Former Vice President Al Gore in his home office in Nashville, TN. (Time magazine)
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- All Posts
Syndication: 
Alliance Update April 18, 2008 : 1:04 PM
On April 2nd, our efforts to solve the climate crisis took a giant step forward. The Alliance for Climate Protection launch it’s its massive multi year effort called the “We Campaign”
Our efforts began with a multimillion-dollar ad buy. Here is our first ads which is airing coast to coast:
But that is not enough. In addition to seeing our ads on TV, in magazines and on their favorite websites, though partner organizations Americans will come into contact with our message when they go to church, talk to their union, or work with their daughter on a project for the Girl Scouts.
There are a number of organizations fighting the climate battle on all levels. From legal efforts to block the construction of new coal plants, to drives in state legislatures for renewable portfolio standards, to comprehensive congressional climate legislation, these players are waging the ground war on climate every day. The Alliance will supplement and support the myriad ongoing efforts of other organizations, but is unique in its scale and breadth.
Already more than 1,000,000 Americans have joined our effort and we’ve set a goal of enlisting an unprecedented 10 million citizens to become climate activists. You can join today by clicking here.
We also have an army of surrogates spread across the country, with more than 400 Climate Project presenters that I’ve personally trained to give my PowerPoint presentation. These presenters will be working in tandem with our partner organizations to spread the word about the urgency and solvability of climate change.
We all know Washington will not act on its own. Only when they recieve a major push from the public to solve the climate crisis, will U.S. leadership will not address the
issue domestically, and negotiation of an effective international treaty. That is why it is so important you join our efforts today by clicking here.
Two more ads from the Alliance:
New thinking on the climate crisis April 8, 2008 : 11:43 AM
You can watch the brand new slide show I presented to the Ted Conference by .
Earth: The Sequel March 26, 2008 : 4:19 PM
Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund and journalist Miriam Horn have just published a fascinating book called Earth: The Sequel - The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming.
The book tells the story of scientists and businessmen working on the front lines to solve the climate crisis, turning our planet's greatest threat into our greatest economic opportunity.
The book also explores breakthroughs in solar, wind, and biomass technologies, in addition to examining how we must reinvent everything from cars to concrete and replace our current outdated centralized electrical grid with a smart, multidirectional energy network.
You can buy your copy of Earth The Sequel by clicking here.
India March 20, 2008 : 6:18 PM
Last week I visited New Delhi, India to launch the Climate Project in that nation. India has proven its capability in sectors like information technology and now has the opportunity to be a leader in the world in developing new renewable technologies to combat climate change.
During my two-day trip, I trained 100 people to give my slide show with Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Following the training, I met for two hours with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed both domestic and international climate policy. I also had the opportunity to present my slideshow to India’s Parliament.
Texas Size Energy March 10, 2008 : 12:13 PM
When I used to think about Texas I envisioned a landscape with oil derricks dotting the landscape. Well that’s changing fast and some of those oil wells are being replaced with wind turbines.
Wind is right now supplying power to more than 1,000,000 homes in the state and that will continue to increase. In fact in 2006 Texas became the number one producer of wind power in the United States
Even oilman T. Boon Pickens, is switching over to alternative energy. Right now he is planning on building the largest wind farm in the world. "I like wind because it's renewable and it's clean and you know you are not going to be dealing with a production decline curve," Pickens said. "Decline curves finally wore me out in the oil business."
Wind power is even creating a real estate boom. For example in Nolan county, total property values have doubled since the wind boom began, and it is estimated they will increase by another 25% this year.
If Texas can move away from carbon based fuels, then any state can.
A moral issue March 5, 2008 : 1:37 PM
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to address 2,500 Baptists at the “Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," in Atlanta Georgia. The event - conceived and organized by a group led by former President Jimmy Carter - brought together members of thirty Baptist organizations, representing over 20 million Americans.
