WEBVTT - From Hot Take: Why the GOP's "Climate Lockdown" Narrative is Wrong

0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.440
<v Speaker 1>Hay drilled listeners. Some of you may know that I

0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:20.560
<v Speaker 1>co host another climate related podcast. It's called hot Take.

0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.040
<v Speaker 1>I co host it with Mary Annie Segler, and we

0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.160
<v Speaker 1>talk about climate coverage, how the climate story is unfolding,

0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.600
<v Speaker 1>where there are gaps in the coverage, where there are

0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.760
<v Speaker 1>interesting new trends, all of that kind of stuff. This

0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.280
<v Speaker 1>week we looked at the New York Times story on

0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:40.920
<v Speaker 1>the new narrative the GOP has come up with, which

0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.280
<v Speaker 1>is roughly, Oh, you think quarantine is bad, just wait

0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.680
<v Speaker 1>till the Democrats get to climate policy. We get into

0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.639
<v Speaker 1>how that narrative came, about why it's working in some cases,

0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.360
<v Speaker 1>and what can be done to wrestle the story back.

0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.920
<v Speaker 1>This is a quick, little bonus episode that hot Take

0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:01.160
<v Speaker 1>is doing in between seasons, and it was sent out

0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:06.160
<v Speaker 1>to our newsletter subscribers earlier this month. If you're interested

0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.640
<v Speaker 1>in this kind of analysis of climate coverage, check out

0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:14.119
<v Speaker 1>hot Take the podcast and hot Take the newsletter. There

0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.800
<v Speaker 1>will be links in the show notes in the meantime.

0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:35.640
<v Speaker 1>Hope you enjoy this conversation. Welcome to hot Take, the

0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.440
<v Speaker 1>podcast where we tackle the climate crisis and the climate conversation.

0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:41.920
<v Speaker 1>I'm Amy Westerbelt.

0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.640
<v Speaker 2>And I'm Mary Annie's Teigler. This is one of our

0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:48.120
<v Speaker 2>between season bonus episodes. As you know, we just wrapped

0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.880
<v Speaker 2>up season one and so in between we're just going

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:52.960
<v Speaker 2>to be dropping little bonus episodes and we're going to

0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:53.720
<v Speaker 2>keep them short.

0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.760
<v Speaker 1>This is what we're calling a coffee break episode. And yes,

0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:01.560
<v Speaker 1>we're literally drinking coffee right now. We're gonna take just

0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:03.520
<v Speaker 1>a few minutes to dig into a story that we

0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.640
<v Speaker 1>think is important. Yeah.

0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.279
<v Speaker 2>Any what kind of coffee are you drinking?

0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.400
<v Speaker 1>I have like a really over the top coffee set

0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.280
<v Speaker 1>up at my house because oh really, I drink a

0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.080
<v Speaker 1>lot of coffee and I live in the middle of nowhere,

0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.160
<v Speaker 1>so it's not like I can like get good coffee elsewhere. Ah.

0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.600
<v Speaker 2>So you were prepared for coffee during a pandemic.

0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.200
<v Speaker 1>I see, I was. I was. Yeah, I have like

0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.560
<v Speaker 1>a full on, like barista operation in.

0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.040
<v Speaker 2>My Okay, okay, okay, So.

0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm drinking an Americano that I made myself.

0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:42.840
<v Speaker 2>You I want to ask you that again. Okay. So

0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.120
<v Speaker 2>I'm sitting over here with my little chemmicks. There's like

0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.720
<v Speaker 2>a six chemmics. Great, it's great, it's great, But you know,

0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.079
<v Speaker 2>I have the sixth cup one. It's just me. It's

0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:55.600
<v Speaker 2>just a great and does it get.

0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:57.520
<v Speaker 1>How do you keep it warm? This is always my

0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.920
<v Speaker 1>like dilemma with the chemics, like the first.

0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, See. The thing is, it's not about the

0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.640
<v Speaker 2>temperature of the coffee. It's about the dimensions of your imagination.

0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:16.840
<v Speaker 1>So anyway, I'm.

0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.440
<v Speaker 2>Drinking room temperature coffee right now, and I feel fine

0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.440
<v Speaker 2>about my choices because we can't all have a barista

0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:23.640
<v Speaker 2>situation in our house.

0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.040
<v Speaker 1>It's insane. It's truly insane. I should like post. I'm

0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.000
<v Speaker 1>going to post a picture of it to the newsletter

0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.200
<v Speaker 1>so you guys can really appreciate.

0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:39.040
<v Speaker 2>The reason, so you can hate amy with me my coffee. Yeah, okay, fine.

0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:44.160
<v Speaker 3>Anyway, so we're drinking coffee, and we're going to talk

0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.760
<v Speaker 3>about this article that came out in the New York

0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.960
<v Speaker 3>Times last week on May seventh's by Lisa Frietman.

0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.880
<v Speaker 2>The title is the GOP Coronavirus. Message is that economic

0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.120
<v Speaker 2>crisis is a green New Deal preview. So we thought

0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.080
<v Speaker 2>that this was important enough to merit a conversation.

0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.880
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, right, let's get into it. Let's do it.

0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.760
<v Speaker 2>Okay, cool, So I guess I'll just start by reading

0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:15.040
<v Speaker 2>a couple of passages from this article that really struck me.

0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:16.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:25.599
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So, over the past two months, Republican lawmakers, the

0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.960
<v Speaker 2>Trump campaign, and conservative outlets have hammered the themes that

0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:33.160
<v Speaker 2>Democrats are more interested in climate change than reviving the economy,

0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.600
<v Speaker 2>that mister Biden and environmental groups are seeking to exploit

0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.080
<v Speaker 2>the pandemic to push a radical green agenda, and that

0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.039
<v Speaker 2>the economic fallout of COVID nineteen is a preview of

0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:47.040
<v Speaker 2>life under ambitious climate change policies. They have also labeled

0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.680
<v Speaker 2>virtually every climate change effort is part of the Green

0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.880
<v Speaker 2>New Deal, an ambitious plan champion by Representative at Alexandria

0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:58.000
<v Speaker 2>Ocasio Cortez of New York and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont,

0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.599
<v Speaker 2>both Democratic Socialists. Whether they are part of the proposal

0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:06.840
<v Speaker 2>or not, still, Republicans said they saw political opportunity as

0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.359
<v Speaker 2>progressives work to persuade mister Biden to accept more ambitious

0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:14.279
<v Speaker 2>climate change policies. I think the Democrats have to be careful,

0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:18.920
<v Speaker 2>said John Fihery, a Republican strategist. The number one issue

0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:20.720
<v Speaker 2>coming out of this pandemic is going to be the

0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.320
<v Speaker 2>economy and people don't have a whole lot of patience

0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:32.479
<v Speaker 2>for climate stuff if you don't have a job, and

0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:37.400
<v Speaker 2>that's how you know the excerpt is done. Yeah, okay,

0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:42.160
<v Speaker 2>so I found this story not the story. I don't

0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.560
<v Speaker 2>mean like to we're not critiquing the reporter or the

0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.960
<v Speaker 2>writing or the storytelling of this, but the actual story

0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:53.320
<v Speaker 2>that's being told here is so frustrating to me because

0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.520
<v Speaker 2>I think this is the result of what happens when

0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:59.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, the pandemic takes hold and everybody's like, now

0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.120
<v Speaker 2>is not the time to talk about climate because if

0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.080
<v Speaker 2>you leave the narrative on the floor and let other

0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.360
<v Speaker 2>people shape it, guess what this is where you wind up.

0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:14.720
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, exactly exactly. I mean I think that you know,

0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.719
<v Speaker 1>it's it's It's also just it's infuriating to me how

0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:24.279
<v Speaker 1>good the Republicans are at messaging and how bad the

0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.280
<v Speaker 1>Democrats are, Like you saw the Republican It's like, in

0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:32.000
<v Speaker 1>the lead up to going into negotiating the COVID nineteen

0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:37.400
<v Speaker 1>stimulus packages, Mitch McConnell was already accusing Democrats of quote

0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.159
<v Speaker 1>unquote pushing a green New Deal, as were all these

0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.359
<v Speaker 1>like right wing think tanks that were taking out ads

0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.680
<v Speaker 1>on social media. I mean, this was like in February

0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.000
<v Speaker 1>March they were doing this yes and like, and it

0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:51.440
<v Speaker 1>was like none of the I mean the idea. First

0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.360
<v Speaker 1>of all, Nancy Pelosi doesn't even support the Green New

0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:55.560
<v Speaker 1>Deal and.

0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.520
<v Speaker 2>Joe Biden has only loosely embraced it.

0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and so it was totally just you know, to me,

0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:06.000
<v Speaker 1>I was like, oh, this must be like preemptive cover

0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.400
<v Speaker 1>for fossil fuel companies actually pushing for things in the

0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.040
<v Speaker 1>stimulus package, which of course it was, and they were.

0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.960
<v Speaker 1>And now after you know, two months of fossil fuel

0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:23.239
<v Speaker 1>company's total pandemic Christmas, including publicly traded oil and gas

0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:27.440
<v Speaker 1>and coal companies getting small business Administration loans through the

0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:33.280
<v Speaker 1>COVID package, somehow, somehow that worked out. Now they're saying, oh,

0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.400
<v Speaker 1>you know, hey, if you don't like this quarantine, just

0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.280
<v Speaker 1>wait until the Democrats get a hold of you and

0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:45.480
<v Speaker 1>push their radical climate agenda. As though any Democrat ever

0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.360
<v Speaker 1>or any climate activist ever has said that the solution

0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:55.560
<v Speaker 1>to climate change is radical self sacrifice. And you know

0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.960
<v Speaker 1>what I mean, it's like, if anything, people have argued

0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:03.840
<v Speaker 1>against that, And meanwhile, like, who is benefiting from the

0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:11.200
<v Speaker 1>most quote unquote socialist policies the fucking fossil fuel industry. Like, okay,

0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:15.040
<v Speaker 1>if you don't want there to be government support of

0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:19.400
<v Speaker 1>any kind or else, that's being socialist. Let's stop giving

0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.320
<v Speaker 1>billions of dollars to the oil and gas industry and

0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.600
<v Speaker 1>let them operate by the market forces they claim to

0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:48.600
<v Speaker 1>love so much. Right, all right, that's it for this

0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.320
<v Speaker 1>coffee break. We hope you enjoyed it. If you spot

0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:56.160
<v Speaker 1>a story that you want us to discuss, or take

0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:58.520
<v Speaker 1>a look at, tweet at us at real hot take.

0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.439
<v Speaker 2>Okay, Amy, you know coffee has a rough time in

0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.920
<v Speaker 2>my house. It gets mugged every morning.

0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:39.320
<v Speaker 1>That's hilarious. I did not know where that was going