II – Chapter 12

0100 [01:23:02] "It needs continuing work. And one of the reasons your role is so important is to hold them to what they have agreed to and to keep the pressure on. Because even with all the agreements put together, it's still not enough. But the basis is there to ramp up and make more progress. " (Al Gore)

0200 [01:23:23] "There are cities in the U.S. that have already reached the goal of 100% renewable energy. Rock Port, Missouri. Greensburg, Kansas. They were destroyed by an F5 tornado and...and when they built back, they say, "Hey, now let's go 100% renewable," and they have. " (Al Gore)

0300 [01:23:42] "Right here in Huston, the home of the global oil and gas industry, you'll hear a lot of people say, "Wind and solar is nice, but it won't really lead anywhere."" (Al Gore)

0400 [01:23:53] "And..and a lot of people are now saying that is a strange new form of denial. But, look what's happening in Georgetown, Texas. " (Al Gore)

0500 [01:24:24] "Howdy. " (Al Gore)

0600 [01:24:25] "Howdy, Mr. Vice President Gore. " (Dale Ross)

0700 [01:24:26] "How are you, Mr. Mayor?" (Al Gore)

0800 [01:24:28] "Welcome to the greatest city on Planet Earth." (Dale Ross)

0900 [01:24:30] "All right, spoken like a good mayor. " (Al Gore)

1000 [01:24:35] "Can I have one?" (Al Gore)

1100 [01:24:36] "Oh, sure. " (Al Gore)

1200 [01:24:37] "I know they are for kids. " (Dale Ross)

1300 [01:24:38] "So, how long have you been mayor?" (Al Gore)

1400 [01:24:40] "I have been mayor for two years. You know, this green energy initiative started when I was on council in 2008." (Dale Ross)

1500 [01:24:46] "I remember that. " (Al Gore)

1600 [01:24:47] "And the direction that we gave to Chris and crew was, in 2008, we said, by 2030 we want our energy portfolio to be 30% renewable energy. " (Dale Ross)

1700 [01:24:58] "Yeah." (Al Gore)

1800 [01:24:59] "Well, they've sort of blown by that." (Dale Ross)

1900 [01:25:00] "That was ambitious at that time, anyway." (Al Gore)

2000 [01:25:25] "It was. Absolutely. " (Dale Ross)

2100 [01:25:05] "Currently we are 90% renewable energy. We are getting our wind out of Amarillo. Our solar firm is being built out in west Texas. It should be up and running next spring. And currently, we will be the first city in Texas to be 100% renewable. And when we go 100% renewable, we will be the largest city in the country that's renewable energy at 100%. " (Dale Ross)

2200 [01:25:27] "Now, so, I assume that the reason you did this is that the two of you are just rabid environmentalists. " (Al Gore)

2300 [01:25:35] "Well, not exactly, because, um, you are in Georgetown..." (Dale Ross)

2400 [01:25:39] "Right. " (Al Gore)

2500 [01:25:39] "...which is the reddest city in the reddest county in Texas and I'm a conservative Republican." (Dale Ross)

2600 [01:25:46] "Yeah." (Al Gore)

2700 [01:25:46] "Okay. But, you know, our duty to our ratepayers is to provide them with the lowest possible utility cost. " (Dale Ross)

2800 [01:25:53] "And money talks. " (Al Gore)

2900 [01:25:55] "But then, wouldn't it just make sense from a common-sense standpoint, the less stuff you put in the air, the better it is. " (Dale Ross)

3000 [01:26:00] "Yeah." (Al Gore)

3100 [01:26:01] "I mean, common sense. I don't, you know, need scientists to debate that. " (Al Gore)

3200 [01:26:04] "Can I use that line?" (Al Gore)

3300 [01:26:05] "You absolutely can." (Al Gore)

3400 [01:26:13] "Hey, let me tell you what. You would be the sport of all sports. " (Dale Ross)

3500 [01:26:17] "Yeah. " (Al Gore)

3600 [01:26:18] "If somebody could get a picture of me and Mr. Vice President?" (Dale Ross)

3700 [01:26:22] "That's just for personal use, right?" (man 36)

3800 [01:26:23] "Oh, yeah, censoring guy." (Dale Ross)

3900 [01:26:26] "All right, here we go." (Al Gore)

4000 [01:26:27] "Come on." (Al Gore)

4100 [01:26:29] "Here's your camera right there. Now this is not an endorsement as you can well imagine. " (Al Gore)

4200 [01:26:41] "Hi, how are you?" (Al Gore)

4300 [01:26:43] "Hi, Beth Wade, Community Impact Newspaper." (Beth Wade)

4400 [01:26:44] "Pleasure, pleasure. " (Al Gore)

4500 [01:26:46] "You think this city can be trailblazer for other cities of...of like that. " (Al Gore)

4600 [01:26:50] "Definitely. Now, not every city has a CPA as a mayor, so that's another advantage for you. But when other cities really look at the facts, I think you are going to see a massive wave switching over to pollution-free renewable energy. " (Al Gore)

4700 [01:27:09] "Oh, yeah, well, what we always say is, don't we have a moral and ethical obligation to leave the planet better than we found it?" (Dale Ross)

4800 [01:27:17] "You better be...you better be careful talking like that." (Al Gore)

4900 [01:27:26] "T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1, 0. Liftoff of the Falcon 9. Falcon 9 has launched. " (man 38)

5000 [01:27:54] "The Falcon takes flight propelling the the Deep Space Climate Observatory, DSCOVR, on a million-mile journey to protect our Planet Earth. " (man 39)

5100 [01:28:11] "When President Obama was elected, I went to see him, told him the story of the DSCOVR satellite and how it was cancelled. And he allocated the money and it finally got launched. " (Al Gore)

5200 [01:28:26] "Second stage engine...ignition...has occurred on time. " (man 39)

5300 [01:28:38] "Remember, when I mentioned the Blue Marble, it was the only photograph of its kind. But here is one from the first week of last December. This was taken by a brand-new NASA and NOAA satellite called DSCOVR that orbits the sun along with the earth and the scientists are learning so much." (Al Gore)

5400 [01:28:58] "For example, for the first time they are learning about the real energy balance of the Earth. Energy in and energy out. Don't let anybody tell you that we are going to get on rocket ships and go to Mars and live in hermetically sealed building, as we couldn't even evacuate the city of New Orleans when the hurricane hit there. This is our home. " (Al Gore)