Al Gore

Think of the impact of a couple hundred thousand refugees and then imagine a hundred million.

Think of the impact of a couple hundred thousand refugees and then imagine a hundred million.

Think of the impact of a couple hundred thousand refugees and then imagine a hundred million.

We have to act together to solve this global crisis. Our ability to live is what is at stake.

We have to act together to solve this global crisis. Our ability to live is what is at stake.

We have to act together to solve this global crisis. Our ability to live is what is at stake.

For example, not with Congress. I mean, this is the thing about Doge that's so weird, is that they're ignoring Congress so much.

For example, not with Congress. I mean, this is the thing about Doge that's so weird, is that they're ignoring Congress so much.

For example, not with Congress. I mean, this is the thing about Doge that's so weird, is that they're ignoring Congress so much.

Ironically, I have been talking to my former colleagues and we think we've gotten more press for the National Performance Review in the last six weeks than we did in the whole seven years the damn thing ran.

Ironically, I have been talking to my former colleagues and we think we've gotten more press for the National Performance Review in the last six weeks than we did in the whole seven years the damn thing ran.

Ironically, I have been talking to my former colleagues and we think we've gotten more press for the National Performance Review in the last six weeks than we did in the whole seven years the damn thing ran.

It's impossible to cut all $271 billion of this. You wouldn't have a government left. In other words, you're lucky to cut $50 billion.

It's impossible to cut all $271 billion of this. You wouldn't have a government left. In other words, you're lucky to cut $50 billion.

It's impossible to cut all $271 billion of this. You wouldn't have a government left. In other words, you're lucky to cut $50 billion.

Oh, yeah. No, we've got more contractors than we have civil servants.

Oh, yeah. No, we've got more contractors than we have civil servants.

Oh, yeah. No, we've got more contractors than we have civil servants.

Yeah, that's the estimate. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the estimate. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the estimate. Yeah.

This is Planet Money from NPR.

This is Planet Money from NPR.

This is Planet Money from NPR.

So a contract for goods would be anything from trucks for the Army to buying floor mats for a federal office building for when it rains, OK, or buying yellow legal pads for the Justice Department.

So a contract for goods would be anything from trucks for the Army to buying floor mats for a federal office building for when it rains, OK, or buying yellow legal pads for the Justice Department.

So a contract for goods would be anything from trucks for the Army to buying floor mats for a federal office building for when it rains, OK, or buying yellow legal pads for the Justice Department.

Services are anything from scientific expertise to NIH for cancer to janitorial services in the courthouse.

Services are anything from scientific expertise to NIH for cancer to janitorial services in the courthouse.

Services are anything from scientific expertise to NIH for cancer to janitorial services in the courthouse.

The first time NOAA misses or predicts a hurricane late or the first time they're three days later in forecasting a hurricane than they should be and people don't have a chance to get out on time, what is Congress going to do? It's going to say, holy moly, put those people back, okay, or put some people back.

The first time NOAA misses or predicts a hurricane late or the first time they're three days later in forecasting a hurricane than they should be and people don't have a chance to get out on time, what is Congress going to do? It's going to say, holy moly, put those people back, okay, or put some people back.

The first time NOAA misses or predicts a hurricane late or the first time they're three days later in forecasting a hurricane than they should be and people don't have a chance to get out on time, what is Congress going to do? It's going to say, holy moly, put those people back, okay, or put some people back.

And Musk quickly reinstated some of those employees. Yeah, that's right. Because of the way they did it, where they simply cut them off and they cut off their email instantly and take them out of all systems, they can't find some of them.

And Musk quickly reinstated some of those employees. Yeah, that's right. Because of the way they did it, where they simply cut them off and they cut off their email instantly and take them out of all systems, they can't find some of them.

And Musk quickly reinstated some of those employees. Yeah, that's right. Because of the way they did it, where they simply cut them off and they cut off their email instantly and take them out of all systems, they can't find some of them.

Now you have a cabinet secretary sitting there, and Doge says, cut this many people, and the cabinet secretary says, hey, wait a minute, just hold your horses, right? I want to look and see.

Now you have a cabinet secretary sitting there, and Doge says, cut this many people, and the cabinet secretary says, hey, wait a minute, just hold your horses, right? I want to look and see.

