Bill Nye ‘the Science Guy’ visits Durham to promote Harris-Walz campaign’s climate platform

Science educator and TV personality Bill Nye spoke in Durham Monday to promote the Harris-Walz campaign’s climate agenda.

Harris for President and N.C. Democrats hosted Nye at the campaign’s Durham headquarters, where he addressed a venue of around 50 supporters.

Nye explained that he used to view the 2000 presidential election between Democratic nominee Al Gore and Republican nominee George W. Bush as “the most important election of [his] lifetime” because Gore’s strong climate platform would have likely spurred aggressive policy action. However, he now views 2024 as the last year where meaningful climate action is possible.

“This is it, people,” Nye said. “If we don’t do something about climate change this time, it ain’t gonna get done.”

Nye pulled a miniature copy of the Constitution out of his pocket and turned to section eight, clause eight, reading it aloud: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.”

“The word science is in the U.S. Constitution,” he said.

However, Nye recalled visiting “countless” congressional offices over the years and speaking to members who “do not remember reading that word” and have advocated for policies that contradict scientific fact during their time in office.

He expressed support instead for Harris’ climate platform, which “advances environmental justice, protects public lands and public health, increases resilience to climate disasters, lowers household energy costs, creates millions of new jobs and continues to hold polluters accountable to secure clean air and water for all.” 

The campaign is sponsored by advocacy group Climate Power in partnership with 13 other environmental organizations such as the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the Sierra Club Political Committee. It is co-chaired by public figures including Nye, Rosario Dawson, Jack Schlossberg and others who will appear at speaking engagements in battleground states to advocate for the Harris-Walz ticket and climate action.

Nye spoke about environmental issues currently facing North Carolina, including more intense storm seasons, rising sea levels threatening coastal communities and excessive PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as “forever chemicals.” He also addressed pollution, food insecurity and extreme heat. 

Nye identified a personal connection to the state, noting that his mother hails from Durham and his grandfather once taught chemistry at Duke.

Nye asserted that North Carolina will play a pivotal role in the November election, pointing to recent polls showing Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump nearly neck and neck.

“Dare I say it, North Carolina — you all are going to change the world,” he said.

Nye implored audience members to reach out to friends and family members who intend to vote for Trump and “remind them that climate is the single most important issue for their children and their grandchildren … climate is the most important issue there is.”

Nye was joined by three North Carolinian officials at the event: State Sen. Natalie Murdock, State Rep. Pricey Harrison and Kinston City Councilman Chris Suggs.

Murdock began her opening remarks by making a disclaimer that the Harris campaign does not stand for political violence in the wake of another reported assassination attempt against Trump Sunday — the second this election cycle.

“There is no place for violence in this country ever,” Murdock said. “As the vice president said, we are still learning the facts of what happened on Sunday, but in America, we settle our differences not through violence but at the ballot box.”

Murdock and Harrison both commented on the problems facing climate policy at the state level.

“I’ve been in the legislature for 20 years,” Harrison said. “It has been a slog to watch how we’ve addressed the climate crisis.”

She noted that while North Carolina is the third-most vulnerable state in the country for sea level rise, passing mitigating and adaptive policies has been difficult due to the state’s Republican supermajority.

“Every little chance the Republicans have has been [used] to roll back every single protection that we have enacted,” Harrison said.

Both legislators underscored the “danger” posed by Trump and Republican N.C. gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson. They contrasted the Project 2025 agenda — which opposes clean energy investment and environmental justice efforts at the federal level — with Harris’ platform, pointing to her investment in replacing lead pipes throughout North Carolina and support for clean energy development in the state from within the Biden administration.

Suggs, the state’s youngest elected official, spoke about his experience growing up in eastern North Carolina and experiencing frequent flooding.

“Flooding is unfortunately a part of the legacy of our town now, which is home to primarily Black residents, and my neighborhood of east Kinston is the number one most economically distressed neighborhood in our entire state,” he said. “So with all of those disasters, we’ve had a hard time recovering economically. We’ve lost jobs [and] businesses, and the folks who could move away to somewhere safer, they did leave.”

Suggs framed Harris’ platform as one that promotes an “opportunity economy” to support the needs of the middle class. He contrasted her approach with Trump’s, who he noted previously cut funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other disaster relief programs and “plans to raise costs on our families.”

“Vice President Harris and President Biden are lowering energy costs and making sure that our paychecks go further,” he said. “Families have a little bit more breathing room.”

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