If at first you don’t succeed in convincing viewers global warming is a problem, try, try again. That must be the NBC “Today” show’s motto.
The morning show crew announced Nov. 6 it will air the second annual “Ends of the Earth” feature beginning Nov. 17. The show’s four co-hosts will travel to “fragile yet beautiful places, locales, for an up-close look at how the planet is changing and what those changes mean for all of us,” weatherman Al Roker said.
“Today” co-anchor Matt Lauer said the 2008 installment will focus on “the world’s most precious and essential resource. We’re talking about water.”
News anchor Ann Curry promised the feature would offer “an intense look at what’s happening to our planet, especially with global warming.”
But in the segment announcing the feature, “Today” didn’t acknowledge the irony of sending four hosts – and camera crews, producers and other crew – to remote locations to talk about global warming. The trips will pump tons of carbon emissions – which global warming alarmists point to as a major culprit in climate change – into the atmosphere.
The first “Ends of the Earth” in November 2007 emitted an estimated 24.9 tons of carbon in one week [1]. The average American is responsible for 7.5 tons of carbon emissions per year [2], according to the Web site for Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Curry said the network was not yet revealing where the hosts would travel in 2008. But this year’s trips might emit even more carbon, because all four co-hosts including Meredith Vieira will travel. In 2007 only Lauer, Roker and Curry flew to the “ends of the earth.”
An NBC press release about the trip promises that "Today" will offset the "carbon footprint" left by the trip, including advance surveys of the locations. The release did not explain how the network would calculate or pay for its emissions.
Coincidentally – or not – the segment will air during November sweeps, a time of year when television networks try to boost ratings due to extra scrutiny of viewer numbers.
“Ends of the Earth” isn’t the show’s only carbon-belching stunt. A four-day series in January 2008 – just ahead of February sweeps – called “’Today’ Goes Green [3]” showed viewers things they could do be more energy efficient like changing light bulbs [4] or carpooling to work [5]. In that segment the hosts complained about how inconvenient carpooling turned out to be.
In February the show flew an airplane over New York Ci [6]ty declaring, “Giants Rule, Meredith Drools” to pay off a bet between Vieira and Lauer over the Super Bowl.