NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt is starting the week in Houston as part of the network’s week-long special coverage on the state of the climate crisis. The network-wide series “Climate Challenge” will include exclusive reporting on TODAY, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, and NBCNews.com.
Holt coming to Houston comes just two months after rare winter storms led to deaths, widespread power outages, and extensive property damage in Texas. According to NBC, Holt will interview Mayor Sylvester Turner, as well as the former head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, about what is at stake for cities and states that don’t act now to plan for inevitable climate change events. Holt will also speak with a local family that not only had their home destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, but was impacted by the February storms as well. You can watch the live, special edition of NBC Nightly News hosted from Houston at 5:30 p.m. on Monday on KPRC 2.
NBC News has released additional information about its exclusive, in-depth reporting for the week. “Climate Challenge” coverage includes the following:
• TODAY’s Al Roker will sit down with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan in his first interview since starting the position.
• Roker will also travel to Michigan for an exclusive look inside General Motors’ new all-electric vehicle assembly plant and will speak with GM’s chief sustainability officers about the company’s pivot towards environmentally friendlier production and the future of the auto industry.
• On NBC Nightly News, NBC News Correspondent Steve Patterson reports on California’s quest to control and learn about fires and air pollution. He gets rare access inside Stanford’s immunology lab as it conducts tests with firefighters on the frontlines who have spent their lives combating some of the worst fires in American history.
• Following the increase of deliveries and packaging waste during the Covid-19 lockdowns, NBC News Consumer and Investigative Correspondent Vicky Nguyen reports for TODAY on the recycling process to see what is working, and what waste is continuing to add to landfill.
• As researchers invest millions into undoing environmental damages through carbon capture technology, NBC News Correspondent Sarah Harman will have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Carb Fix, the world’s biggest carbon capture site in Iceland, on this Sunday’s NBC Nightly News.
• NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel will report for NBC Nightly News on the environmental impacts of war, including the extensive damage inflicted on Syria after nearly a decade of conflict.
• On NBC Nightly News, NBC News Senior Washington Correspondent Hallie Jackson will report on cities marketing themselves as “safe havens” after nearly five million people in the country have been displaced from their homes during the last five years because of natural disasters triggered by the climate crisis.
• On TODAY, NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff will report on Los Angeles’ plan to beat back climate change’s impact on the dwindling water supply for the nation’s largest county by 2035.
• On NBCNews.com, climate reporter Denise Chow will report on climate lessons learned during the pandemic, the latest data on wildfires and air quality around the world and about new carbon capture technology. Also, in partnership with Covering Climate Now, Andrew McCormick reports on the homeless population in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, following the recent climate-related disasters. Plus, reporter Safia Ali examines how climate change has affected the livelihoods of young farmers across the country.
• TODAY Digital’s One Green Thing newsletter will feature daily tips on what readers can do to make a difference and tips for everyday changes to reduce their environmental impact. TODAY.com will also publish reader responses on eco-friendly lessons learned during the pandemic.