Launching NBC’s week of left-wing environmentalist propaganda leading up to Earth Day, on NBC’s 3rd Hour Today show Monday morning, co-host Al Roker sat down for a softball chat with the Biden administration’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The longtime TV weatherman was particularly excited that the new EPA chief was pressuring auto companies into taking internal combustion vehicles off the road.
“From California’s record-shattering 2020 wildfires to the unprecedented hurricane season in the south, climate change is reshaping the country’s landscape and coastlines. Science is telling us that time for action is quickly running out,” Roker warned viewers as the taped portion of the segment began. Turning to Biden’s EPA administrator, Michael Regan, Roker worried: “How urgent is our position as far as our climate’s concerned?”
After Regan assured that “it’s not too late” to address the “climate crisis,” Roker eagerly touted: “All eyes are on the administration ahead of this week’s Earth Day summit, where they’ll announce the nation’s new commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.” Regan predicted that at the upcoming Thursday event “the President is going to announce a really ambitious number, and I believe that most people will be really excited about how aggressive that number’s going to be.”
Roker hoped for the most draconian government regulations possible: “Reductions of 50% or more are possible, nearly doubling President Obama’s pledge in 2015.” He especially fretted that after a Republican being in the White House “there’s ground to make up, where the past four years of environmental deregulation and inaction has left its mark.”
Openly lobbying for radical Democratic Party policies, Roker tried to sell the massive proposed “infrastructure” bill being pushed by Biden: “The EPA is also part of the President’s trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Money budgeted for climate-related projects in the billions.”
Following Regan’s assertion that “Cars, larger vehicles, are a significant contributor” to fossil fuel emissions, Roker applauded the EPA trying to dictate what products private companies should sell: “Regan confirming his agency is in talks with U.S. automakers about transitioning traditional fuel-burning cars off the road.”
NBC’s climate crusader wondered: “How are you going to nudge those combustion engine vehicles off the road, when they’re lasting 10, 12, 15 years?” Regan replied that the government would bring sufficient “pressure” to bear on the industry until it caved: “We’re having those conversations right as we speak. It’s our job to be sure that we set the rules of the road, so that they have the right amount of pressure to move and get there as quickly as possible.”
Roker never bothered to ask how Americans would be able to afford significantly more expensive electric vehicles once the internal combustion engine was effectively banned by the Biden administration.
The morning show host fawned over Regan, noting that in addition to working “to save our planet,” the EPA chief was “also making history in his new role” as the first African-American to hold the position. The topic then turned to race relations, with Roker hinting at environmentalism being a civil rights issue: “What do you think can be done right now to help address those, especially communities of color, that are so disproportionately affected by air pollution, water pollution, things like that?”
Regan provided a predictably woke response:
Environmental justice and equity has to be a part of the DNA of EPA. Systemic racism is a problem in this country, and the environment has not escaped that. We have to take a look at where those injustices have occurred.
Since Biden was sworn into office, Roker has been cheering on the administration’s determination to impose its radical climate agenda by fiat and even strategized with billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates on how big tech could shut down “climate deniers.”
When it comes to this issue, Roker is nothing more than a partisan hack rooting for whatever stringent measures the Democratic Party wants to enforce.
Roker’s blatant attempt to sell Biden’s leftist climate agenda was brought to viewers by Procter & Gamble and Progressive. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a full transcript of the April 19 segment:
9:15 AM ET
AL ROKER: We’re back with our series Today Goes Green. Earth Day is coming up on Thursday and NBC News is launching a week-long look at the state of our climate challenge. Thursday, the White House will hold a virtual climate summit with leaders from all around the world. Ahead of it, I got the chance to have an exclusive talk with the man helping lead the Biden administration’s efforts to solve the crisis.
From California’s record-shattering 2020 wildfires to the unprecedented hurricane season in the south, climate change is reshaping the country’s landscape and coastlines. Science is telling us that time for action is quickly running out. The man tasked with combating this emergency and carrying out President Biden’s ambitious climate agenda is Michael Regan, the new Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
How urgent is our position as far as our climate’s concerned?
MICHAEL REGAN [EPA ADMINISTRATOR]: We’re facing a climate crisis, no doubt. And if we rally the world, it’s not too late.
ROKER: All eyes are on the administration ahead of this week’s Earth Day summit, where they’ll announce the nation’s new commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
REGAN: I think that the President is going to announce a really ambitious number, and I believe that most people will be really excited about how aggressive that number’s going to be.
ROKER: Can’t tell us right now?
REGAN: I want to keep my job and not get out in front of the President. [Laughter]
ROKER: Reductions of 50% or more are possible, nearly doubling President Obama’s pledge in 2015. And there’s ground to make up, where the past four years of environmental deregulation and inaction has left its mark.
The EPA is also part of the President’s trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Money budgeted for climate-related projects in the billions. But so far, it’s struggling to get bipartisan support.
REGAN: Climate change is having a significant impact on our existing, aging infrastructure. But we also need to think about our infrastructure in the context of transportation. Cars, larger vehicles, are a significant contributor.
ROKER: Regan confirming his agency is in talks with U.S. automakers about transitioning traditional fuel-burning cars off the road. How are you going to nudge those combustion engine vehicles off the road, when they’re lasting 10, 12, 15 years?
REGAN: We’re having those conversations right as we speak. It’s our job to be sure that we set the rules of the road, so that they have the right amount of pressure to move and get there as quickly as possible.
ROKER: Beyond having those tough conversations, to save our planet, Regan’s also making history in his new role. You are the first black man to be the head of the EPA. Is that significance lost on you?
REGAN: Not at all. It’s an honor and a privilege. We have to prove to this world that being a black man should not be a disqualifier, and that this agency won’t lose a step because of black leadership.
ROKER: What do you think can be done right now to help address those, especially communities of color, that are so disproportionately affected by air pollution, water pollution, things like that?
REGAN: Environmental justice and equity has to be a part of the DNA of EPA. Systemic racism is a problem in this country, and the environment has not escaped that. We have to take a look at where those injustices have occurred.
ROKER: And as for the rest of the agenda –
REGAN: I think the President will establish during the summit that we are back, and that we are capable of being in a leadership role. So the rest of the world should look out.
ROKER: Well, the U.S. and China, in fact, the world’s two top polluters, John Kerry, President Biden’s climate czar, recently meeting with Chinese leaders. And now, both countries pledging to enhance efforts and cooperation on climate. China invited to the summit, not clear if they’re going to attend. And tomorrow, I give you a firsthand look at GM’s new emissions-free production facility outside of Detroit.
SHEINELLE JONES: I’m so glad you’re doing this. I mean, the days go by, and it’s very easy to not think about it. But then when you do these kinds of stories, Vicky Nguyen a little earlier this morning, showed us where all those cardboard boxes are going, it makes you realize, we have to do something.
DYLAN DRYER: Right, the recycling. Right.
ROKER: And you know, Michael Regan’s got a 7-year-old son and he said even the kids are reminding the older folks. By older, he’s not really that old.
JONES: No, it’s true.
ROKER: To stop running the water when you’re brushing your teeth, doing different things that we can all do.
DRYER: Even just the recycling thing. It’s, you know, become a thing with the boys. I walk them down the hallway, and we recycle all the plastic and the paper. And you know, it’s just those little things. Kids are growing up in a different world than we grew up in.
JONES: Yeah, yeah, good deal.
DRYER: Great conversation.
