[B]URLINGTON — Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore delivered his signature climate change presentation to an energetic crowd of roughly 1,000 students and community members Tuesday, praising the state for its progressive energy policy while describing the challenges that remain in the battle for a cleaner environment.
“The students at the University of Vermont, the business community here in Burlington and throughout the state, your state government – there is tremendous leadership here,” Gore said in his presentation. “Always remember we have the opportunity to change our circumstances. And always remember that political will is a renewable resource.”
The former U.S. vice president under President Bill Clinton singled out the Burlington Electric Department, the city-owned utility which runs entirely off renewable sources, in his remarks. He also lauded Vermont’s goal of obtaining 90 percent of the state’s energy needs through renewable sources by 2050.
Gore called Vermont a “leader in sustainability,” and he thanked the work of Vermont environmentalists Gus Speth and Bill McKibben. He also met with Gov. Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Shap Smith before his speech.
Gore spent the first portion of his presentation highlighting the consequences of climate change, from intense flash floods in France to deadly heat waves in Iran. He also highlighted the damage from Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont, flashing to a photo of mangled roads in Killington following the storm.
“The statistics show that here in Vermont, rainfall is going up dramatically, over the half century, [but] particularly in the last 15 years,” he said.
Gore also traced world conflicts and revolution back to food shortages and drought, including the self-immolation of a street vendor in Tunisia that helped spark the Arab Spring in 2010.
“The connection between the climate crisis and political instability is a little bit like the connection with extreme storms – you are going to get some anyway, but they are enhanced,” he said.
Gore’s climate PowerPoint presentation was the focus of “An Inconvenient Truth,” his 2006 documentary that earned an Academy Award and led to Gore’s sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
While a few images and talking points remained unchanged, Gore’s Tuesday presentation had been updated significantly: it referenced many recent climate events, including the recent flooding in South Carolina.
Gore, 67, spoke in stark terms about the turmoil climate change is causing, and he broke down complicated science into understandable terms. A group of fifth-graders in the first few rows of the chapel watched Gore’s science explanation with interest, as he methodically moved his hands to illustrate climate patterns.
Seventh Generation, an all-natural consumer product company based in Burlington, coordinated Gore’s Vermont visit. The University of Vermont’s Clean Energy Fund also helped organize the event, according to a news release.
The event, called “The Climate Crisis and the Case for Hope” sold out almost immediately and overflow seating was made available at UVM’s Mann Auditorium.
Gore’s investment firm, Generation Investment Management, invested $30 million in Seventh Generation in 2014, and he spoke to employees before the talk. He also spoke with Vermont business and political leaders after the event, according to Seventh Generation officials.
Gore was not paid a speaking fee for the event, according to Brandi Thomas, communications manager at Seventh Generation and Gioia Thompson, UVM’s Sustainability Director. The college contributed the space and security for the event, but UVM spokesperson Jeff Wakefield said he was “utterly certain” Gore was not paid a fee by the University. Thomas said Gore’s travel expenses were not even covered.
UVM President Tom Sullivan and Seventh Generation President John Replogle spoke before Gore.
“We can seize the opportunity that exists in this rapid transition to a lower carbon economy of our future,” Replogle said, urging state leaders to continue to lead nationally on environmental issues. “And we can be in no better place to hold that conversation than right here, in this center of knowledge and learning, to pursue the journey to a sustainable future together.”
Following the hour-long presentation, Gore took a few questions from students, and likened the climate fight to other major social movements, all of which were spearheaded by young people.
“Every great social movement has had an overrepresentation of young people who have this clear view of what’s at stake,” he told a UVM student. “And every great moral question that has ultimately been resolved in the choice between what’s right and what’s wrong has succeeded.”