Now you have a cabinet secretary sitting there, and Doge says, cut this many people, and the cabinet secretary says, hey, wait a minute, just hold your horses, right? I want to look and see.

He then said, hold on, hold your horses. I under statute, the secretary of defense has to justify before he does any firing. He has to study and justify that the firing will not decrease our national defense readiness. So he had to go through that step. OK, and he's still going to cut people.

He then said, hold on, hold your horses. I under statute, the secretary of defense has to justify before he does any firing. He has to study and justify that the firing will not decrease our national defense readiness. So he had to go through that step. OK, and he's still going to cut people.

He then said, hold on, hold your horses. I under statute, the secretary of defense has to justify before he does any firing. He has to study and justify that the firing will not decrease our national defense readiness. So he had to go through that step. OK, and he's still going to cut people.

But it's I'm thinking that this may happen in a less chaotic and somewhat more sensible way once there are cabinet secretaries in place.

But it's I'm thinking that this may happen in a less chaotic and somewhat more sensible way once there are cabinet secretaries in place.

But it's I'm thinking that this may happen in a less chaotic and somewhat more sensible way once there are cabinet secretaries in place.

That was something that I was hoping the Doge effort would do, is cut regulations. Because, I mean, every couple of years you got to do this because some regulations just get obsolete.

That was something that I was hoping the Doge effort would do, is cut regulations. Because, I mean, every couple of years you got to do this because some regulations just get obsolete.

That was something that I was hoping the Doge effort would do, is cut regulations. Because, I mean, every couple of years you got to do this because some regulations just get obsolete.

Absolutely. Yep. You think that? I do think that. I do think that. You can probably always find 5%, maybe 10% in waste and unnecessary workers.

Absolutely. Yep. You think that? I do think that. I do think that. You can probably always find 5%, maybe 10% in waste and unnecessary workers.

Absolutely. Yep. You think that? I do think that. I do think that. You can probably always find 5%, maybe 10% in waste and unnecessary workers.

Al Gore was my boss. Yes, I reported to Al Gore.

Al Gore was my boss. Yes, I reported to Al Gore.

Al Gore was my boss. Yes, I reported to Al Gore.

Back in 1993, no federal agency had a website. And we started telling agencies to build websites.

Back in 1993, no federal agency had a website. And we started telling agencies to build websites.

Back in 1993, no federal agency had a website. And we started telling agencies to build websites.

You have to go into the agencies and figure out what they're doing that's important, that you don't want to mess up, and what they're doing that, frankly, isn't all that important.

You have to go into the agencies and figure out what they're doing that's important, that you don't want to mess up, and what they're doing that, frankly, isn't all that important.

You have to go into the agencies and figure out what they're doing that's important, that you don't want to mess up, and what they're doing that, frankly, isn't all that important.

A lot of times the inefficiencies were not people inefficiencies. A lot of times the inefficiencies were obsolete statutes or obsolete regulations that were requiring the civil service to do things in a sort of backwards convoluted way that was costing money and costing time.

A lot of times the inefficiencies were not people inefficiencies. A lot of times the inefficiencies were obsolete statutes or obsolete regulations that were requiring the civil service to do things in a sort of backwards convoluted way that was costing money and costing time.

A lot of times the inefficiencies were not people inefficiencies. A lot of times the inefficiencies were obsolete statutes or obsolete regulations that were requiring the civil service to do things in a sort of backwards convoluted way that was costing money and costing time.

They added cost. They would add cost to everything from hammers and staplers to airplanes.

They added cost. They would add cost to everything from hammers and staplers to airplanes.

They added cost. They would add cost to everything from hammers and staplers to airplanes.

Oh, because, you know, because I heard that they didn't. People would say, oh, God, you're Elaine K. Mark. You know, and I think today they think I'm wonderful and wish I was back.

Oh, because, you know, because I heard that they didn't. People would say, oh, God, you're Elaine K. Mark. You know, and I think today they think I'm wonderful and wish I was back.

