ELEVENSES WITH THE FT: EMISSION STATEMENT
Al
Gore theatrically wipes his brow, feigning exhaustion. It is mid-morning, and the former vice-president of the US has just completed the first big task of his day - a lecture on climate change to a hall of (appreciative) French financiers. As we meet, I ask how many times he has delivered this lecture now. He tots it up in his head: “About 1,200, I think.” He boggles his eyes, stares at me manically and gasps: “I'm obsessed!”
We are in Paris at the handsome offices of BNP Paribas, host of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change conference, where Gore is the star attraction. As our rendezvous takes place not long after breakfast, a plate of sticky pastries has been left out for us. We gather some up, and I take some coffee. I offer to pour Gore a cup, but he has hankerings for a Diet Coke. A waiter is sent scurrying off to find one. (I have the impression they don't get many such requests - this is the 16th arrondissement, after all.) Gore throws off his dark blue suit jacket and sinks into an armchair, his trousers slightly hitched up to reveal long, black cowboy boots.
It's a far cry from the 2000 presidential campaign, when he was derided as “wooden” - even compared to Pinocchio - in contrast to the good ol' boy style of his adversary George W. Bush. This Pinocchio has come alive in the years since that painful defeat. He seems to have re-inhabited himself: comfortable and relaxed, sprawling in his chair, leaning over to make a point. He has also filled out physically, his frame now stouter and his hair peppered with grey.
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In part, this more expansive persona goes with Gore's growing success as an environmental campaigner. He has found a purpose: to convince the world of the imminent threat of global warming. And it seems to be working: in the last week, he has agreed to act as adviser to the UK government on climate change. Meanwhile, his signature global-warming lecture has been adapted into a film, An Inconvenient Truth, which has become the world's third highest-grossing documentary to date (after Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins).
The can of Diet Coke arrives and is poured. Gore smiles at the waiter: “Thank you. Merci.” Munching through a croissant, he tells me he has always been interested in climate change. “It is the most important issue we face as a planet.” An Inconvenient Truth traces the origins of that interest to Gore's university days at Harvard, where he was a student of Roger Revelle, one of the first scientists to conduct research into climate change. After entering Congress for Tennessee in 1976, Gore campaigned for the issue to be taken seriously, to little response. Fellow congressmen were either uninterested or hostile, as was demonstrated in a later election campaign by George H.W. Bush: “This guy is so far out on the environmental extreme,” he said, “we'll be up to our neck in owls and outta work for every American.”
Gore believes attitudes in the US are finally changing. The reaction to his film, he says, has been “not as different as you might think” in the US and Europe, where public opinion is more attuned to climate change. “I think this is principally a moral issue,” he says. “It touches Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, other religions, Buddhism - all the religions are very clear in giving us a moral duty to protect creation.” Reminding me of his southern Baptist upbringing in Tennessee (where his father, Albert Gore Senior, was a Democratic senator for nearly two decades), he quotes the Bible: “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. God will destroy those who destroy his creation.”
Indeed, some saw Hurricane Katrina as an almost biblical retribution. But Gore feels the federal response to the disaster was the most important aspect of it: “The fact that there were clear warnings that went unheeded shook people.” He warms to his theme: “Because if those warnings went unheeded, what do you make of [Bush] ignoring the warnings about global warming? The image that he cultivated, particularly after 9/11, was based on the promise ‘I will protect you'. New Orleans was not protected.”
It feels somehow impolite, but necessary, to broach the subject of how he feels about his 2000 defeat at the US polls. When speaking in public, Gore gets over this awkwardness for his audience by introducing himself as the man who “used to be the next president of the United States”, a nicely self-deprecating line that always gets a laugh.
I decide to try a bit of deprecation myself. Watching his film, I tell him, was a form of torture for some people. He throws up his hands in mock horror and stares. Torture, I go on, because they find themselves wondering how different the world might have been if he had won the election. He smiles modestly: “Thank you, that's nice, that's very nice.” But how does he feel about having lost?
“I have moved on,” he says soberly, before hiding his head in his hands and pretending to cry for a few seconds. “I focus on the future, instead of on the past.”
