Al Gore looks to youth to spark action on climate change

The environmentalist and former vice president appeared on stage Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C., speaking to young activists from Georgetown University about the youth-led climate movement and excoriating the lack of political will worldwide to address the growing crisis.

“We cannot continue to use the sky as an open sewer in a way that is absolutely destroying the future,” Gore said before an audience at the Kennedy Center.

The talk, part of an exhibition called “COAL + ICE” that uses immersive video and photography to show the consequences of climate change, comes just days before youth leaders are set to hold a global day of protest on Friday against climate inaction.

Speaking across the generational divide, Gore said young people have helped propel cultural shifts throughout history.

“Young people have always been in the vanguard of these morally based social movements demanding change,” he said.

Anya Wahal, a student at Georgetown University, said many of her peers feel frustrated about climate change, particularly because young people are shouldering the burden of a global emergency they did not cause.

“I think the anger and the frustration is that we do sometimes feel like the burden is shifted on us,” Wahal said. “But not only that, we want to act, and we’re frustrated that we can’t act now, given the urgency of the situation.”

Gore agreed that lawmakers around the world are not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition away from harmful fossil fuels. He blamed the United States’ “broken” political system for the country’s sluggish action on climate, saying the fossil fuel industry holds too much power over the government.

“What they’re trying to prevent is the immediate deployment of safe, clean alternatives that are already cheaper because it hurts their business models,” Gore said of fossil fuel companies.

Growing more impassioned, he added: “I’m sorry if it hurts their business models, but I want my grandchildren and yours to live and thrive in a world that is not degraded and destroyed,” he said, before apologizing for getting “all fired up here.”

The desire to fire people up is at the heart of the “COAL + ICE” exhibit, which is put on by the Asia Society and will be on display at the Kennedy Center through April 22.

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