Al Gore, Barack Obama Talk About Green Jobs, Global Warming

Former Vice President Al Gore talked about how the fight against global warming could help create millions of new green jobs as he addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland last week.

Gore said: "[W]e hear the reports that leaders once resistant to fiscal stimulus are now calling for massive new initiatives to create jobs in ways that also reduce CO2 and the Secretary general of the United Nations who has provided such tremendous leadership for the world in this process has himself called for what he terms a green new deal in the world," Gore told international leaders gathered for the Conference in Poznan.

"As we start making these changes, we will see that they do strengthen our economies, they do create millions of new jobs, and they do improve the standard of living," he noted later in his speech.

The former V.P. also made reference to green jobs when discussing to his recent meeting with U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama.

"Just prior to coming here to Poznan, I went to Chicago for a meeting with president-elect Barack Obama and he emphasized that the climate crisis will be a top priority of his administration," he said. "We discussed how to create millions of new jobs in a new clean energy economy, and he emphasized that once he is president, the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead toward a successful conclusion."

Gore met with Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden last week to discuss the climate crisis, as well as approaches to solving the nation's dual economic and energy crises.

After the meeting Obama had this to say:

"This is a matter of urgency and national security...[but] it is not only a problem, it is also an opportunity," President-elect Obama said. "We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to repower America, to redesign how we use energy and think about how we are increasing efficiency to make our economy stronger, make us more safe, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make us competitive for decades to come -- even as we save the planet."

Al Gore has been a leading political force in the movement to stop global warming for many years now. The arrival of the Obama administration in the White House will offer Gore and other environmentalists a real opportunity to make progress in their fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create new green jobs, and stimulate economic growth.

VIdeo of Gores speech and from his meeting with Obama is available online at The Green Jobs Report.