William Shatner Warns of Climate Change After Joy Ride in Space

William Shatner appeared on Cuomo Prime Time to talk about his brief visit to space earlier this week. At 90, he became the oldest person to do so, blasting off in a rocket owned by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace company.

“When I saw the bright blue covering of Earth that’s only 50 miles wide,” said Shatner, “and we plunged through at 2,500 miles an hour, broke through it, then all of a sudden like a punch in the face there was the blackness of space. And none of the mystery of the twinkling stars, the galaxies, just pure blackness. Because the sun was in my face and the wind, whatever the reasons were. Space is cold and ominous and ugly, and it really threatens death. There’s death there. And you look down, and there’s this warm, nurturing planet.”

Becoming increasingly melancholic, the actor added,

That’s death up there and life down here. And between the two, ruining this planet as we are, we’re on the verge – to bring you the ‘good’ news – that we’re at the tipping point. We haven’t got time to wait 30 years and argue about a few billion dollars, which we should — how much should we invest in global warming? We’re there. And so all these terrible things happening in the body politic is merely a hesitation before we all–I mean, it’s just terrible. I wish I had better news and more entertainment and jokes to tell you. But I was moved to tears by what I saw. And I come back, filled and overwhelmed by sadness and empathy for this beautiful thing we call Earth.

Shatner’S remarks come against the backdrop of ongoing negotiations in Congress and the White House over the size and scope of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which includes significant provisions to fight climate change. Currently, the agenda is in the form of a $3.5 trillion bill which stands little chance of becoming law in its current form.

Watch above via CNN.