Chris Mooney at Mother Jones zeroed in Monday on what we should hope is the way all climate change debates should be run in the future:
For over a decade, people like me have been explaining why so-called "balanced" coverage—in which journalists devote "equal time" to both sides of a "controversy"—is totally inappropriate when it comes to climate change. But many in the mass media, especially cable shows, have continued to regularly host climate "debates" in which one skeptic debates one climate science defender…or, lately, in which one skeptic debates Bill Nye the Science Guy.
That's what made John Oliver's climate segment last night, on his new HBO show Last Week Tonight, so perfect. Not only did Oliver explain why there's no debate at all over global warming; he then demonstrated what an actually appropriate televised debate might look like.
Mooney concludes: After this, you'll never view a climate change "debate" the same way ever again.
But neither should Bill Nye. He's a smart guy and he may have done more to turn kids onto science than any other one person on the planet. He surely has better things to do with his time than—by the very fact of sitting at the same table with them—lending legitimacy to these ignoramuses and shills.
Watch the complete video under the fold.
Here is the video segment: