‘We need to stop using the sky as an open sewer’: Former US Vice-President Al Gore on unprecedented climate danger

CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION ‘UNSTOPPABLE’

But Gore said another major change in recent years has been the emergence of affordable clean-energy technologies, including solar and wind power, batteries and electric vehicles.

One in every four cars sold globally is now an EV, he said. 

“We’re seeing an incredible surge of investment in solar and wind and batteries and EVs, and now the global investments in renewables and the sustainability transition has overtaken the investments in fossil fuels.”

“But it’s still not happening nearly quickly enough, and we are at risk of crossing certain dangerous negative tipping points.”

He described the challenge as “a race between the accelerating danger and the accelerating availability of the solutions”.

Gore also dismissed the notion of “climate realism” – the argument that the energy transition must accommodate the reality of continued dependence on fossil fuels.

“It’s nonsense. The so-called climate realism propaganda is yet another form of climate denial,” he said. “Actually, what we’re seeing is an unstoppable transition away from fossil fuels.”

Solar power has become cheaper while “the fuel for both solar and wind is free”, he noted.

“They can’t charge for the sun, they can’t charge for the wind, and so naturally, this most powerful industry in history which sells the dirty fossil fuels is going all out to oppose this transition,” said Gore, referring to the political power wielded by fossil fuel companies and petrostates, which he accused of exerting enormous influence over energy policy. 

“Unfortunately, in some nations, including my own, the politicians are under the thumb of these powerful fossil fuel companies, and that is what we have to overcome.”