David Letterman's Global Warming Rant: "We Are Dead Meat" (VIDEO)

"We are dead meat," said David Letterman last night in the midst of a lengthy rant on global warming. He blamed a lack of leadership over the last several decades. He also said he didn't think that little steps like reusing party toothpicks or turning lawn clippings into mulch could possibly help.

WATCH the clip:

Related: Grist's David Roberts complains that Thomas Friedman, the guest on the show, failed to be interesting at all.

Who did a better job -- Friedman or Letterman?

Comments

[boogiewoman]

Badger84 you are so right on point. Carter told us but voted Reagan/Bush for 12 long years. I think it is possible they are going to do it again. Plus Carter was right about the middle east playing a huge roll. But we wanted the huge house and the huge cars. Our kids are going to be in trouble for the next 50 years. Nothing but poverity on the horizen.

[mediahack]

Joy Behar is a TV personality , and Chuck Norris is a former Action Movie star.
They are both on Larry King this week talking about the election.

Letterman is professional comedian. Bill Maher does comedy for a living too.
They are both becoming very opinionated on election issues.

Everyone has a right to their opinion, but have an honest question: Why should Americans care what these unelected unaccountable celebrities think?

[Joulanda]

Because they like the rest of us have to cast a vote that would determine the out come of the election.

[mediahack]

On-air personalities in the entertainment business represent a tiny fraction of the American population. They have a right to their opinion. But really, ask yourself "Why would Larry KIng have them on his show?

[CaptainHowdy]

Because the"elected" officials have better opinions on such matters???

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

[mediahack]

Actually the "elected" ones are the ones who make laws. They are the ones we vote for.
They are the accountable ones. I would hope they have "better opinions" on policy than actors or comedians.
just saying.

[greeniefromOH]

Because they are often intelligent and usually up-to-date on the issues.
Because they, too, are citizens.
Because they, too, have children.

[pmag88]

Because in most of the elections prior to this one they sorta stayed nuetral and kept it light.
The fact that their commentary has now become more serious and pointed proves that they feel strongly enough about the issues to take the risks associated with speaking out.

Of course John McCains campaign manager said flatly that this election isn't about the issues. So, what he means is that this election isn't about America. Thats the point. The republicans just want to win for winnings sake and they don't care about the issues.

[3fingerbrown]

Because politicians get paid for concealing the truth, and comedians get paid for revealing the truth.

[deb123]

Keep the oil prices at five dollars and higher per gallon, go into a depression and maybe, just maybe, we'll get it. The post about Carter was dead-on right. We crucified him when he told us to turn down our thermostats and curtail our driving, but at least a bit of awareness came through. Too little, too late? Probably. We wouldn't again elect a leader who discussed the seriousness of it all and now we're contemplating voting for a candidate who isn't sure the problem is man-made. Jeesh ... maybe Bill Mahr is right. We're too dumb to be governed.

[Svendem]

The irony is that the (predominantly Republican) global-warming sceptics seem to take COMFORT in the idea that global warming isn't caused by humans.

For crying out loud.. if Global Warming is caused by humans (which it probably is), then that's a GOOD THING. It means we can DO SOMETHING about it. If not, then we are indeed "dead meat". But hey - at least we don't have to take responsibility!

For a party that claims to emphasize personal responsibility, they certainly don't give a damn about _collective_ responsibility.

[huffposeur]

sven, you hit on the rights points but for the wrong reason. the people who take COMPFORT in "global warming" are those who believe in it. it gives the irreligious something to hold on to. Not only did man do this but man can UN-do it!

global warming zealots often act like they are carrying out the spanish inquisiition.

DO YOU BELIEVE? NO? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!

[elbowguts]

Who do you know that "takes comfort" in global warming?

It's like saying that the person who understands that they can lose weight by reducing calorie consumption and exercising "takes comfort" in obesity.

Just stick your head back in the sand. Everything will be okay.

[RTIII]

Presuming for a moment Man did do this (and I think it's very clear as CO2 levels haven't been this high since the advent of aerobic life - long before animals walked the land), it certainly does NOT mean man can undo it.

Simple example; Nearly every one of us is capable of killing something yet, is there one among us who can raise the dead - of ANY kind? Not presently. ...Just because man can do something does NOT mean man can undo the deed.
.
.

[ErnestineBass]

I dunno about that RTIII.

Didn't the hole in the ozone layer above the north pole close up after we banned CFCs?

[mdmpo]

Dave - you are great. I didn't see Thomas Friedman on there, but if you get a chance to hear him speak, you should. I heard him on Teri Gross and he said the "Drill Baby Drill" chant terrified him. It was a great interview.

Everyone should check this out. It's a great idea to get OUR word out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080909/cm_thenation/4357888;_ylt=Apq17yo283pqCE0qrZSb25Qe6sgF

[ully]

so just vote Mc cain for better future!no hot meat! but cool Alaska!

