The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Al Gore on The Global Climate Crisis and "24 Hours of Reality"

Episode Date: September 9, 2019

Former Vice President Al Gore discusses his special "24 Hours of Reality," which focuses on the seriousness of the climate change crisis and its impact on worldwide health. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio, on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome, former vice president Al Gore. Welcome back to the show.

Great, great to see you. Thank you. Really good to have you here. 24 hours of reality. We saw a little clip of that, but what is the show about and what is it trying to do? Well, we go all around the world to each time zone, and this year's focus is on climate and health because the climate crisis is also a global health crisis for a lot of reasons. But we go to every single time zone in the world and we have heads of state, we have a lot of entertainers and celebrities

and grassroots activists, leaders and original films from different parts of the world. And the objective is to show people exactly what the climate crisis is all about, why it's so serious, what the solutions are, and to encourage people to be active and encourage their elected leaders to change the policies. I mean this is a global emergency after all it really and truly is and the pressure has to come from the grassroots up. We're going to be in 750 million homes this year. Homes aren't viewers but we had 40 million online viewers last year. We hope that the total viewers will be much larger this year and the health focus is really important because because because because th th th th th because because th th th th th th th th th. th th th th. I th th. I th. I th. I th. I th th th. I th th. I th th, I th, I mean th, I mean thi the thi the thi tho-a tho-a tho-I tho-I tho-I tho-I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th, I th, I their their their, I their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thi. I'm the. I'm the. I'm the. I'm theuuui. I mean the. I'm the. the. the. I'm thoooo. I'm the. I thi. We hope that the total viewership will be much larger this year.

And the health focus is really important because a lot of people get motivated when they learn about the threat to human health. You want the grassroots support. You want people applying pressure. When you look at world leaders, they have to make a decision on what is happening. And the question I ask is, is it getting worse? It feels like every single week week, we the the the the the the the the the the the th. We th. We th. We the the the to make a decision on what is happening. And the question I ask is, is it getting worse? It feels like every single week we receive a report of how the climate is changing faster

or the effects maybe felt sooner. You know, 2040 was the latest number that we saw. Is this something that you are seeing in the numbers as well? Well, yeah, it's getting worse for sure. And it's getting worse faster than we are developing the solutions. However, we are gaining a lot of momentum on things like renewable energy, solar and wind, batteries, electric vehicles. We need to tackle sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry and manufacturing,

retrofitting buildings. It's a huge challenge. But here's a thing. We are treating the atmosphere as an open ss. the solution. It. It. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's the solution. It's a huge challenge. But here's a thing. We are treating the atmosphere as an open sewer. It's a very thin shell around the planet and we're changing it dramatically by dumping 110 million tons of man-made heat-trapping global warming pollution into it every day. The cumulative amount now traps as much extra heat energy every day as as would be released by 500,000 Hiroshima class atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours.

It's a big planet, but that is an enormous amount of energy. That's why the temperatures are going up, the water cycles being disrupted with these huge rain bombs. Right, right, right. The flooding gets where sea level is rising as the ice melts and the fires. Look at the fires in California just recently, horribly tragic and deadly. And we've had them for the last several years and they're getting worse. And in South Africa, Cape Town almost ran out of water last year. Right, right. Because of the drought that lasted forever.

But I wish to challenge you on some of your facts because there was a very famous scientist who lives in the White House who said this today. He said, the oceans are very small. And our air and water are at record clean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are our air and water at record clean? Well, first of all, it depends on where you live, because poor and minority communities get the worst of this. But the US air is cleaner because of some of the laws that Donald Trump is now trying

to get rid of. We pass the Clean Air Act and other measures, and he's trying to laws that Donald Trump is now trying to get rid of. We passed the Clean Air Act and other measures, and he's trying to eliminate that stuff. But, you know, it's really significant, Trevor, that Donald J. Trump is now the face of climate denial. His voice is the voice of climate denial. And there are those who are still giving him their loyalty and trust.

And I get that, believe me. But the vast majority of Americans, not to mention all around the world, are really kind of, they've had it with the constant craziness, if you want to call it that way. I thin. Yeah. And when he's the the principal global face of climate denial, I think that's a cue. You know in physics there's this well-known principle for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.

Right. I think that some of the mobilization that is really building, we saw it in the election three weeks ago with the blue wave. action. action. action. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And the the the the the, thi thi thi thi thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's the the thi the the thi the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. And th. th. And th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And thi. And thi. And thi thi. And thi. And the the the the theeea thea theea thea thea theeea theeeeeea. theeee he he he he he is really building, we saw it in the election three weeks ago with the blue wave, I think part of that is a reaction to what Donald Trump is saying and doing. When you look at a man with that much power who does not seem to be in line with what many scientists are saying, do you think to yourself that maybe we need to relook at how laws are written with with respect to things like climate change? I mean, you th. th. th. th. the th. I the thi th. I the thi thi the thi, you thi, you, you, you, you, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, thi, thi, the thi, the the the thi, thi, thi, the the the the the, the the, the the the the thi, the the the the the thi, the the thi, thi, thi, th.... I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thri. I thr-a. I throoooooooooi. I thea. I think, thiiii. I think, thi. I think, thi. I thi. I that maybe we need to re-look at how laws are written with respect to things like climate change? I mean, you look at Congress, look at the House, look at the Senate. There are very few scientists left. I mean, there was a time when they were a few, but there are basically no sciots now. Is it normal? Is it right to have people who do not understand science, their, too, to, to, to, to, to, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, is, is, and, is, is, is, is, is, is, and, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, look, look, look, look, look. their, look. their, look, look. their, look. the, look, look. the, look. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, is, is, is, is, is, is, is.... the. the. the. the. the. the. their, their, their, to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, look. the, some of the newly elected members of Congress have science backgrounds,

so that's changing, too. Looks like they're going to be a net gain of 40 new Democratic seats in the House, and it's partly because people registered to vote and went and voted, and young people voted in record numbers. And there's another election coming up in 2020. And now this experiment with Trumpism is not going very well. And by the way in science and medicine some experiments are terminated early for ethical reasons.

But at the outside, at the outside there will be an opportunity, a little bit less than two years from right now, for people who've had enough of this stuff to register and vote in large numbers and make a statement that we want to get back on the track to the real America and the real American dream. There's an interesting report that came out last month from the UN, and in many ways I feel like Trump is using this as his argument. It basically predicted hell on earth and it talked about how things are really going bad, but the emissions gap was really interesting.

That was released yesterday, right by the United Nations. And what they said is the G20 countries are collectively not on track to meet their unconditional emissions pledges for 2030. So countries that are not on track to make it include Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU 28, Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the US, right? Yeah, and the EU. Right. So now, Trump is arguing if nobody else is meeting their requirements, why should the US put

themselves at a disadvantage and, you know, lose money and work with regulations when the rest of the world is not going to come to the table? Yeah, well, first of all, since the end of World War II, there's been one leader of the community of nations, and that has been the United States of America. If we abdicate our leadership role, then that lets some of the other countries off the hook. What is really needed is the reassertion of U.S. leadership. And the good news is we have the solutions available. We don't need any miraculous new technological breakthrough.

If you've got one, fine, we'll take it. But we already have what we need to solve this problem. What we need most now is the policy that implements these solutions. The taxpayers around the world are still being forced by governments to subsidize the burning of carbon-rich fossil fuels at a rate 38 times larger than the meager subsidies for solar and wind and other solutions. We need to change that. But you know, honestly, the bad news has been coming in with these reports, the national climate assessment here in the U.S. just a few days ago, the latest IPCC report, the

international report, Mother Nature's speaking up with all the catastrophes I referred to. We've heard. But, yeah. And so it is hard at times to hear all that and feel the tragedy of it and maintain your hope and optimism that we're going to solve this problem. I continue to believe that we will because we have faced almost insurmountable obstacles in the past. And the Civil Rights the the C. But. But the C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But C. But, but the C. But, but the C. But, but the C. But, but I the C. But, but the the the the the C. But, but. But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but. But, but, but, but. But, but, but, but, but, but, but the the the the the the the the the the the the the C. I I I I the C. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the this problem. I continue to believe that we will because we have faced almost insurmountable obstacles in the past.

In the civil rights movement, women's suffrage, more recently gay and lesbian rights, you can anti-apartheid. Right. And we have rallied as human beings to do what's right. But the chips are down now and we really have to get serious about confronting this global emergency. And when we we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have the the the the the the the the the the th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have thi, we have thia thi, thi, thiaq th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have thia thia thiae, thiae, thiae, thiae, thia. We have thia. We have thia. We have thia. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have thi. We have th. We have thi. We have thi. We have thi. We have thi. We have thi. We can thi. We can to to thi. We can to to the thea. We're thea. We're thia' thia' thia. We have thia. We have thi. really have to get serious about confronting this global emergency. And when we do, we can create jobs and make the air and water cleaner around the world and save our future. Okay, if you're talking about being serious, there is one area of the environment that everyone

has said needs to be worked on. And as you said, it's agriculture. How do we grow our food including animals? Cows are some of the largest producers of methane. Are you are you willing to kill the giant cow? Absolutely not. But I love your bit that this is a white people problem. Thank you so much for being on the show. 24 hours of reality will begin December 3rd at 9 p.m. East and 6th Pacific. The live broadcast can be streamed at 24 hours of reality.org. Former Vice President, I'll go everybody.

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