In SF, Gore sees world leaving Trump behind on climate change

Former Vice President Al Gore answers a question from the audience during a talk hosted by the Commonwealth Club Monday ahead of the Bay Area release of his new documentary, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.” less Former Vice President Al Gore answers a question from the audience during a talk hosted by the Commonwealth Club Monday ahead of the Bay Area release of his new documentary, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to ... more Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close In SF, Gore sees world leaving Trump behind on climate change 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Former Vice President Al Gore thought there was a chance that President Trump wouldn’t pull out of the Paris climate accord after conversations they had in Trump Tower in New York and in the White House.

But even though Trump ultimately decided to make the United States the only major country to ignore the international agreement to lower carbon emissions, Gore said he has been heartened by the international reaction since then.

“I was deeply concerned that other countries might have used it as an excuse to pull out of the Paris agreements,” Gore said Monday during an appearance at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to promote his new movie, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.”

“I was immensely gratified when, almost immediately after, the (entirety) of the world redoubled their commitment to the Paris Agreement almost as if they were saying, ‘We’ll show you, Donald Trump,’” Gore said.

He cited California Gov. Jerry Brown, “who just got this amazing legislative victory” last week to extend California’s cap-and-trade system of controlling greenhouse-gas emissions through 2030, as someone who has stepped up in global leadership after Trump’s Paris pullout. He also cited India’s decision last month to commit to selling only electric vehicles by 2030.

“All of these groups,” Gore said, “have stepped up to say, ‘We’re still in Paris, and we’re going to meet the Paris commitments regardless of what President Trump does or says or tweets.’”

Gore said he remains hopeful but vigilant, noting that even though some estimates have the U.S. meeting the parameters set by the Paris, it “is still not enough. We need to do more.”

Under former President Barack Obama, the U.S. agreed at Paris to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Gore is on an international tour promoting the release of his new documentary, a sequel to the 2006 Oscar-winning “An Inconvenient Truth.” The film opens in the Bay Area on Friday.

Early reviews have been less stellar than its predecessor’s. As of Monday, it had a 70 percent aggregated score from critics who have reviewed it, according to the RottenTomatoes.com film review site. The original got a 93 percent score and pulled in $49 million at the box office, making it the 11th-highest-grossing documentary of all time.

Gore devoted himself to environmental issues after losing his 2000 run for the presidency to George W. Bush. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his efforts to combat climate change, a Grammy Award in 2009 for the spoken-word version of “An Inconvenient Truth” and an Emmy Award in 2007 for Current TV, the San Francisco-based TV network he co-founded.

Unmentioned by the adoring crowd Monday were some of Gore’s less flattering moments. In 2013, Gore sold Current TV to Al Jazeera, which is funded by the government of Qatar, a country whose wealth is rooted in its vast oil riches. Gore was reportedly in line to make $100 million from the $500 million sale.

In a note to employees, Gore said he was impressed by the journalistic pedigree of Al Jazeera. Plagued by low ratings, Al Jazeera America was shuttered in 2016.

In December, Gore used his clout on climate issues to talk to the then-president-elect and his daughter Ivanka in New York. He described it afterward as “a lengthy and very productive session” and “a sincere search for areas of common ground.”

He said he “found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I'm just going to leave it at that.”

However, on Monday, Gore didn’t just leave it at that.

“I really did think there was a chance (Trump) would come to his senses” and keep the U.S. in the Paris accord, Gore said. “But I was wrong about that.”

The former senator and congressman from Tennessee said it is difficult for many Republican officeholders to talk about climate change for fear that the political network funded by the conservative Koch brothers — whose fortune is rooted in the petroleum business — will finance a primary opponent’s campaign.

The pressure is so intense that Gore was asked Monday if there are more congressional Republicans in the closet for being gay or in the “climate closet” for denying the severity of climate change.

“I would say the climate closet,” Gore said. “There are a lot of Republicans who know what the truth is.”

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli