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Years Of Living Dangerously
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00:03The 2016 election was stranger than fiction.
00:07What really stood out to me was what Republican candidates said about climate change.
00:13Climate change is not science. It's religion.
00:16We shouldn't be destroying our economy in order to chase some wild left-wing idea.
00:22Global warming is not our biggest problem, folks. Believe me.
00:27Now, I may not be a real politician, but I used to play one on TV.
00:33For seven seasons on the West Wing, I played a fictional adviser to a fictional president, tackling the biggest issues
00:41of the day.
00:42You should name a scandal after that building.
00:45In real life, I'm a political junkie, and the biggest political issue of our time is climate change.
00:51Now I'm back in Washington to try to convince some real-life Republicans to take action.
00:57And they need to.
00:59They haven't advanced a climate bill in Congress in six years.
01:03Uh, hi. This is, uh, Bradley Whitford.
01:06Would the senator be available today?
01:08I'm here in Washington, uh, to talk about, uh, climate change.
01:13Hello?
01:16Hello?
01:23Hello?
01:31The freeway.
01:34There's nothing really free about it.
01:36I feel like I'm a prisoner in my car every time I leave my house.
01:41My mom was a drag racer.
01:44She taught me to love cars when they're moving.
01:49Driving used to be fun and exciting.
01:52Now it's just pollution-spewing vehicles, road rage, and a terrible time suck.
01:59Hello?
02:00Lately, I've been feeling increasingly guilty.
02:03The exhaust coming out of my tailpipe is part of the leading cause of climate change in our country.
02:09I have two little girls at home, and I worry about their future.
02:13So, I'm on my way to meet someone I hear has bold ideas on how to stop this dangerous carbon
02:19pollution destroying our planet.
02:21If I can ever get out of this mess.
03:12I've come to Washington to convince Republicans to switch their stance on climate change.
03:17But where do I even begin?
03:20Turns out, there's actually training I can get on how to do this.
03:23And so, I want to do an exercise with you.
03:25I'm going to be the member of Congress first.
03:27I'm going to say, the planet hasn't warmed.
03:28And you're going to say, well, you're ignoring the consensus of science.
03:32And then you'll give them the better answer the second time.
03:34So, the question I have is why we should ruin the economy when the science isn't settled.
03:39I mean, if the science is...
03:40Well, the science is settled, with all due respect.
03:4297% of peer-reviewed science has consensus.
03:47Well, the science is never settled.
03:49It's always been worked out.
03:50Okay, okay, okay.
03:50You know, this is how you claim that people are.
03:52Let's say that 97 doctors come and say your child is sick.
03:56And we know what's wrong and here's what you have to do about it.
03:59And three doctors go, eh, maybe okay.
04:02Yeah, but those people are paid to do research.
04:04See, I think you're not only a bad congressman, but a bad father.
04:10I can feel how that may be satisfying to me on some sort of savage reptilian brainstem level,
04:16but it's not going to move the conversation forward.
04:20Right.
04:20Is what you want from this a little bit of personal satisfaction where you can thump your chest and say,
04:24boy, I told them, or do we want to get something done?
04:28What is the best way to convince a skeptical Republican?
04:34Conservatives see the world through purity, sanctity.
04:36You want to think about their worldview.
04:39And so market-driven, freedom...
04:42Market-driven sounds like a good word to use.
04:43Market-driven is a very, very good word.
04:47Great.
04:48Now that I have my lines, it's time to try them out on two Republicans who have returned my calls.
04:54My first stop is with Representative Marsha Blackburn.
04:57This is Bradley.
04:58He's here to see the congresswoman.
04:59She's the vice chair for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
05:02Appreciate the chance to talk to you.
05:04Absolutely.
05:05It would be a major coup if I could get her to back aggressive climate action.
05:09Climate change is an issue that I've been concerned about in terms of my children.
05:14I have three kids.
05:15Sure.
05:16Do you have concerns about climate change?
05:19We all agree that we want clean air and clean water.
05:22We want a healthy Earth.
05:23But when it comes to the issue of global warming, it's an unsettled science.
05:29And the jury is still out as to whether or not it is cyclical or whether it is generated by
05:35human beings.
05:37There are scientists on both sides of the argument.
05:39There are scientists on both sides of the issue.
05:41That's correct.
05:41I have not bought into the hoopla around the global warming theory.
05:46Here's a professor from Sweden and he has done years, decades of study and find there's no rising of the
05:55sea level at all.
05:56I'm just looking for common ground.
05:58Would you be open to a market driven solution?
06:03Certainly we don't believe we should create controls and taxes to change our way of life.
06:09The burden should not be on the United States.
06:12We're going to lose our freedom.
06:13And you can look at report after report and say, well, the Earth has not warmed.
06:18It has been cooling.
06:21Sea level rising.
06:23Yeah.
06:24Yeah.
06:29I'm excited to meet one of the world's top climate scientists, Dr. Jeffrey Greenblatt.
06:34Nice to meet you.
06:35He's an expert in transportation.
06:36What's all this?
06:37This is incredible.
06:38Jeff believes we could be in store for the biggest automotive revolution since the car replaced the horse and buggy.
06:44Let me start by showing you what the concept of an autonomous electric car is all about.
06:49So what you see on the screen right now is people in cars not driving.
06:55There's a guy talking on the phone.
06:56There's no steering wheel even in that one.
06:57This person's sleeping.
06:59The future is very laid back.
07:01The car is traveling in both directions through intersections.
07:04I'm already nervous.
07:05Well, don't worry.
07:06There are algorithms that control the motion so that it's safe.
07:09And they ride in an environment that is cheaper and less polluting.
07:15So here we have the person calling up on his cell phone.
07:19There is a car being charged by solar power in a fleet pod.
07:23And then it comes to the person.
07:25He gets in and he's on his way.
07:27This is unreal.
07:29If Jeff's right, almost no one would even need to own a car.
07:33We'll be ordering up self-driving electric cars from ride shares like Uber and Lyft.
07:38They'll be powered by the sun.
07:40And they'll communicate with each other.
07:42And there'll be less traffic and pollution.
07:45How soon might we see some of this?
07:47You know, even if it's integrated with some human driving as well.
07:50I think in the next few years.
07:51Wow.
07:51Because we need to reduce our global emissions to near zero by the middle of this century in order to
07:58avoid dangerous climate change impacts.
08:00But Jeff's worried.
08:02We could head in the entirely wrong direction if we don't fully embrace electric cars in this new autonomous world.
08:09So this is more of what a dystopia would look like.
08:12Right.
08:12Gray.
08:14Smoggy.
08:14Smoggy.
08:15Smoggy.
08:15Smoggy.
08:15We have gridlock.
08:17You see a lot of internal combustion engines on the road.
08:20More congested roadways with more pollution.
08:23So a key change that has to happen along with vehicle automation and ride sharing is the use of electric
08:29vehicles.
08:30Otherwise, we could easily find ourselves in this situation.
08:34In Jeff's driverless shared electric cartopia, we can slow climate change before it's too late.
08:40But are we headed in the right direction?
08:43First things first, I need to see if I can trust a car to drive itself.
08:53I'm alarmed by what I heard back in Washington.
08:56Two sitting congressmen denied the earth is warming and the seas are rising, when the consensus of scientists clearly says
09:05the opposite.
09:06I've come to South Florida to see the evidence myself.
09:10With me are two scientists, Mike Berry and Michael Savarese, who have noticed dramatic changes here.
09:22What's going on here?
09:23A little over 10 years ago, I started understanding that the rates of erosion were significant and related to sea
09:31level rise.
09:32And what are the consequences if you lose all these barrier islands?
09:36Called barrier islands for a reason.
09:38Right.
09:38You know, they're basically the barriers to storm energy.
09:40You take those islands away and all of a sudden, the inner part of the coast becomes more vulnerable.
09:45So, in my mind, as a geologist, I view this as kind of a tipping point.
09:50All right.
09:51Good luck, gentlemen.
09:56Mike Berry walks me out to where the edge of the island used to be, less than 10 years ago.
10:06Whoa.
10:07To go back any further in time, we'd be well over our heads.
10:13By the end of the century, these islands will be gone.
10:26Barry and Savarese then take me inland.
10:30When the grass dies, the soil underneath dies, and it can't support vegetation at all.
10:35So, in just a series of a few years, the elevation of the marsh has dropped to create this circular
10:39hole.
10:41And these circular holes are everywhere.
10:45Could these continue to grow and expand?
10:47That's my big worry.
10:48That's what keeps me up at night, is that the marsh disappears altogether and turns into open water.
10:52Right.
10:53And again, the basic problem is the more open water you have, the less it can protect.
10:59Right.
11:01Next, Barry takes me to another place where vegetation is dying.
11:05A ghost forest of black mangroves.
11:08I mean, it looks like a dead zone here.
11:11Do you think this is the future?
11:13Just in the last 10 years, there's been a dramatic increase of these kind of die-offs in surrounding areas.
11:19And as the rate of sea level rise increases, some of the other mangroves are going to begin to die
11:25off like this.
11:26If I represented this community in Washington, and I was denying climate change, what would you say to me?
11:35It's kind of ridiculous, actually.
11:38Right.
11:38There's no denying this.
11:40If we keep going the way we're going, it's going to be infinitely worse than just a dead zone in
11:45the mangroves.
11:53It was really disheartening to see the gridlock in Washington.
11:57But now that I've seen what's happening with my own eyes, I am more determined than ever to win over
12:02some members of Congress.
12:04It's time to go back and try again.
12:13After seeing those futuristic self-driving cars, I really want to try one out.
12:17Delphi Labs is a leader in this technology.
12:20Engineer Gary O'Brien and AV expert Annie Lian have agreed to let me in on a test drive, but
12:25I have to admit, I'm terrified of robots.
12:29I have been learning about the possibility of an autonomous future and the impact it could have on the environment,
12:34which puts me here in an autonomous car, which is kind of crazy.
12:38It's actually more than kind of crazy.
12:41I'm a little nervous.
12:43Shall we go?
12:45In the race to deliver the first self-driving cars, there have been some accidents.
12:49So, are they safe?
12:51Guess I'll find out.
12:53An engineer named Matt is required in case he suddenly has to take over, but for safety reasons, he's not
12:59supposed to talk.
13:00Matt, where are you from originally?
13:03Oh, I've never been there.
13:06Your favorite baseball team is the Mets?
13:09Yes?
13:10This is weird.
13:11It's like we were meant to be buddies.
13:14I can make fire with my mind.
13:18Delphi drive available.
13:19Now you're an automated mode.
13:21Whoa, that happened?
13:22Yes.
13:23Wow.
13:23So now we're in active mode.
13:26His feet are off the pelvis.
13:28He's not doing anything.
13:29So right now that the car is doing its modulating brake and steering for him.
13:33So it's 100% automated driving.
13:35You're not doing this with your mind?
13:39So this is all just the car.
13:41This is it.
13:42The car is running itself using the computers in the vehicle to do that.
13:46That's incredible.
13:47This vehicle has six lidars and ten radars, where it's actually looking around to see what obstacles are around us.
13:53Then it's using the cameras to look at the lines on the road to steer us.
13:57So did it?
13:57It just read that light?
13:59It did.
14:00It read that it turned to green?
14:01Yes.
14:02So now it's made a choice to make this turn.
14:06Wow.
14:07Nice smooth turn.
14:09That's crazy.
14:11It's reading so many things at once.
14:14I mean, how is it processing all of that stuff at once?
14:18These sensors can actually operate thousands of times faster than a human being can.
14:22Sorry.
14:23That freaked me out a little bit.
14:26I feel so naked.
14:30I'm shocked at how far the technology's come.
14:33This car isn't fully autonomous.
14:35Matt still has to take over from time to time, but it's not far off.
14:39And Annie tells me AVs could prevent 30,000 traffic fatalities a year.
14:44It is incredible how quickly you get used to this technology.
14:48Like, I just take it as completely for granted already.
14:52And I've taken you for granted, Matt.
14:55Sorry, buddy.
14:56I appreciate you.
14:58What's your favorite food?
15:00Peanut butter and jelly like me?
15:02I knew it.
15:04I knew it, Matt.
15:07Mmm.
15:08Yeah.
15:09Boom.
15:11Mmm.
15:12I got some great pictures of my recent trip.
15:16There's my daughter.
15:18She's super cute.
15:21Staring contest.
15:25Bring it over, Matt.
15:27Bring the eyes over.
15:33You win.
15:35Wow.
15:36I can't believe how safe that felt.
15:38It looks like, when it comes to autonomous vehicles, we might be on track for Utopia.
15:43I wonder what it'll take to get everyone on board.
15:46Thank God we're on the freeway.
15:52I'm back in the capital to try to figure out a way to break the gridlock on climate.
15:57Luckily, I found a guy who can show me the ropes.
16:01Up until a decade ago, Jay Butero was a successful entrepreneur.
16:07But amazingly, he gave it all up to become a volunteer, lobbying Republicans on climate change.
16:14Nearly every week, Jay makes the trip from his home in Philadelphia down to Capitol Hill, where he's a key
16:21figure in Citizens Climate Lobby, or CCL.
16:26Today, many of the group's 42,000 members are in Washington, lobbying Congress to support the single most effective remedy
16:34to limit greenhouse gases, a bill that would put a price on carbon.
16:392017!
16:402017!
16:42All right, excellent.
16:47Must be Jay.
16:48Brad, good to see you.
16:50How are you? Good to see you.
16:51What is it exactly you did?
16:53I talked to Republican members of Congress about the issue of climate change.
16:57Are you just a glutton for punishment, or what?
17:00It has seemed like mission impossible at times, but we're making progress.
17:05How many Republicans have you been able to flip?
17:07So, first nine years, none.
17:10And in the last year, we have 13 Republicans who've signed a resolution that says climate change is real and
17:17that Congress should act.
17:18That's encouraging, but it doesn't seem like it's happening fast enough.
17:22You're right.
17:22The clock is ticking.
17:24But if we don't get both parties together, we're cooked.
17:32Brad, welcome to my office.
17:34This is where it happens, huh?
17:35This is where some of it happens, yeah.
17:37I don't mean to rain on the parade, but people are fed up.
17:40It seems to me that the Republican Party is the single biggest obstacle to taking action on climate change in
17:46this country and probably in the world.
17:49You're right.
17:50And many Republicans who have come forward on the issue will say, our party has been the obstacle here.
17:55And they're trying to change that.
17:57Right.
17:57So how do you decide who to talk to?
17:59What is your elevator pitch?
18:00So I came up with a theory several years ago that it's going to start in Florida.
18:06The coastal districts in Florida are represented largely by Republican members of Congress.
18:12And so I started zeroing in on Congressman Carlos Curbelo.
18:17Curbelo.
18:17Yeah, the 26th district, which goes from Miami to Key West.
18:22Highly vulnerable district.
18:24So did you have to work him over?
18:25I wouldn't say we worked him over at all.
18:27But what we tried to do was show him that he would have the support of the mayors in his
18:32district and the county commissioners and from the voters.
18:35So a lot of your work is providing cover.
18:38Yes.
18:38Because these guys have to run for office.
18:40You call it cover.
18:41I call it political will.
18:42The day that he agreed to co-sponsor this resolution, I'll never forget it.
18:47You've heard the word climate hero.
18:49I think it applies to him.
18:50I want to meet this guy.
18:52Let's do it.
18:57As a freshman Republican congressman, you've been incredibly brave talking about climate change and willing to work with people across
19:07the aisle.
19:08It's kind of a shame that in today's politics doing the right thing is considered courageous and brave.
19:15But I'll take it.
19:16Okay.
19:16What conservatives need to do is come up with an agenda.
19:19Up to now, we have just forfeited on this issue.
19:22That has to change.
19:23We need to lead.
19:25But there certainly are risks taking the sand that you've taken.
19:30What are the political risks for him?
19:33If you're not taking risks in Congress, you're wasting your time and you're wasting the country's time.
19:40The longer we take to address this, the more painful it's going to be.
19:46How wonderful if Congress for once was proactive and not reactive.
19:51Wow.
19:52A conservative Republican willing to show some backbone on climate.
19:55Why can't there be more Republicans like this guy?
20:03Welcome to Lyft.
20:05John wants me to meet someone who's as passionate about autonomous and rideshare as he is.
20:11Anand Shah is here telling Lyft employees how their company may look just a few years down the road.
20:16Today, the only reason we often think that autonomy isn't going to exist is because we don't think people will
20:21accept that idea that a robot is driving me around.
20:25In some ways, Lyft is that today.
20:27Push your Lyft button, a car shows up, and it takes you wherever you want to go.
20:31When you're done with it, it disappears.
20:34But beyond autonomous and rideshare companies with huge fleets of these cars, Anand tells me the third critical component of
20:41a utopian roadway is electric.
20:44And he says, I'll get it when I see it.
20:48Those are beautiful.
20:49They are some pretty good cars.
20:50Hey, hello there.
20:51We've come to a place called Pat's Garage.
20:54Pat?
20:55We've been talking about autonomous vehicles all day, and if we were going to have an autonomous world, that it'd
21:01be electric vehicles.
21:02So I can show you the difference right over here.
21:04If you come over and you look in this engine compartment, this is your traditional internal combustion engine compartment.
21:09It's full of hundreds, if not thousands, of parts.
21:13It's extremely complex.
21:15It has oil, coolant, an exhaust system that can rust out.
21:20It has endless amounts of emissions equipment.
21:23It's what we're used to.
21:24All those parts.
21:25That looks like, to me, that looks normal.
21:27Looks like a regular car.
21:28Right.
21:28So if you come over here, I'll show you the difference.
21:30Now this is essentially the whole thing.
21:34What you have here is two electric motors.
21:37You've got a differential that changes the power out to the axles that drive the wheels.
21:42And you have a battery pack that supplies power to the motors.
21:45Wow.
21:46That's it.
21:46Wow.
21:47There's nothing under the hood of this car.
21:48That is so crazy to me that that's what moves this car is that.
21:52Yeah.
21:53I mean, that's what I just assume is what is required.
21:56Yeah.
21:56And I was raised in the Southern California car culture where I like to go fast.
22:00Yeah.
22:00Well, once again, there's no comparison.
22:02This is so much faster.
22:03This is so much faster.
22:04Electric.
22:04So putting this in the framework of an autonomous fleet, right?
22:09That's obviously going to just be a rational business decision.
22:12It has nothing to do with social consciousness.
22:15Which direction do you go?
22:17Oh.
22:17Electric.
22:18There's no comparison.
22:20This is so much more efficient.
22:22That requires endless amounts of maintenance costs.
22:25So as a fleet owner, you wouldn't want those maintenance costs.
22:28Right.
22:28And then you've got the cost of fuel.
22:30Electricity is cheaper than petroleum, even as cheap as gas is today.
22:33This is the future.
22:35And it's not, it's the future now because it's here.
22:38Right.
22:39But I find that pretty amazing that you're saying that because theoretically it's giving
22:43you less work.
22:44So I think that's pretty great, really.
22:47I got involved in this process probably 10 years ago.
22:49Right.
22:50And it's fascinating.
22:52It is the future of transportation.
22:55Wow.
22:58Electric cars really are a superior technology that could save us money and help save the
23:03planet.
23:04Why aren't these cars everywhere?
23:06What's holding us back?
23:13I want to know why there aren't more Republicans in Congress willing to come forward on climate.
23:19So I'm going to meet the GOP's most outspoken critic, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
23:24I am back to again urge my colleagues to wake up to the stark reality of climate change.
23:31Nearly every week for the last four years, Whitehouse has taken to the Senate floor.
23:36I am here today for now the 50th time, 64th, 73rd.
23:41I'm going to keep doing this.
23:42I'm never going to walk away from this issue.
23:46Today is my 103rd, 107th, 145th time.
23:50Hi.
23:51If this is uncomfortable for my colleagues, I apologize, but basically I don't care.
23:57Whitehouse pulls no punches when it comes to calling out Republicans.
24:00They just as soon washed their hands of it.
24:03For being the last remaining conservative party on earth to deny the science of climate change.
24:09It is time.
24:11It is well past time.
24:15Like a lot of people, this situation drives me nuts that what should not be a partisan issue has become
24:23a partisan issue.
24:24But it really isn't a partisan issue.
24:26You've got to look behind the partisanship and see who's pulling the strings.
24:30The truly evil story is what the fossil fuel industry is doing.
24:36They've taken power centers of the Republican Party and grabbed them all.
24:41And if they pull their support from a Republican candidate, that's a very serious threat.
24:47Do you see any Republicans who want to do the right thing on this?
24:50I would say 12 to 20 Republican senators would like to be involved in a serious piece of climate legislation
24:57and feel they can't.
24:59Talking to Republican senators about climate change is like talking to prisoners about escape.
25:05They look around and the whole conversation is, how are we going to get safely over the fence or under
25:11the fence?
25:12Have you got a tunnel?
25:13These are people who've got essentially a political gun to their heads.
25:16Right.
25:17And they're being told, you do this and it's a career ender.
25:19Do you see any hope, any daylight there?
25:21A lot.
25:22What I'm buoyed by is the conversations from Republican senators saying, I know I can't get there yet, but keep
25:27doing what you're doing.
25:28What does it take to turn them?
25:30Safe passage.
25:31Some form of safe passage.
25:33I'm amazed by what White House is telling me.
25:36Despite the threat of the fossil fuel lobby, there may be enough Republican votes in the Senate to pass a
25:41climate bill.
25:42And over in the House is where Jay comes in.
25:45He's helping cobble a group together to come up with a climate bill Republicans can actually support.
25:50Welcome to the first meeting of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
25:54Truly a historic meeting.
25:56There are a lot of people who believe that a group of Democrats and Republicans meeting together to work on
26:00climate change was impossible.
26:02The first Republican to join? Congressman Curbelo.
26:06Thank you very much, Congressman Deutsch, for being a willing partner.
26:10This could be a model for cooperation to really fill the leadership vacuum that I think many Americans perceive in
26:17our country.
26:17This can shift from what has been a discussion around what are the costs of solving this problem to a
26:23discussion around, wow, the opportunities are enormous associated with solving this problem.
26:29It's a good day for Jay.
26:30This meeting shows that maybe the two parties aren't that far apart.
26:34We have been part of a historic discussion here today.
26:39But before any bill can gain traction, Jay and Curbelo will need to recruit more caucus members.
26:45Hey, Tom. How are you?
26:46Jay talks with a CCL colleague targeting one prospect in a state heavily dependent on coal, gas and oil.
26:52A Republican Congresswoman from Utah, Mia Love.
26:56The progress you're making with the Congresswoman is just spectacular.
27:00It's starting to remind me a lot of Florida.
27:03If she steps up, others will follow.
27:06All right, Tom.
27:08Thanks for the call.
27:09Congresswoman Love is a staunch conservative and a rising star of the GOP.
27:14If she were to join the caucus, it could send a huge signal to the Republican Party.
27:18We're not better off than we were four years ago, and no rhetoric, bumper sticker or Hollywood campaign ad can
27:25change that.
27:28Love has told the CCL she believes humans contribute to climate change.
27:32The question is, with her election looming, is she willing to take action?
27:43Electric vehicles, or EVs, are only as clean as their power source, but even in states where they rely heavily
27:50on fossil fuels for electricity, they're still cleaner than most gasoline cars.
27:55Wow, EVs have been around since the 1800s.
27:59But the early electric cars just couldn't compete with the long range of gasoline cars.
28:04They all but disappeared until they made their first serious comeback in the 90s when General Motors introduced the all
28:11-electric EV1.
28:13Chelsea Sexton worked for GM back then, and she became a relentless champion of the EV1.
28:18This is no golf cart. It does not putter along. It'll be just about any car off the line.
28:23It's very convenient. You never have to go to a gas station again, which is a very big appeal to
28:27many people.
28:28The oil lobby saw the EV1 as a major threat to profits, and GM decided the car would be a
28:33money loser.
28:34So they literally crushed it, and their entire EV program.
28:39People keep making all these analogies about, you know, crushing the EV is a betrayal of the American dream.
28:44It's not a dream. I mean, it's here now. It may be a betrayal of my dream, but it's a
28:50betrayal of the American reality.
28:52Chelsea got laid off by GM, but she's dedicated her life to fighting for electric cars.
28:58In fact, she recently organized a National Drive Electric Week event here in LA.
29:02Hey there.
29:03Hey, Chelsea.
29:04Ty.
29:05Nice to meet you.
29:05Nice to meet you.
29:06Welcome to EV Land.
29:07Thank you. Thanks for having me. This is incredibly cool.
29:10It is very cool.
29:11I didn't know that this existed, which I think makes me part of the problem.
29:16Well, you're indicative of one of our challenges.
29:18Yeah.
29:18That we've been doing this for five years, this particular event, and very few people comparatively know about it.
29:24Right.
29:24So you came the perfect year. We have 20 different things to look at.
29:29Man, there are so many cool EVs, and even electric BMW and Tesla cop cars.
29:35Chelsea tells me here in California there's a mandate requiring car makers to sell zero emission vehicles.
29:41But only 1% of new cars on the road in the U.S. are EVs. Why?
