People are coming to realise that we can't use the sky as an open sewer.
It's insane.
Lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much for doing the interview.
No, the pleasure is entirely mine.
Before we get started talking about climate change and the film
I did want to ask you about a strange thing that I encountered when I was reading about you.
Is it true that once upon a time you wanted to start a company called 'Blood and Gore'?
Yes it is.
Why? And what on earth would you have been selling?
Well, I partnered with a good friend named David Blood
Okay.
And we established a company together, and I was actually only half-way joking
and saying I wanted to name it Blood and Gore, because I thought it would have an instant brand recognition
like an Old English marmalade company.
It was an investment company wasn't it?
Yes, that's right.
So, even a couple of months ago you were saying you didn't think the US would pull out of the Paris Climate Accords.
Why didn't you think that was going to happen?
I had some conversations with Donald Trump, after the election.
Several of them, and I thought there was a chance he would do the right thing.
But I was wrong.
I actually did think that there was a slightly better than even chance he would stay in.
But...
The other side got to him, and he made the wrong decision.
I think it's more useful and constructive to concentrate on the legitimate hope that's out there.
In the decade since the first film, the cost of electricity from solar and wind has fallen so quickly and so far
that in many parts of the world it's much cheaper than electricity from burning coal.
So there is an argument then that if business and the technology is accelerating to the point where it's cheaper
to use renewable energy, that perhaps it takes the onus off governments and government organisations to make
real changes - what do you say to that argument?
Well, governments around the world are now subsidising fossil fuels
at a rate 40 times the subsidies for renewable energy.
So they're using taxpayer money to prop up coal and gas and oil.
And we need to make faster progress. The remaining question is whether we will solve it in time.
In time, for example, to save the Great Barrier Reef. Now I'm convinced we are going to win it, I think we are winning it.
But we do need to move faster.
Good evening.
Just moments ago I spoke with George W. Bush, and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president
of the United States.
That moment before you go onstage, on television, to give a concession speech:
What goes through your head before you walk out in front of the cameras?
Boy, thinking back you're just kind of steeling yourself
to not stutter, to just get through it.
I knew it was the right thing to do.
Winston Churchill once said about the American people, that they generally do the right thing
after first exhausting every available alternative.
Yep, that's a great quote.
That's sort of where I was.
I say to President Elect Bush, that what remains of partisan rancour must now be put aside.
When you are in such a public position, do you have to grow an incredible callous
and is that necessarily a good thing for a human being to have to do? To have to become so tough?
Well, you do get thicker skin, and even if it's not thick enough to stop the pain, you learn to avoid it.
But is that healthy, do you think for a human being?
That's an interesting question.
If you decide to work in the public arena, you have to understand people who disagree with a message
are going to attack the messenger.
Did you ever see an old movie called the Chariots of Fire?
Yeah.
One of the runners has a line in that movie
He says, "When I run I feel God's pleasure."
When you are doing what you feel in your bones is the right thing to be doing
it gives you a sense of joy.
You were 28 when you were elected into the House of Representatives, yes?
Having been an insider for so long and seeing how it works
and how it can work so well, and how it sometimes doesn't work so well
what's the biggest misconception about US government?
I guess what I wish people understood more is the degree to which it has changed due to the influence
of big money.
When I was elected to congress back at the age of 28
I didn't have a single fundraiser, I didn't think about raising money. I didn't need to.
So where did the money come from?
Television.
Because 30 second television ads became the currency of politics in the US.
And the gatekeepers charged more and more money every year for those ads.
And so, the average congressman now spends 4 to 5 hours every single day
begging rich people and special interests for money.
But if you look at last year's presidential campaign, the candidacy of Bernie Sanders
whatever you think about his political views
demonstrated one important thing:
It's now possible in my country to have a credible and powerful presidential campaign
without raising any big money from special interests, by just relying on individuals.
Three years ago
my son, Albert, was struck by a car
crossing the street after watching a baseball game in Baltimore.
Back in 1992, you gave an incredible speech where you talked about your son who I think was six years old at the time
being in a car accident, and you stood by his bedside for a long period of time.
What did that do to you to see your son in that state?
Mmm.
That was perhaps the most challenging time in my life
because you can't really imagine losing something that is so precious to you.
And uh...
It made me change all my priorities in life.
It touched a place that had become raw in me, and I was able to realise for the first time
that this beautiful, God-given green earth of ours which we take for granted is something that we could lose.
Even though I had long since become committed intellectually to this cause
the emotional dimension was very different for me after that.
You have a great quote where you describe yourself as a recovering politician.
What is the best thing you've learnt about yourself since you stopped being a politician?
You've done a lot of research and you ask really good questions.
Very kind of you to say.
Well, it's true.
I have found the joy in having work to do
outside the political process that justifies pouring every ounce of energy I have into it.
And I've found that gives me energy back in return.
How do you cope with those moments you feel like it hasn't been solved
or the movement or momentum isn't as strong as it should be?
There's a famous quotation:
"Things take longer to happen than you think they will.
But then they happen much faster than you thought they could."
Things are now moving much faster than I thought they could, even though there have been times in the past
where I was very frustrated and concerned that they seemed to be moving at a glacial pace.
Maybe the wrong metaphor to use.
I'm really hopeful that we're going to solve this climate crisis in time.
Al Gore, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
