Al Gore: 'I tried my best' but Trump can't be educated on climate change

At UN climate talks in Bonn, Gore is heading an unofficial group trying to stop climate change
in the face of scepticism from Trump administration officials

Friday 10 November 2017

Al Gore has accused Donald Trump of surrounding himself with the absolute worst of climate
deniers and said he has given up attempting to persuade the president to reverse his
dismantling of policies combatting global warming. However, both Gore, the former US vice-
president, and Jerry Brown, governor of California, told the Guardian they were confident the
US will regain its leadership position on climate change if Trump is defeated in the next
presidential election.

Gore, Brown and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, are heading
a broad coalition of climate change hawks from US states, cities and businesses in Bonn,
where UN climate talks are being held. This alliance is in sharp contrast to the official US
delegation, which is representing the only national government in the world that doesnt
want to be part of the Paris climate accords.

I havent had any conversations with [Trump] since his speech to withdraw from Paris. I tried
my best and thought hed come to his senses but Ive been proven wrong, Gore, who met
with Trump during the transition to try to influence his thinking, told the Guardian. I dont
feel I have the ability to change his mind. Hes surrounded himself with the absolute worst of
climate deniers who seem to have captured his mind on the issue.

Trump has aligned with Scott Pruitt, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency who
is a vocal critic of the Paris deal. Pruitt has cast doubt on whether carbon dioxide drives global
warming, and claimed there is tremendous disagreement among scientists over climate
change.

Several former and current members of the administration, including Stephen Bannon and
Mick Mulvaney, have also previously dismissed evidence for climate science.

Gore, who is now one of the worlds leading voices on climate change, said other countries
are aghast at Trumps retreat from climate policy but said the backlash both within the US
and abroad is encouraging.

The US cities and states have made a tremendous difference and I think the reaction of the
rest of the world has minimized the damage done by Donald Trump, he said. The reaction
to Trump is if anything stronger than the actions Trump is taking.

This experiment with Trump is less than a year old and in science, experiments are
sometimes cut short early. Im not saying this will happen this time, but this feels like a movie
Ive seen before.
We went off the rails a bit in the last election. I think the rest of the world understands that
the Trump period is an unfortunate departure from what the US is known for when we are at
our best. Those who have appreciated US leadership grieve its loss and hope its temporary.

Brown also said he sees little point attempting to sway the Trump administration. The official
policy of the US is that climate change is a total and complete hoax conceived by Chinese
conspirators, the California governor told the Guardian. That is so preposterous that
engagement on that basis is just useless.

However, the California governor said mid-term elections in the US next year may pressure
Trump to change position. Hes an action orientated person, not a politician, so who knows,
he said.

Ultimately we wont have a denier in the White House forever. We are engaged in a great
political struggle between the deniers who want to turn the world over to fossil fuel interests
and scientists and concerned activists who want to see decarbonization.

Donald Trump is a very small point in the overall climate factor. We are facing a moment of
truth over whether we can decarbonize or see civilization itself decline over the next 100
years.

We have a political sidebar we can tweet about but the existential problem is that species
are being destroyed, ecologies are being degraded and mankind is on the chopping block. This
isnt the time for politics, its the time for courageous action. Brown has attempted to step
into the vacuum created by US withdrawal by holding dozens of events and meetings with
national leaders, UN officials and NGOs across Europe ahead of the Bonn talks.

The Democratic governor has taken on a role highlighting the impact of sub-national entities
such as California, which would have the sixth largest economy in the world if it were a
country and has implemented a cap and trade emissions trading system that may soon be
linked to a similar mechanism used by European Union countries.

I want to strengthen the coalition of states and provinces in order to do everything possible
to reduce carbon emissions, Brown said. The great threat to the world is the radically
changing climate and the level of indifference and inertia is so powerful that I find it
incumbent to build a counterforce of mayors and governments to work together to protect
our climate and get us off the carbon addiction.

The Bonn talks, which will run until 17 November, are largely a technical exercize in helping
countries implementing the goals of the Paris agreement, where nearly 200 nations agreed
to limit global warming to 2C above the pre-industrial era.

Trump has vowed to pull the US from the agreement but under the pacts rules he will be
unable to do so until 2020. In Bonn, the US delegation is expected to follow the lead of the
president, a vocal supporter of fossil fuels, by extolling the benefits of efficient coal, nuclear
energy and natural gas.