Bill Nye Defends Alarming White House Climate Change Report; CNN Host Accuses Scientists of 'Bullying'
Bill Nye "The Science Guy" defended the recent White House climate change report calling for major action in a recent appearance on CNN's "Crossfire," while host S. E. Cupp accused scientists of "bullying" anyone who doesn't agree with them on climate change.
"How do you want to get public consensus? By saying that it is not happening? That is not serious? That shorelines aren't flooding?" Nye asked in response to Cupp saying that despite recent reports on the negative impact of climate change, polling numbers have shown that only 36 percent of Americans believe it is a serious threat.
The "Crossfire" host then accused scientists like Nye of "bullying" those who disagree with such reports, and the government of trying to use "scare tactics" on people.
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"The science group has tried to shame anyone who dares question this,"Cupp said.
The National Climate Assessment, released by the White House earlier this week, details the far-reaching impacts of climate change on the environment and on people's lives. It says that evidence shows that human-made impact "continues to strengthen" and that "Americans are noticing changes all around them."
The report was criticized by some politicians, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said that "liberal elites" demand strong action on climate change but fail to reduce their own carbon footprint.
"Even if we were to enact the kind of national energy regulations the President seems to want so badly, it would be unlikely to meaningfully impact global emissions anyway unless other major industrial nations do the same thing," McConnell said about reducing industrial pollution, CNN reported.
Nye, who is also the CEO of science-advocacy group The Planetary Society, said that Americans are indeed seeing the effects of climate change in their lives, with the severity of tornadoes that hit towns in states like Oklahoma, Hurricane Sandy that decimated the East Coast region in 2012, droughts in California, crop failures, and other problems.
Climate Change was one of the topics addressed in the post-debate interview between Nye and Creation Museum CEO Ken Ham in February.
When asked about his thoughts on climate change, Ham said that it has existed ever since "the flood of Noah's day."
When CNN host Piers Morgan accused Ham of not believing in global warming, the Creation Museum president said: "I didn't even tell you what I believe about global warming. I didn't say I believe in global warming. I believe in climate change, because we see that and have records of that."
Nye and Ham recently debated focused on the question "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era?" which was watched online by an estimated three million people.
