“It’s deliberate blindness and it’s going to kill us.”
This is how climate activist Miranda Whelan described the position of leaders such as Good Morning Britain, who this week literally refused to face the facts about climate change that she presented to them.
Her interview with Richard Madley and Ranvir Singh on the show has struck a chord online, with many comparing the segment to a TV interview in Don’t Look Up, where Jennifer Lawrence’s character says: “We’re trying to tell you that the whole planet is about to be destroyed. ! “and the interviewer, played by Cate Blanchett, replies:” It’s just something we’re doing here, keep the bad news bright! “
But the hosts of GMB did not just avoid. The interview became a three-on-one segment, an attack on the messenger. The two hosts and another guest appear to have described Welihan herself – part of a protest group peacefully blocking oil terminals in the UK as part of a campaign to force the country to give up oil – as a simple-minded, inexperienced and untouchable hypocrite.
Madley, 65, dismissed the much younger Welihan’s argument not on the basis of his merits, but hinted that he was “quite childish.” He called the protesters’ slogan “Just stop the oil” simple or, as he put it, “very much like a playground.”
Welihan replied: “The answers are actually very simple – we need to stop the new oil licenses. With the oil reserves we have now and the oil fields we have that are still working, that would provide us with eight years of oil.
Whelehan’s counterpoint to Good Morning Britain was to include Lowry Turner in the discussion. Turner describes himself on his website as “a well-known journalist and television operator who is now a qualified hypnotherapist and nutritionist.” She, like Madley, attacked the messenger.
“The problem I have is the idea that a group of people have decided that they are the ones who will save the world and there is an incredibly irritating face of a certain poet – I get it on me here – like, ‘How dare you tell us you ask because we know what is right. Sincerely, Miranda is 20. I am more than twice her age. I have children. I have a job, I have an elderly mother. We have to get on with our lives. ”
Turner cynically described eco-activism as “for the ego.”
“We had a winter without protests and now, as the sun rises, it’s time for an eco-festival. This is a festival. This is a jamboree. Let’s sit with a poster. Let’s go to social networks. Let’s advertise what a great person I am. ”
“The people the activists need to focus on are the government, not ordinary people.”
Journalist Lowry Turner said the protesters were “incredibly irritating” and should target the government with their protests, not ordinary working people. pic.twitter.com/vqDOYu5M3P
– Good Morning, United Kingdom (@GMB) April 11, 2022
“I just can’t believe you’re saying that,” the almost silent Welihan replied. “The UN tells us that if we reach 1.7 degrees warming, half of the population will be exposed to uninhabitable conditions.
Singh interrupted: “The point is, it’s not just about telling the facts over and over, it’s about the actual protests and the break.”
Then Madley stepped in and asked Wilhan about her clothes.
The segment brought waves of comments, including Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay, who retouched the video and wrote: “God bless this activist for hanging out there with this TV creature [Madeley]. #JustStopOil I wonder how much money this show takes to advertise fossil fuels. Or is the host naturally so ignorant? Or both?”
God bless this activist for hanging out with this TV creature. #JustStopOil
– Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) April 12, 2022
GreenpeaceUK tweeted: “#DontLookUp had to be a satire. I feel pretty real right now. ”
#DontLookUp was supposed to be a satire.
I feel pretty real right now. #JustStopOil pic.twitter.com/tLRnJTqJj2
– Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) April 12, 2022
In an article she later wrote for The Guardian Whelehan wrote: “The worst thing is that these presenters and journalists think they know better than top scientists or academics who have been studying the climate crisis for decades and refuse to listen. something else.
You can watch the full GMB interview below.
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