CBS's Late Show host Stephen Colbert has been less a late night comedian and more a radical Democrat for quite a while. So it’s not shocking that even Bill Gates wasn’t radical enough for Colbert. The Microsoft co-founder appeared on CBS Monday night to promote his alarmist new book How to Avoid a Climate Crisis.
Unsurprisingly, Colbert hailed the “bold” plans of the Biden administration and touted the Green New Deal as “swinging for the fences”:
These challenges are enormous, and certainly in the United States the most bold proposal is the Green New Deal, though the Biden administration also has some proposals they haven't rolled out yet. But they claim to be swinging from the fences. Who's doing a good job in the world right now at this? Who's working the hardest to prevent it?
But when Gates offered a positive comment about using nuclear power, Colbert pounced, “People look at nuclear a little askance, and I'm sure you can understand why. There have been nuclear accidents. I'm not sure if you saw HBO’s Chernobyl, but it was a bit chilling, about the possibility there would be a large hunk of eastern Europe would not be inhabitable for several thousand years. Is it possible to do nuclear power safely?”
After Gates refused to totally adopt hatred for nuclear power, Colbert increased his hyperbole: “Not to push against someone who knows more about this than I do. But isn't the danger with nuclear reactors not so much that other forms of energy don't kill people in the long run, but that a large chunk of the planet doesn't become uninhabitable as a result of an accident when nuclear radiation is spread like a poisonous sauce over Ukraine?”
Of course, Colbert didn’t hammer Gates on his admission to having “one of the highest greenhouse gas footprints of anyone on the planet.” But kudos to the late night host for at least challenging Gates on the disaster engulfing wind-powered Texas:
Governor Abbott down in Texas says their problem was green energy down in Texas. That's why they didn't have power, so the water system shut down and the heaters shut down and the pipes burst. What's your response to someone who wants to blame green energy for there latest crisis?
Gates dodged, “Well, the problem was they didn't weatherize any of their power sources, so natural gas shut down, and that was the biggest thing. The wind shutting down was a very small percentage.”
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A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS's The Late Show
02/22/2021 (02/23/2021 on East Coast)
12:10 a.m. (on the East CoastSTEPHEN COLBERT: Well, during this quarantine, a lot of people have taken up some side projects, like, you know, baking or doing crossword puzzles. You did a slightly different one. You wrote this book, How to Avoid a Climate Crisis. How do we avoid it, when The New York Times is already reporting that climate disruption is already baked in to our future?
(....)
COLBERT: These challenges are enormous, and certainly in the United States the most bold proposal is the Green New Deal, though the Biden administration also has some proposals they haven't rolled out yet. But they claim to be swinging from the fences. Who's doing a good job in the world right now at this? Who's working the hardest to prevent it?
BILL GATES: Well, the U.K. Is very impressive because they have almost no coal plants left, and they were the start of the coal-based industrial revolution. They are getting the offshore wind to cost a lot less. Norway buys the most electric cars. So there's a lot of leaders, but the U.S. Is the most important because we can innovate. We have universities, national labs, risk capitol. We look to the world to make all these green products very cheap, and that will give us a chance to export those products as well.
(....)
COLBERT: Hey, everybody! We're back with the author of How to Avoid a Climate Crisis, Bill Gates. Governor Abbott down in Texas says their problem was green energy down in Texas. That's why they didn't have power, so the water system shut down and the heaters shut down and the pipes burst. What's your response to someone who wants to blame green energy for there latest crisis?
GATES: Well, the problem was they didn't weatherize any of their power sources, so natural gas shut down, and that was the biggest thing. The wind shutting down was a very small percentage.
(....)
COLBERT: Well, I mean, people look at nuclear a little askance, and I'm sure you can understand why. There have been nuclear accidents. I'm not sure if you saw HBO’s Chernobyl, but it was a bit chilling, about the possibility there would be a large hunk of eastern Europe would not be inhabitable for several thousand years. Is it possible to do nuclear power safely?
(....)
COLBERT: Um, not to push against someone who knows more about this than I do, but isn't the danger with nuclear reactors not so much that other forms of energy don't kill people in the long run, but that a large chunk of the planet doesn't become uninhabitable as a result of an accident when nuclear radiation is spread like a poisonous sauce over Ukraine?