Oh, because, you know, because I heard that they didn't. People would say, oh, God, you're Elaine K. Mark. You know, and I think today they think I'm wonderful and wish I was back.

any savings. We introduced something called the Hammer Awards in the Clinton administration. And here is what it consisted of. A big, tacky picture frame with some blue velvet in the back and a hammer attached to it and a red, white and blue ribbon and a note from Al Gore, handwritten, that said, thank you for creating a government that works better and costs less.

any savings. We introduced something called the Hammer Awards in the Clinton administration. And here is what it consisted of. A big, tacky picture frame with some blue velvet in the back and a hammer attached to it and a red, white and blue ribbon and a note from Al Gore, handwritten, that said, thank you for creating a government that works better and costs less.

any savings. We introduced something called the Hammer Awards in the Clinton administration. And here is what it consisted of. A big, tacky picture frame with some blue velvet in the back and a hammer attached to it and a red, white and blue ribbon and a note from Al Gore, handwritten, that said, thank you for creating a government that works better and costs less.

We gave out more than a thousand.

We gave out more than a thousand.

We gave out more than a thousand.

Yeah, it was a real hammer. Yeah, we put a real hammer in a real picture frame. I mean, it was pretty tacky looking.

Yeah, it was a real hammer. Yeah, we put a real hammer in a real picture frame. I mean, it was pretty tacky looking.

Yeah, it was a real hammer. Yeah, we put a real hammer in a real picture frame. I mean, it was pretty tacky looking.

their bad scrap tea. I don't know why they were still in the government, right? I guess to assure the quality of the tea coming into the United States. But it was obviously silly. It was obviously unnecessary, and we closed it.

their bad scrap tea. I don't know why they were still in the government, right? I guess to assure the quality of the tea coming into the United States. But it was obviously silly. It was obviously unnecessary, and we closed it.

their bad scrap tea. I don't know why they were still in the government, right? I guess to assure the quality of the tea coming into the United States. But it was obviously silly. It was obviously unnecessary, and we closed it.

Mohair is a fabric, OK, that goes in sweaters and stuff. All right.

Mohair is a fabric, OK, that goes in sweaters and stuff. All right.

Mohair is a fabric, OK, that goes in sweaters and stuff. All right.

Before and during the Korean War. We knew that American soldiers were going to be fighting in very cold territory. And we wanted to make sure there was enough wool and mohair for their uniforms. So, in fact, a subsidy was given to farmers under national defense thinking so that we'd have enough wool and mohair for uniforms.

Before and during the Korean War. We knew that American soldiers were going to be fighting in very cold territory. And we wanted to make sure there was enough wool and mohair for their uniforms. So, in fact, a subsidy was given to farmers under national defense thinking so that we'd have enough wool and mohair for uniforms.

Before and during the Korean War. We knew that American soldiers were going to be fighting in very cold territory. And we wanted to make sure there was enough wool and mohair for their uniforms. So, in fact, a subsidy was given to farmers under national defense thinking so that we'd have enough wool and mohair for uniforms.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Domestic of wool and mohair. Obviously, since the Korean War, which was in the 1950s, right, it was no longer a national defense priority to have enough wool and mohair around. And so we got rid of the subsidy. It can be quite hard to get rid of a subsidy. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Domestic of wool and mohair. Obviously, since the Korean War, which was in the 1950s, right, it was no longer a national defense priority to have enough wool and mohair around. And so we got rid of the subsidy. It can be quite hard to get rid of a subsidy. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Domestic of wool and mohair. Obviously, since the Korean War, which was in the 1950s, right, it was no longer a national defense priority to have enough wool and mohair around. And so we got rid of the subsidy. It can be quite hard to get rid of a subsidy. Yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

What was the pushback like? They pushed back on it. And in fact, the subsidy came back. Of course. A couple of years later, it came back in a lesser form, but it did come back. To Elaine, nothing felt easy to get rid of.

What was the pushback like? They pushed back on it. And in fact, the subsidy came back. Of course. A couple of years later, it came back in a lesser form, but it did come back. To Elaine, nothing felt easy to get rid of.

What was the pushback like? They pushed back on it. And in fact, the subsidy came back. Of course. A couple of years later, it came back in a lesser form, but it did come back. To Elaine, nothing felt easy to get rid of.

Oh, no, you go to Congress. Oh, you go to Congress. Yeah. To reverse the stat, they make them, they got to reverse them. So we went to Congress and we had to go one by one to some of the really old guys and convince them that we needed a new bill.

