Bill Nye’s consistency on his chosen issues rivals most politicians; you’ll never find the Science Guy flip flopping. One of his most notorious crusades involves climate change, and he feels so deeply on this impending crisis that he can even parody his own gloom and doom on occasion. Nye can tie almost anything to climate change, including flooding and terrorism. Now, he’s ready for Republicans to discuss the issue, and he can think of a few ways to make this happen.
During a visit to the Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, Nye discussed the lack of concern among Republican candidates when it comes to the global climate. Of course, much of this has to do with party constituents choosing to look past scientific data. Rush Limbaugh doesn’t help matters by telling his radio audience, “If you believe in God then intellectually you cannot believe in man-made global warming.” We also see three-hour GOP debates where it’s okay to spend three minutes on the issue of climate change, and Republican voters aren’t complaining.
Nye believes part of the problem is that certain candidates receive funding from the fossil fuel industry. Also, the party skews older, and Nye points out that climate denial tends to be a generational thing. Yet he thinks the party will soon realize they’ll have to woo millennials to win a general election:
“Don’t be surprised, after the conservatives, the Republicans, pick somebody, this person goes, well, I’ve been thinking about it and climate change is a big issue. Because I don’t think they can quite get enough — I don’t think the party can quite get enough votes without millennials. Climate denial is almost entirely generational. Only now and then do you meet a young person — nobody your age is a climate denier. Very few. It’s all old people.”
Nye also places partial blame upon reporters who won’t pressure Republicans into confronting the issue, which is a fair point. Donald Trump deflects so well, and neither Ted Cruz nor John Kasich have been grilled on the subject during a debate. However — and this is telling — Marco Rubio received a question during his final debate. The Florida senator answered by insisting humans don’t cause climate change, which was not a wise move in a state with an ongoing flood crisis. A few days later, Rubio got trounced in Florida. Rubio had other campaign problems, but going into denial mode about an issue that affects his home state was the kicker. If the GOP frontrunners were also forced to get real about climate change, who knows what could happen.