Gill Simmons: Good evening, Mr Gore! Tell us,
please, why worry about the future of our
world? Is there such a serious problem?
.Gore: Yes, absolutely! The relationship between our civilization and the earth has been radically
transformed. Global warming is the most serious manifestation of the problem. Scientific studies show
us things are getting worse. And a lot of people have been absorbing this message, and theyíre now
saying, "Wait a minute, we really have to do something about this."
.Gill: Where did you get your init
ial interest in this issue?
.Gore: When I was at college I had a professor who was the first person to measure CO
2
in the earthís
atmosphere. He saw that the excessive use of coal and oil was beginning to radically change the
concentration of CO
2
in the atmosphere.
.Gill: That was long agoÖ
.Gore: Yes, itís true. Since then, Iíve watched those numbers continue to go up
and what my professor
said almost 40 years ago has come true.
.Gill: How was it you decided to make a movie about it?
.Gore: You see, after I left the White House in January 2001, I started giving a slide show on global
warming. On one occasion, my wife made me see that I could use computers to improve my
presentation. Once I did that, it was much better and more compelling.
.Gill: But that was only a comput
er presentation, not a film!
.Gore: Well, yes but what happened was that, at one of the showings in Los Angeles several people
from the entertainment industry came and asked me if I would consider making this into a movie. I was
not sure about that, but they said the film would be mainly scientific and that it would be true to the
integrity of the message; and they have actually done a fantastic job!
.Gill: Did you have direct control over the movie?
Or did you leave it in the hands of the creative
team?
.Gore: I want to be careful in answering this, because I donít want to step on the creative role that the
moviemakers played: Itís their vision and itís their movie, particularly David Guggenstein's. But at every
step he consulted me. We had a mutual agreement on every aspect of that.
.Gill: Now, let's talk briefly about some pr
oposed solutions. Nuclear power is now seen as a
solution to climate change. What do you think?
.Gore: I donít think nuclear power will play a much larger role in the future than it does now. There are
serious problems that go together with itÖ
.Gill: Like what?
.Gore: Long-term waste-storage and the vulnerability to a terrorist attack, as well as other
considerations...
.Gill: How about the other
big, new source, ethanol?
.Gore: I think it is going to be a big new source of energy, particularly for the transportation sector.
You're going to see a lot more flex-fuel vehicles. Youíre going to see new processes that use waste as
the source of energy, so there's no petroleum consumed there.
.Gill: However, President Bush and others
still suggest more
research is needed.
.Gore: Some people, including the President, donít seem to accept the truth. Itís inconvenient. This
administration is quite responsive to the oil and coal industries. And they do not want anything done on
global warming.
.Gill: Why, Mr Gore?
.Gore: Basically, because they used to believe that the issue was exaggerated. Secondly, they are
financing disinformation on global warming, which is designed to confuse the American people. And
the third reason is that some ideological conservatives think the government must not play a larger role
in the situation.
.Gill: Do you think they will change their mind?
.Gore: I hope they will. Maybe after exhausting every other alternative, President Bush will finally do the
right thing. If the scientists are right and we only have 10 years, we canít give up two and a half years
out of 10 to wait for the President to accept reality.
.Gill: But the government has not agr
eed to sign the Kyoto protocol yet...
.Gore: There are 218 U.S. cities that have adopted Kyoto on their own. That will make the President
see he must make a change.
.Gill: Some people said this f
ilm was a strategy for your cam
paign for the next presidential
elections. Now that we know you are not running for the presidential election, what do you
have to say to that?
.Gore: Well it is a campaign, but itís not a political campaign. Itís a campaign to change the way our
country thinks about global warming. There are many ways to serve my county, and Iím enjoying them.
.Gill: Well, thank you very much, Mr Gore. This h
as been a very interesting conversation, and I
hope your film helps people realize how serious the problem is.
.Gore: I only want to help people see their involvement is crucial for our common future.
.Gill: Iím sure youíll achieve it, Mr Gore.
.Gore: Thank you.
.Adapted from Newsweek and Grist