If you spot famed childhood science entertainer Bill Nye on the streets and feel compelled to ask for a brag-worthy selfie, you better be able to show where you stand on climate policy.
That’s because the celebrity and newly minted “Climate Guy” is drawing a line: He’ll take your photos, but only if you’re voting Team Earth. Explained via the same “Bill Nye the Science Guy” humor that made him famous, but now via social media, the terms are the latest in a pre-election “Too Hot Not to Vote” engagement campaign. In the spot, Nye thanks his dedicated fans for decades of support, which had inspired kids near and far to join STEM fields, and, of course, generated thousands of selfies. And while these 1:1 interactions are meaningfully heartwarming, the last thing the Earth needs is more heat — so he’s turning his fans to the polls.
“Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent— and more extreme. We are changing Earth’s climate,” Nye told Mashable. “The first thing to do about it is vote. Democrats have a plan to address climate change. The other side is pretending it’s not even happening. I get asked for selfies all the time when I’m out and about. I’m usually happy to oblige, but from now on, if you ask for a selfie, I’m going to insist that you commit to vote. Climate is on the ballot, from top to bottom this November. To ensure a healthy future for all of us, vote.”
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The “Too Hot Not to Vote” campaign — awash in bright red fire and “hot face” (🥵) emojis — was launched in September by Climate Power, a strategic communications organization focused on building political action for the climate that’s recently called attention to the environmental impacts of Project 25. It’s supported by groups like the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the Sierra Club Political Committee, and Green New Deal Network, and seeks to harness social media’s prowess in urging voters to lay on the pressure for “bold” climate policy.
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Most importantly, the social activation is co-chaired by those with social media pull and the potential for virality: Celebrities like Rosario Dawson, Sophia Bush, and (everyone’s favorite) young political correspondent Jack Schlossberg, as well as environmental justice activists LaTricea Adams and Pattie Gonia, known as the premiere drag queen environmentalist.
“Voting is hot, climate change is not,” said Gonia at the time of the campaign’s launch. “Vote like our planet depends on it because… well… it does.”
Nye’s already made two videos urging people to vote on the side of the climate (Read: The Harris / Walz ticket). In one, sporting the essential white lab coat, Nye is blunt: “The world is on f*cking fire!!” In another, donning the garb of the nation’s founding fathers, the science icon quotes directly from the Constitution as he begs voters to align themselves with science. “Science isn’t partisan. It’s patriotic!” he says.
But, as Nye says in the third installment, the state of the world is getting dire. “From now on, you can have your selfie, but you gotta vote.”