Welcome back to the show.
Last week, Syria joined the Paris Climate Accord,
leaving America the only country not signed
on after Trump pulled out.
Damn it, if you were going to pull out of something,
why couldn't it have been five seconds
before you made an Eric?
[LAUGHTER]
Many of Trump supporters doubt climate science
too, even those who are feeling its effects
in their own backyards.
Allana Harkin took a voyage to meet them.
Now you see this island here?
This wasn't an island, this was all connected.
So you can see within a year's time how much land disappeared.
Do you think it's because the sea level was rising?
Nope.
It's because of erosion.
ALLANA: I really like James Eskridge,
the mayor of Tangier Island.
And I'm totally not annoying him.
Going to chip away at you.
Chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip.
Down here they call him Euchre, and all day
I've been trying to convince him that global warming is real.
I don't believe it.
ALLANA: A tiny speck in Chesapeake Bay, Tangier
is home to a small and very religious community
of hardy crabbers.
It's so lovely that Charming AF magazine recently
awarded it a full 10 AFs.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLANA: Tragically, Tangier is rapidly
disappearing into the Chesapeake because of sea level rise.
Erosion, not sea level rise.
ALLANA: No, sea level rise caused by global warming.
That's the biggest hoax ever was.
ALLANA: No!
Climate change is real.
GEORGE: No way, honey.
You could never change my mind.
ALLANA: That's because as evangelicals, they're
among those Americans least likely to believe
in climate change, as well as some other things.
- Let me ask you a question. - Yes?
[LAUGHING]
Be honest with me.
You think you evolved from an ape?
I believe in evolution, yes.
[LAUGHTER]
You can see all this standing water here.
As the sea level has come up, it's converting into swamp.
ALLANA: David Schulte is a scientist
with the Army Corps of Engineers and world's
strongest Jimmy Buffett fan. [LAUGHTER]
ALLANA: He studied the island for 15 years.
The majority of them just simply
cannot accept that climate change
is a real problem out here.
They attribute it all to erosion.
ALLANA: Erosion that islanders say
can be solved with a seawall.
A seawall will protect us from whatever is going on.
ALLANA: A wall will help with wave erosion,
but it won't help as sea levels continue to rise.
It's like acknowledging you have to escape from Billy Zane
while ignoring some larger issues.
[LAUGHTER]
This is sort of a canary in the coal mine situation.
This is happening in a lot of areas in the United States
and it's going to get worse.
You've been here for 15 years explaining to these people
how climate change works.
Why are you so bad at it?
[LAUGHTER]
Belief systems trump facts a lot.
ALLANA: So how can you have a respectful conversation
about climate change?
If I brought Al Gore here, would that--
We don't want that trash here.
Make sure you put that statement on that camera.
I don't want you, Al Gore!
ALLANA: OK, that's the worst way.
First, you have to prepare.
And I'm not just talking about the bottle
of wine I buried on the beach because they
don't sell alcohol here.
[LAUGHTER]
ALLANA: Prepared by speaking with Katharine Hayhoe.
God gave us responsibility over our planet.
ALLANA: Katharine is a climate scientist
who knows how to speak to evangelical Christians
because she is one herself.
Just saying, oh, God will take care of it or it
doesn't matter is actually a profoundly
un-Christian perspective.
And in the Bible it says, God will destroy
those who destroy the earth.
What's your advice to me?
What is step one?
I'm in Tangier Island.
The first way to connect is to listen.
Rather than coming in saying, I know, I'm going to tell you,
you listen to me.
The place to start is by sharing from the heart.
What is it that we have in common?
Don't start a conversation by being a dick.
Exactly.
ALLANA: Share from the heart and don't be a dick?
I can do both of those.
I love crabs.
I'm assuming you like crabs.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Are you like a yoga or are you like a Pilates guy?
I'm more yoga.
I've done Pilates.
No, I'm just--
work.
We both start our day really early in the morning.
Yeah.
Because I try and get to a really early soul cycle class.
I'm up at like seven.
When do you get up?
I get up at 2:30, 2:30 in the morning.
ALLANA: So what's next?
And then you ask them for their stories.
OK.
Have you noticed anything changing?
Ask them.
Has the weather changed since you were a little boy?
The river's changing the weather.
ALLANA: Is it changing? Is it--
GEORGE: I think it goes through cycles.
Do you believe that the ice is melting in the Arctic?
GEORGE: Yeah, it is.
But I don't worry about that.
Even when your feet are getting wet on your front lawn?
No.
It's going to be-- it's going be-- be
good just to get out of here.
Thousands of years ago-- - But how do you--
Listen.
Thousands of years ago, he had all this already planned out.
That day is a coming.
Guess you shouldered your boards, sister.
The rapture.
Yeah.
Let me throw this out there and we'll let it land.
We don't even have to discuss it.
What if climate scientists are actually doing God's work?
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
Well, he works through them, love it.
MAN: Yeah, he can work through them.
Yeah. MAN: He can work through them.
I mean, I don't know if that comes down.
Oh my god, I think I did it.
Did you guys just admit that climate change is real?
No. [LAUGHTER]
ALLANA: I really, really hope something can be done to save
Tangier, because it's unique and beautiful
and the people are lovely.
Did I convince anyone here?
Probably not.
But did we listen to each other?
Sort of.
This is such a great place.
It's too bad what's happened because
of all the sea level rising.
MAN: The wave erosion?
ALLANA: Sea rise.
MAN: Wave erosion.
ALLANA: The sea is-- the sea level is rising.
MAN: And the wave action is coming
in and ruining the shoreline.
ALLANA: Sea rise.
MAN: It is a shame.
ALLANA: [SINGING] Sea rise.
[LAUGHTER]
MAN: Wave erosion. [LAUGHTER]
We'll be right back.
[THEME MUSIC]