The best way to save the planet isn’t necessarily recycling—it’s getting into a voting booth.
That’s according to renowned science educator Bill Nye, TV’s “The Science Guy,” who spoke at the Aspen Festival of Ideas in Aspen, Colorado, last week. “To be safe, recycle the bottles, don’t throw away the plastic [and] compost your compostables… Start there, Nye said.[But] if you want to do one thing about climate change: Vote.”
“And if you’re a kid and you can’t vote yet, make sure your parents do,” Nye, 66, added. “Worry them.”
Nye spoke just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark new ruling that limits the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants. President Biden called the decision, which is expected to make it harder for the U.S. to cut carbon emissions, a “devastating decision.”
Nye called the overwhelmingly conservative Supreme Court a “controversial group” and described the decision as an act of “human negligence.” He noted that the decision puts more onus on the US Congress and state legislatures to pass stronger laws aimed at protecting the environment – although in some cases enforcing those laws can be complicated.
“What we need to do is pass better laws,” Nye said. “The Supreme Court does what the law says, so we just have to pass laws that are more direct, more specific, more in everyone’s interest.”
Nye pointed to laws that would tie fees or taxes to carbon emissions as examples of legislation that could move the needle on climate change, because affecting the wallets of both individuals and corporations could help curb behavior. leading to excessive use of carbon.
“Consider the environment [when voting]” he said. “Don’t just vote for, respectfully, dumb stuff. Vote for better laws to control climate change.”
The consequences of inaction, Nye warned, could be severe, from more powerful storm systems to other devastating natural disasters. It’s also the subject of his upcoming streaming series, The End Is Nye, which is set to debut on Peacock next month. It will address the hypothetical consequences of various natural disasters while exploring potential options for mitigation or preparation.
In Aspen, Nye said the best solution to increasingly powerful storms is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
“What you would do is reduce greenhouse gas emissions so the world doesn’t warm as fast as it’s warming,” he said. “The problem is that the ocean is warming, and then all that energy that’s being stored in the ocean leads to [increased convection] and these great hurricanes.”
Nye also cites research showing that offshore wind turbines can actually slow down hurricanes — similar to inequality, but more expensive financially. “You take the energy from the wind and turn it into electricity. It would be great, but it would be a huge investment… It’s a fascinating idea,” he said.
And just in case you think solving climate change isn’t your responsibility, Nye noted that ordinary, everyday people have helped create this problem: With the global population ticking toward 8 billion people, from just 3 billion , when Nye was a child in the 1960s, the science teacher said, “we have a huge effect on the world.”
“That’s the big message,” Nye said. “People are now the custodians of the whole thing. So we have to consider the whole planet all the time.”
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