Oh, no, you go to Congress. Oh, you go to Congress. Yeah. To reverse the stat, they make them, they got to reverse them. So we went to Congress and we had to go one by one to some of the really old guys and convince them that we needed a new bill.

Oh, no, you go to Congress. Oh, you go to Congress. Yeah. To reverse the stat, they make them, they got to reverse them. So we went to Congress and we had to go one by one to some of the really old guys and convince them that we needed a new bill.

It was a process, but we passed a lot of laws. We passed, I think, about 100 laws over the seven years. So, I mean, it's not impossible.

It was a process, but we passed a lot of laws. We passed, I think, about 100 laws over the seven years. So, I mean, it's not impossible.

It was a process, but we passed a lot of laws. We passed, I think, about 100 laws over the seven years. So, I mean, it's not impossible.

Sorry, yes, running up. Yeah, so 426,000. So, like, you did fire a ton of people. Well, but remember, a lot of these were not firings. Some of them were. A lot of these were buyouts. We had buyout authority from the Congress, which these guys don't, by the way. We had hiring freezes, which these guys are using.

Sorry, yes, running up. Yeah, so 426,000. So, like, you did fire a ton of people. Well, but remember, a lot of these were not firings. Some of them were. A lot of these were buyouts. We had buyout authority from the Congress, which these guys don't, by the way. We had hiring freezes, which these guys are using.

Sorry, yes, running up. Yeah, so 426,000. So, like, you did fire a ton of people. Well, but remember, a lot of these were not firings. Some of them were. A lot of these were buyouts. We had buyout authority from the Congress, which these guys don't, by the way. We had hiring freezes, which these guys are using.

It worked. It was not as dramatic as what they're doing now. But we did have backlash. What we did not have were lawsuits. OK, nobody sued us because we went through the established channels for doing these things.

It worked. It was not as dramatic as what they're doing now. But we did have backlash. What we did not have were lawsuits. OK, nobody sued us because we went through the established channels for doing these things.

It worked. It was not as dramatic as what they're doing now. But we did have backlash. What we did not have were lawsuits. OK, nobody sued us because we went through the established channels for doing these things.

We don't have to reduce the burning of fossil fuel.

We'll capture it all as it goes out the smokestack.

It is a fraud!

It is a deception imposed on the people in order to try to change policy and to make the policy what they want.

We have seen solar capacity more than double.

And because they've captured the politicians, they have been able to force the taxpayers in countries around the world to subsidize fossil fuels, to actually subsidize the destruction of humanity's future.

What would happen if we got rid of those subsidies?

Well, the International Monetary Fund said that we would get $4.4 trillion in savings, which happens to be just about the exact amount we need to finance the transition to renewable energy.

Electric vehicle sales have doubled.

That's where a lot of the money can come from.

We'd also save a lot of lives, and we'd also...

reduce emissions by a third in five years and we'd reduce income inequality.

So is it realistic to ignore this urgent need to reform the world's financial infrastructure so that we can properly invest in the climate crisis?

Wind energy went up by almost 50 percent during his first term.

Most of the financing comes from private sources, but developing countries are not getting their share of it.

We need to reform the policies that are leading to this because 100 percent of the increased emissions expected are going to come from the developing countries.

We're about to see massive reductions in emissions.

It may have already started, especially in China with all their renewables, but the developing countries, that's where the emissions increases are due to take place.

And yet they only receive less than 19 percent

of the world's financing for clean energy, but almost 50 percent of the money flooding in for more fossil fuels.

The single US state of Florida has more solar panels than the entire continent of Africa.

That is a disgrace, because Africa has 60 percent of the world's prime solar resources, yet only 1.6 percent of the financing for renewable energy.

And we are seeing

But look at what's happening with the investments

for fossil fuels in Africa.

There's a dash for gas.

that 60 percent during his first four years of new energy came from renewable energy, and coal investments went down almost 20 percent.

All of these new facilities.

There are three times as many fossil fuel pipelines under construction and proposed for construction to begin in Africa as in all of North America.

And you take those LNG terminals, the cost of one of them, there's 71 in the works, 31 already existing, $25 billion.

