Al Gore has turned the corner
The former vice president is no longer using his charts to explain why the climate crisis is real. He's using them to explain why the fossil fuel industry can't be trusted.
JUL 12
If someone had bet me five dollars yesterday that Al Gore’s next climate change slideshow would include a dick joke, I probably would have taken that bet.
And today, I would be out five dollars. Because the former vice president’s newest climate change slideshow does include a dick joke—and for the purpose of exposing fossil fuel industry lies, it might be the best one I’ve ever heard.
First, some necessary context: Gore’s new slideshow was actually a TED Talk, presented last night to a packed audience at The Fillmore Theater in Detroit, Michigan. The talk is part of the TED Countdown Summit, which is debuting dozens of new presentations focused on climate solutions this week.
I’m here all week to listen to the speakers, and I’ll send you all a summation of what I’ve learned at the end. (Make sure you’re subscribed to get it).
But after watching Gore’s speech last night, I thought it was noteworthy enough to warrant its own letter. Because in addition to including a cheeky joke, I felt it marked a turning point in the former vice president’s climate advocacy.
With this new talk, it’s become clear that the man who made “An Inconvenient Truth” famous is no longer primarily focused on convincing people that the climate crisis is real or dangerous. He’s turned a corner, and is now focused on convincing people that if they truly care about solving the climate crisis, they must turn their ire toward the fossil fuel industry—and boot them from the negotiating table before it’s too late.
“The climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis”
The whole TED talk translates much better than my writing of it. But the video hasn’t been released yet, so this is all you get for now. (I’ll send you the link to the full thing when it’s aired).
The purpose of Gore’s new presentation is to identify what he believes are the two greatest barriers to preserving a livable climate: “unrelenting opposition from the fossil fuel industry,” and the “global allocation of capital” to fossil fuels, mainly in the form of subsidies.
His language about the fossil fuel industry’s role in climate delay was refreshingly clear. “Every piece of [climate] legislation—whether it’s on the municipal level, regional or provincial level, the national level, or the international level—they’re in there…doing everything they can to slow down progress.”
“They have used fraud on a massive scale,” he said, citing the mountain of evidence that the industry concealed knowledge of the harmful climate effects of their products. “They’ve used falsehoods on an industrial scale. And they’ve used their legacy political and economic networks, lavishly funded, to capture the policymaking process in too many countries around the world.”
Gore was careful to direct his indictment to the executives of fossil fuel companies, not the employees. “They didn’t do this,” he said. “But for decades now, the companies have had the evidence, they know the truth, and they consciously decided to lie to publics all around the world in order to calm down the political momentum for doing something about it so they could make more money. It’s as simple as that.”
The danger of fossil fuel influence at COP28
One of the greatest threats to climate progress, Gore said, is the fossil fuel industry’s growing influence on the United Nations-sponsored COP28 talks in November.
As we reported last year, there were 636 fossil fuel lobbyists at COP27—a 25 percent increase from the previous year’s climate talks. And the delegates at COP27, Gore noted, “vetoed any mention of phasing down fossil fuels.”
There will be even more fossil fuel influence at the UN climate talks this year, because COP28 is being held in the United Arab Emirates, a petrostate—and they’re being led by the man who heads the UAE’s national oil company.
As a solution, Gore laid out a set of proposed requirements for fossil fuel companies to have a seat at the table at the international climate talks. To do so, he said, they should be able to answer “yes” all these questions: Do they have a real net zero plan? Do they have a plan to phase down fossil fuels? Will they spend windfall profits on the transition? Are they committed to transparency? Will they end anti-climate lobbying? Will they end greenwashing?
Based on what they’re doing now, Gore said, no fossil fuel company representative would be able to attend.
“They’re using [carbon capture] in order to gaslight us”
Gore also identified what he said was one of the most harmful growing lies from the fossil fuel industry: that carbon capture can solve the problem of fossil fuel emissions.
Using his signature charts, he showed how the technology is only able to capture a minuscule amount of emissions—and showed quotes from oil executives admitting they push carbon capture as an excuse to never have to stop producing oil. “They’re using it in order to gaslight us,” he said. “Literally.”
This is where the dick joke came in. After thoroughly dismantling the feasibility of vacuuming carbon out of the atmosphere to solve the problem of fossil fuel emissions, Gore showed a picture of a direct air capture plant in Iceland.
“Let’s just look at this. This is state of the art,” he said. “Looks pretty impressive, doesn’t it?”
The audience started laughing.
“Yup,” he said. “I had the same thought.”
Fossil fuel companies are not “sincere actors”
Overall, Gore sought to pop the balloon of idealism anyone in the audience may have had about the fossil fuel industry’s progress in slowing the planetary crisis their products case.
“The amount of money the fossil fuel industry is investing in renewables and carbon capture is one percent,” he said. “Does that mean they are sincere actors working in good faith?”
“I don’t think so,” Gore added. “A lot of people still think so, they think they’re on our side. I don’t think it’s in their nature to be on our side. I think they’re driven by incentives that push us in the opposite direction. But in any case, they’ve produced no solutions that are scalable or remotely feasible. And they’ve actively fought against the solutions that others are trying to bring.”
Gore urged those who are concerned about climate change to focus their attention on the fossil fuel industry, their greenwashing, and the money being directed to fossil fuel investment.
“When these obstacles are removed,” he said, “we can actually achieve progress.”
Identifying the problem is critical to the solution
At face value, Gore’s talk may have seemed a bit of a downer. Particularly for an event like the TED Countdown Summit, which is designed to focus on solutions, and make attendees feel optimistic about the future.
But I didn’t take it as a downer. I found it to be surprisingly energizing. Yes, these are points others have been making for years—myself, and this newsletter, included. But to hear such a high-profile figure make them so passionately, and convincingly point the finger where it needed to be pointed, made me optimistic that more people who need to hear these arguments will hear them.
More from the TED Summit next week. Stay tuned!
They use to be our forefathers, now the EU is our foreskin.
I think the oil industry should give Al and others like him what they want for a week or two. Just cut all production off. They claim they want to get off hydrocarbons as quick as possible! How long will civilization last? Of course they would spin it to need more of Intermittent sources.