--- title: Al Gore and Jerry Brown On Climate Change and Clean Energy description: TIME speaks with leaders who are sounding alarms about the environment canonical: https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-29T10:00:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:13:03.473Z article:section: Science og:title: Al Gore and Jerry Brown on America’s Renewable Future og:description: TIME speaks with leaders who are sounding alarms about the environment og:url: https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4950d1b40f0fdb4d/6988db99656a3f0d7cbd178f/renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Al Gore and Jerry Brown on America’s Renewable Future twitter:description: TIME speaks with leaders who are sounding alarms about the environment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4950d1b40f0fdb4d/6988db99656a3f0d7cbd178f/renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Al Gore and Jerry Brown on America’s Renewable Future by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Aug 29, 2017 10:00 AM UTC  This aerial photo shows wind power stations next to a solar fields on Aug. 04, 2017 in Bernsdorf, Germany. This aerial photo shows wind power stations next to a solar fields on Aug. 04, 2017 in Bernsdorf, Germany.Florian Gaertner—Photothe/Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Aug 29, 2017 10:00 AM UTC Cities and states around the U.S. are vowing to fight climate change, using President Trump’s decision to [leave the Paris accords](http://time.com/4802845/how-president-trump-decided-to-exit-the-paris-agreement/) to galvanize their movement. Many climate policy experts say there is promise in a bottom-up approach, with sub-national governments leading charges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spur innovation in clean energy regardless of what might be materializing on the national stage. Dozens of American cities have pledged to use 100% renewable energy by 2050 or earlier. But the most ambitious goal may be coming from California. Lawmakers in the state, which is home to one in eight Americans, are considering legislation that would require all of the state’s power to come from sources such as wind and solar by 2045\. “It’s about the world,” California Gov. Jerry Brown said at a [recent signing ceremony](http://time.com/4871996/california-cap-trade-bill-signing-brown-schwarzenegger/) for another climate bill, “and California is leading that world in dealing with a principal existential threat humanity faces.” TIME spoke with Brown, as well as environmental crusader Al Gore, about what’s happening in energy now and how it might shape America’s future. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/"},"headline":"Al Gore and Jerry Brown on America’s Renewable Future","datePublished":"2017-08-29T10:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:13:03.473Z","description":"TIME speaks with leaders who are sounding alarms about the environment","url":"https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/","keywords":["energy","Environment","climate change","Jerry Brown","Al Gore"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4950d1b40f0fdb4d/6988db99656a3f0d7cbd178f/renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4950d1b40f0fdb4d/6988db99656a3f0d7cbd178f/renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"renewable-energy-wind-turbine-al-gore-jerry-brown.jpg","caption":"This aerial photo shows wind power stations next to a solar fields on Aug. 04, 2017 in Bernsdorf, Germany.","creditText":"Florian Gaertner—Photothe/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/energy/","name":"energy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4919529/al-gore-jerry-brown-climate-change/","name":"Al Gore and Jerry Brown on America’s Renewable Future"}}]}] ```