Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and more late-night hosts spread climate change awareness

NEW YORK — Sewage treatment, sea turtles and a depressing condom ad all came up when late-night television hosts united for one night to turn their comic lenses to climate change.

Eight late-night hosts devoted a portion of their programs Wednesday and early Thursday to the issue, part of a Climate Week initiative timed to the United Nations’ General Assembly meeting in New York.

“Don’t even think about switching to another show,” said ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel. “We’re all focused on this topic tonight. You can’t escape. It’s basically an intervention. Our future is in jeopardy.”

In one case, they even combined forces: CBS’ James Corden and NBC’s Seth Meyers used a split-screen to open their 12:30 a.m. shows together.

“Crisis solved,” said CBS’ Stephen Colbert, “just as surely as when all of those celebrities sang ‘Imagine’ and ended COVID.”

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Noting that it was the first day of fall, NBC “Tonight” show host Jimmy Fallon said that “some people are sad that summer’s over. But thanks to climate change, it’s not.”

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Kimmel called his audience to action, opening his show with a montage of politicians and preachers in clips downplaying science. He showed a 2003 clip of the late Sen. John McCain trying to convince his colleagues that climate change was important. “We’re still acting as if this is something we don’t have to worry about for 20 years,” Kimmel said.

He called on viewers to contact recalcitrant lawmakers, flashing a Washington phone number on the screen, and quipped, “when the food supply gets low, they’re the ones we’re going to eat first.”

On “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah’s monologue concerned little-known facts about climate change. Because the sex of sea turtles is determined in part by how hot the sand is where eggs are laid, there has been an abundance of female turtles, putting the species in long-term risk, he said.

Samantha Bee, on TBS’ “Full Frontal,” devoted a segment to the admittedly unpleasant topic of sewage treatment. She noted that in most municipal systems, raw sewage from homes mixes with runoff from rainstorms, leading to backups during big storms, which are happening more often due to climate change.

“That’s led to catastrophic flooding and sewage overflows around the country, and not just in the liberal urban hellholes you’d expect, but also in the red states that God doesn’t hate,” she deadpanned.

Many of the shows’ guests were booked specifically to talk about the topic, such as Jane Goodall on the “Tonight” show and Bill Gates on Corden’s “Late Late Show.” Instead of singing, Shawn Mendes talked climate change with Colbert.

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“Can I say a personal thing?” Corden said to Gates. “Thank you for being the one billionaire who’s not trying to escape the planet Earth on a spaceship right now.”

Bravo’s Andy Cohen was the eighth host to join in the effort.

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Not everyone played along. Greg Gutfeld and his panelists on Fox News Channel mocked the effort and touted the benefits of fossil fuels.

“Comedy is dead and so is risk in this land of late-night teachers’ pets,” Gutfeld said. “They went from George Carlin to George Soros.”

Many of the late-night hosts signed a letter, along with more than 60 entertainers, to call on entertainment executives to use their power to demand Congress to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda, which includes steps to solve climate change. 

Camila Cabello posted the letter on her social media, encouraging her followers to join the cause.

"There’s so much that needs to be done to protect our beautiful planet and while that can feel overwhelming, know that our voices are so much more powerful together," she wrote.