Two Trumps and a Gore

Home

On Monday, former VP Al Gore made a surprise visit to Trump Tower to discuss climate change with Ivanka Trump, who is reportedly interested in the issue.


Gore told reporters afterwards that he also met with Donald Trump and “had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued.”

Gore wasn’t Ivanka’s only high-profile climate advocate visitor: Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly gave her a copy of his climate change documentary Before the Flood at a recent meeting.

After the Gore meeting, Trump checked in with his energy adviser Rep. Kevin Cramer, a climate change denier and possible pick for energy secretary, and will meet with Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil and rumored candidate for Secretary of State, on Tuesday.

“Covering up climate science and deceiving investors qualifies you for federal investigation, not federal office,” 350.org Executive Director May Boeve said in regards to Trump’s meeting with Tillerson. “An oil baron as Secretary of State would do enormous damage. Tillerson could deeply disrupt international efforts towards climate action, take retribution against countries that defy the oil industry, and help write more international trade deals that put profit ahead of people and planet. Rex Tillerson made millions off of Exxon’s strategy of denial and doubt, and would have every incentive to continue the deception while Secretary of State.”

For a deeper dive:

Gore: AP, Reuters, Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, The Hill, Politico, Bloomberg, Mashable, CNN, VICE, E&E, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine

Tillerson: Politico, Bloomberg

Commentary: Vox, Brad Plumer column; Slate, Ben Mathis-Lilley analysis; Observer, Andrew Eil op-ed; The Hill, Brent Budowsky column; ThinkProgress, Natasha Geiling column

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.

EcoWatch Daily Newsletter