Al Gore Launches A 24-Hour Environmental Event

“24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action.”

That’s the name of a world-wide educational event former Vice President Al Gore launched Wednesday in Nashville.

The goal of the 24-hour multi-location event is to present an updated version of the climate slide show that inspired An Inconvenient Truth. That’s the Oscar-winning documentary written by Gore.

Gore told reporters at Vanderbilt University that the recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, have demonstrate the urgency of addressing climate change.

“The students around the world are way more aware and concern than folks my age, generally speaking,” Gore said.

Gore has been involved for the last four decades in environmental causes.

But the Smith County resident, now 71 years old, said it is young people who will be leading the fight against climate change.

Gore pointed at organizations such as the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion as examples of younger generations organizing to combat climate change.

He said the main target of these movements should be the local and state governments.

“As important as it is for each of us as individuals to do things like change the lightbulb, it is way more important to change the policies and the laws,” Gore said. “That’s where the real solutions are.”

On President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry

Gore was vice president during the impeachment inquiry into President Bill Clinton.

He told reporters he felt the Clinton impeachment investigation was very partisan. However, he said the current one feels more so.

He criticized those Republicans who have tolerated “whatever outrageous thing President Trump says or does.”

Meanwhile he complimented those who have offered testimony during the hearings.

“What I’ve been able to see of these hearings have left me extremely impressed with the integrity and character and courage of these public servants, many of them in the foreign service who have the guts to come forward and tell the truth of what they’ve witnessed and what they’ve had to go through,” Gore said.

But Gore said he is hopeful the country will be able to move forward after these events.

“American democracy is more resilient than a lot of people fear,” Gore said. “And I kinda think that we’ll prove to be resilient again in the aftermath of this period.”