Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former Vice President Al Gore called for a "man on the moon" effort to switch all of the United States' electricity production to wind, solar and other carbon-free sources within 10 years.
He said this goal would solve global warming as well as economic and natural security crises caused by dependence on fossil fuels.
"The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels," Mr Gore told a packed auditorium in Washington's historic Constitution Hall.
"When you connect the dots, it turns out that the real solutions to the climate crisis are the very same measures needed to renew our economy and escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices."
Mr Gore compared the challenge to establishing the Social Security retirement fund and the Interstate highway system, as well as landing a man on the moon - all successes that took more than a single presidency to accomplish and required members of both political parties to overcome their partisanship.
The Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan group Mr Gore leads, put the 30-year cost of his plan - both government and private - at $1.5tn to $3tn.
To speed up the transition to new energy sources, Mr Gore said the single most important policy change would be to "tax what we burn, not what we earn," advocating a tax on carbon dioxide pollution.
Mr Gore's proposal would represent a significant shift in where the US gets its power.
In 2005, coal supplied slightly more than half America's 3.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. Nuclear power accounted for 21 per cent, natural gas 15 per cent and renewable sources, including wind and solar, about 8.6 per cent.
Mr Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm about climate change and his documentary on the issue, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments