By Jessica Santini
On Monday morning, February 27th, 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders sat down to interview Bill Nye “The Science Guy” for a Facebook Live Chat on climate change.
Right off the bat, Nye describes climate change as “potentially catastrophic,” adding “you can hate me… but the problem is the speed in which the world is warming.”
He continues to describe how even the smallest rise in oceanic temperature has a huge impact on the world:
“Half the people in the world live near coastlines,” he says. “As the ocean gets a tiny bit warmer it gets a tiny bit bigger, but the ocean is big and a tiny bit is huge.”
It seems Sanders and Nye have no patience for climate change deniers, even comparing the “extreme skeptics” to those who once denied- despite the evidence- that tobacco causes cancer. Nye emphases that there is no question that humans are causing climate change. “The scientific facts are overwhelming,” Nye says. “The science is settled.”
But for those who just can’t wrap their heads around the truth, Nye has another proposition as to why we should invest in clean energy technology: the economy.
“Here’s the thing…that I find intriguing and important: these would be US jobs… if we can get people on that side of this issue to look at it even in the medium turn, there’s a huge opportunity. If we can show an economic benefit to turning things around, we can turn things around.”
Between solar, wind, geothermal, and more, Nye and Sanders agree that, “We could power the entire US renewably right now if we just decided to do it.”
Nye brims with excitement at the possibility of the US being a world leader in renewable technology.
“I’m a patriot,” he gushes, adding, “This is solvable… and the US could be a world leader in this. I want the US to be a world leader in this stuff!”
Us too, Bill. Us too.
Watch the full interview below:
