The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Jul 25, 2022
Al Gore compares climate denialism to police inaction at Uvalde
Indy
Al Gore compared climate change deniers to the police officers who responded to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting in a controversial interview.
The former vice president and climate change activist said there are solutions available now to deal with climate change but nothing is happening, comparing inaction to police who waited in the hallway as 21 people were killed in Uvalde.
“We’ve got an election coming up. And this is time for all of us to step up,” he told NBC News’ “Meet the Press”.
“The climate deniers are really in some ways similar to all of those almost 400 law enforcement officers in Uvalde, Texas, who were waiting outside an unlocked door while the children were being massacred. They heard the screams, they heard the gunshots, and nobody stepped forward."
He added: ”God bless those families who’ve suffered so much.”
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Law enforcement officials were seen on video waiting in the hallway of Robb Elementary School for more than an hour as a gunman armed with an assault rifle carried out a rampage on May 24, killing 21 people. They failed to follow “active shooter” protocol, which would instruct officers to immediately engage the gunman.
After comparing this with scepticism in the US, Gore added climate change “shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
“Confronted with this global emergency, what we’re doing with our inaction and failing to walk through the door and stop the killing is not typical of what we are capable of as human beings. We do have the solutions. And I think these extreme events that are getting steadily worse and more severe are really beginning to change minds,” he said.
“We have to have unity as a nation to come together and stop making this a political football,” he added.
Some thought the comparison was inappropriate:
\u201c@tomselliott @algore This is so gross \u2026.he really thought he was doing something with this too\u201d— Tom Elliott (@Tom Elliott) 1658688761
\u201cWhat a sick, desperate jackass, @algore is.\u201d— Steve Milloy (@Steve Milloy) 1658689309
While others supported him:
\u201cFeeling pretty good about voting for Al Gore in 2000. He was mocked relentlessly about being stiff as if that was more important than being a 1000% right about the coming climate crisis. \n\nLike how they focused on emails over looming authoritarianism.\u201d— Neera Tanden\ud83c\udf3b (@Neera Tanden\ud83c\udf3b) 1658679699
\u201cAl Gore would've been a good President especially when it comes to our environment..\u201d— SuzeQKnits (@SuzeQKnits) 1658456583
This month, potential climate legislation stalled after Democratic US Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support a budget bill that includes climate or tax provisions.
Meanwhile, John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate, told The New York Times that president Joe Biden is “very close” to declaring a national climate emergency, saying that “it’s a matter of timing”.
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