Bill Nye criticizes CNN on air for inviting climate change skeptic

Bill Nye on Saturday accused CNN of doing a “disservice” to viewers by bringing a climate change skeptic onto the network for a panel discussion.

“I will say, much as I love CNN, you’re doing a disservice by having one climate change skeptic, and not 97 or 98 scientists or engineers concerned about climate change,” Nye said during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day.”

Nye was participating in a panel discussion on the network with May Boeve, the executive director of the environmental group 350.org, and William Happer, a physicist and climate change skeptic.

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During the segment, Happer argued that the earth is actually getting greener from high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon emissions are considered by the overwhelming majority of climate scientists to be a primary contributor to climate change.

When asked to respond to Happer’s claims, Nye said that the high rate at which carbon dioxide is being released is what’s responsible for climate change and argued that it was in the United States’ best interest to invest in efforts to minimize the effects of the phenomenon.

“If you suppress science, if you pretend that climate change isn’t a real problem, you will fall behind other countries that do invest in science – that do invest in basic research,” Nye said.