Gore wants ‘Inconvenient Sequel’ ideas to follow people home

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Al Gore is back in theaters talking about climate change, and he’s hoping some of his ideas will make it into people’s homes as well.

The former vice president stars in “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” which is a follow-up to the 2006 Oscar-winning documentary about his efforts to combat climate change. Gore was a few years removed from narrowly losing the presidency at the time. The sequel arrives in a new world of smart homes, mass-produced electric vehicles and Donald Trump in the White House.

Gore, 69, has championed environmental causes for more than 40 years. In an interview last week with The Associated Press, he said he’s felt hopeless and disillusioned about reversing climate change at times, but never for very long. One of those moments came recently when Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, a cause Gore championed. Throughout his promotion of “An Inconvenient Sequel,” Gore has said he feels more optimistic now.

“Anybody who works on the climate crisis is tempted in some dark moments to despair but it doesn’t last long for me. Despair is just another form of denial,” said Gore. “We don’t have time for it, we have work to do and the basis for hope is real and authentic. The solutions are here. Electricity from solar and wind is now getting cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels and we are seeing a huge switch in that direction.”

Small adjustments at home include switching to LED light bulbs, or keeping the thermostat slightly warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter might not seem like it makes a big difference when you look at the world’s overall crisis, but Gore assures it helps.

“Well somebody once said, we don’t have a silver bullet but we do have silver buckshot. All of these solutions add up. Actually they are beginning to,” said Gore.

He encouraged people to check out solutions on “An Inconvenient Sequel’s” website , which includes tips on items to buy at the grocery store that are more climate friendly, home energy-saving tips and links to carbon-cutting projects worldwide that people can invest in for as little as $6.

For all the practical advice, Gore says politicians remain key to the solution.

“Use your capacity as a citizen, to let candidates and office holders know that this is important to you,” he said. “When we win the conversation, when you use your voice, then the laws begin to change.”

“An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” opens in wide release on Friday.