Despite Gore's current passion for climate change, little was achieved on environmental issues under the Clinton administration. “The first thing is that I was not president, but vice-president,” he says quickly. “I have no complaints about President Clinton's responsiveness to me on this question. But it was not as if I could chart the full course. I'm grateful I was able to have a partnership, I did accomplish as much as I could have. But it turns out to be very important to have that kind of consuming focus at the top.”
He bites off another bit of pastry. “I'll give you an example. I worked as vice-president to enact a carbon tax. Clinton indulged me against the advice of his economic team... One House of Congress passed it, the other defeated it by one vote then watered it down and what remained was a pitiful 5 cent per gallon gasoline tax.” Even that turned out too much for some: “That contributed to our losing Congress two years later to Newt Gingrich.”
“You're not eating anything,” Gore admonishes me through a mouthful of croissant, pointing at my largely untouched plate of patisseries. I choose something with apricot jam in it, which I find smears of in my notepad later.
Conversation turns back to weightier issues. Greenhouse gas emissions from aviation are one of the prime causes of climate change. Would Gore, who spent years travelling the world in Air Force One, deny ordinary people the freedom that low-cost airlines have offered?
This appears to throw him slightly. He turns away and thinks silently for about a minute. “I think it's a mistake to see the solution to the climate change crisis as requiring a sudden halt to all the activities associated with carbon dioxide,” he says. “What we need is a rapid transition to much better technologies that allow improvements to quality of life without global warming pollution. Airline travel is a particularly difficult issue. It's not presently covered by Kyoto [the international treaty on climate change]. Richard Branson is trying to find solutions. I do think in some cases there will be a lot of people travelling less.”
What if the question were framed more broadly? Rapidly developing countries such as China and India are quickly catching up with developed nations in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions. China is now the worst offender after the US. And as more people in these countries gain access to the amenities - cars, air conditioning, electrical goods - that people in the developed world take for granted, those emissions will rise even further. What gives westerners, who have enjoyed high living standards for decades, the right to deny these luxuries to those just becoming rich enough to buy them, even in the name of saving the planet?
Gore considers his reply. “These countries have an opportunity to leapfrog the old technologies that we used to create this problem,” he says. “You know, the country with more photovoltaic [solar power] cells than anyone on a per capita basis is Kenya. I mention that because it illustrates the point that nations that do not already have electricity grids, phone networks, and all the rest, actually find it more economical to leapfrog these technologies and go straight to things like solar power.”
Technology aside, another dilemma remains unresolved - Gore's future role in US politics. Will it be easier for the next Democratic president of the US to take action on climate change? “I'm working to make certain of that.” And will that president be him? Gore takes another swig of diet Coke. “I'm not planning to run for president again.” He adds, quickly: “I have not ruled it out entirely. But I'm not expecting to ever be a candidate again. It's a toxic process and has grown more so over the years, especially where an issue like this is concerned.”
An aide comes in to remind Gore of his next appointment and he stands up to go, putting on his jacket, smoothing his hair and preparing a broad public smile for the people waiting to greet him in the corridor. He shakes a few hands before being whisked off to his next public performance, in Germany, one of the last stops on his European tour before he takes his lecture to Brazil.
I walk out on to Avenue Kleber, to the nearby Arc de Triomphe, where all of Napoleon's battles are listed. Apart from Waterloo.
BNP Paribas Asset Management
5 Avenue Kleber, Paris
1 x cafe creme
1 x Diet Coke
1 x croissant au beurre
1 x croissant aux abricots
与戈尔一起喝早茶
阿
尔?戈尔(Al Gore)夸张地擦去额头汗水，显出精疲力竭的样子。现在是上午，这位美国前副总统刚刚完成了他一天中第一项重要任务――对满满一个大厅（拥护他的）法国金融家作有关气候变化的讲座。我们见面的时候，我问他，到目前为止，这个讲座作了多少次。他想了想说：“我想，大约有1200次。”他瞪着眼，狂躁地盯着我，叹气说：“我现在满脑子都是那些东西。”
我们此刻正在巴黎，坐在法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)漂亮的办公大楼里。该行是气候变化机构投资者团体(Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change)会议的主办方，而戈尔是这次会议的明星人物。因为我们的会面安排在早餐后不久，餐厅给我们留了一盘甜面包。我们拿了一些，我又喝了点儿咖啡。我想给他也倒上一杯咖啡，但他想喝健怡可乐(Diet Coke)，于是派了一名服务生去找。（我感觉到，他们不常遇到这种要求――毕竟，这里是巴黎第16区。）戈尔脱掉他的深蓝色西装夹克，一屁股坐在扶手椅上，裤角微微向上提起，露出黑色的牛仔靴。
曾被描述为“木头人”
这与2000年美国总统大选时大不相同。那时，他被描述为“木头人”，甚至被比喻为木偶匹诺曹(Pinocchio)。这和他的竞选对手――乔治?W?布什(George W. Bush)的“好男儿”(good ol' boy)形象形成鲜明对比。在那次痛苦的失败之后，“匹诺曹”这几年又活跃了起来。他似乎重新找回了自己：自在而放松，坐在椅子上肢体舒展，需要强调要点的时候身子前倾。他的身体也更加强壮了，现在的体格更为结实，头发中散布着丝丝灰白。
一定程度上讲，他现在更为开朗的个性，与他作为环保运动者日渐取得的成功密不可分。他已经找到了自己的使命：说服世界相信全球变暖的威胁迫在眉睫。他似乎有了一些进展：上周，他同意担任英国政府气候变化顾问。同时，他那标志性的全球变暖演讲，已拍成电影《不愿面对的真相》(An Inconvenient Truth)。该片已成为迄今全球票房排名第三的纪录片――仅次于《华氏911》(Fahrenheit 9/11)和《帝企鹅日记》(March of the Penguins)。
服务生端上一罐健怡可乐，倒在戈尔的杯中。戈尔微笑着对服务生说：“谢谢。Merci（法语：谢谢）”他一边吃着羊角面包，一边告诉我，他一直都对气候变化感兴趣。“这是地球面临的最重要问题。”《不愿面对的真相》将戈尔这种兴趣的起源，追溯至他在哈佛(Harvard)的大学时代。当时，他是罗杰?雷维尔(Roger Revelle)的学生，而雷维尔正是首批进行气候变化研究的科学家之一。1976年代表田纳西州当选众议员后，戈尔发起运动，呼吁社会严肃对待该问题，但得到的回应寥寥。议员同僚们要么对此兴趣索然，要么充满敌意。这一点在美国前总统乔治?H?W?布什(George H.W. Bush)后来的总统竞选中得到体现。
“美国人的态度终于开始改变”
戈尔认为，美国人的态度终于开始改变。尽管欧洲公众对气候变化的看法更为一致，但他表示，美国和欧洲观众对他的电影的反应，“并不是你所想象的那么不同”。“我认为，这基本上是个道德问题，”他表示。“它呼应了基督教、犹太教、伊斯兰教、印度教、其它宗教、佛教――所有宗教都非常明确地宣扬，我们应承担保护世界的道德责任。”他引用《圣经》的话：“地和其中所充满的，都属于耶和华。上帝会败坏那些败坏世界的人。”这令我想起他在田纳西州接受的南方浸信会(Baptist)教育――他的父亲老艾伯特?戈尔(Albert Gore Senior)担任田纳西州民主党参议员近20年。
的确，一些人将卡特里娜飓风(Hurricane Katrina)视为圣经预言的惩罚。但戈尔感觉，美国联邦政府对这场灾难的反应，才是问题最重要的方面：“政府忽视了一些明确的警告，这令人们感到震撼。”他继续自己的主题：“因为，如果这些警告都被忽视的话，那（布什）忽略有关全球变暖的警告，你又奈他如何呢？他努力塑造的形象，特别是在9/11之后苦心经营的形象，其基础就是‘我将保护你'的承诺。但新奥尔良就没得到保护。”
