This story was originally published by Mother Jones and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
It’s pretty hard to be funny about climate change. Not just because the subject tends to be grim, but also because the solutions tend to be technical, wonky, and interesting mostly just to nerds.
The video above, released today by Funny or Die in affiliation with the League of Conservation Voters, makes a valiant effort. It features Jeff Goldblum explaining the Obama administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a boardroom full of cartoonishly evil fossil fuel executives. I won’t spoil what he says, since it’s the punchline (such as it is). Suffice to say the execs don’t like it … and something about Miami Vice star Don Johnson.
I also won’t go on record vouching for the jokes in this. I chuckled a few times. I will say that Goldblum — or rather his character, the mysterious “Fixer” — nails his description of the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from the power sector by about a third by 2030, and which will form the backbone of Obama’s contribution to the upcoming global climate talks in Paris. The framing of the video is also spot-on: The plan is indeed facing stiff opposition from coal companies and the industry’s allies in statehouses and in Congress.
The Clean Power Plan is admittedly kind of boring to most people, despite being a groundbreaking policy achievement and an important step toward saving the planet from global warming. So if it takes Jeff Goldblum to get people interested, I’ve got no problem with that. Enjoy!
