Bill Nye: Trump "could be a world leader" with sensible climate change legislation
Bill Nye has a message for President Donald Trump.
"We could power the entire United States renewably right now if we just decided to do it," Nye said, addressing the president, in an interview with Mic. "You could be a visionary. You could be a world leader in this."
Nye, the mechanical engineer turned beloved science communicator, is having a moment. The former "Science Guy" has a new show, Bill Nye Saves the World, premiering on Netflix April 21; he walked the runway at New York Fashion Week in February; and he's been a regular guest on cable news shows, including a now-famous appearance and sparring match with Fox's Tucker Carlson. Mic spoke with Bill Nye at a special screening for his new show at New York City's Paley Center.
Bill Nye's message for Trump
Mr. President, climate change is a very serious issue. Let's go, let's get to work on it. There [are] enormous opportunities.
Nye also suggested that Trump's focus on bringing back dying jobs in the fossil fuel industry is the wrong direction:
Certain jobs will no longer be needed. My grandfather rode a horse into World War I. Nobody rode a horse into World War II.
On his new show, and the importance of science in today's political climate:
We're trying to save the world. This is to say, there are a lot of issues facing society that can be approached with a scientific perspective and our belief as good nerds is that the scientific perspective is valid. In fact, the scientific perspective is more valid, more important than what you might believe.
On why climate change denial still persists:
People have a worldview that they grow up with. Let's say you're from Oklahoma, and have a belief, quite reasonably, that you couldn't influence the climate of an entire planet. Your nearest neighbor is [a] kilometer, two miles away, or whatever it is, so you just don't think it's possible. So then you grow up confronted with all this evidence, you can either change your worldview, which you've held your whole life, or deny the evidence. Furthermore, [they] deny or attack the authorities that would provide that evidence — coming up with this ... conspiracy of tens of thousands of scientists who all have slideshows on Wednesday nights. I think that the climate change denial will run out of steam very quickly.
