We might have to start calling Bill Nye “The Junk Science Guy” if he doesn’t get his shit together. The popular TV personality and mechanical engineer is catching some serious criticism from fans over his plans to attend 45’s State of the Union Address. Nye will be accompanying Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma as the congressman’s guest. Tragically but not surprisingly, Trump had previously nominated Bridenstine, a climate change skeptic, to head NASA. For the record, in 2013 Bridenstine notably and incorrectly, claimed that global temperatures had stopped rising in 1993. That’s the kind of person we’re dealing with, folks.
Nye’s fans have protested his attendance with a petition. “President Donald Trump is a bigoted climate denier. So is Congressman Bridenstine (R-OK), Trump’s embattled nominee for NASA Administrator. So why is Bill Nye ‘very pleased’ to be Bridenstine’s guest at Trump’s first State of the Union address?” demands petition. Why, indeed, Bill? Why, indeed?
Nye isn’t having it, though. “I will attend the state of the Union as a guest of Congressman Jim Bridenstine–nominee for NASA Administrator–who extended me an invitation in my role as CEO of the Planetary Society,” he tweeted. (The Planetary Society is an NGO founded by scientist Carl Sagan dedicated to the human exploration of space.) In another tweet, Nye clarifies that “While the Congressman and I disagree on a great many issues–we share a deep respect for NASA and its achievements and a strong interest in the future of space exploration.” Kind of hard to explore space, when you’re own is going up in flames, but I digress.
