On Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur touted the “drop in pollution” as a “positive consequence of the pandemic” that has killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world and left tens of millions unemployed.
Talking to Penn State University professor and climate activist Michael Mann, she hoped Americans would seize on this “unique” “opportunity” to “change our habits.”
Late in the 2:00 p.m. ET hour, Tur proclaimed:
“An unexpected yet positive consequence of the pandemic has been a drop in pollution, specifically carbon pollution, which fell 17% worldwide at the peak of the global stay-at-home orders.
“That’s mostly the result of fewer vehicles on the road, but also fewer planes in the sky and factories being closed as well.”
SEE ALSO: No, The Coronavirus Lockdown Hasn’t Made The Air Cleaner
However, she then warned: “My next guest argues that that is, though, a drop in the bucket when it comes to what is needed to address climate change.”
After introducing Mann, she marveled: “I’m sure everybody online saw those images of a smog-free Los Angeles almost looking like a painting, it was so clear. And wow, oh, my God, if we all stopped getting on the road, then this is what the air could look like…”
Mann hailed the development: “When you slow the economy, you reduce transportation…you decrease carbon emissions. Because right now we have a global economy that is driven by the burning of fossil fuels. And as long as that’s true when you reduce economic output, you’re going to reduce carbon emissions.”
SEE ALSO: Why The Economic Slowdown Won’t Affect Atmospheric CO2 Levels
NewsBusters has documented the lengthy list of journalists that have similarly cheered the supposed environmental “silver lining” of the devastating global health crisis.
Despite joining Tur in her enthusiasm, Mann cautioned that far more must be done to stop humans from ruining the Earth with economic activity:
Now, here’s the bad news, in the end, that’s only going to give us maybe a 4 to 7% decrease in carbon emissions for the year. And what we actually need is a 10% decrease in carbon emissions every year for the next ten years if we are to avert crossing the threshold of dangerous influence with our climate. So we need to cut carbon emissions far more than that. And we’d like to do that without slowing down the economy. The way to do that is to decarbonize our economy, to remake our economy so that we don’t have to burn fossil fuels to generate economic activity, goods, services, and transport.
Tur lamented: “So what we’re seeing here was even in the months of this lockdown, we’re not getting to the number – the percentage that we need to really cut down on climate change and it’s going to climb right back up once everybody is let out.”
She then implored: “It seems like, Michael, we are in a really unique position right to effect that change, to change our habits since we’re all locked down.”
Mann agreed: “Yeah, and that’s the good news, right? What this shows us is that we can have a positive impact on our environment.”
The climate crusader then repeated his demand that “We need to literally decarbonize our economy.”
After prompting by Tur to explain his declaration, Mann argued: “…it literally means moving away from the burning of fossil fuels for transport and power generation and everything else, to renewable energy.”
He quickly made the transition to the 2020 election: “We need politicians who support those policies, we’ve got an election coming up in a matter of months where we can choose to vote on this issue and make the right decisions.”
Tur wondered: “Michael, just quickly, if there was one single thing that we could change tomorrow, what would it be?”
Mann reiterated: “It would be the leadership that we have in Washington, D.C.” Tur appreciated his “blunt answer.”
Wrapping up the segment, Tur turned to co-anchor Chuck Todd and concluded: “And if we go back to our normal ways, the opportunity that we have in front of us to cut down on carbon, to really make an impact on climate change, will have gone to waste.”
Todd seized on Mann’s recommendation that the government force people and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions: “He’s making the argument that if you’re going to get the innovation that you need, you almost have to force the innovation. That’s why you see some governments raise mileage standards….that you have to make structural change.” […]
Early in the pandemic, on March 31, Tur dreamed of the crisis bringing “permanent change” to American society with “universal health care” and a “greener economy.”
She and many of her liberal media colleagues have been pushing the socialist agenda relentlessly throughout the shutdown.
Read rest at NewsBusters
Please take you head out of the clouds you moron Mann
Mann and his Junk Science and Politics
Micheal Manns reaserch has been discredited soooo many times, why are you interviewing him ?
Only the warmist hoaxers like Mann still blame CO2 for the micro amount of climate change we’ve seen in the last 100 years.
Micheal Mann is a Idiot
More about Michael Mann
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/02/24/the-mann/
And more about his Anthropocene theory
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/03/30/the-humans-must-save-the-planet/
One look at the photo of Mann tells us a great deal. Smug, and probably with a decent bank balance made out of his hockey stick. There is one born every day.
HERE COME OLD MICHEAL MANN,FOR BIG BROTHER HE IS A BIG FAN,A LIBERAL SCREWBALL,HE HAD BIG FALL,FOR OUR FREEDOMS HE WANT A BAN
Dr. Mann is a real trickster. What PHD would refer to a 4-7% reduction in Carbon emissions?
Was he referring to Carbon based lifeforms, or possibly CO2?
Obviously it cannot be a reduction in CO2 as all the CO2 monitors in the world show a steady increase in CO2 during this period.
Is he then referring to Carbon based lifeforms, specifically humans who have contracted and died from COVID-19?
Or maybe he forgot that Carbon based lifeforms, like trees and termites, etc really like increased CO2 levels and reproduce even more.
Or maybe he forgot that as the oceans warm from all these natural events, that they outgas even more CO2?
Either that or he is just plain lying.
Hey, Fraud and Climategate CRIMINAL Michael “Horse Hockey on a Stick” Mann, if YOU would simply stop breathing and convince every other CAGW Alarmist GlowBULL Warming fanatic to do the same, the reduction in CO2 added to the atmosphere plus the reduction in use of carbon would more than offset any harm done by the rest of us. Just DO IT!
Mann is a total idiot and a example of the Deep Ecologists who would force us all to stay at home and prophit us from traveling outside our area now how many of us would want to be restricted to home for the rest of our lives
This is just total insanity. We need to increase carbon emissions otherwise the World will lose our Forests and that will lead to an end of all life since they give us much Oxygen and there is little enough of that in our atmosphere anyway.
Also the stay at home isolation has caused so much more pollution here in Melbourne. Yes there are fewer cars on the roads so those deadly fumes have reduced. But people here are heating their homes with wood fires and the utter stench pervading the air everywhere in Melbourne is choking us to death.
It is so bad it is getting in to this well shuttered and closed up home. At first I thought something was burning and having gone right through every home and found no signs of anything smouldering, I opened the front door and the smoke filled air was devastating forcing me to retreat inside very quickly and close the door with great speed.
The only consolation is that the uncleaned wood smoke will be adding much carbon to where it is needed – the whole Earth Atmosphere!
The smoke’s that bad, getting into buildings? Get in touch with Young and Jackson – make sure Chloe is protected.
You’re on something smoking, it ain’t wood.
Google “Chloe” “Melbourne” – and you’ll see why I’m concerned…..