That's the exact amount that would provide universal energy access to all of Africa.

So maybe we could spend that money a little bit better, but instead of financing actual energy access to renewable energy, they want access to the resources to export it from Africa instead of giving access for Africans.

You know, the potential for solar and wind in Africa is 400 times larger than the potential energy from fossil fuels.

Every single country in Africa could have 100 percent energy access using less than one percent of its land, most including the country we're in, less than 0.1 percent of their land.

What else are they ignoring?

Well, they're ignoring that

with solar and wind, you don't face the fuel supply chain risk.

You don't face price volatility for fuel.

Look at what's happening, oil and gas soaring because of the war in the Middle East.

In fact, they don't have an annual fuel cost at all.

So we should be moving in this direction, not least because it creates three times as many jobs for each dollar spent as compared to a dollar spent on fossil fuels.

So there's good news and there's bad news.

Why do they also ignore the fact

that methane is as bad as coal when the leaks are factored in, and the leaks are ubiquitous.

And right now, in the European Union, the fossil fuel lobbyists are arguing as hard as they can to stop legislation to try to deal with methane leaks, because they think it'll cause them some money.

So...

What's really behind this preposterous theory they call climate realism?

Could it be that they're kind of panicking a little bit about the loss of their markets?

According to the IEA, all of the fossil fuels are projected to peak within the next decade.

a few years.

We've seen, since the Paris Agreement, a complete turnaround in where the majority of investment is going, and a lot of these sectors are ones that need even more attention, agriculture, steel, et cetera.

A lot's happened in the last 10 years.

But last year, if you look at all the new electricity installed worldwide, 93 percent of it was renewable, mostly solar.

So,

The IEA has told us long since, we have all the technologies we need and proven deployment models to reduce emissions 50 percent in this decade and clear line of sight to the other 50 percent.

A friend of mine in Tennessee said, if God wanted us to have unlimited free energy, he'd have put a giant fusion reactor in the sky.

But I want to ask this question.

Well, if you look at how long it took to install a gigawatt of solar 20 years ago, a full year, now it's down to 15 hours, and it's on the way down still.

So here's what I believe that the so-called climate realists are most wrong about.

The fossil fuel industry wants to ignore the amazing good news, and they are labeling the commitments that the world made at the Paris negotiations as a fantasy, and they're calling for an abandonment of the efforts to reduce emissions.

They don't believe that we, the people who live on this planet, have the capacity to make the changes necessary to save our future.

The greatest president in my country's history, Abraham Lincoln, said at a time of dire crisis, the occasion is piled high with difficulty.

We must rise with the occasion.

As our case is new, we must think anew.

I believe

that we as human beings have the capacity to recognize that our survival is at stake and that we need to move faster even though the big polluters have the political and economic power to try to block us.

We've got everything we need.

The people are demanding change.

The one thing that they tell us might be in short supply is political will.

But always remember, political will is itself a renewable resource.

Let's get out there and renew it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

the fossil fuel burning, and they're now advocating a new approach that they call climate realism.

Well, climate realism, according to them, we should abandon the efforts to deal with the principal cause of the climate crisis, 80 percent of it comes from burning fossil fuels, and we should focus on adaptation as well, almost exclusively.

Well, we need adaptation.

A lot of people are suffering, but do we want to vastly increase the number of people that have to go through that hardship and suffering instead of dealing with the cause of the crisis and solving the climate crisis?

They, according to climate realism, historically the energy transitions have

have taken place very slowly.

So we have no right as human beings to even imagine that we could go faster in the future than what history has told us was the reality in the past, even though human civilization is at stake.

For the so-called climate realists, the goal of solving a climate crisis is way less important than other goals, such as especially increasing energy access to developing countries, which is obviously important, we'll deal with that, but they want to do it, obviously, by burning more fossil fuels.

According to climate realism, it's just not practical to stop using the sky as an open sewer for the emissions from burning fossil fuels and the other emissions.

Instead, we should just continue using the sky as an open sewer.

So where climate realism is concerned, I have some questions.

Is it realistic to ignore the one to two billion climate refugees that the climate scientists are warning us will cross international borders and have to move inside their own nations by 2050 because of the climate crisis?

You know the temperatures keep

Going up, 10 hottest years were the last 10.

