Al Roker worries to Obama that Ukraine crisis will 'push back' climate change
"Climate is one of those things that gets pushed down when things happen. For example, now we’ve got Ukraine,” Roker stated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NBC weatherman Al Roker made sure his climate change priorities were not overshadowed by current world events in a recent interview with former President Barack Obama.
In an interview released on April 13, the two men discussed Obama’s new Netflix series about parks around the world, titled, "Our Great National Parks."
During one segment on NBC's "Today All Day" streaming channel, Roker lamented that the dangers of climate change are being overlooked by the world because of the crisis in Ukraine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Climate is one of those things that gets pushed down when things happen. For example, now we’ve got Ukraine," the weatherman stated, adding, "There’s talk about, ‘Let’s ramp up production of fossil fuels because, you know, inflation, higher gas prices.’"
He then asked Obama, "Do you worry that that’s gonna push back the initiative?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Obama replied with the point that the conflict between Russian and Ukraine is actually an opportunity for the United States to drop using fossil fuels altogether.
"Well, interestingly, when we see what’s happened with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it argues for us redoubling our efforts to wean ourselves off fossil fuels," he said.
Vladimir President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine only eight months after TIME magazine billed President Biden as ready to take on the Russian leader. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
"Russia is emboldened and empowered in part because they think we have to buy their oil and gas," the former president continued, but he's "been very encouraged by … the Biden administration's ability to mobilize" countries to "think about how do we revamp our energy so that we are no longer dependent on these fossil fuels."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Obama stated, "It’s not just that it is contributing to the heating of our planet, it’s also that it ends up empowering folks that we don’t want empowered."
The rest of the interview involved Roker and Obama speaking about how people need to be "better caretakers" of the planet, especially for the sake of the younger generation.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Climate protesters demonstrate in London, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Protesters around the world joined rallies on Friday as a day of worldwide demonstrations calling for action against climate change began ahead of a U.N. summit in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Roker prompted the former president, saying, "In fact, we have younger kids, Sasha and Malia, the generation that demands us being better caretakers."
Obama responded, "I think that the generation of our kids are more mindful of how we haven’t always taken care of the planet."