Al Gore has conceded that he “was wrong” in thinking that President Trump would change his position on the Paris climate agreement.
Al Gore has conceded that he “was wrong” in thinking that President Trump would change his position on the Paris climate agreement.
During an appearance on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' Monday night, the former vice president was asked if he had a chance to talk about the accord with Trump before the decision to pull out was announced.
Gore said, “I did. I went to Trump Tower after the election--and that was not the only conversation I had with him--and I thought that there was a chance he would come to his senses, but I was wrong."
Media reports had indicated that the two men met during the transition period in early December; CNN quoted Gore as saying afterwards, “I had a lengthy and very productive session with the President-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground.”
A follow-up phone conversation about the Paris agreement is believed to have taken place in May, with an insider close to Gore telling Axios at the time that “Mr. Gore made the case for why the U.S. should stay in the Agreement and meet our commitments.”
However, Trump announced his decision to pull the U.S. from the international pact the following month, citing high financial burdens, the loss of millions of jobs, and damage to sectors like coal and natural gas as his reasons.
Nevertheless, Gore indicated to Colbert that he was still optimistic, saying, “I worried that it would be a disastrous move, but, immediately after that, all the other countries in the world doubled down and said, 'we're going to do even more.’”
Gore added, “...here in the U.S., a lot of our most important governors and mayors and business leaders said, ‘we're still in the Paris agreement, and we're going to meet the commitments of the country regardless of what Donald Trump tweets.’”