When I first received the invitation to address this group, I began assembling a new version of my PowerPoint on the climate crisis that emphasizes the scriptural references in the New Testament and Old Testament to our duty as human beings to be good stewards of the earth. Psalm 24 for example, reminds those of us who are part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
The message that the climate crisis is not a political issue, but instead moral one is resonating. Rev Jimmy Allen, a former Southern Baptist president, called the climate crisis, “one of the major moral issues of our time.”
And Rev Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, equated “the issue with the sanctity of life in importance and urgency.”
I look forward to April when I plan on holding a slideshow training program in Nashville for religious leaders.
Investing in the climate February 18, 2008 : 1:12 PM
On Thursday, I spoke to more than 500 financial leaders and institutional
investors at the third UN/CERES Investor Summit. The attendees were
searching for ways to confront, from the perspective of the financial
sector, the shift to cleaner sources of energy and away from carbon
businesses are sure to face in the coming years.
I told the audience they need to reexamine their investment portfolios,
because currently they are full of subprime carbon assets businesses to
reliant on carbon intensive energy.
Financial advisors and investment managers will need to focus on the
long-term solutions to the climate crisis in order to be successful. An
important step they can take, is signing the Investor Network Action Plan.
Financial managers controlling over $1.75 trillion in assets signed this
document, unveiled at the conference. It lays out principals by which these
investors cannot only help solve the climate crisis, but also see the
rewards in the form of financial profits.
Poverty and Climate Change At Davos February 15, 2008 : 5:08 PM
A few weeks ago in Davos, I shared the stage at the World Economic Forum with Bono, who has provided inspirational leadership in the battle against extreme poverty in the world. Tom Friedman, who moderated the session, asked both Bono and I about whether or not there is “competition” between our two issues, the climate crisis and global poverty.
In reality, we must expand our moral imagination and understand that the struggle against extreme poverty and disease on the one hand and the climate crisis on the other are linked -- we cannot solve one without simultaneously solving the other.
The Millennium Development Goals recognize this. And the historic challenge that Bono has been so effective in helping to lead, to lift the poorest of the poor out of poverty, can only be met successfully if the climate crisis is part of that discussion and taken into account as part of the solution.
Some of the programs for the world's poorest countries have already demonstrated how specific sustainable agriculture, disease eradication, micro-lending and other programs can succeed -- but just a one and a half to two degree increase in temperature, put all that hard work at risk.
The emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease, drought, increased risk due to storms and storm surge and other impacts of global warming could undermine all this hard work.
By the same token, it is only with a global compact that the world can solve the climate crisis and only with a global compact can the world truly help the poorest of the poor. But in order to reach these goals all nations need to come together. And we need to have a global treaty in place by December of 2009 that marries these two agendas.
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 January 24, 2008 : 3:29 PM
Al Gore and Bono address the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
48 Hours December 11, 2007 : 8:02 PM
In less than forty-eight hours, I will step onstage at the UN Climate Conference in Bali. With me I will bring hundreds of thousands of messages demanding that a visionary global treaty be completed and brought into effect by 2010.
If we want to solve the climate crisis, together we need to demonstrate the broad public support for action. That's why it's vital that you sign our petition right now by visiting:
http://climateprotect.org/standwithal
Over the past few months we've taken many positive steps towards uniting governments worldwide around the goal of solving the climate crisis. Just over a week ago on December 3rd, Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was sworn in. His first formal act in office was to ratify the Kyoto Treaty. This was a clear demonstration of Australia's priorities.
Yet this progress has not swayed the Bush Administration. With thousands of delegates gathered in Bali for the UN Climate Conference, this is our last chance in 2007 to show the world how serious the American people are about ending the climate crisis. That's why it is so vital that all of us join together and demonstrate the political will of our country.
Only two days remain before I deliver your messages to the delegates meeting in Bali. Over the past few days more than 173,963 people have added their voices. Don't miss this incredible opportunity to demonstrate your support for a visionary global treaty to end the climate crisis.
Sign our petition, then reach out to everyone you know and ask them to sign today by visiting:
http://climateprotect.org/standwithal
Your activism and enthusiasm for this cause inspire me every day.
