97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and that humans are causing it. However, an astonishing amount of people in the US refuse to believe scientific experts and spread blatantly false information. Strange behavior, since we all live on the same planet, and presumably trust science when we need medical treatment. (What's that, Doc? I have herpes? Fake news! These blisters are just part of my natural cycle!)
Last October the world's top scientists published a landmark report warning that we only have 12 years to limit the climate catastrophe before we reach a point of no return. If the planet exceeds a maximum temperature of 1.5C (34.7F) by even half a degree, the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty become significantly worse. The authors mapped out several ways to address this emergency, including technological changes, reforestation, shifts to electric transport systems and greater adoption of carbon capture technology.
However, President Donald Trump, an environmentally unfriendly longtime climate change skeptic, refuses to "believe" dire reports by scientific experts. Two days ago, the governments of 187 countries agreed to control the movement of plastic waste between national borders. The United States of America was not one of them. Evidently, tribal partisan politics has infected environmental issues, which affect us all, from "the left" to "the right."
How do you change a climate skeptic's mind? Maybe it's impossible, due to the "sunk cost fallacy:" Instead of making a rational decision, people let their judgment be tainted by emotional investment, and the more they invest in something, the harder it becomes to abandon it. But nevertheless, Bill Nye tried his best on the latest episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Watch Bill Nye drop F-bombs while discussing climate change and the Green New DealIn the informative, hilarious segment, Oliver discusses the Green New Deal, which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey proposed recently. (And no, the Green New Deal does not aim to "permanently eliminate all Planes, Cars, Cows, Oil, Gas & the Military" as President Donald Trump falsely claimed, among other Republicans.)
"It is a non-binding resolution that very briefly sets out some extremely aggressive goals, including achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, meeting 100% of the country's power demand through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources and creating millions of good, high-wage jobs in the United States," explained Oliver. "The whole Green New Deal is just 14 pages long. That is seven pages shorter than the menu for the Cheesecake Factory."
To help explain the climate crisis and carbon taxes, Oliver enlisted Bill Nye, who hosted the children's science TV show Bill Nye The Science Guy in the 90's. (Plus a recent Netflix reboot!) However, this rant was not kid-friendly! The entertainer comically lost his temper, dropping multiple F-bombs and setting a globe on fire.
"By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another four to eight degrees," Nye said. "What I'm saying is the planet's on f***ing fire. There are a lot of things we could do to put it out -- are any of them free? No, of course not. Nothing's free, you idiots. Grow the f**k up. You're not children anymore. I didn't mind explaining photosynthesis to you when you were 12. But you're adults now, and this is an actually crisis, got it? Safety glasses off, motherf***ers."
Hey, you can see why he's mad! The full segment is available to watch on YouTube.