Hyping the latest alarmist global warming study on Sunday's NBC Nightly News, fill-in anchor Carl Quintanilla proclaimed: "A new U.N. report out today warns the world must act now to address climate change to avert disaster." In the report that followed, correspondent Anne Thompson fretted: "The report says time is running out to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Melting ice sheets that will raise sea levels and swamp coastlines. Stronger heat waves and droughts that could put the world's food supply at risk....The U.N. panel says the world must act now." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
A soundbite was included of the report's lead author, Leon Clarke: "If we wait for more than about ten or fifteen years, we really make it extremely difficult for us to keep climate from changing substantially, and really, exposing ourselves to some substantial harms." Thompson followed: "To protect itself, the report says the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 to 70% by the year 2050 and be near zero by 2100."
Thompson touted: "The report acknowledges all of this has a price, but not one that would sink the world's economy." Another clip played of Clarke: "That's absolutely the case. And all the scenarios that are explored in this report, we still find robust economic growth." Thompson warned: "The cost and difficulty will only increase, says the U.N., the longer the world waits to act."
Thompson declared: "Now, the panel says there's no time to waste. Our emissions are rising despite all our talking. And that the longer we wait, the harder and more expensive this job becomes."
In her reporting on Sunday, Thompson ignored a recent study by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change that countered the findings of the U.N. panel.
Thompson's coverage was part of NBC's renewed effort to push the climate change agenda. On April 6, the network aired an hour-long documentary on the topic, with host Ann Curry emphasizing how "Ninety-seven percent agree that as humans burn fossil fuels...the planet warms."
On March 31, all three networks hyped U.N. climate change warnings. The sensationalism on NBC was particularly striking, as Nightly News anchor Brian Williams ranted: "The world has never been spoken to quite this way. We've never been warned like this before, all of us, about climate change....unless the world changes course quickly and dramatically, the fundamental systems that support human civilization are at risk."
Here is a full transcript of Thompson's April 13 Nightly News report:
6:42 PM ET
CARL QUINTANILLA: A new U.N. report out today warns the world must act now to address climate change to avert disaster. Details from our chief environmental affairs correspondent Anne Thompson.
ANNE THOMPSON: The report says time is running out to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Melting ice sheets that will raise sea levels and swamp coastlines. Stronger heat waves and droughts that could put the world's food supply at risk, particularly the basic crops of wheat and corn. The U.N. panel says the world must act now.
LEON CLARKE [IPCC COORDINATING LEAD AUTHOR]: If we wait for more than about ten or fifteen years, we really make it extremely difficult for us to keep climate from changing substantially, and really, exposing ourselves to some substantial harms.
THOMPSON: To protect itself, the report says the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 to 70% by the year 2050 and be near zero by 2100. Those are the emissions we create burning oil, coal, and gas for power and transportation. In its place, the report calls for a low-carbon energy supply. Tripling renewable power – solar, wind, and geothermal – more nuclear power, coal – only if carbon is captured and stored – or instead of coal, cleaner-burning natural gas, a bridge to a greener future.
ALAN LESHNER [AAAS CEO]: It's like an insurance policy because we don't have the answers to everything, other than that we know there's a tremendous risk.
THOMPSON: But it may not be enough. The report warns by the second half of this century, we may need technologies to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. This video illustrates one company's idea.
GEOFFREY HOLMES [CARBON ENGINEERING SCIENTIST]: We're trapping over 100 kilos of CO-2 here every day.
THOMPSON: Currently, only forests remove carbon dioxide from the air on a large scale. The report acknowledges all of this has a price, but not one that would sink the world's economy.
CLARKE: That's absolutely the case. And all the scenarios that are explored in this report, we still find robust economic growth.
THOMPSON: The cost and difficulty will only increase, says the U.N., the longer the world waits to act. Anne Thompson, NBC News, Detroit.