Last year, 2024, was the hottest year in all of history.

Yesterday, in parts of the Persian Gulf, 52.6 degrees.

And for those of us who use Fahrenheit, 126.7 degrees.

A few days ago in Pakistan, 50.5 degrees.

That's 122.9 in Fahrenheit.

And they're telling us that as the temperatures go up,

and the humidity goes up, the few areas in the world today that are labeled physiologically unlivable for human beings are due to expand quite dramatically by 2070, unless we act to cover all of these vast, heavily populated areas.

Is it realistic to ignore this crisis?

Look at what a few million climate refugees have done to promote authoritarianism and ultra-nationalism.

How can we handle one to two billion in the next 25 years?

Already here in Kenya, there are 800,000 refugees

We have to also ask if it's realistic to ignore the devastating damage predicted to the global economy.

Whole regions of the world are becoming uninsurable.

We see this in my country, where people are having their insurance canceled, they can't get it renewed.

We have seen predictions that

we could lose $25 trillion in the next 25 years just from the loss of the value of global housing properties.

And over the next half century, according to Deloitte, it would cost the economy $178 trillion if we don't act, but if we do act, we can add to the global economy by $43 trillion.

You know, I had a teacher who said we face the same choice in life over and over again, the choice between the hard right and the easy wrong.

It seems hard to choose correctly, but it would turn out to be even harder to take what looks like the easy wrong.

Is it realistic to ignore the fact that right now Greenland is losing 30 million tons of ice every single hour?

In Antarctica, decade by decade, the ice melting has accelerated.

We've seen the doubling of the pace of sea level rise in the last 20 years, and the predictions are that it's going to continue dramatically.

Is it realistic to ignore the rapidly increasing climate crisis extreme events

that are occurring practically every night on the television news is like a nature hike through the book of Revelation.

We lost three and a half trillion dollars just in the last decade.

And you know, the fact that these scientists were absolutely correct decades ago when they predicted these exact consequences should cause us to pay a little more attention to what they're predicting is in store for us in the years ahead if we do not act.

The drought last year and continuing at some level in the Amazons, the worst drought in the history of the Brazilian Amazon.

Ninety percent of the Amazon River in Colombia went dry.

This is the third year in a row that we've had these massive fires in Canada.

When I left Tennessee to fly over here, we were breathing in Nashville, Tennessee smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

Thank you very much for the warm welcome.

And they're still getting worse.

Today, the wildfires have doubled over the last 20 years in frequency, and they're due to increase even more.

Is it realistic to ignore the massive health impacts of the climate crisis?

And it's been 10 years since the Paris Agreement, and every single nation in the world, 195 nations, agreed to try to get to net zero by mid-century.

You know, the World Health Organization has long told us it is the most serious health threat facing humanity.

Just last week, the University of Manchester released a new study warning that three species of fungi in the next 15 years, because of increasing temperatures and increasing precipitation, will pose a significant risk of infection to millions of people.

The fact that the fungi are being pushed into the range where they can threaten humans, that is not a fiction.

The particulate air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels kills almost nine million people a year, costs almost three trillion dollars per year from the burning of fossil fuels for both energy and petrochemicals.

Cancer Alley is the stretch that runs from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In the middle of

Cancer Alley Reserve, Louisiana, has the highest cancer rate in the United States, 50 times the national average, and they want to put even more petrochemical facilities there.

Is it realistic to totally ignore the acidification of the world's oceans?

30 percent more acid than before the Industrial Revolution, and 93 percent of all the heat is being absorbed in the oceans.

That's why the coral reefs are in such danger.

Eighty-four percent in danger right now.

We've seen massive die-offs.

That's why a lot of the fish are at risk.

Forty to sixty percent of all the fish species face an extremely high risk as the rivers and the place and estuaries where they have spawning and in their embryonic stages are continued to heat up.

And fifty percent of all

All living species that we share this planet with are at risk of extinction.

Is it realistic to ignore that?

My faith tradition tells me that Noah was commanded to save the species of this earth.

I think we have a moral obligation as well.

Is it realistic to ignore the predictions

of a fresh water scarcity crisis.

Already 40 percent are facing water scarcities.

