(Bloomberg) -- Bill Nye -- aka “The Science Guy” -- is in hot water with environmentalists and scientists alike for attending the State of the Union address as a guest of a lawmaker who has expressed skepticism of global warming.
A petition urging Nye to "not support the Trump administration's disastrous climate denial agenda" by attending as the guest of Oklahoma Republican Congressman Jim Bridenstine, whose nomination to head National Aeronautics and Space Administration has drawn fire due to his lack of a science background and planet-warming stance.
The petition has more than 35,000 signatures, according to organizer ClimateTruth.org.
"As scientists, we cannot stand by while Nye lends our community's credibility to a man who would undermine the United States' most prominent science agency," another group, 500 Women Scientists, wrote in a blog Tuesday.
Nye defended his attendance on twitter, writing he was attending in capacity as chief executive officer of the non-profit Planetary Society.
"My attendance tomorrow should not be interpreted as an endorsement of this administration, or of Congressman Bridenstine's nomination, or seen as an acceptance of the recent attacks on science and the scientific community," he wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax invented by the Chinese, said in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan that aired Sunday that the argument climate change is real "wasn't working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place."
In fact, the six hottest years on record have all occurred since 2010. Every decade has been warmer than the previous decade since the 1960s, according to National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration data.
--With assistance from Eric Roston
To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman
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