[My 2 Cents]

Baked Alaska! My favorite....

[ErnestineBass]

LOL!!!

[Willow712]

Palin is a Dominionist. They believe that God put the animals and the earth here for our benefit. That we can use and abuse earth land and sky and God will make it better. so of course, McCain/Palin would take that off the ticket. She doesn't even believe in Global warming. Because God says that we have dominion over the earth. That's why she says we can kill wolves and moose from planes, don't put polar bears on the endangered list. Nothing is safe.

[Badger84]

I agree that, for the most part, leadership has been absent. However, when Jimmy Carter suggested that we should make modest changes in our lifestyles to decrease dependence upon oil, the American public reacted like spoiled, tantrumming children. He was replaced by a dim-witted demagogue.

[3fingerbrown]

I've always thought that the day Carter asked us to turn down the thermostat was a watershed moment in history. It was the last time a president dared ask the American people to sacrifice for their country. Imagine a president saying today, "Ask not what you're country can do for you ... " We've become too lazy and selfish and self-absorbed to ever take such exhortations seriously again.

Thus do empires crumble, from the rot of decadence within.

[LJinFla]

No they didn't, many many people obliged. You are just repeating crap republicans have been saying for years.

I still to this day keep my thermostat down in winter and up in summer. Whats a couple of degrees...its not like you are gonna freeze to death or sweat to death, in-fact, it's more comfortable when you don't have to BUNDLE up in summer time inside!

[ErnestineBass]

I do the same, LJinFla, but face it, darlin'...folks like us are in the minority.

[ockraz]

Regardless of who wins, both candidates have agreed to cap and trade. This rant is just that- a rant.

[TRichards]

You don't realize that cap and trade is a shell game? It is designed to give the worst polluters a cheaper way out -- to buy credits rather than to spend much more to fix the problems they're creating. So, those with the lesser problems fix them with money from the worse polluters who are more than willing to pay a little rather than a lot.

It's like cleaning your hard disk by removing the small files while ignoring the multi-gigabyte files. Sure, you'll get some improvement. But, you'd be better off getting rid of the mega files that you don't need and ignoring the lesser ones. (Ideally, you'd get rid of all the unneeded files -- but that ain't going to happen.)

[ominous]

i agree, it would actually be cheaper for polluters to just pay penalty fees and keep polluting rather than upgrade a to a less polluting system.

no cap and trade! you too Obama, no cap and trade!

[merrill1]

If anyone should know about global warming, an Alaskan should. The permafrost is perma thawed. But no, this doesn't fit into the picture of the rosy republican future so it just isn't so folks and fergettabouddit. Dave's so on to it. Use your platform Dave, lead.

[LJinFla]

Silly, don't you know that it is thawing so there will be more living space for the end of days...you know Alaska is to be the refuge for the christian right don't you. Silly little Caribou Barbie (Palin) said so herself.

[mirandawilde]

That was a great rant and I totally agree except on one point- we *did* have leadership in the form of Al Gore. The problem is that no one listened.

[dac253]

If no one listened, the leader didn't lead.

[jazkiljok]

leaders get thrown to the dogs quickly when they tell people what they don't want to hear. most times people only listen when the threat becomes real.

[Buckminster]

BS. People don't lead anyone except for those who choose to follow. You can't blame the leader.

[bbrecht]

Talk is talk. Al Gore did nothing as VP.

[karafern]

Letterman 2012!

[ominous]

wow. so someone says something you agree with and all of a should throw him into a position of leadership. we're in bad shape.

[kotexbarbie]

WHY WAIT Letterman 2008!!!!!!

[GayGrandpa]

Why not...if McCain, God forbid, should win why not? Why not have a Letterman/ Oprah ticket or visa-versa!

[LiberalBuzz]

RIght on David.

RIGHT ON!

Does ANYONE pay any attention to the Flat Earthers around here? The denialists? The MO RONS?

[DanSmith]

Good news!! We can solve 80% of global warming by going vegan. Check this out.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ol_6Ju3oYI

[NoElephants]

G-D Da-mN Liberal Democrats, "ranting" - aka making sense. Why can't he just buy into the other rich white folks opinions' that there is nothing wrong? Oh right, because he is EDUCATED

[andhakari]

He's absolutely right and the audience thinks it's funny -- which is why he's absolutely right.

[dac253]

I've been in the audience for Dave's show and before the show begins, they tell you to laugh a lot and do it loud.

It was definitely not funny, but the audience had no idea Dave was gonna get so serious on them,... especially when they were told to laugh at every thing he says.

He also keeps the studio at 154 degrees below zero for taping, so that has a big effect too.

[FreelanceWriter]

You have to super cool those studio sets prior to filming. Trust me, otherwise you'd be TOTALLY baking from the sheer amount of lights used to tape a show...