Former Vice President Al Gore has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, especially in regards to Trump’s climate change policies. After the president announced that the U.S. would leave the Paris climate treaty, Gore marveled that “we’ve never had a president who’s deliberately made decisions the effect of which is tearing down America’s standing in the world.”
It’s not all bad, though. Last week, Gore said that Trump’s behavior had actually inspired people to get more involved in climate change activism. Gore credits “the governors of our largest states and hundreds of mayors, thousands of business leaders” who have made commitments to the continue working with member-states of the Paris agreement.
Gore is doing a press tour for An Inconvenient Sequel, a followup to his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and was asked what advice he would give (if he had to do so) to President Trump. Gore responded with a single word: “Resign.”
After going over some climate change statistics and comparing the actions of the biggest polluters to that of tobacco companies, Gore mentions how young people have led the way in women’s suffrage, civil rights, and the anti-apartheid movements. He says they’ll do the same with climate change. Gore also questions why India is planning to cycle away from internal combustion engine vehicles ten years before the U.K. (he was speaking to a U.K. outlet).
Gore ends his segment with some advice for young people: “Use your vote. As a citizen, you have the ability, even if you’re not yet old enough to vote, to influence the political leaders who are supposed to be representing you and not representing the lobbyists.”
(Via Lad Bible)