Former Vice President Al Gore is back in the spotlight (sort of) and looking to capitalize off the sudden hotness of climate change with a 24-hour telethon broadcasting from Vanderbil University called “24 Hours of Reality,” and a series of appearances on late night television.
The original climate change activist Gore has, lately, been overshadowed by more extreme environmentalists, including adolescent “climate strike” founder Greta Thunberg and “Green New Deal” author Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who, unlike Gore, are more interested in encouraging socialism (and, subsequently, crushing industrialization and technological advancement) as a vehicle for curbing carbon emissions. He’s also run afoul of Thunberg and her followers — at least implicitly — for encouraging a system of climate indulgences, called “climate credits,” to offset egregious consumption rather than cutting that consumption entirely.
Gore’s landmark speech, kicking off 24 hours of activism “across the globe” had a “massive” audience of about a thousand people, according to local news in Nashville.
But in addition to Gore’s thoughts on climate change — he’s against it, obviously — he also weighed in on the Democrats’ ongoing impeachment inquiry and President Donald Trump’s approach to curbing immigration.
“The parts [of the impeachment inquiry] I’ve watched have left me extremely impressed by the women and men who are public servants,” Gore told local media — seemingly the only reporters covering the “landmark” event. “Some of these people in the foreign service who serve our country selflessly for decades and they do a good job and they’re not seeking the limelight and they tell the searing truth. I think they’ve impressed people. We’ll see how this shakes out, but I think they’ve impressed people.”
His concerns with the Trump Administration flow less from its dealings in Eastern Europe, however, and more from its refusal to honor the Paris Climate Accords, which Gore worked on.
“That decision is still in the hands of the voters and of course that means the climate crisis melds with the democracy crisis,” Gore said, indicating that Americans should take the future of the globe into consideration when enterting the voting booth. “And I’m hoping that whatever one’s political party they will get active and support candidates who care about the future and realize we’ve got to solve this.”
The Paris Climate Accords, of course, are not binding, and have no method of execution, meaning any country that refuses to abide by the goals outlined in the accord faces no punishment, leaving the agreement utterly toothless and ineffective.
On “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Gore called the current administration, “the most dangerous time in America I’ve ever seen.”
“There is just a radical all-out assault from Donald Trump on the values of America, the norms of America, the rule of law in America,” he told the politically active late night host.
In a speech in New Jersey earlier this week, Gore took a page from climate change’s apolcalyptic sages, comparing the issue to the great battles of World War II and even the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks: “This is Pearl Harbor. This is Midway. This is the Battle of Bulge. This is 9/11. We have to rise to this challenge. We have to change.”
Oddly enough, Gore hasn’t been welcomed into the fold of “new environmentalism.” Despite his local appearances, he remains on the outside of the new climate movement.