Al Gore on rise in global warming: 'Crazy for us to allow that'
Al Gore on rise in global warming: ‘Crazy for us to allow that’
On the 20th anniversary of his documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ the former U.S. vice president launches international advocacy trainings in Nashville
Al Gore on why he keeps battling climate change
The former U.S. vice president and lifelong Tennessean says he’ll keep advocating until something changes
More than 700 people from all 50 states are expected in Nashville May 1-2 to see Al Gore present an updated, live version of his 2006 global warming documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
“It’s the kind of challenge,” the former U.S. vice president told The Tennessean, “that once you pick it up, you can’t put it back down again as long as it’s not solved, you know?”
In addition to his presentation, Gore has gathered international global warming experts and top trainers on organizing and advocacy to speak to participants.
Event organizers estimate about half of the 700 participants are from Tennessee. Responses from registrations show most participants work in the fields of environment, education, health, entertainment, tech, government, renewable energy and agriculture.
Gore, 78, a lifelong Tennessean, became interested in climate issues at Harvard in the 1960s when he took a class from a global warming pioneering researcher, Roger Revelle.
After losing the 2000 president election to George W. Bush, Gore made sounding the alarm on climate change the focus of his public life. His 2006 documentary won critical and public acclaim, earning an Oscar for best documentary the next year and launching his nonprofit, The Climate Reality Project, a platform for Gore to make presentations worldwide.
Though the Trump Administration has tried to reverse recent trends toward electric vehicles and renewable energy, Gore said he has hope for dramatically slowing global warming.
“Here in the United States, in 2025, there was zero new coal burned, lots and lots of oil and gas facilities were slowing down and closing,” he said, “and 92.7% of all the new electricity generation installed in the U.S. last year was renewable energy.”
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com.