Al Gore full State of the Union interview

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: And Vice President Al Gore joins me now. Thank you so much for being here, Mr. Vice President. [00:00:03] Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. [00:00:04] Speaker 1: So I want to get to the Paris Climate Accord in a second, but first I do want to get your reaction to the attack last night in London, on London Bridge. President Trump just made a tweet I want to get your reaction to. He wrote, quote, at least seven dead and 48 wounded in terror attack, and Mayor of London says there is, quote, no reason to be alarmed. What's your reaction to that tweet? [00:00:26] Speaker 2: I actually happened to see the statement from the mayor of London, and that's not what I heard him say. And I don't think that a major terrorist attack like this is a time to be divisive and to criticize a mayor who's trying to organize his city's response to this attack. The terrorists want us to live in a state of constant fear, and having an effective response is the main thing. It looks to me like the London police were there in six minutes, and this scourge of terrorism has to be defeated. But we have to defeat it not only with force of arms, but with the force of our values. [00:01:05] Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to the Paris Climate Agreement. President Trump said the decision to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement was about putting America first. Take a listen. [00:01:13] Speaker 3: The Paris Agreement handicaps the United States economy in order to win praise from the very foreign capitals and global activists that have long sought to gain wealth at our country's expense. They don't put America first. I do, and I always will. [00:01:40] Speaker 2: What's your response? Well, the fastest growing sector of our economy is clean energy and part of the sustainability revolution. Solar jobs are now growing 17 times faster in the U.S. than other jobs. The single fastest growing job for the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is wind turbine technician. So we're seeing a sustainability revolution that is historic. It has the magnitude of the industrial revolution, but the speed of the digital revolution. And rather than trying to recreate the 19th century and paint a picture of a past that's gone, we need leadership to gear America for the 21st century. Well, President Trump's decision was unfortunate. It undermined our country's stature. But here's the good news. With the leadership of governors like Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo and others and mayors, Mike Bloomberg's doing a great job. We're seeing civic leadership businesses, Apple, Google, General Electric. You can go right down the list. We are going to see continued reductions in emissions in the U.S. We're going to meet the commitments under the Climate Pact in Paris, regardless of what President Trump does. And so we're seeing a lot of progress. [00:03:06] Speaker 1: If we're going to meet it, if we're going to meet that goal of a 24 to 26 percent reduction in carbon gas emissions without being in the agreement, then is there an argument to be made that we don't need to be in the agreement? [00:03:17] Speaker 2: No, the requirements were voluntary. He could have simply changed those requirements. But my point is we're seeing a technological revolution that is greatly needed. Somebody once said the Stone Age didn't end because of a shortage of stone. Something better came along. Same is true of the age of fossil fuels. But the Paris Agreement was really historic. But it laid the foundation for the faster progress that's needed in order to solve the climate crisis in time. And we could have faster progress with presidential leadership. But we're going to keep moving forward regardless of President Trump. [00:03:55] Speaker 1: I want to get your reaction to something, an argument being made by the EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt. Take a listen. [00:04:02] Scott Pruitt: It was a failed deal to begin with. And even if all of the targets were met by all nations across the globe, it only reduced the temperature by less than two cents of one degree. [00:04:14] Speaker 1: Less than two cents of one degree, President Trump made a similar argument. [00:04:18] Speaker 2: Well, first of all, it's not true. But secondly, you know, there was a famous economist, Rudy Dornbusch, who once said, things take longer to happen than you think they will. And then they happen much faster than you thought they could. That's what's happening here. And the Paris Agreement gives tremendous momentum for movement all around the world. You know, India just announced that within 13 years, 100 percent of all their cars have to be electric vehicles. China's emissions have come down four years in a row. All over the world, we're seeing this movement. And now, electricity from solar and wind in many regions is less than half the cost of electricity from burning fossil fuels. So we start making this transition, then pick up steam, and then suddenly we cross the tipping point. That is what is beginning to happen. But the U.S. ought to be leading this revolution. And creating more of the new jobs here in the United States. [00:05:18] Speaker 1: During the transition, you met with President-elect Trump at the time, at the invitation of Ivanka Trump. Last month, when you were at the Cannes Film Festival, you said, quote, I think there's an excellent chance that President Trump will surprise many by deciding to stay in the Paris Agreement. Why did you say that? And tell us