Former VP Al Gore speaks at The 2025 San Francisco Climate Week. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
"This is an all hands on deck moment ... We all have to mobilize to defend our country and remember 'the antidote to climate despair is climate action.'" — Former Vice President Al Gore.
Gore gave an impassioned speech Monday during the opening reception of SF Climate Week, urging those in attendance to "treat the moment as a call to action" amid the Trump administration's efforts to curtail the clean energy transition.
His remarks on the fossil fuel industry's efforts to prolong the use of oil and gas were also particularly scathing when referring to them as "the wealthiest and most powerful industry lobby in the history of the world" who "make the East India Company look like a popcorn business."
Gore urged attendees to examine how they can personally contribute to solving the climate crisis and quoted folk singer and civil rights activist Joan Baez in galvanizing the crowd to take collective action.
Catch up quick: SF Climate Week is one of the largest summits of its kind in the U.S.
Attendees at this year's conference include clean tech startups and investors, Mayor Daniel Lurie and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
