Al Gore on Climate Agreement Departure: ‘American People’ Will Lead Even if ‘Trump Will Not’ (Video)

‘Every Night on the News is Like a Nature Hike Through the Book of Revelations’

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” today, former Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore discussed Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the historic Paris Climate Agreement.

Host Jake Tapper began the interview by presenting Donald Trump’s commentary on his decision, in which he said that the Paris Agreement “handicaps the United States economy” and doesn’t put America first, as he does “and always will.”

“The fastest growing sector of our economy is clean energy,” Gore responded. “Solar jobs are now growing seventeen times faster in the U.S. than other jobs. We’re seeing a sustainability revolution… rather than trying to recreate the 19th Century and paint a picture of a past that’s gone, we need leadership to gear America for the 21st Century.”

“President Trump’s decision was unfortunate,” Gore continued, “it undermined our country’s stature.”

Gore turned to those in the private industry that have vowed to continue the fight against climate change, citing Apple, Google and General Electric specifically, suggesting that America will meet the commitments under the pact “regardless of what President Trump does.”

Pressed on this, Tapper asked if this warranted that we should leave the agreement, and the former vice president advised that the president could’ve simply changed the country’s commitments to had he desired.  “Somebody once said the Stone Age didn’t end because of the shortage of stone, something better came along.”

Tapper and Gore discussed Gore’s meeting with Donald and Ivanka Trump in December, which Gore called “lengthy and productive,” saying that he’d hoped the president would come to his senses on the agreement. “But he didn’t,” Gore said.

“Every night on the news is like a nature hike through the book of Revelations,” Gore said, discussing the state of the environment. “We’re treating the sky like an open sewer.” Still, he remained positive.

“The decision was a terribly mistaken decision,” Gore reiterated, adding that “the good news is, the American people are gonna provide leadership even if President Trump will not provide leadership.”

The full interview, which includes Gore’s thoughts on Donald Trump attacking the Mayor of London following the terror attacks in his city, Hillary Clinton’s loss of the Electoral College and Syria and Nicaragua abstaining from the Paris Climate Agreement, can be viewed below:

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