and i don t know. i really would like to ask some of the big funders of climate denialism how they face their grandkids. and what gives me some optimism is when you look at any kind of major social issue where society has gone through a major transformation, so i think of, for instance, the civil rights era, or the recent developments in things like gay marriage or now the way we re talking about gun violence in the u.s., the question is become reframed in a much larger and more imperative moral context. and i think it gives me some hope that that really hasn t been attempted with this issue. it seems to me inevitable that you will, as you have younger generations coming up who are not only looking for solutions but are demanding answers for how we ve put them into the position, the desperate position that they re in. on that somewhat hopeful
what do they think when they look at their kids and their own grandkids and the kind of planet that they re leaving to them, and i don t know. i really would like to ask some of the big funders of climate denialism how they face their grandkids. and what gives me some optimism is when you look at any kind of major social issue where society has gone through a major transformation, so i think of, for instance, the civil rights era, or the recent developments in things like gay marriage or now the way we re talking about gun violence in the u.s., the questions become reframed in a much larger and more imperative moral context. and i think it gives me some hope that that really hasn t been attempted with this issue. it seems to me inevitable that it will, as you have younger generations coming up who are
human civilization. i think there s a connection between climate denialism and trumpism. they say trump is the outlier of the conservative movement, and for many reasons he is, partly. but you have an entire party that rallied around the theory that there was a coordinated conspiracy driven by multiple scientists around the globe to deceive people about the basic science of this matter. if you can believe that, it s not surprising to me you would produce a president like this. do you feel like there s a connection there? oh, yeah, absolutely. i think that donald trump is the most extreme form of a trend that actually started earlier. you mentioned my personal experience watching the american democracy as a kid, when my father was in it. and then i was first elected in the mid-70s.
from the problems we should be addressing. nothing s getting done. that s why the congress is now moving on its own, or beginning to. one of my senators in tennessee, lamar alexander, i gave him a lot of credit. i think democrats, republicans, independents, think thank god somebody is now now he s working with patty murray to try to fix the problems with health care and move in a rational way. thank you, senator alexander. and other republicans. we re now seeing mayors, like the mayor of georgetown, texas, in the reddest city, the reddest county in texas, he said he could save his set zens in an oil county by going renewables. a side benefit we re saving the human civilization. i think there s a connection between climate denialism and trumpism. they say trump is the outlier of
immigration, on populism and frankly on rage politics as the peer trumpista. you can t go back to that old model anymore. i remember in 2004 when the whole idea was the first evangelical president george w. bush, building america by tom edsel, there s a new rising evangelical base that would support this republican majority. my reminder last night was, look, donald trump, if he s elected president, there are going to be thousands of mike pence acolytes, people with those politics on social issues who will be in the government. yeah, but i m also thinking we talk a lot about young people, millennials in this election, we see even younger evangelicals, an unwillingness to go with climate denialism and which mike pence is, too, and donald trump. we ve seen an opening there. and we ve seen, though not as clearly as we thought, republican party can no longer be the party of white sanctuary nationally.