HEATED - Night of the living dead
Welcome back to HEATED—Arielle here. Emily and I stayed up way past our bedtimes tonight to bring you a climate recap of the first presidential debate of 2024. We watched the whole excruciating thing so you don’t have to. Yay journalism! If you become a paid subscriber, you’ll also get access to all our paywalled content, archived content, and discussion threads—like the one Emily held tonight for the debate. Thanks for reading! If preventing climate catastrophe depends on keeping Donald Trump out of the White House, the world may very well be fucked. President Joe Biden’s performance in Thursday night’s presidential debate was deeply unsettling. It wasn’t that Trump himself did well; the former president spouted a veritable fountain of lies from abortion to inflation to his environmental record (more on that below). But while Trump spoke confidently and at least vaguely coherently, Biden displayed a shocking inability to do the same. The president was rambly, mumbly, and wide-eyed like a zombie deer in highlights. He may have spoken truthfully, but he was woefully unable to counter Trump’s lies in even the most minimally effective way. This is admittedly an unfair standard. Because Biden had a much more difficult job than Trump during the debate. Trump didn’t have to be careful to hit the right numbers; to include important context; or to communicate nuances. He was just spouting bullshit, which the moderators did not call him on. Biden, meanwhile, had to communicate his own points truthfully while countering Trump’s lies, all while being an 81-year-old with a speech impediment. I see this unfairness all the time in the climate change “debate.” Deniers and delay artists have it so easy. If I could simply make up stuff all day, I’d be great at sound bites too. But unfair as it might be, it’s the reality of fighting disinformation. Climate experts know this well: If you want to beat a bullshit artist, you have to be better than them at communicating. If you’re not good at communicating, that’s OK—but don’t put yourself in a position where you’re debating them in a huge public forum. Because if you do, and you fail, you’ll ultimately harm your cause—and by extension, the planet. Biden harmed his cause very badly on Thursday. But hey: anything could happen before November. Anyway, here are the climate highlights (or lowlights) of the debate:
When Trump was finished, Bash repeated the question, with only 38 seconds left for Trump’s answer.
Catch of the day: Sweet Molly looks as concerned as we feel about how this disastrous debate went, but she thinks that a walk would do a lot to cheer us all up. Also cheering is reader Simon, who says that Amy Westervelt’s Drilled has inspired him to research and learn about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We love reporting that inspires our readers. Want to see your furry (or non-furry!) friend in HEATED? It might take a little while, but we WILL get to yours eventually! Just send a picture and some words to catchoftheday@heated.world. You're currently a free subscriber to HEATED. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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Debate night open thread
Friday, June 28, 2024
A forum for discussing tonight's presidential debate. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The media is still falling short on climate
Thursday, June 27, 2024
HEATED analyzed 133 breaking news stories about recent climate-fueled weather in the United States. The results were dismal—but there were some bright spots. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
What maniac jumbo sharks can teach us about climate change
Friday, June 21, 2024
Recognize reality and adapt—or get eaten. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Trip balls, save the Earth?
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
I fell down the rabbit hole of Psychedelics for Climate Action. Then I came back to reality. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
How grassroots climate activists are taking on Big Tech
Thursday, June 13, 2024
In Virginia, a small conservation group is leading the fight against the powerful and secretive data center industry. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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