Al Gore compares climate crisis to 9/11, praises Green New Deal – It’s ‘the life and death struggle of people alive today’ – Kicks off his 24 hour climate talkathon

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Vice President Al Gore kicked off a series of climate presentations on Wednesday evening that will continue around the globe over 24 hours, a lively talk espousing political and US policy changes.
The event, called “24 Hours of Reality” is an endeavor of The Climate Reality Project, founded by Gore to educate the public and inspire action on climate change. Gore said he has trained more than 20,000 climate activists, some of whom will be fellow presenters for the talks, which will continue through Thursday at more than 1,700 locations as far-flung as Antarctica and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The opening presentation took place at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where an audience of more than 1,000 people gave him a standing ovation. One of the moments of loudest applause came when he suggested President Donald Trump could be voted out of office next election.
Speaking of the Paris Climate Agreement, Gore said that although Trump wants to back out of it, the US cannot legally pull out until the day after next year’s presidential election.
“If there’s a new president, pardon me for a minute,” he said to laughs as he stretched out his arms and looked up.
“Now don’t you dare interpret that as a partisan gesture. I have freedom of speech and freedom of prayer.”
Gore said he tries to avoid partisan politics at his climate presentations and he made a point of praising Vanderbilt’s College Republicans for calling on the Republican National Committee to change its stance on climate.