29:45So I'm curious about whether this is an inevitability that cars are going to go electric, or are you worried
29:53that, like before, this is going to start and then drop off again?
29:57It's not inevitable yet.
29:58It's not.
29:58Yeah.
29:58Yeah.
29:59We've had a few years of EVs. Everything looks really neat and rosy, and yet, if the California law changed
30:04tomorrow, these cars would all go away.
30:06We need the public to give them a shot. And then also, you know, legislative, whether mandates or incentives, but
30:12the political support.
30:13Where are we at with incentives?
30:16We do have a federal tax credit that applies to everything with a plug to some degree, and then we
30:20have state-by-state incentives.
30:22You know, one really popular example is Georgia had a $5,000 incentive for electric cars that just went away,
30:27mostly for political reasons, of one side not believing that EVs should be subsidized.
30:32I mean, the more we do this, the more we are going up against forces that are large, but let's
30:37face it, oil companies don't want to see electric cars happening.
30:40California State Senator Kevin DeLeon recently lost a huge battle here for electric vehicles.
30:45His proposal to reduce petroleum use by 50% in California was swiftly knocked down by the Western States Petroleum
30:52Association, the same oil lobbyists who helped kill the electric car 20 years ago.
30:58We had a slight setback a few days ago. It was very difficult to compete with the tens of millions
31:03of dollars that were spent by the fossil fuel industry.
31:07Everyone deserves the right to drive an electrical vehicle. And once we hit that tipping point, it's game over for
31:15the fossil fuel industry. It's game over.
31:18So politics and the oil lobby are a big part of the problem. Is that what happened in Georgia? I'm
31:25on my way to find out.
31:30After several months of laying the groundwork, the day has arrived.
31:35It's time to ask Utah Congresswoman Mia Love to join the Climate Solutions Caucus.
31:41Congresswoman, how are you? Hello Jay, how are you? Good to see you again. Nice to see you.
31:44But it's not going to be easy to bring her on board. So Jay invites someone Love knows and respects.
31:49Hey, Mia Love, how are you? Fellow Congressman Carlos Curbeli.
31:54How are you? Good to see you. What I find really exciting is the fact that you are both freshmen,
32:01first term in Congress.
32:02You're both young parents. So I'm wondering how that affects your thought process on climate change.
32:11When I think about climate change, I think about what kind of a world are we going to be leaving
32:17our children?
32:19I refuse to be the generation that leaves this country worse off than what we had.
32:26Are you feeling like we can address the problem and preserve the economy too?
32:33I think we can. And I think one of the things that we're doing and I applaud Carlos for is
32:39opening up that door and starting to have that discussion.
32:42What do you think the next steps are for the Congresswoman?
32:45Well, Jay, I think it's colleagues like Mia that are going to help us get this done because she has
32:51a great attitude about this.
32:53There's a small but growing group of Republicans saying, let's have a conversation. Let's see where it leads us.
33:00And then I hope at some point she can join us in the caucus because I really think you have
33:06a lot to contribute.
33:07So Congresswoman, where do you go from here? What are next steps?
33:13Well, I think where we go is continue to have the door open.
33:17But this is a conversation I'd like to have with energy producers, fossil fuels.
33:22Utah energy production is incredibly important. And it's just an issue that is, you know, it's going to be a
33:30tougher issue to take on.
33:32Right.
33:36Jay thinks the political pressure on Mia Love was just too great for her to join the climate caucus.
33:43So how did your meeting go today?
33:46We were hopeful that Congresswoman Love would step up, but I realized we have a long way to go.
33:53I thought we'd made a little more progress than that, actually.
33:56So this is a rough day?
33:59Yeah, this was not a good day.
34:01You've been doing this for how long?
34:04Almost 10 years.
34:0510 years.
34:06Nobody's covering your expenses.
34:08No, I pay that.
34:09Right.
34:09Last year, I spent $40,000 in expenses and gave it pretty much all my time.
34:16You're talking to people who don't want to talk to you day after day after day for a decade.
34:21And then you have these days like today.
34:26Doesn't this drive you out of your mind?
34:29I mean, how do you not crawl out of your skin?
34:32I feel like the clock is ticking on this planet.
34:37I wouldn't feel right doing anything else.
34:39So this may be the wrong day to ask, but do you think you're going to be successful?
34:48We will succeed.
34:50Congress will act on climate change.
34:55The big question is, will it be in time?
35:13I'm told EVs were thriving here because of a generous tax credit.
35:17But then it was taken away?
35:19Chelsea's friend Don Francis has been fighting for EVs here in Georgia since the early 90s.
35:24Don helped install the EV chargers at this golf club.
35:28He's since retired but is still a tireless EV advocate.
35:32I want to know what impact losing the incentive had.
35:35I was a little surprised to find that one of the experts in the field was in the south and
35:40that there's a big presence in the south.
35:42This is a question I get asked a lot.
35:44Why Georgia?
35:45We were the number one leaf market in the country.
35:48How did that happen?
35:49The incentives here in Georgia made the vehicles financially viable.
35:54With the removal of the tax credit by the state, sales have dropped 90%.
