On Monday morning, MSNBC host Ana Cabrera let New York Times writer David Wallace-Wells have a segment to hype the current heat wave and push for the elimination of fossil fuel use. This expert is not a scientist. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in... History.
His book has drawn rave reviews from the Left. “The Uninhabitable Earth, which has become a best seller, taps into the underlying emotion of the day: fear," touted The New York Review of Books. The New York Times Book Review added, “A brilliant new book. . . . a remorseless, near-unbearable account of what we are doing to our planet."
After recalling for viewers that a larger number of worshipers died in Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, she noted the heat wave in much of the U.S. with flooding in some places. After bringing aboard her environmental alarmist guest, the MSNBC host posed: "We're seeing this extreme weather across the country and around the world -- is this the new normal? Is it going to get only worse?"
Wallace-Wells talked up the alleged need to eliminate all carbon emissions as he began:
The only time the temperatures are going to stop rising is if we get our carbon emissions all the way down to zero, and even though we're doing a lot better on that mark than we were a few years ago, we're looking at, at best, another 20, 40, maybe even 50 years before we really get all the way to zero. Which means for that entire period I think things are going to be getting harsher, more intense, climate impacts growing.
He then predicted that global warming would cause more deaths in the future, and then soon complained about there being more political polarization on the issue in the U.S. than in other countries:
Well, in different parts of the world, that question can be answered in different ways. You know, there are other parts of the world where there is much more consensus among the public. And a recent global poll just suggested that 80 percent of the world's population wants their governments to do more to combat climate change. So I think in the U.S. we're dealing with an unusually polarized country. We have, you know, a culture that is divided along partisan lines more than other parts of the world.
After predicting that there is hope that Republicans in the U.S. would support the green agenda to get more federal money spent in red states, Wallace-Wells hoped that the U.S. would become more like other countries on the issue:
I hope that means that in a few years time climate change is less of a divisive issue than it is now. I hope that that means that U.S. culture and politics resemble other parts of the world in short order. But we'll see. At the moment, I think our greatest -- our greatest teaching tool is the climate itself which is showing us every summer just how intense its wrath can be.
Cabrera followed up by asking what individuals could do to make matters better, leading him to push for the use of electric cars and eating less red meat. It was not mentioned that electric cars still depend on power plants that use fossil fuels to produce the electricity they use, undermining the liberal journalist's call for the world to bring carbon emissions to zero.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC Reports
June 24, 2024
11:50 a.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: Turning to Saudi Arabia where authorities say more than 1,300 people died during the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca amid extreme heat. During this year's Hajj, temperatures soared to as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit according to the Saudi national center for meteorology. And here in the U.S. this morning, more than 40 million people are under heat alerts. Today the scorching heat could again bring temperatures above 100 degrees for some cities. Meanwhile, there has been catastrophic flooding which has killed at least two people. Iowa declaring a disaster in 21 counties.
Joining us now, David Wallace-Wells, a science writer for the New York Times. David, good to see you. We're seeing this extreme weather across the country and around the world, is this the new normal? Is it going to get only worse?
DAVID WALLACE-WELLS, NEW YORK TIMES: The only time the temperatures are going to stop rising is if we get our carbon emissions all the way down to zero, and even though we're doing a lot better on that mark than we were a few years ago, we're looking at, at best, another 20, 40, maybe even 50 years before we really get all the way to zero. Which means for that entire period I think things are going to be getting harsher, more intense, climate impacts growing.
We're going to be able to navigate some of that and figure out how to live among some of those impacts, to some degree. But, as we're seeing especially in the poorer parts of the world and maybe most dramatically on Saudi Arabia during the Hajj, there are going to be many people who are just too vulnerable, and some of them dying as a result, others just suffering intensely. And that's the future that we're heading towards inevitably now.
CABRERA: Yeah, 1,300 people dying in the Hajj. That is unbelievable. Now, this climate crisis of course affects everyone -- our health, agriculture, economy, equality. Why do you think climate change has become such a politically charged topic?
WALLACE-WELLS: Well, in different parts of the world, that question can be answered in different ways. You know, there are other parts of the world where there is much more consensus among the public. And a recent global poll just suggested that 80 percent of the world's population wants their governments to do more to combat climate change. So I think in the U.S. we're dealing with an unusually polarized country. We have, you know, a culture that is divided along partisan lines more than other parts of the world. But I think even here there are signs that climate action and green energy decarbonization are becoming actually less intensely polarized than they used to be in part because green energy is turning into such a good business for red states.
So there are still Republicans who want to downplay the risks of climate change, but I doubt that they're going to be turning away the money from the IRA to help support their booming renewable industries in Texas and South Dakota and North Dakota, all the way across the midwestern states. I hope that means that in a few years time climate change is less of a divisive issue than it is now. I hope that that means that U.S. culture and politics resemble other parts of the world in short order. But we'll see. At the moment, I think our greatest -- our greatest teaching tool is the climate itself which is showing us every summer just how intense its wrath can be.
CABRERA: Yeah, we can highlight all the impacts that affect millions and millions of people, but I think for many it just feels hopeless like "There's nothing I can do to impact this, though." So people just do kind of ignore it. What can we do on a personal level in terms of even how we think and talk about climate change? And is there action that can be taken on an individual basis?
WALLACE-WELLS: If you want to cut your carbon footprint, the things that you can do to do that are to buy an electric car if you can afford it, fly less or not at all, and stop eating red meat. But much more important are the actions that we can take at the social scale because the kinds of investments that are possible through federal legislation and through regulation that are possible, are much, much larger than anything we can achieve as individuals.
CABRERA: David Wallace-Wells, thank you so much for the conversation. It's not an issue going away anytime soon and could only get more dire. Important to have these conversations. Thanks.
