That’s according to renowned science educator Bill Nye, TV’s “The Science Guy,” who spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, last week. “Certainly, by recycling 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. “Trouble them.” Nye spoke hours after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark new ruling that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’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 US to reduce carbon emissions, a “disastrous decision”. Nye called the largely conservative Supreme Court “a controversial bunch” 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 best interest.” Nye pointed to laws that would put fees or taxes on carbon emissions as examples of legislation that could move the needle on climate change, because by affecting the wallets of both individuals and companies it could curb the kind of behavior that drives in excessive coal use. “Consider the environment [when voting]”, he said. “Don’t just, respectfully, vote for stupid 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 catastrophic natural disasters. That’s also the subject of his upcoming streaming series, “The End Is Nye,” which is set to debut on the Peacock next month. It will address the hypothetical consequences of various natural disasters while exploring possible mitigation or preparedness options. 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 is,” he said. “The problem is that the ocean is warming, and then all this energy stored in the ocean leads to [increased convection] and these great hurricanes.’ Nye also cited research showing that offshore wind turbines can actually slow down hurricanes — similar to a speed bump, albeit more costly from a financial standpoint. “You take the energy from the wind and put it into electricity. It would be nice, but it would be a huge investment… It’s an exciting idea,” he said. And in case you think solving climate change isn’t your responsibility, Nye noted that regular, everyday people helped create this problem: With the world’s population reaching 8 billion people, up from just 3 billion when the Nye was a child in the 1960s, the science teacher said “we have a huge impact on the world”. “That’s the big message,” Nye said. “Humans are now the stewards of the whole thing. So we have to consider the whole planet all the time.” Subscribe now: Get smarter about your money and your career with our weekly newsletter Dont miss: Climate change despair is a real condition—these experts have advice on how to deal with it 33-year-old running multimillion-dollar start-up to help fight climate change: ‘You can be altruistic and successful’
