Al Gore has had a very successful career, including as a U.S. senator, U.S. vice president, U.S. presidential candidate, and even winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for “making the world aware of the dangers of climate change.” In May, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime of service.
But what continues to elude him is the amount of progress he expects to see on the climate crisis in the nearly 45 years since he first appeared at a congressional hearing on nuclear fusion. What irritates him most is that the world has the power to fix what’s already broken—if only it had the financial and political will to do so.
He’s not hopeless. This editor spoke with Gore and his business partner, Lila Preston, Tuesday morning about the new annual climate report from Generation Investment Management, an investment management firm focused on sustainability. The report is compelling. It’s also less hopeful than last year’s edition, and Gore sounded a little more frustrated than when I spoke with him last year.
A podcast of that interview will be released later this week. In the meantime, here are a few excerpts from the conversation, lightly edited for length.
TC: I read this report last night, and in some ways it seems more bleak and less hopeful than it was a year ago.
AG: That is our deliberate framing. We continue to believe that the world will solve this crisis, but the question is how quickly, because every day more damage is done, every day more risks are posed to humanity. At the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference, there was an effort by all of us to understand the true meaning of the phrase ‘dive from fossil fuels’ (the goal was then enshrined in international law). But shortly after that, some of the major fossil fuel companies massively expanded their exploration and development of more fossil fuels, despite the International Energy Agency saying that it was unnecessary and inconsistent with the essential energy transition. Since then, we have seen some financial services companies also backtrack on their commitments… So these commitments sometimes start to feel like New Year’s resolutions. Easy to make, hard to follow.
So, even though there is a ‘law’, does that mean fossil fuel companies can continue to expand as they are doing now with no consequences?
One of the most dangerous risks they should be considering is the risk of stranded assets. Fatih Birol (head of the International Energy Agency) emphasized this risk, but old habits die hard, especially when they are profitable.
As you said before, it’s not just industry that’s the problem, it’s governments. This report looks at the growing backlash against climate policies in many parts of the world, including opposition to wind and solar power plants. How can governments overcome this? How can the public be better engaged to support this energy transition?
The effectiveness of self-government is one of the problems that must be faced. The fossil fuel industry is the richest and most powerful lobby in the history of the world. They are much better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions, and they have deliberately delayed this transition, and governments have been slow to respond.
There is some good news here. The passage of the inflation reduction law was a milestone, and it took some time to spend the money and set up the various programs it authorized, but now we see the enormous impact it is having. Europe continues to lead the way. China continues to build too much fossil fuel infrastructure. But from January 1 to the end of July this year, China has deployed about 18 new 1-gigawatt nuclear power plants worth of new solar capacity. Every month. It’s really amazing. And even if you adjust for capacity factors and things like that, it’s still the equivalent of five new nuclear power plants per month.
There is good news, but we are still moving too slowly. Because we are still using the sky as an open sewer. We are still trapping the extra heat of 750,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs exploding on the planet every day. It is absolutely crazy that we are allowing this to continue to happen, and we all need to step up. Every sector, every industry.
You’ve probably been asked a lot about fusion energy. Fusion energy promises to harness the sun’s nuclear energy to produce nearly limitless energy on Earth. VCs have poured $7.1 billion into a handful of startups in recent years without any evidence. Are they being overly optimistic, or do you think they’re onto something?
Generations have revolutionized the concept of the time value of carbon, and it is very valuable to have these early-stage investors who are trying to accelerate the development of fusion and (small modular reactors), but even the most optimistic of these investors will be honest that it will be a long time before fusion reactors can play a meaningful role. I hope we can accelerate that timing. I was at the first congressional hearing on fusion 45 years ago this year, and the experts there told our subcommittee that it was 50 years away, so I’m starting to get excited now. But jokes aside, while there is real progress, let’s be realistic. It will take time, and we face an immediate challenge, and the time value of carbon tells us that what we really need to do is reduce emissions… We need to accelerate all efforts to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels and focus on immediate solutions to this threatening climate crisis.
Many people appreciate that you, Bill Gates, and others like you are on the front lines of climate change and climate solutions. At the same time, you have already built incredibly successful careers and can handle the criticism and arrows that come with advocating for major policy and financial changes to address climate change. Who are the corporate leaders and politicians who will come out behind you to carry the torch? Do you think we are protected in that regard? Are you concerned?
The people we meet every day, especially in Generation, are incredible. One of the lesser-known factors in this transition is that leading companies are bringing in the best and brightest young people from universities and technical schools, and people of all ages are changing careers to get involved. We meet the most brilliant entrepreneurs who are burning with passion to play a meaningful role in solving this crisis. There are so many examples of that. One business leader in the UK that we have supported very strongly is Greg Jackson of Octopus Energy, who is really making a significant difference in the electricity retail sector. The CEO of H2 Green Steel is another future business leader who is doing great things right now.
LP: We call this basket of leaders systems positive thinkers. They’re actually changing the system completely. They’re thinking, how do we redesign the supply chain? Companies like o9 Solutions and Altana.ai (advanced supply chain planning firm) have tremendous ambitions, recognizing that these solutions have to be better, cheaper, have a lower footprint, be greener, and have more sustainable outcomes. And that’s exciting. That’s the opportunity.
I wish we had more, more prominent systems-positive thinkers. Some of the world’s wealthiest people are getting the world’s attention and (by focusing more prominently on these issues) could make a real impact.
AG: There’s also TechCrunch!
