NBC Nightly News is at it again, trying to scare its audience about the impending dangers of climate change. Following two reports [1] in early May [2], the Tuesday, May 20 Nightly News hyped how there’s “a new warning about some iconic American treasures including the threat to Lady Liberty herself.”
Fill-in host Lester Host introduced the segment by declaring that our “American treasures... might one day be something we read about in history books rather than places we visit.”
Holt then turned to Anne Thompson, NBC’s chief environmental affairs correspondent, to fret that “some of the sites that tell the story of our past face a present and future threat. Wildfires, floods, and sea level rise that the Union of Concerned Scientists say are driven by climate change.” The NBC reporter went on promote the report’s dire warning:
Today's report list 30 sites including Jamestown, Virginia, barely above sea level. The report says the first English colony could be underwater by the turn of the century. At the Kennedy Space Center storm surges now threaten launch pads that sent Americans to the Moon. Near Yosemite the gold rush town of Groveland, California already faces warmer, drier summers, increasing the wildfire risk.
Thompson then played footage from the apocalyptic film The Day After Tomorrow showing the Statue of Liberty underwater before announcing:“Today's report says the real threat is rising waters. Here's what five feet of sea level rise would look like. Two years ago Superstorm Sandy delivered a real life preview of coming attractions. Forcing Liberty Island to temporarily close."
In typical NBC fashion, the report included no soundbites or quotes from scientists questioning the alarmist nature of the latest climate change report. Instead, Thompson included video of two scientists promoting the report including Adam Markahm who bemoaned that “There are going be places we learn about in school that we'll no longer be able to visit or see in the future unless we do something about this problem.”
Thompson concluded her global warming propaganda by insisting:
The report praises that decision and the relocation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Moved more than a half mile to protect it from an eroding coast in 1989. Planning for nature's increasing unpredictability to preserve our nation's past.
Transcript below.
NBC Nightly News
May 20, 2014
LESTER HOLT: Still ahead as we continue a new warning about some iconic American treasures including the threat to Lady Liberty herself.
....
LESTER HOLT: There's a new report out tonight about the long-term effects of climate change on some great American treasures. Dozens of them across the country that might one day be something we read about in history books rather than places we visit. We get our report tonight from our chief environmental affairs correspondent Ann Thompson.
ANNE THOMPSON: It's that time of year when families pile into the car to discover America. Yet some of the sites that tell the story of our past face a present and future threat. Wildfires, floods, and sea level rise that the Union of Concerned Scientists say are driven by climate change.
ADAM MARKHAM: There are going be places we learn about in school that we'll no longer be able to visit or see in the future unless we do something about this problem.
THOMPSON: Today's report list 30 sites including Jamestown, Virginia, barely above sea level. The report says the first English colony could be underwater by the turn of the century. At the Kennedy Space Center storm surges now threaten launch pads that sent Americans to the Moon. Near Yosemite the gold rush town of Groveland, California already faces warmer, drier summers, increasing the wildfire risk.
BRENDA EKWURZEL: Because we've identified places at most risk we can take steps now to try to preserve our national heritage. And so that's encouraging.
THOMPSON: This is how Hollywood envisioned the future of the Statue of Liberty. Today's report says the real threat is rising waters. Here's what five feet of sea level rise would look like. Two years ago Superstorm Sandy delivered a real life preview of coming attractions. Forcing Liberty Island to temporarily close.
UNKNOWN PERSON: This room was completely flooded all the way up to here.
THOMPSON: And ending a 200 year tradition of people living on the island. The report praises that decision and the relocation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Moved more than a half mile to protect it from an eroding coast in 1989. Planning for nature's increasing unpredictability to preserve our nation's past. Ann Thompson, NBC News, New York.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter. [3]