"Pitching back in between and forth between the Poles, Will began to notice our warming world, wrote one of the first books about it. Now the old explorer has set himself a new challenge. Here in his home of the great northern Minnesota woods he's teaching the next generation how to rally support and solve the problem."
Dotson didn't ask any skeptical questions or air any soundbites from global warming critics, preferring to set up Steger to pontificate about climate change:
Dotson: "All those years in the wilderness gave Will time to think deeply about why the world is in trouble."
Will Steger, environmentalist: "The real problem was that America is socially disconnected. And the solution lies in connecting socially."
Dotson: "What's tougher? Battling the elements or people's attention spans?"
Steger: "You know it's really the attention span. For 20 years we've been battling the public opinion on global warming but now it's really putting a human face on global warming."
Dotson: "Like Chris Anderson's. He volunteered to help Will but his friends?"
Chris Anderson: "I don't see them out here."
Dotson: "That, of course, is the problem, getting the message to stick. What keeps you going when the circle of caring expands so slowly?"
Steger: "You have to go where, you know, where there's resistance. That's where the adventure lies and that's where, that's where you make changes."
Dotson: "As Will Steger has done in his 62 years. Many preach about saving the planet, Will just puts his boots on and goes. For Today, Bob Dotson, NBC News, with an American Story at the edge of the world."
After the piece the "Today" cast continued the exhortation of Steger:
Ann Curry: "Sobering message about our beautiful planet. When I see a glimpse of it."
Lauer: "Impressive guy."
Curry: "Yeah very..."
Natalie Morales: "A beautiful piece too. A beautiful story."
The following is the full segment as it aired on the August 20th, edition of the "Today" show:
First up Curry, teased viewers at 8:49am with a story of impending danger to the Earth:
Curry: "Up next we'll be talking about a man who travels to the ends of the Earth and now he's raising a red flag about what he's seeing out there. We're gonna meet him in just a moment but first this is Today on NBC."
Then at 8:55am Lauer introduced the Dotson segment:
Matt Lauer: "And Today's American Story with Bob Dotson takes us to the top of the world to meet a man who blazes a trail in frigid surroundings with an eye on the future. Will Steger hikes across continents of ice, so far, more than 40,000 miles and counting."
Will Steger: "I try to piece together what areas haven't been crossed before."
Dotson: "Will Steger has explored the unknown, a foot at a time, for 40 years."
Steger: "It's only by walking on it and skiing on it, day after day, month after month, that you can get a sense, really, a planetary sense of what's, what's happening here."
Dotson: "He leads legendary polar expeditions."
Steger: "Every ice shelf I've ever been on is collapsing into the ocean. It shows you how fast the climate is changing."
Dotson: "Pitching back in between and forth between the Poles, Will began to notice our warming world, wrote one of the first books about it. Now the old explorer has set himself a new challenge. Here in his home of the great northern Minnesota woods he's teaching the next generation how to rally support and solve the problem."
Steger: "This one went on the North Pole, 86."
Dotson: "Steger doesn't give lectures, he gives himself."
Steger, digging: "See how deep this is here."
Dotson: "Working alongside small groups of kids who want to save the planet."
Steger: "I really believe that this generation is gonna take, take on this. This is gonna be their issue."
Dotson: "Will designed this center where they can talk out solutions."
Steger: "That's a great building stone."
Dotson: "Built it by hand, deep in the woods."
Steger: "And we dog-sledded a million pounds of gravel. Three miles, three hills, all the way to our place."
Dotson: "He approached all this like he did his explorations. A little dreaming, a lot of planning."
Steger: "I bought this land when I was 19."
Dotson: "Made the down payment with a $20 travelers check and a $5 bill, left over from his first expedition. His parents insisted he pay for his adventures."
Steger: "I used to cut lawns, caddied, baby sit my brothers and sisters."
Dotson: "Eight of them."
Steger: "One bathroom, I should add.
Dotson: "They grew up in the Minneapolis suburbs."
Steger: "My parents never camped out a day in their life."
Dotson: "But they gave him the freedom to work for his dream."
Steger: "I put myself through college."
Dotson: "Then taunt himself to survive on the trail. All those years in the wilderness gave Will time to think deeply about why the world is in trouble."
Steger: "The real problem was that America is socially disconnected. And the solution lies in connecting socially."
Dotson: "What's tougher? Battling the elements or people's attention spans?"
Steger: "You know it's really the attention span. For 20 years we've been battling the public opinion on global warming but now it's really putting a human face on global warming."
Dotson: "Like Chris Anderson's. He volunteered to help Will but his friends?"
Chris Anderson: "I don't see them out here."
Dotson: "That, of course, is the problem, getting the message to stick. What keeps you going when the circle of caring expands so slowly?"
Steger: "You have to go where, you know, where there's resistance. That's where the adventure lies and that's where, that's where you make changes."
Dotson: "As Will Steger has done in his 62 years. Many preach about saving the planet, Will just puts his boots on and goes. For Today, Bob Dotson, NBC News, with an American Story at the edge of the world."
Ann Curry: "Sobering message about our beautiful planet. When I see a glimpse of it."
Lauer: "Impressive guy."
Curry: "Yeah very..."
Natalie Morales: "A beautiful piece too. A beautiful story."
