Heat Of The Moment

Former Vice President Al Gore, star of the upcoming film An Inconvenient Sequel, has a new message about climate change— and it’s not all bad.

- Adele Peters

A decade after the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth made the threat of climate change real to millions of moviegoers, the film’s star, Al Gore, is back to make it even more so. In An Inconvenient Sequel, due in theaters July 28, he shares an outlook that is both more dire and more optimistic: Last year was the hottest ever on record, but it also marked a high point for installations of renewable energy. Gore believes that the momentum for positive change has become unstoppable, no matter what current politics might indicate. “We will solve this crisis,” Gore says. “No doubt about it.”

What made you want to make a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth?

Since we still have so much work to do, a lot of people over the past several years have asked me if I would be willing to make a sequel—in particular Jeff Skoll, whose company, Participant Media, made the first movie. I have to tell you that when the idea for the first movie was presented to me, over a decade ago, I was skeptical. I was consistent this time around and skeptical once more. I guess I was just worried because the first one was so well received. But I’m glad that wiser heads prevailed.

The movie balances a sense of urgency over the growing climate crisis with a great deal of hope. At one point, you visit a small, conservative town in Texas that’s now committed to being 100% powered by renewable electricity.