Networks Give Obama Megaphone to Push Climate Change Alarmism, Dismiss Critics
After enthusiastically promoting
an upcoming White House climate change report on Tuesday, all three
network morning shows on Wednesday happily touted interviews with
President Obama on the subject and continued to hype the "dire" and
"alarming" findings. Meanwhile, critics were dismissed as an
anti-science minority. [Listen to the audio]
At the top of NBC's Today, co-host Matt Lauer proclaimed:
"Millions coping with the first record-breaking heat wave of the season,
while the White House issues a dire warning about the nation's climate
change." In the report that followed, weatherman Al Roker dutifully
parroted White House talking points: "This report has taken years to
complete with input from hundreds of scientists and technical experts.
The President saying the report's conclusion is clear: If we want to
stop climate change, the time to act is now."
On ABC's Good Morning America,
co-host Robin Roberts announced: "There's an alarming new warning this
morning about extreme weather across the U.S. A new report saying
climate change is real and it's having a huge impact on our lives right
now."
Meteorologist Ginger Zee recounted her interview with Obama: "It was an
honor to get in there, ask some questions...because it's a crucial time
for the President. Climate change is one of those issues that he
promised to attack. To get something done now, it has to happen right
now....And as the report says, it needs to happen, too, for the planet."
CBS This Morning co-host Charlie Rose declared: "A new
government report says Americans are already seeing climate change in
everything from worsening drought to heavier rain." Fellow co-host Norah
O'Donnell added: "In parts of the northeast, southwest, and great
plains, it is more than 1.5 degrees hotter than it was a century ago."
Meteorologist Megan Glaros began her report: "It concludes climate
change is here. Humans are primarily to blame and it's costing us
billions. Despite the politics of the climate change debate, President
Obama told me he hopes these findings will convince people it's time to
act."
Roker
went so far as to push Obama from the left on the issue: "Why has it
taken so long to get to this point where you're sounding this urgency?"
Zee similarly urged action: "The new report, the climate situation that
we're in, seems pretty dire. What do you think you can get done in the
next two years?" Glaros fretted: "Climate change is something that I
think a lot of people don't put as a top priority. How do you change
that?"
The networks mentioned climate change skeptics, but only to reject such opposing viewpoints.
Roker asserted: "97% of scientific studies on climate change say global
warming is caused by humans. And yet, a Gallup poll out last month
found that one in four Americans skeptical of the effects of climate
change and think the issue has been exaggerated. Some critics on Capitol
Hill agree."
After a soundbite ran of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell, Roker lobbed this softball to Obama: "Do you think when it
comes to the American public, that in a sense when it comes to climate
change, they might actually be ahead in their thinking, as opposed to
their elected representatives?"
On This Morning, Glaros lamented: "But while there's little
dispute among scientists about the threat of climate change, politicians
and pundits still express skepticism." Brief soundbites were featured
of Senator McConnell and CNN Crossfire co-host S.E. Cupp questioning the
theory. Glaros pointed out that "a recent Gallup Poll found only one in
four Americans said they worry great deal about climate change."
Wrapping up the segment, she mentioned: "Republican critics and members
of the fossil fuel industry claim the President is pushing a politically
driven agenda meant to justify imposing new and costly
recommendations."
On GMA, Zee briefly noted that "the report isn't being
celebrated by all scientists." A soundbite followed of one such
scientist that the ABC morning show didn't even bother to identify: "The
administration prefers to address climate change by imposing
regulations to try to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. I don't think
it's gonna pay out at the end because you're not going to see the
effects."
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.