An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power Page #7

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well, Prime Minister Modi,

has been very, very clear

that their concern is

not just the existence

of technology,

but their access

to that technology.

So... With what trust

do they let go

of the whole fossil fuel

development model

that has been paraded in front

of them for 150 years,

and now we're saying,

"Excuse me,

this parade, it's done."

"Now we have to build

a different parade for you."

It would be most helpful

if that focus on renewables

can be seen from the developing

- country's perspective.

- Yeah.

But is that something

that you could

devote some time to

while you're here?

Of course.

I'm trying to solve

an Indian problem,

first and foremost.

Their plan is to build 400

new dirty coal plants.

Uh, and that's a disaster.

When India goes to borrow money

to build solar farms

or wind farms,

they have to pay 13%

plus an FX uncertainty.

And that is manifestly absurd.

Hey, Ben.

- Hey, Cory.

- Very good to see you.

Hey, Ed. How are you?

The challenge for us

is to find a way to make

renewables as cheap as coal,

and then partner with them

so that we don't build

this huge infrastructure

that will continue to provide

more carbon dioxide

decades in the future.

India has this plan,

200 gigawatts of coal.

I met with their energy

and power minister,

Piyush Goyal, in Delhi.

I asked,

what would it take to shift

another 100 gigawatts

from coal to renewables?

His answer was

incredibly specific.

Access to credit.

And, of course, with the

future of human civilization

in the balance,

we should probably

- ratchet that up a little bit.

- Wow.

More than 65%

of the world's carbon pollution

comes from the developing world.

Now, we're not pointing fingers.

This isn't a question of blame.

But we're here to change it.

The reason

that talks are stalled?

Because the U.S. government

put countries like India

as culprits,

as criminals, climate criminals.

And I don't think the U.S.

should be allowed

to get away with that.

Fabius has asked for

an urgent meeting, one on one.

They're getting frustrated

at the pace of the negotiations.

The long-term goal?

You spend a lot of time

each year in India.

So my narrow interest

is a way around

these high interest rates that

the Indians are

so concerned about

in deploying solar and wind.

But we're not gonna

sort that out

in the next couple of days.

Yeah.

The overnight deluge

of some 300 millimeters of rain

in a span of 18 hours

has wreaked havoc.

The news is

that it's only gonna get worse

and the flood waters are rising.

India's fourth-largest city

was paralyzed

by the heaviest rains

in more than a hundred years,

which cut off more than

three million people

from basic services for days.

It's amazing that

while we're here

and India is a holdout,

they're having this.

Part of their thing

is that they need more money

to deal with it, right?

So the sticking point is also

on that side in terms of

developed countries not

wanting to give that money.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yes.

During the days that we are here

in this conference,

we have seen a repeat

of the pattern of more floods

and landslides.

Indeed today, in Chennai,

these events continue.

They have had

1,500 millimeters of rain

in the last several weeks alone.

Five feet of rain.

The number of people

who have been killed

is in the hundreds.

Tens of thousands

have been relocated.

This is not the first time

this has happened.

Every storm is different now

because of the climate crisis.

Prime Minister Modi went from

Paris back to Tamil Nadu

and said, "We are feeling

climate change's"

"fast-growing impact now."

No, no, it's all right.

I'm sorry to call you

on a Saturday evening.

So, the other sticking point

is, um, you know, credit

at a sufficiently

low interest rate

to allow India to borrow.

Uh, and...

But that's a separate issue.

So, here is the idea that I had.

Elon has a record

of giving up IP

on some of the core aspects

in Tesla.

You know, you take it

and do what you can with it.

I talked to President Hollande

about it also.

I didn't mention the company,

uh, but I mentioned

the general idea.

Hollande and Ban Ki-moon,

and I'm sure, at least

at the ministerial level,

with India,

we could have, uh, you know,

halo equity for SolarCity

that would be incredible.

But before I call

Lyndon or Elon,

I wanted to run it by you.

Yeah, would you, please?

And also send me Lyndon's

cell phone if you have it.

Lyndon?

Hi, it's Al Gore.

I have a big idea for you.

SolarCity could be

the corporate hero of Paris

by announcing that it will give

the technology

to the new world-champion

solar cell

to India.

Well, here's the logic

for it, Lyndon.

The big holdout here

in the negotiations is India.

Yeah, but that's up

to them, okay?

That's up to them.

I'm talking about

breaking the impasse

and getting them over the hump.

Give it some thought, my friend.

Bye.

So he swallowed hard and said,

"Ugh, I might have

to think about that."

We'll see.

It's crunch time

at the climate change

conference in Paris.

With a deadline

for a deal fast approaching,

it's clear that...

There's still some really tough

negotiations going on

among developed

and developing nations.

There is an argument

about who's responsible

for climate change,

who should pay

for the consequences.

What do you think

of the global warming summit

in Paris this week?

I think it's ridiculous.

We have bigger problems

right now.

To have the President be there

for an extended

period of time talking about

global warming

being the biggest problem

facing this country is insane.

He ought to get back to work

and solve the ISIS problem.

So, Mr. Minister,

John Kerry asked me

to talk with you

and explain some of the details

on this extraordinary gift

being proposed by, uh,

the premier solar energy company

in the United States.

Give me the, uh, material.

"It's a hybrid polysilicon..."

And this is, uh...

It is a "silicon-based

bifacial PV cell"

"that combines

n-type substrates,"

"copper electrodes,"

"thin-film passivation layers"

"and a tunneling oxide layer"

"that yields

high conversion efficiencies."

And if, in return for this,

India remove its potential

objections to

the climate treaty,

then he said SolarCity

would be willing to do this.

Is there any precedent

for a technology

transfer to happen so quickly?

Well, you all know

about computer chips,

but let's take

a more mundane example.

Uh, cell phones.

Back around 1980,

I was in

the House of Representatives,

and I was so excited to buy

one of the very first

mobile phones.

Honestly, I felt that thing

was so cool.

And now there are

more mobile phones

than there are

people in the world.

Most of it in

developing countries

that had no landline

telephone grid.

And so they could leapfrog

and get telephone service

for the first time.

Well, guess what?

There are a lot of countries

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