In the mountain glaciers in the Himalayas, one quarter of the world's population depends on that meltwater.

And let me deal with the elephant in the room.

But depending on whether or not we act, 80 percent of all those glaciers will disappear in this century.

We can act.

Now, this just happened in Switzerland.

A 600-year-old city was completely destroyed by a glacial avalanche.

Now they're adapting.

Is this realistic, to put white sheets over the remaining parts of the glacier?

Well, God bless them.

I hope it works.

One nation, only one, has ...

But these are the kinds of extreme measures that people are being pushed to in order to avoid reducing the burning of fossil fuels, because the fossil fuel industry and their petrostate and financial allies have control over policy.

In lots of cities, particularly in places like India, the water wells are going dry.

In Bangalore,

Four million people now have to buy expensive water trucked in because their wells have gone dry.

begun the process of withdrawing, and the Trump administration has also canceled executive orders, withdrawn from international climate organizations.

What about the food crisis that scientists are predicting?

Is it realistic to ignore that as well in order to avoid doing anything to reduce fossil fuel emissions?

Now, why also do these so-called climate realists ignore all the good news about the miraculous decline in the cost of the alternatives to fossil fuel?

Is it

possibly because their business models are threatened.

If there is a cheaper, cleaner alternative that creates many more jobs, it might not be good for them the way they calculate it, but the rest of us have a stake in this.

This could be why they've been consistently wrong in their predictions in the past.

For example, ExxonMobil, in the Year of the Paris Agreement, had a prediction about solar capacity in 2040, 840 gigawatts.

Well, this year, we've already tripled the number that they predicted for 15 years from now.

In OPEC ...

OPEC, the same year, predicted electric vehicle sales would barely increase.

Well, they were wrong.

Same year, OPEC predicted that it was just unrealistic to think that solar power would ever be able to compete in cost with the burning of fossil fuels.

But now, it is by far the cheapest source of electricity in all of history.

Now, you know, a lot of other people have been surprised by how quickly these costs have come down.

University of Oxford studied 3,000 past projections, and the average predicted decline was 2.6 percent a year.

The reality was 15 percent per year.

And when you compound a number like that, it makes quite a difference.

It really is quite extraordinary.

They have declared a so-called energy emergency in order to promote fossil fuels.

My goodness.

Nobody could have imagined that it would be this incredible, but it is, and it's right before us, and they still want to ignore it.

Since 2015, the world's installed twice as much solar as all fossil fuels combined.

Solar is the breakout winner in fuel sources.

Electric vehicles have increased 34 times over since the time of the Paris Agreement.

Vehicle sales in China, 52 percent are already EVs, and within five years, the prediction is 82 percent of all car sales will be electric vehicles.

Also, by the way, China in April installed 45 gigawatts of new solar capacity in one month.

That's the equivalent of 45 brand-new giant nuclear reactors in one month.

It's actually incredible what is happening, and the cost of all of these clean energy technologies has come down quite dramatically, particularly solar, and even more dramatic,

They've phased out government support for clean energy.

is utility-scale batteries, 87 percent down.

That's making a huge difference as well.

But I have to say this.

There's one thing that the so-called climate realists are right about.

In spite of this progress, we are still moving too slowly.

to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

We have got to accelerate it.

We have the ability to do so, but the single biggest reason we have not been able to move faster is the ferocious opposition to virtually every policy proposal to try to speed up this transition and reduce the emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

But bear this in mind.

And the fossil fuel industry has used a lot of bright, shiny objects to divert the public's attention and deceive them into thinking there are solutions other than reducing fossil fuel use.

During the first

For example, carbon capture and storage and direct air capture and the recycling of plastics.

And, you know, they're much better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions.

Trump, four-year term.

And they are employing ...

They're employing their captive politicians and policymakers to help confuse the public.

Here's an example.

Tony Blair, speaking for his foundation, his foundation gets massive funding from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, et cetera.

He said, oh, well, the center of the battle has to be carbon capture and direct air capture.

Investments in the energy transition doubled.

Well ...

He really should know better, you know?

Upton Sinclair wrote in My Country Years Ago, it's difficult to get a man to understand something if his income depends on him not understanding it.

The income goes to the foundation, as I understand it.

So, boy, look, we're going for carbon capture.