Since it’s Friday, we’re pulling the tired science teachers’ favorite trick, and rolling out the TV cart for Bill Nye!
The Science Guy has been doing the media rounds lately, promoting a new documentary that charts his path from school-kid hero to his emerging role unofficial face of the climate advocacy. Here’s the trailer, and if we’re not mistaken, there seems to be a cameo or two from one Dr. Michael Mann!
On Tuesday, Nye was the guest on The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. Prior to his scheduled guest segment, Nye dropped in on the end of Klepper’s look at what’s going on at the EPA. In the second segment (starting around the 10 minute mark) Klepper points out how Pruitt’s approach to the environment isn’t to protect it, but to profit off of it. So Pruitt gets some backhanded praise for being the pimp the environment has needed. He also get some faux pity from Klepper for being under attack by the fairies from Fern Gully (the 1992 cartoon dubbed “Millennial's Silent Spring” that pitted forest fairies against loggers and an oil monster). We love Klepper’s take that Pruitt is not just letting foxes into the henhouse, but basically turning the EPA “into a foxhouse… with a couple traumatized chickens in the corner.”
Speaking of being traumatized in a corner, Klepper’s fellow Daily Show alum Samantha Bee dedicated this week’s episode of “Full Frontal” to climate change. Bee goes in depth on extreme weather, including a fun parody version of Ingrid Michaelson’s “Not OK,” performed by Michaelson herself. To keep with the seasonal spirit, the show puts a group of climate change deniers through their own version of a Haunted House. In the end one woman even claims to no longer be so skeptical--not because of the frights, but because of how kooky she found her fellow deniers.
Like Klepper, Sam Bee finds plenty to mock in Scott Pruitt (admittedly, it’s not hard). She goes after his gutting of science advisory boards, and how he reversed years of EPA course and opened up Alaska’s Pebble Creek for a company to exploit only an hour after reportedly meeting with an executive from that company.
The best part of episode is that the show provides form letters for viewers to send the EPA after she reads makes a request for a hearing on the Clean Power Plan repeal. In the interest of fairness, she provides one letter to send if you love Sam, and another if you hate her (NSFW language there, so do give it a read.)
Then on Wednesday, Stephen Colbert introduced a new segment, “Skeletons in the Cabinet,” featuring Scott Pruitt. Colbert talked about the EPA’s censorship of climate scientists, and showed muzzled scientists how they can use charades to communicate climate change without speaking those foul words. To close, Colbert demonstrated how scientists could to use a certain single-finger salute to “send a powerful message to Scott Pruitt.”
While winning the comedy circuit is hardly even a consolation prize, using it as an entry point to prompt public comment is certainly helpful. If nothing else, maybe it’ll give the traumatized chickens something to enjoy while hiding in the foxhouse.
Top Climate and Clean Energy Stories: