unexpectedly powerful, and the former vice president was compelling in a way I hadn’t seen during his career as an elected official. Gore weaved together an urgent message showing the damage we were doing to our planet by burning fossil fuels. I especially remember the before-and-after photos of mountains and glaciers and ice shelves shrinking over time. I left the theater thinking we all had to act now.
That was 20 years ago. Since then, I've become a producer for Reveal, and the world has made strides in fighting climate change. Renewables like wind and solar are now far more affordable and prevalent. Countries have pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions, and many, including China, are making progress. But now, under President Donald Trump, the US is rolling back environmental regulations at an unprecedented pace, abandoning global commitments, condemning climate science, and cozying up to the fossil fuel industry.
What does our former VP think of all this? We asked—and got a whole lot more. The war on Iran is an “astonishing mistake,” Gore tells Al Letson, host of More To The Story, and Trump 2.0 is “the most corrupt administration” in US history.
Trump's quid pro quo stance toward oil and gas producers, Gore says, is "illegal," and "shocking to me." And yet, as he did way back when, he still professes that political will is a renewable resource. Give our latest episode a listen.
—Josh Sanburn