35:58And that's what we anticipated and that's exactly what's been happening here.
36:02And why did the incentive go away?
36:04There are folks in the legislature and particularly on the Republican side of the house that think that tax credits
36:10are not the way to go to incentivize the industry.
36:14Obviously, there's some ambiguity in this topic because you can't just subsidize something completely forever.
36:22We've used tax policy in this country for years to get people to do what you want them to do
36:26and penalize them for doing the things you don't want them to do.
36:29You know, that's why there's a dollar something tax per pack on cigarettes. Why?
36:33But should taxpayers be helping people buy EVs? Don't think so.
36:38He says we've been subsidizing the oil industry in America to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a
36:42year.
36:43And Georgians could be saving with EVs instead of spending billions on fuel every year.
36:48Electric vehicles generate revenue for the state because they don't use imported fuel.
36:55Georgia has no refineries, no oil wells.
36:57And that money primarily leaves the state of Georgia.
37:00You fuel an electric vehicle, now you're buying your fuel from a local company who's paying local taxes, employing local
37:05people.
37:06So we think it's a significant revenue impact for the state of Georgia.
37:11I just don't get it.
37:12More electric cars on the road means more money going back into the local economy and less pollution.
37:18So what impact did killing the incentive actually have on local businesses?
37:24The Leaf was our biggest seller by far up through June of last year.
37:29The Leaf was our largest volume car.
37:31We were the largest electric vehicle dealer in the world at one time.
37:34Sure.
37:35Wow.
37:35In the last month of the tax credit, we sold 274 Leafs.
37:38So what was that like going from that to after the tax incentive?
37:41Well, the next month we sold two Leafs.
37:44Wow.
37:45So it was kind of like a huge hangover.
37:46Yeah.
37:47It does feel like people love the car, people respond to the car, people know that it's good for the
37:53environment, but that it might still need a little bit of a kickstart.
37:56At the end of the day, it wasn't a free car after the $5,000 tax credit.
38:00Yeah.
38:00But it was a car that was very little outlay and very little risk for a customer.
38:06Right.
38:06Yeah.
38:07I think it was a great thing to do.
38:09In my opinion, it should have been repealed.
38:12More gradually.
38:13Exactly.
38:13Instead of just ripping the bandaid off.
38:15Yeah.
38:15I think we should have gone piecemeal.
38:18I wonder how many more electric car converts there might have been if the incentive hadn't been killed like that.
38:23It's frustrating to see lawmakers getting in the way of solutions to our climate change problems.
38:32The last time I attempted to lobby Republicans about acting on climate change, it didn't go very well.
38:38So I'm going to try again with a new congressman.
38:41How's it feel?
38:42Are you feel ready?
38:43Uh, no, I don't feel ready.
38:44I feel like I'm going into enemy territory.
38:47I think you're ready.
38:48I mean, you've trained for this.
38:50Congressman Lee Zeldin is an army veteran who served in Iraq and has taken some pretty conservative positions.
38:57This is a market-based solution to the problem of car loan pollution.
39:00Fee and dividend.
39:01Market-based solution.
39:02Gradually rising fee on fossil fuels.
39:04I don't want to disappoint Jay.
39:08Luckily, I'll have some help to make my case.
39:11I'm joined by several CCL members who live in Zeldin's district and have met with his staff 15 times before
39:18today, still with no result.
39:21We really do appreciate what you're doing for the constituents of New York One.
39:25It's all part of the CCL strategy Jay told me about.
39:28I'm very concerned about our farmers and storm surge.
39:32Find common ground with your member of Congress and show them they'll have the political support to start solving this
39:38thing.
39:38Uh, I'm Brad Whitford.
39:40I'm concerned about climate change.
39:41And I'm interested in talking to people who are not coming from the same place that I come from politically.
39:48It's too bad you didn't solve it during your time in the West Wing.
39:51Yeah.
39:51We solved the whole Middle East thing in two episodes.
39:56The first congressional district of New York is unique in that it's almost completely surrounded by water.
40:01We were greatly impacted by Superstorm Sandy.
40:03Uh, so the threat is very real for this congressional district.
40:07I mean, do you think it would be helpful for us to emphasize, you know, conservative, market-driven solutions?
40:13Would that help you?
40:14Oh, absolutely.
40:15I think that there is more of an awareness and a willingness to recognize that climate change is real.
40:22And that Congress is more and more open-minded towards identifying those solutions.
40:27So I'll throw our ask in here.
40:28Um, so you're probably aware then about the Climate Solutions Caucus that has been formed.
40:34Um, so the main thing we would request from you today is to perhaps consider joining the caucus.
40:40There are times where things don't get done because of partisan fighting.
40:45But I love your approach.
40:48Uh, I like that you're bringing both parties together on it.
40:52That you're not trying to agree to the, you know, one solution before everyone comes together.
41:00So it sounds like something I would want to be a part of.
41:02Great.
41:03We would appreciate that.
41:05We did it.
41:06Zeldin is becoming the ninth Republican to join the caucus.
41:10I'm beginning to understand how Jay's patient, respectful approach might actually work.
41:17So now you're into it.
41:18You've had meetings.
41:20I'd like to know, do you have hope?
