hankyoreh

US-born TV personality Tyler Rasch during his interview with Hankyoreh TV on Aug. 3. (Hankyoreh TV screenshot)

“When people ask me, ‘Do you want to keep living in South Korea?,’ the first thing that I ask is ‘What region is likely to suffer less in the future as a result of the climate crisis?’ How can you not worry about things like that? I felt like that was an issue that needed to be resolved ahead of anything else.”

The dream of Tyler Rasch, a 32-year-old TV personality who hails from the US and appears on numerous entertainment programs in South Korea, is to “solve the climate crisis.” An international politics major, he is an “eco head” who grows vegetables on his porch, uses natural solid soap, and releases stress by jogging along the Han River. He has been a brand ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) since 2016 and moderated for a May 2018 climate crisis event held by the Korean Federation for Environment Movement.

Last month, he published some of his thoughts on the environment in an essay titled “There Is No Second Earth.” It was printed in soybean oil ink on FSC-certified eco-friendly paper to ensure that its publication did not cause any additional environmental contamination.

“Only a few years ago, people would be taken back [at the mention of the climate crisis issue],” Rasch explained on Aug. 3 in the Hankyoreh’s TV studio in Seoul’s Mapo District.

“But as more and more courageous people like Greta Thunberg [a 17-year-old environmental activist from Sweden] have come out, people don’t see it as strange for me to talk about this issue,” he continued, explaining that the public’s sensitivity toward the climate issue has changed.

Rasch explained that the climate crisis is causing changes “right now” around the world, including recent odd monsoon season patterns that have seen rain continuing to poor in the early weeks of August when temperatures are usually at their hottest. The sinking of island nations in the Pacific Ocean is just one example. The likelihood of flooding is increasing in some regions as typhoons become stronger, fed by ocean vapor. In contrast, severe drought conditions have been to blame for a large increase in the number of Syrian refugees.

“The novel coronavirus pandemic is a drop in the bucket compared to what we will experience as a result of the climate crisis,” Rasch predicted.

He went on to emphasize that the issue was becoming the biggest obstacle to planning for his future. As climate change causes glaciers to melt and rainfall to increase, the rise in sea levels will not only be a matter of coastal areas becoming inundated; there is also the possibility that the rising levels will lead to contamination of underground facilities and water farther inland.

“When asking where to look for a house, you need to start by asking what that region’s climate is going to be like in the future,” Rasch stressed.

“US insurance companies have already been reducing the number of regions covered by [climate change-related] disaster insurance. Even if people [earn the money to] buy their own houses, they’ll have to pay out of their own pocket for disaster-related damages if it becomes impossible to insure the regions where their houses are,” he explained. “In Boston, they’ve had discussions about building a sea wall, and the price of real estate along the coast is already stagnating.”

He likened people who consume excessive resources and energy without worrying about the climate crisis issue to “someone who makes 2 million won [US$1,684] and spends 3.5 million [US$2,948].”

“We think of a better tomorrow than today as a matter of moving upward. But to go up, you have to take something with you, and the amount of clean water, air, and wood that the earth can produce in a year is limited. If you use up the money you borrow, you can go back to the bank to borrow more -- but there’s only one earth loaning us natural resources,” he explained.

He went on to say it was “a positive step that they’re developing technology” to respond to climate change, including the capturing of greenhouse gases, but stressed that “it’s not over just because you have the technology.”

“You can’t just put a Band-Aid and ointment on it and ignore it without resolving the fundamental issue,” he added.

As an American, Rasch said the US presidential election scheduled for Nov. 3 could be a major “inflection point” for the global climate crisis issue.

“[US President] Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, but for the change to actually happen, administrative procedures will need to be completed early next year,” he explained. “So this is an important election.”

“In the US, it’s faster for local governments like states and cities to make policy decisions than for the federal government to do it, but the president’s decision could result in a bad trend. I’m exercising every right I have [to stop that from happening],” he said.

When asked whether China, the US, and India bear a greater responsibility as the countries accounting for half of global greenhouse gas emissions, Rasch stressed, “We need everyone to make an effort.” By way of analogy, he explained, “It’s good for everyone when a neighborhood’s house increases in value. You gain more justification telling your neighbor to clean up once you’ve cleaned your own house first.”

“Other countries do bear a great responsibility, but with South Korea producing items with factories in those countries, it’s unrealistic to claim that [the climate crisis] has nothing to do with me,” he added.

By Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter

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