Former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, said he is “thrilled” by Pope Francis’ leadership in the battle against climate change in an interview with Vatican News Wednesday.

Employing apocalyptic language, Gore said the climate crisis is “the biggest existential challenge humanity has ever faced,” and warned that “up to half of all the living species with which we share this earth are in danger of extinction during this century.”

Mr. Gore, who has been called out for failed prophecies, half-truths, bad science, and neo-Malthusian doomsday propaganda, continues to enjoy celebrity among many committed climate alarmists.

In his interview with Vatican News, Gore heaped praise on Pope Francis, saying that the pope’s leadership “has been an inspiration to all of us across the world, particularly when it comes to his strong and repeated emphasis on solving the climate crisis.”

“In particular, his papal encyclical, Laudato si’, marked a crucial step for the Catholic church in leading the world to commit to addressing the climate crisis ahead of the Paris Agreement,” Gore said.

“In these and many other ways, the Pope has been at the forefront in leading the world toward constructive climate action. Virtually all of my Catholic colleagues and friends are thrilled to the marrow of their bones that he is providing this kind of spiritual leadership. As am I,” he added.

The pope’s vocal opposition to manmade climate change is not only crucial for Catholics, Gore said, but serves as an example for other spiritual leaders.

“The Pope is a model for leaders of other faith traditions to communicate the dangers posed by the climate crisis and our duty as stewards of God’s creation to solve it,” he said.

As he often does, Mr. Gore confused air pollution with CO2-induced climate change in his interview, and then went on to tie the two to race issues.

In the United States, Gore stated, “African American children are three-times more likely than the overall population to suffer from diseases related to air pollution, are twice as likely to have asthma and ten times more likely to die from asthma than are children from the majority community.”

What this has to do with climate change is anybody’s guess, since carbon dioxide is non-toxic and is unrelated to asthma.

Gore’s 2007 documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” was given an Oscar and showered in Hollywood accolades, though it also received its share of criticism.

“A general characteristic of Mr. Gore’s approach is to assiduously ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic; they are always changing even without any external forcing,” Richard S. Lindzen wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “To treat all change as something to fear is bad enough; to do so in order to exploit that fear is much worse.”

The former vice president followed up with a 2017 sequel titled “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” that did not fare so well, even in Hollywood circles where climate change is the cause du jour.

“The documentary follow-up proves to be less about global warming than propping up a hero awkwardly desperate to captivate audiences again like he did eleven years ago,” wrote Nick Allen on RogerEbert.com.

“It’s like the Zoolander 2 of global warming documentaries,” he said.

Despite resistance, Mr. Gore seems shows no signs of flagging in his crusade against manmade global warming.

“I have been fortunate to be able to pour every ounce of energy I have into efforts to contribute to the solution to his crisis,” he told Vatican News.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome