On Monday morning, NBC’s Today show and CBS This Morning read from the same liberal script as reporters on both networks hyped exaggerated predictions in a new government climate change study. Amid all the fearmongering, correspondents hammered “deniers” like President Trump for not forcing dramatic reductions in fossil fuel emissions.
“This report says our climate is changing faster than at any other time in modern civilization. And it’s because of the fossil fuels we burn to get around and power our lives,” correspondent Anne Thompson gravely declared on the Today show. She then warned: “Climate change is, in effect, loading the dice for more extreme and destructive weather events in the future, and we are already feeling the impacts.”
After citing recent wildfires and hurricanes as “real-life previews of coming disasters,” Thompson teed up a soundbite from one of the authors of the dire report by fretting: “...if we don’t immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe implored: “The faster we reduce our emissions, the less adaptation will be required, and ultimately, the less suffering there will be.”
Despite the hysteria, Thompson worried: “The information in the report comes from 13 federal agencies, but President Trump, a big proponent of fossil fuels, isn’t convinced that global warming is a manmade phenomenon or that the planet will continue heating up.”
Following the taped segment, co-host Craig Melvin scolded the President for expressing skepticism:
So last week, amid that brutal cold snap, President Trump tweeting, here’s the tweet that the President posted last week, he said, “Brutal and extended cold blast could shatter all records – whatever happened to global warming?” And that does seem to be the argument that a lot of climate change deniers use.
Thompson argued: “...the other thing you need to look at, are long-term trends. And that’s what climate change is about.” Co-host Savannah Guthrie chimed in: “And the President’s talking about weather. You’re talking about climate.”
“Andrew Light, one of the reports editors, says evidence humans are causing climate change is undeniable,” correspondent Tony Dokoupil announced on CBS This Morning. He touted far-reaching predictions in the study: “By 2090, rising seas could cause $118 billion in property damage every year. Heat waves now last more than 40 days longer than they did in the 1960s. By 2090, outdoor workers could lose $160 billion in wages from extreme heat.”
Moments later, Light warned of a doomsday scenario: “Towards the end of the century, you could see the United States economy losing hundreds of billions of dollars every single year and tens of thousands of Americans dying every single year because of climate change.”
Rather than challenge that wild assertion, Dokoupil instead went after the President: “President Trump has said that manmade climate change is a ‘very expensive hoax,’ and last year, he pledged to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, that’s a global agreement to actually do something to slow global warming.” No acknowledgment was given to any of the major flaws in the climate agreement.
The segment concluded with co-host Norah O’Donnell assuring viewers: “And that report by many agencies has the science behind it.”
Since the climate report was released on Friday, many in the media have rushed to demand action. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, New York Times reporter Helene Cooper actually called on people to “be hysterical” over the issue. On Friday, MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi tastelessly claimed that being on the “wrong side” of climate change was like being “on the wrong side of cancer.”
The eagerness with which supposed “journalists” abandon skepticism when presented with information that confirms their own biases is stunning to watch.
Here is a full transcript of Thompson’s November 26 report on NBC’s Today show:
7:12 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: The White House pushing back against an alarming government report on climate change that was quietly released over the holiday weekend. NBC’s Anne Thompson covers the environment for us, she joins us this morning. Good to see you, Anne.
ANNE THOMPSON: Good to see you, too, good morning. This report says our climate is changing faster than at any other time in modern civilization. And it’s because of the fossil fuels we burn to get around and power our lives. Climate change is, in effect, loading the dice for more extreme and destructive weather events in the future, and we are already feeling the impacts.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Grave Climate Change Warning; New Report Warns of Worsening U.S. Disasters]
The deadly wildfires scarring California. The torrential rains of Hurricane Harvey. Real-life previews of coming disasters warns the federal government report on climate change, if we don’t immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe is one of the reports lead authors.
KATHERINE HAYHOE: The faster we reduce our emissions, the less adaptation will be required, and ultimately, the less suffering there will be.
THOMPSON: The report states that by the end of the century, annual average temperatures in the U.S. could increase anywhere from 2 to 11 degrees. That means more heat-related deaths, more cases of asthma and hay fever, less food production as harvests decline. Daily high-tide flooding in the southeast, while mountain snowpacks shrink, affecting water supplies. The economic price, the report says, would be enormous.
BRENDA EKWURZEL [UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS]: It’s more than $100 billion each year by the end of the century.
THOMPSON: Those damages could slice as much as 10% off of the U.S. economy by the end of the century. The information in the report comes from 13 federal agencies, but President Trump, a big proponent of fossil fuels...
DONALD TRUMP [AUGUST 22, 2017]: We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal.
THOMPSON: ...isn’t convinced that global warming is a manmade phenomenon or that the planet will continue heating up.
TRUMP [AXIOS ON HBO, NOVEMBER 2, 2018]: Is there climate change? Yeah. Will it go back like this? I mean, will it change back? Probably, that’s what I think.
THOMPSON: The White House, responding to the report, says it’s “largely based on the most extreme scenario” and argues the U.S. is “leading the world in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”
CRAIG MELVIN: So last week, amid that brutal cold snap, President Trump tweeting, here’s the tweet that the President posted last week, he said, “Brutal and extended cold blast could shatter all records – whatever happened to global warming?” And that does seem to be the argument that a lot of climate change deniers use. What do you say to that?
THOMPSON: Absolutely. Well, look, we’re always going to have winter during this era of climate change and it’s going to be cold in some places and hot in other places. And the other thing you need to look at, are long-term trends. And that’s what climate change is about. And for example, if you look at last year, for every record cold day we had, we had three record hot days. In a stable climate system, that ratio should be one to one. It’s out of balance in favor of hot days.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And the President’s talking about weather. You’re talking about climate.
THOMPSON: Exactly.
MELVIN: Anne Thompson, always good to have you.
THOMPSON: Good to see you.
Here is a full transcript of Dokoupil’s November 26 report on CBS This Morning:
7:35 AM ET
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Well, a new government report says manmade climate change is already reeking havoc on the U.S. and it will only get worse in the coming decades. The report from 13 federal agencies warns of more destructive western wildfires, longer heat waves in the southeast, and more powerful Atlantic hurricanes. It says climate change could shrink the U.S. economy by hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century. Tony Dokoupil is at a midwest farm already struggling with the effects. He’s in Versailles, Indiana. Tony, good morning.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Good morning. Well, it might seem a little bit odd to cover global warming while standing in a heavy coat, but here in the midwest, the concern is not just about higher temperatures, but a large and costly increase in precipitation. What you’re looking at here is a field of ruined soy beans, too wet to harvest. And the farmer you’re about to meet says he’s lost 20 acres this way, all a casualty, he says, of climate change.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Climate Change Problems; U.S. Farmers Struggling With Effects of Global Warning]
JIM BENHAM [INDIANA FARMERS UNION PRESIDENT]: It’s like chewing gum, they’re just too wet.
DOKOUPIL: Jim Benham says he doesn’t need a PhD to know that things have changed.
BENHAM: When we have a rain event, we’re not getting an inch, we’re getting two and three and four inches.
DOKOUPIL: This year, many of his soy beans are too soggy to harvest. They’d turn to paste if he tried. And what’s worse, the 67-year-old farmer says all this rain isn't just bad luck, he believes it’s climate change.
BENHAM: It doesn’t take a scientist to know that you got a problem. That’s what I’m experiencing.
DOKOUPIL: And scientists agree. In the Fourth National Climate Assessment issued Friday, 13 federal agencies warn climate change will reduce midwest agricultural productivity to levels of the 1980s. Andrew Light, one of the reports editors, says evidence humans are causing climate change is undeniable.
ANDREW LIGHT [WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE SENIOR FELLOW]: The part of the country that’s gonna get worse fastest is actually the midwest where – which is the bread basket of America.
DOKOUPIL: The rest of the country doesn’t fair much better. The report says sea levels around the U.S. Have risen about 9 inches. By 2090, rising seas could cause $118 billion in property damage every year. Heat waves now last more than 40 days longer than they did in the 1960s. By 2090, outdoor workers could lose $160 billion in wages from extreme heat.
In 2015, wildfires burned more than 10 million acres, that’s larger than the state of Maryland. As recent wildfires like the Camp Fire have left California devastated, the report warns of hotter, drier conditions in the west.
LIGHT: Towards the end of the century, you could see the United States economy losing hundreds of billions of dollars every single year and tens of thousands of Americans dying every single year because of climate change. This is all avoidable at this point.
DOKOUPIL: Avoidable in theory. President Trump has said that manmade climate change is a “very expensive hoax,” and last year, he pledged to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, that’s a global agreement to actually do something to slow global warming.
Now, the authors of this report, a report put out by the Trump administration, oddly enough, say that for every dollar spent addressing that warming, you can expect a savings of three to seven dollars. Norah?
NORAH O’DONNELL: And that report by many agencies has the science behind it. Tony, thank you.
