GreenBeat: Al Gore says Smart Grid part of ‘the single largest solution’ to climate change

GreenBeat: Al Gore says Smart Grid part of ‘the single largest solution’ to climate change

Nobel Prize winner and former vice president Al Gore gave a wide-ranging, passionate talk at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 2009 conference yesterday in San Mateo about combating global warming. We already liveblogged Gore’s talk, but for folks who don’t want to read the blow-by-blow description, here’s a summary.

Perhaps the most significant point: That energy efficiency is “the single largest solution to the climate crisis,” and the Smart Grid will “play a crucial role” in achieving that efficiency.

The… Continue Reading

Al Gore’s new book ‘Our Choice’ — a review by John Doerr

Al Gore’s new book ‘Our Choice’ — a review by John Doerr

[John Doerr is a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He submitted this review to VentureBeat. Al Gore was named a partner at Kleiner Perkins two years ago. Both will be speaking at GreenBeat, our conference on the smart grid on Nov.19]

Al Gore’s new book – Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis – is the perfect and powerful sequel to An Inconvenient Truth.

It is wonderfully accessible and pragmatic…. Continue Reading

Web 2.0 Summit: Al Gore on how the web can solve the climate crisis

Web 2.0 Summit: Al Gore on how the web can solve the climate crisis

Al Gore just finished his talk on the topic of “What Now?” at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco — and yes, the content was as wide-ranging as the title implies.

Despite being an adviser and board member at tech giants Google and Apple, as well as a partner at famed venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfied & Byers, Gore might seem like an odd fit for the summit. After all, most of his recent focus… Continue Reading

Al Gore’s populist sea change

Al Gore’s populist sea change

In less than a decade, cleantech has gone from a geeky, derided niche of the tech world to a growing industry juggernaut. In another decade, could it be the centerpiece of the American political landscape?

The perfect storm is brewing for just that scenario. Concerns over global warming — potentially the greatest challenge the world has yet faced — have coincided with supply shortfalls in oil, which in turn has driven up gas prices during the… Continue Reading

California environmental advisor Terry Tamminen on trains, energy efficiency, Al Gore and more

California environmental advisor Terry Tamminen on trains, energy efficiency, Al Gore and more

Terry Tamminen is the former top environmental advisor of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is also former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has a reputation for having “turned Arnie green”.

Tamminen left his post as permanent advisor in 2006 but says he still advises Schwarzenegger as well as the governors of Florida, Maryland and, Minnesota, on the renewal of environmental legislation. Tamminen also has a role in venture capital: He sits on the… Continue Reading

Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins as a partner — to push green investments

Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins as a partner — to push green investments

Kleiner Perkins, the well-known venture capital firm that backed Google, Netscape, Sun, Amazon and many others, has always had a soft spot for politics.

Now the firm has added former Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore as a partner — in an continued effort to ramp up its investments in the area of green technology. It’s the firm’s latest big name addition. It hired former Secretary of State Colin Powell two years go, and has… Continue Reading