Just days after he told Parade magazine that his environmental coverage was “not political,” on Wednesday’s Today show, weatherman Al Roker excitedly announced that NBC News would be joining a push by left-wing “journalists” to preach climate activism.

While marking Earth Day, Roker touted climate “renewal” amid the coronavirus pandemic, but warned that “the change in the air is only temporary and not nearly enough.” Following that taped report, he proclaimed: “And guys, we’re actually proud to say that NBC News has made reporting on climate change a priority, and so we are now happy to be joining and covering, joining this group called Covering Climate Now.”

Roker described the organization as “a global journalism initiative that’s committed to even more and better coverage.” Taking one look at its website, the liberal roots of Covering Climate Now become obvious:

Organized by journalists, for journalists, CCNow was co-founded in April 2019 by the Columbia Journalism Review, and The Nation, in association with The Guardian. Our partners include more than 400 news outlets with a combined audience approaching 2 billion people, and our innovative collaborations are driving stronger climate coverage across the media. CCNow works directly with newsrooms, sharing first-class content, providing story ideas and background resources, amplifying our partners’ coverage, convening climate journalism conferences, and publishing a weekly newsletter highlighting best practices.

One cannot imagine more leftist “new outlets” to turn to than Columbia Journalism Review, The Guardian, and The Nation.

In addition, left-wing PBS host Bill Moyers is also involved in the project. In a speech delivered to the group, Moyers compared climate change to World War II.

Beyond those involved, the organization’s stated agenda is clear:

Good climate coverage connects the dots between human-caused climate change and stronger heat waves, droughts, storms, and sea level rise and the damage caused to people and the economy....Good climate coverage eliminates the silos which confine climate coverage to the science desk and increases infrequency of reports as a regular part of every beat in every newsroom, especially weather, business, and politics....Without drifting into activism, good climate coverage explores solutions — technical fixes such as solar panels and sea walls but also policies such as pricing carbon or halting fossil fuel subsidies, as well as political actions taken to advance such policies, including voting and marching in the streets.

On Wednesday’s Today, Roker continued to gush over the network’s “alliance” with the activist group: “It’s a story that isn’t going to be going away anytime soon. We’re going to be there to report on it, including our NBC News Climate Unit. So we’re very excited to announce this alliance coming up.”

Pushing a political movement under the guise of “journalism” is misleading at best. Objective reporting should not be invested in a particular outcome or set of government policies. Journalists cannot be lobbyists.

Here is a full transcript of Roker’s April 22 report: