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Al Gore praises companies for their renewable energy plans

Al Gore lauds Salesforce.com, Google, Apple for renewable energy plans http://www.zdnet.com/al-gore-lauds-salesforce-com-google-apple-for-renewable-energy-plans-7000034604/

Summary: The former vice-president president of the United States advised Dreamforce attendees about the necessities (and business opportunities) presented by the “age of renewables.” AN FRANCISCO—Former Vice President Al Gore has many choice words about the ramifications hammering the environment, stemming from corporate influences on politicians and governments worldwide.

But the climate change advocate had a few bits of praise reserved for a select group of big tech corporations — specifically for Google, Apple, and Salesforce.com — while speaking at the close of the latter’s annual expo on Thursday.

“Everyone knows the way we got out of the Great Depression was mobilizing for World War II,” said Gore. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a huge project where we needed to mobilize people around the world for jobs that couldn’t be automated?”

With his talk, Gore hinted we have that major project.

Over the course of an hour, Gore fired off harrowing statistics about many recent natural disasters from China to Guatemala to Colorado over the last few years, followed up by some sobering predictions concerning ongoing droughts and continuously plummeting winter temperatures.

“We’ve got to take responsibility for consequences of our actions endangering the earth,” Gore retorted.

Nevertheless, Gore remained optimistic, insisting that many of these predictions can be curbed with immediate response and action.

“We need to recognize the age of renewables is beginning,” insisted Gore. He emphasized the business opportunities by renewable energy development and technology, asserting that “the private sector is going to finance most of renewable energy.”

Along with championing the aforementioned trio of Silicon Valley titans for their respective energy efficiency goals, Gore highlighted American business magnate and billionaire Warren Buffett as a prime example of an entrepreneur investing heavily in the renewable energy space.

“He’s not someone known for making dumb decisions,” Gore quipped. The Internet, Gore continued, is going to play a huge role in this shift as well. Projecting that the Internet will be more powerful (and influential) than television, Gore cited advertising dollars online surpassed those on the small screen last year.

As a further incentive to the keynote audience filled with sales executives and software developers, Gore observed that “we are always surprised” when technology costs drop dramatically, referencing the development of processors and Moore’s Law as examples. He theorized the same can be done with wind and solar power tech.

Gore concluded, “I’m optimistic about this, but we need to speed it up.”

October 18, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general