Quotessence
Home / Authors / Al Gore
Al Gore

Al Gore Quotes

Former Vice President of the United States

Filter quotes by topic

AllClimate ChangePeopleCrisisClimateGlobal WarmingWorldEnvironmentEnergyIfsThinking

Famous Al Gore Quotes

“Remember that the problem is bigger than the car you drive or the types of lightbulbs in city hall. We need a fundamental shift away from dirty fossil fuels that spew carbon pollution. To make that happen, we need to put pressure on our leaders to take the bold actions necessary to move us off dirty sources of energy.”

NeedsProblemHappensActionRememberMovingEnergyCitiesLeaderCarSourceTypeBiggerPressureFundamentalsDirtyFuelHallsPollutionCarbonFossilsFossil FuelBold ActionsCity Hall
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“The constant drive for campaign dollars has distorted decision-making in Washington, DC, to the point where our systems can no longer effectively address complex, long-term problems like the climate crisis. Which brings me to my other major concern - the short-term focus of capitalism. It distorts the allocation of resources and the decision-making processes of companies.”

LongProblemProcessTermDecisionCompanyFocusMajorsCapitalismResourcesConcernCrisisConstantDollarsClimateComplexesCampaignsLong TermAddressesDecision MakingShort TermWashington DcAllocationDecision Making Process
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“The global warming deniers persist in this air of unreality. After all, the entire north polar icecap, which has been there for most of the last 3 million years, is disappearing before our eyes. Forty percent is already gone. The rest is expected to go completely within the next decade. What do they think is causing this?”

ThinkingYearsHas BeensEyeLastsNextMillionsGoneAirPercentDisappearExpectedDecadesGlobal WarmingFortyPersistUnrealityAlready Gone
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“The mountain glaciers in every region of the world are melting, many of them at an accelerated rate, threatening drinking supplies - drinking water supplies and agricultural water supplies. We have these record storms, drought, floods, fires, three deaths (ph) in the American West, climate refugees beginning now, expected to rise to the hundreds of millions unless we take action.”

WorldActionThreeWaterMillionsRecordsFireMountainDrinkingWestClimateRateStormExpectedRegionsFloodThreateningRefugeeMeltingSuppliesDroughtDrinking WaterGlaciersAmerican West
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“If you look at the way all of the new reform movements dedicated to the public interest are living and thriving on the Internet, I do think there is still some considerable hope that the full participation of individuals in that conversation of democracy can once again restore the integrity of the way our democracy works.”

IfsThinkingWayLooksStillsIndividualInterestDemocracyMovementInternetIntegrityConversationReformDedicatedParticipationPublic InterestReform Movements
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“I just think that a much more important part of the problem we face, which was evident 10 years ago and is even more evident now, is that the way we share information among ourselves as American citizens has been radically transformed. The line between news and entertainment has almost dissolved, where ratings now have a big impact on what kinds of stories are covered and not stories.”

ThinkingWayYearsKindHas BeensImportantStoriesProblemBigsFacesLinesShareInformationCitizensNewsYears AgoImpactEntertainmentCoveredTransformedEvidentRatingAmerican CitizensBig Impact
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“I'm still trying to figure out exactly what President Trump represents in American politics. But, if nothing else, he represents a way for tens of millions of people who were desperate for change to just turn the table over and say, we want to start over again. But it is a challenge for our democracy. It definitely is. But, again, the remedy has to be devoting enough attention to restoring the way we make collective decisions in this country.”

PeopleIfsWayWantTryingStillsCountryEnoughTurnsPresidentChallengesDecisionAttentionMillionsDemocracyFiguresTrumpTablesDesperateCollectivesRemedyAmerican PoliticsStarting OverRestoring
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“We are seeing every night on the television news now a nature hike through the Book of Revelation. These climate-related extreme weather events have convinced the vast majority of people that the scientists have been right for a long time. We have to address this.”

PeopleLongHas BeensBookNightSeeingEventsTelevisionNewsLong TimeScientistMajorityClimateExtremesConvincedWeatherRelatedRevelationsAddressesEvery NightTelevision NewsBook Of RevelationExtreme Weather
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“My parents were true believers in the efficacy of American constitutional democracy, and I was thoroughly inculcated with reverence for what we the people are capable of doing. The complication in that simple narrative is that as I got older, the Vietnam War shook my confidence in how our democracy was working. I ended up serving in that war, but it started with a lie, and I was very proud of my father for being one of its earliest opponents.”

PeopleWarLyingFatherParentSimpleDemocracyProudCapableBelieverReverenceVietnam WarComplicationTrue Believer
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“I have a personal staff that helps me scour the internet and other media for the latest scientific peer-reviewed findings, the latest examples of climate-related extreme weather events, and the latest examples of progress. The world is in the midst of a sustainability revolution that has the scope of the industrial revolution, but with the speed of the digital revolution. That's not enough without new laws and the right kind of political leadership. But it does give us a base from which to build a movement that will save us from the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis.”

WorldGivingKindEnoughHelpingPoliticalProgressRevolutionInternetConsequenceCrisisSpeedHelp MeSustainabilityIndustrial Revolution
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“Where solar energy is concerned - and wind energy and battery storage and electric vehicles and efficiency technologies - that is what we are now seeing. So, yes, I'm very optimistic, but anyone who works on the climate crisis has an internal struggle between hope and despair. I won't deny that, but hope has always prevailed in my outlook.”

EnergyTechnologyStruggleDespairConcernedCrisisOptimisticVehicleElectricEfficiencyStorageHope And Despair
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“There are people who say, "God is in complete control of everything that happens, and if the Earth is getting warmer, then maybe God intends that." Well, no. God intends for us to take responsibility for how we treat God's creation, and if we choose to use the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet as an open sewer for 110-million tons of global-warming pollution every day, the consequences are attributable to us. And if you are a believer, as I am, I think God intends for us to open our eyes and take responsibility for the moral consequences of our actions.”

PeopleThinkingEyeActionEarthResponsibilityMoralCreationConsequenceBelieverAtmospherePollutionTaking Responsibility
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“The gay rights movement of recent years has been an inspiring victory for humanity and it is in the tradition of the civil rights movement when I was a young boy in the South, the women's suffrage movement when my mother was a young woman in Tennessee, the abolition movement much farther back, and the anti-apartheid movement when I was in the House of Representatives. All of these movements have one thing in common: the opposition to progress was rooted in an outdated understanding of morality.”

MotherHumanityHouseUnderstandingCommonBoysProgressVictoryMoralityGayTraditionCivil RightsYoung WomenCivil Rights MovementGay RightsAbolitionSuffrage
Author:Al Gore
Create image

“All I'm doing, all I have done for 40 years, is spend time with the best scientific experts, gain their confidence, and take advantage of their patience in explaining things to me over and over again in progressively simpler language that I can understand, so that I can read it back to them and get their sign off, where they say, "Yep, that's it, Al. You've got it." When I understand it, I know I can explain it to other people. When the scientists' predictions end up being true, I see that as an opportunity to say to people, "Listen carefully to what they're saying now."”

PeopleDoneOpportunityLanguageBeing TrueEnd TimesSpend TimeI Can Read
Author:Al Gore
Create image