On Tuesday, CBS This Morning was in awe of radical climate change activist Greta Thunberg, hailing the 16-year-old from Sweden as “the voice of the planet” and touting her plan to sail across the Atlantic to attend a United Nations climate summit in New York. The report particularly applauded Thunberg for scolding the United States and President Trump for not doing enough to stop global warming.
“A teenager from Sweden called ‘the voice of the planet’ is ready to cross the Atlantic on a mission to fight climate change....She’ll be sailing from Europe to New York to call on world leaders to protect the environment,” co-host Anthony Mason proclaimed as he introduced the segment early in the 8:00 a.m. ET hour. The headline on screen echoed: “‘The Voice of the Planet’; 16-Year-Old Climate Activist Sailing From Europe to New York.”
Reporting from Stockholm, correspondent Roxana Saberi fawned: “Greta Thunberg doesn’t like all this attention....But the 16-year-old travels from stage...to stage...with a warning – we’re running out of time to tackle climate change.” After promoting other children skipping school to join Thunberg’s climate protests, the reporter gushed: “All of these people are here to see Greta, a sign of just how much her message is resonating here in Sweden and across Europe.”
Saberi then celebrated the teenager’s next move:
Now she’s taking her message to the other side of the Atlantic. She’s setting sail on a solar-powered boat, bringing a message to a U.N. summit in New York. The journey could take two weeks, but Greta says she doesn’t fly because of the environmental impact of air travel.
Interviewing Thunberg, Saberi wondered: “How would you rate the United States’ climate change efforts?” After Thunberg responded with “Not very high,” Saberi fretted: “Why not?” Thunberg replied: “Because, I mean, the emissions are still rising.” Saberi rushed to bolster the point: “The U.S. releases more carbon emissions than any country except for China. Greta wants all governments to cut emissions in line with the Paris Climate Accord, which President Trump has rejected.”
The reporter then asked: “Would you meet with President Trump?” Thunberg rejected the idea: “Why should I waste time talking to him when he, of course, is not going to listen to me?”
Saberi declared: “But judging by her millions of followers on social media, the climate strike she’s inspired in the U.S. and across the world and the number of politicians who want to hear her speak, many people are listening.” She asked for tips from Thunberg: “What can each of us do to fight climate change?” Thunberg urged: “To get aware and to try understand what is going on, what is happening. And also, of course, to put pressure on people in power.”
Following the taped report, Mason marveled: “For an introverted young lady, she’s speaking with a very loud voice.” Fellow co-host Gayle King sounded like one of Thunberg’s adoring fans: “She’s so wise beyond her years and so poised. I heard her speak in Stockholm this past summer and the room was mesmerized by this little girl.”
Just a couple weeks ago, King and various other liberal celebrities met in Italy for a posh climate change summit while hypocritically traveling there via private jets and super-yachts, not solar-powered sailboats.
Co-host Tony Dokoupil joined his colleagues in cheering Thunberg and hammered the U.S. as well: “Yeah, and heading here. This is the country to come to, we are a major contributor to global warming and a major denier of the science that the rest of the world has signed on, on.”
King concluded: “She makes you think.” Dokoupil agreed: “She does.”
The liberal media have been infatuated with Thunberg since her climate strikes started making international news:
CNN's Zakaria Gives 15-Year-Old Forum to Push Climate Alarmism
CNN Touts Children Promoting Global Warming Alarmism
NBC, CBS Promote Teens Skipping School to Protest Global Warming
‘Eco-Anxiety’: Vogue Advises Parents On Kids With Climate Change ‘Nightmares’
Flying Shame: Vox Guilt-Trips Air Travelers Over Climate Impact
Now the American press eagerly await her arrival in the U.S. to shame the country for its refusal adopt economically-damaging environmental policies.
Here is a full transcript of the August 13 report on CBS This Morning:
8:05 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: A teenager from Sweden called “the voice of the planet” is ready to cross the Atlantic on a mission to fight climate change. In this morning’s Eye on Earth, we follow Greta Thurnberg. She’ll be sailing from Europe to New York to call on world leaders to protect the environment. She leads a global youth movement and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Roxana Saberi met Greta in her hometown of Stockholm.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: “The Voice of the Planet”; 16-Year-Old Climate Activist Sailing From Europe to New York]
ROXANA SABERI: Greta Thunberg doesn’t like all this attention.
GRETA THUNBERG: I very, very introverted and shy, privately.
SABERI: But the 16-year-old travels from stage...
THUNBERG: You are not mature enough to tell it like it is.
SABERI: ...to stage...
THUNBERG: We know what is at risk, and we will never stop. [Cheers and applause]
SABERI: ...with a warning – we’re running out of time to tackle climate change.
THUNBERG: I wanted to act as if the house was on fire, because it is.
SABERI: Greta says having autism gives her the focus and determination to act. Her actions started with a solitary strike outside Sweden’s parliament last year. Now she’s far from alone. Sisters Sarah and Katie O’Callahan have skipped school to join her on her weekly strikes.
SARAH O’CALLAHAN: Since we started school striking, we’ve like -- we’re vegetarian, we don’t eat –
KATIE O’CALLAHAN: We don’t eat dairy –
SARAH: No.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN [REPORTER]: That’s because of Greta?
SARAH: Yeah.
KATIE: Yeah. We don’t take the car as much as we used to. We cycle to school.
SARAH: We cycle and take the train and stuff.
WOMAN [REPORTER]: So she’s really changed your lives?
SARAH: Yeah.
KATIE: She’s changed them for the better.
SARAH: Yeah.
SABERI: All of these people are here to see Greta, a sing of just how much her message is resonating here in Sweden and across Europe. Now she’s taking her message to the other side of the Atlantic. She’s setting sail on a solar-powered boat, bringing a message to a U.N. summit in New York. The journey could take two weeks, but Greta says she doesn’t fly because of the environmental impact of air travel.
THUNBERG: They say to listen to us, and now that it is up to them to prove that they have listened.
SABERI: How would you rate the United States’ climate change efforts?
THUNBERG: Not very high.
SABERI: Why not?
THUNBERG: Because, I mean, the emissions are still rising.
SABERI: The U.S. releases more carbon emissions than any country except for China. Greta wants all governments to cut emissions in line with the Paris Climate Accord, which President Trump has rejected.
Would you meet with President Trump?
THUNBERG: Why should I waste time talking to him when he, of course, is not going to listen to me?
SABERI: But judging by her millions of followers on social media, the climate strike she’s inspired in the U.S. and across the world and the number of politicians who want to hear her speak, many people are listening.
What can each of us do to fight climate change?
THUNBERG: To get aware and to try understand what is going on, what is happening. And also, of course, to put pressure on people in power.
SABERI: Critics dismiss Greta as alarmist, too young, and too inexperienced. But she says this climate crusade must go on if her generation is to have a future.
For CBS this morning, Roxana Saberi, Stockholm, Sweden.
MASON: For an introverted young lady, she’s speaking with a very loud voice.
KING: She’s so wise beyond her years and so poised. I heard her speak in Stockholm this past summer and the room was mesmerized by this little girl. Because you go, “Oh, okay, she’s gonna be a little kid speaking.” But the words that came out of her mouth gave everybody something to think about that. And you see that there, too.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Yeah, and heading here. This is the country to come to, we are a major contributor to global warming and a major denier of the science that the rest of the world has signed on, on.
KING: She makes you think.
DOKOUPIL: She does.