about your meeting with President-elect Trump at the time. [00:05:36] Speaker 2: Well, I've kept the details of my conversations with him confidential. Seems like the right thing to do. None of it would surprise you. I did think there was a chance that he would come to his senses and not to make the decision that he announced this past week. Why did you think that? Well, it made sense for the country. All he had to do under the terms of the Paris Agreement was change the commitments. They're voluntary, and each country can determine its own commitments. So I thought it made sense, and I thought that he would come to his senses on it, but he didn't. [00:06:13] Speaker 1: Have you talked to Ivanka Trump at all since that meeting at Trump Tower? Oh, yes, I have. About this issue? [00:06:20] Speaker 2: Yes, yes. I have not talked to her since the decision last week. [00:06:24] Speaker 1: She must be very disappointed. She apparently was lobbying internally to have her father stay in the Paris Agreement. Um, I assume so, but I haven't talked to her since then. President Trump has gone after you directly when talking about this issue of climate change. I want you to, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to something he said. [00:06:42] Speaker 3: Al Gore wants to eliminate the combustion engine, essentially, and flies around the world on jets and pushes plans that would help create China, make it stronger. [00:06:59] Speaker 1: This is a criticism we hear from conservatives all the time when talking about people like you or Elon Musk or Leonardo DiCaprio, that you yourself have a large carbon footprint. [00:07:07] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I don't have a private jet, and what the carbon emissions come from my trips on Southwest Airlines are offset. I live a carbon-free lifestyle to the maximum extent possible. But the point is, our whole country and our entire world has to change, and we are beginning to change. Today, we'll put another 110 million tons of heat-trapping pollution up there. We're treating the sky as an open sewer, and now we see these climate-related extreme weather events virtually every day. Every night on the news is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation. But we've seen something else as well. Now we have the solutions to the climate crisis, and they can create tens of millions of new jobs. So the direction to move in the future is very clear. We're now seeing governors and mayors and businesses and civic leaders really beginning to move, regardless of what the White House says. I was in one of the most conservative Republican cities in the country, Georgetown, Texas, recently. They've already gone 100% renewable in an oil state. Why? Because it's cheaper. And they're proud of the fact that they're putting less pollution in the sky, but they did it because it's cheaper, and it's creating employment. [00:08:28] Speaker 1: I want to ask you about Hillary Clinton, just because you are the only other living person who has experienced what she is living, which is you won the popular vote, and yet the electoral vote didn't work out. I don't want to get into the whole Florida recount right now, as I'm sure you don't either, but what is she going through? What is it like to actually have the support of more voters but not be able to walk into the White House to take the job? [00:08:52] Speaker 2: Well, she's a strong person, and I'm sure she's going to be fine. In my own case, I learned earlier in my life that there are worse things than having a Supreme Court decision go against you. And there are people that we encounter in our day-to-day life who have incredible burdens that they don't talk about. So I'm fine, and I'm sure she's going to be fine, too. [00:09:17] Speaker 1: I do want to get one last thought from you on the president's decision on the climate change deal. You've been very optimistic and temperate in your remarks today, talking about how the United States is moving along towards the direction you want it to, even if President Trump is not going along. But in your initial remarks, in your initial response to what President Trump decided to do, you seemed more upset. You seemed to think it was a bigger deal, a disaster of sorts. [00:09:46] Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I think it was reckless, I think it was indefensible, it undermines America's standing in the world, it threatens the ability of humanity to solve the climate crisis in time. The decision was a terribly mistaken decision. But in the aftermath of that decision, we need to move forward regardless of what he decides. And the good news is that the American people are going to provide leadership, even if President Trump will not provide leadership. [00:10:18] Speaker 1: What's your message to President Trump? He likes to watch cable TV, he might be watching right this minute. [00:10:23] Speaker 2: I think that he's kind of taken himself out of the climate debate. The other countries have said they're not going to talk with him about climate anymore. You know, every country in the world is on this train that's leaving the station, except for Syria. They've kind of got their hands full with the gates of hell opening there. Nicaragua said it wasn't strong enough for them, but those are the only other countries that stand with Donald Trump. The American people are going to move forward regardless. [00:10:54] Speaker 1: It has been 17 years since I sat down with you and interviewed you. Please don't let it be another 17. It's great to see you. That's a deal. That's good to see you, Vice President. Thank you so much. Thank you.