Tidbits: Late Night Shows’ “Climate Night”
Welcome to the first installment of Tidbits! In this series, I’ll feature and react to quotes that speak to me. Look for future posts on song lyrics, books, and other sources!
In honor of NYC Climate Week, seven late night hosts came together on September 22nd to dedicate their air time to discussing climate change. Read more about Climate Night in this New York Times article.
Here are some quotes that resonated with me (as reported by the New York Times).
I love that Meyers lists the impacts of climate change and how they’re affecting everyday people. Many Americans don’t believe that global warming will personally affect them, and it’s often because they don’t see the connection between the warming planet and the many impacts. The warmer planet is affecting all the aspects of our life here. These impacts include increased floods in some areas, droughts in others, wildfires, food insecurity, etc. It’d take me hours to list them all.
And yeah, Billy Joel really should write that update.
It’s really important to draw attention to climate in relation to all these other issues Kimmel mentions here. We’re at a converging point of all of these issues, and we have a huge opportunity to address facets of multiple issues at once. Take climate change and systemic racism– many environmental justice groups are working on community-based climate resilience plans, incorporating community opinions and strengthening trust between vulnerable populations and their local policymakers and officials. A couple of examples are North Carolina’s EJCAN and We Act in New York and Washington D.C.
Young people are the key to climate action. But we’re not just that. We’re people, too. Colbert highlights a really important aspect of working in the climate space, or even being exposed to this climate news at all: the mental toll.
“Climate Doomism” is a growing issue, and when I first really got into the climate space back in 2019, I was hit with a wave of anxiety. It took a while to find the hope and the opportunity I rave about now within all of that, and I’ve told that story on a post about my journey with climate tech.
One of the best parts of climate work for me is that I can get my ideas out there to contribute and do my part as a global and local community member.
Climate and mental health is a serious and personal issue, so I tried not to laugh at the last line. But I laughed anyways. Sometimes we need to lighten the mood!
Climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Climate Night. Be sure to check out her new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. When asked about what individuals can do to contribute to climate action, here’s what she said:
This number shocked me. Only 14%??
Climate change has been all over the news for the last few years, but we’re not consistently having dinner table conversations about it like we do with other aspects of our politics.
It’s super important that we engage more with these issues with our family members and friends and even beyond.
That’s a huge part of why I started getting my ideas down here: I’m hoping people read and gain a new perspective on the climate issue, whether that’s the climate change and extreme weather connection, the ways in which I found opportunities in this crisis, or maybe the projects I’ve done to address some of these issues.
Saving Us is on my reading list! I’ve already been super inspired reading Dr. Hayhoe’s LinkedIn posts and I’m looking forward to checking out the book :). Will write a review when I read it!
Hope you enjoyed this installment of Tidbits and look out for future quotes!