“一度将要成为下一任美国总统”
虽然感觉有点不太礼貌，但我觉得有必要提出这个问题：对于2000年美国大选的失败，他作何感想。在公开场合演讲时，戈尔面对观众，克服了这种尴尬，称自己是“一度将要成为下一任美国总统”的人。这句巧妙的自嘲话语，常常引发一阵笑声。
我决定努力表现出一些反对。我告诉他，对某些人而言，看他的电影是一种折磨。他猛然抬起双手，模仿惊恐的神情，盯着我。我继续说，“折磨”是因为观众在想，如果这个人赢了大选，世界将会怎样。他谦虚地笑了笑：“谢谢，这妙极了，非常妙。”但他对输掉大选是怎么想的呢？
“我已经不想它了，”他严肃地说，随后用手捂住脸几秒钟，假装哭泣。“我关注的是未来，而不是过去。”
尽管戈尔现在对气候变化充满热情，但在克林顿(Clinton)执政期间，他在环境问题上并没有什么建树。“首先，我不是总统，而是副总统，”他立刻表示。“我对克林顿总统在这个问题上对我的回应没有抱怨。但关键是我并没有统领全局。能有一种伙伴关系，我很知足，我确实做了自己力所能及的事。但现在很显然的是，最高领导充分关注这个问题是非常重要的。”
他又咬了一口面包。“我给你举个例子。我在担任副总统时，打算立法征收碳排放税。克林顿否决经济顾问小组的建议，让我这么做……众议院通过了这部法案，但在参议院以1票之差未获通过。最后，这部法案被弱化，仅剩下针对每加仑汽油的可怜的5美分税。”即便如此，对某些人而言也还是走得太远了：“这部分导致我们在两年后把国会控制权输给了纽特?金里奇(Newt Gingrich)。”
“你没吃什么东西啊，”满口羊角面包的戈尔，指着几乎没动的一盘法式蛋糕提醒我。我挑了带杏酱的羊角面包吃了一口，后来我在自己的笔记本电脑上发现了它的污迹。
我们还能搭乘廉价航班吗？
谈话回到更有分量的问题上。飞机排放的温室气体，是气候变化的主要原因之一。曾经数年乘坐空军一号(Air Force One)出访世界各地的戈尔，会剥夺普通人选择低成本航空公司的自由吗？
这似乎让他有些为难。他转过身，安静地想了大约1分钟的时间。“我认为，立即停止所有与二氧化碳有关的活动，以此作为解决气候变化危机的方法，是错误的，”他表示。“我们需要做的，是迅速采取更好的技术，这些技术能让我们在不造成全球变暖污染的情况下，改善生活质量。航空旅行是一个特别棘手的问题，目前不包含在《京都议定书》的范围内。李察?布莱信（Richard Branson，英国维珍集团董事长――译者注）正试图找出解决办法。我确实认为，在某些情况下，许多人会减少出行。”
有什么理由不让中国人享受现代生活？
那么，那些涉及面更广的问题呢？中国和印度等发展迅速的国家，在温室气体排放量上正在快速追赶发达国家。目前，中国的温室气体排放量仅次于美国。而且，随着这些国家越来越多的人享受到各种生活便利设备――汽车、空调、电器商品等发达世界人们习以为常的东西――温室气体排放量将进一步增加。西方人享受较高的生活水平已有数十年之久，他们有什么权利让那些刚买得起这些奢侈品的人，放弃享受呢――即便出于拯救地球的名义？
戈尔考虑了一下如何回答。“我们使用那些陈旧技术造成了这种问题，而这些国家有跳过这些技术的机会，”他表示。“你知道，人均拥有光伏（太阳能）电池最多的国家是肯尼亚。我提这一点是因为它表明：对于还没有电网、电话网络和其它设施的国家来说，跳过这些技术，直接使用太阳能之类的东西，其实更经济。”
除了技术，还有一个两难问题仍难以解决――戈尔在美国政界的未来角色。美国的下一位民主党总统，会更易于在气候变化方面采取行动吗？“我正在做的，就是保证这一点。”那么，总统会是他吗？戈尔又喝了一大口健怡可乐。“我不打算再竞选总统。”他立刻补充道：“我没有完全排除这种可能性。但我不希望再次成为一位候选者。这是个毒化的过程，而且几年来越来越如此，尤其是关系到像这样的问题时。”
一位助手进来了，提醒戈尔要赴下一个约会了，他站起身准备走，穿上他的夹克，捋了捋头发，为在走廊里等着跟他打招呼的人们，现出了一个爽朗的公众微笑。他与几个人握了手，随后要迅速赶赴他下一个公开露面的活动，那是在德国，这是他欧洲之行的最后几站之一，随后他将去巴西作讲座。
我走出来，走上克雷贝尔大道，向凯旋门走去，那里记录着拿破仑(Napoleon)的所有战役。惟有滑铁卢除外。
巴黎银行资产管理公司大楼
巴黎克雷贝尔大道5号
1份奶咖
1罐健怡可乐
1份奶油羊角面包
1份杏桃羊角面包