41:24Do you think we can do this?
41:26I am hopeful.
41:27Strangely hopeful.
41:29I feel like it's one of those issues that seems like it'll never be solved.
41:32And then suddenly there will be great movement forward.
41:37And see, if you ask me, I think we're near that point.
41:42There is enough happening in Congress that this could change rapidly.
41:48What is it going to take?
41:52It's going to take the American people.
41:54If they're not talking about the issue to Congress, it's not going to move.
42:00It's on you and me and everyone else in the country.
42:04The fate of the planet rests on the American people here.
42:14I'm a Mets fan, so I tend to root for the underdog.
42:18I was psyched to see electric cars in Georgia so close to a win.
42:22Until politics came into play and ruined everything.
42:25Maybe Chelsea can explain what's going on.
42:28She still consults for car companies.
42:30And she's been through this before.
42:32Good to see you.
42:33Hey, you too.
42:34I heard you just got back from Atlanta.
42:36I did.
42:37That's kind of why I'm here, actually.
42:39I had a little bit of a frustrating time.
42:42It was definitely not an optimistic trip.
42:45Uh-oh.
42:45They had just withdrawn the $5,000.
42:48Yeah.
42:49Everyone's very frustrated with that.
42:50Yeah.
42:51And the sales are now plummeting.
42:53They've gone off a cliff, yeah.
42:55What are the stakes this time around?
42:58You know?
42:59Are we at a point where if things don't go our way, is this our last shot?
43:04It could be.
43:04Why?
43:06Well, we're six years in to this generation of plug-in cars, of electric cars.
43:10Right.
43:10We don't have that many more years to convince the public that this is worthwhile.
43:14Before they're going to kind of go, eh, that was nice again.
43:17Let's move on to something else.
43:18Going forward from right now, what is the best-case scenario for electric vehicles?
43:24The best-case scenario, at least in the next few years, is that we get a couple of big wins.
43:28And people are looking at things like Chevrolet Bolt or Tesla Model 3 or second-generation Leaf as sort of
43:34a more affordable, longer-range, first quasi-mainstream vehicle that might be available.
43:39We've been working on this issue for 20-some-odd years, right?
43:45I mean, do you, is there a part of you that looks at this like it's not going to happen,
43:49or do you need to be hopeful?
43:51Well, I need to be hopeful because it's just, it's who I am and it keeps me going because this
43:55has been so long.
43:57Yeah.
43:57And there are, you know, really tangible stakes.
44:00I am from this little town, and I started at 17 at the Saturn dealer around the corner, and this
44:05has been a very long-time building.
44:07I feel like I was always sort of interested in it, but the stakes go way up when you've got
44:12a kid.
44:13Yep.
44:13How much of an impact does this have if electric vehicles don't happen right now in terms of climate change
44:19and in terms of the world that our kids are going to see?
44:22It has a huge impact. Transportation is a huge segment of the total carbon emissions of the world.
44:27I mean, EVs alone won't solve climate change, but even if we have them, we still have a lot more
44:31work to do.
44:32Right.
44:32Making electric cars work sets the stage for these other things, these other technologies that we know are coming.
44:38I'm amazed after all these years that Chelsea keeps fighting.
44:43She still believes electric cars can win out despite all the obstacles.
44:47And it's clear to me now that we need to find a way to make that happen for the sake
44:51of our planet.
45:01Ladies and gentlemen, my friend, Jay Butera.
45:09I give a lot of myself to citizens climate lobby, but here's the thing.
45:15I get back more than I give.
45:19I get a chance to work with brilliant, inspired, unstoppable people like you.
45:29And that's what keeps me going.
45:32That's what gives me hope.
45:36And that's what's going to fix Congress and save this beautiful planet of ours.
45:52That night I go to see President Lincoln, who led the Republican Party and our divided nation to confront its
46:00most difficult challenge.
46:03I wonder what he would think of the Republicans I've seen taking on today's challenge of climate change.
46:11I think he might approve.
46:22Maybe we are finally at a turning point.
46:25Chelsea is at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to witness a moment she's been dreaming about for over
46:31two decades.
46:35Chelsea thinks the Bolt can be a game changer if GM really gets behind it this time.
46:42We have the tools to revolutionize the road.
46:46Electric is already here.
46:48Autonomous is just around the corner.
46:50And rideshare companies are racing to lead the way.
46:53We need to drastically shift the way we travel to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
47:00Ladies and gentlemen, the Bolt EV is truly the first EV that cracks the code of long range at an
47:09affordable price.
47:10It means that we all have to be responsible consumers, including me.
47:14It's a daunting task, but one that feels worth it for my kids.
47:18The way people get around is changing forever.
47:22The Bolt EV is the next step in this journey.
47:26Chelsea is hopeful again, but still guarded.
47:29Hundreds of thousands of people are already clamoring for the latest EV models like Tesla Model 3 and the Bolt.
47:34They could be game changers, but only if Big Auto and the government really get behind them.
47:40Consumers still need convincing and Big Oil won't give up without a fight.
47:44It may be a small step, but I know just where I can begin.
47:48I'm excited to drive it.
47:51Thanks a lot.
47:51My first plug-in car.
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