John Mellencamp denied climate change at Farm Aid last night!!

[geojazz]

[gay texan]

1. I smell pizza

[MLAA]

9. See my post below, please.

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. There is no "post below". Nt

[demmiblue]

2. Link or slink. TIA

[dhol82]

3. Reliable information or it's not true.

What did he actually say?

[MLAA]

8. See my post below.

[Arthur_Frain]

4. Twice you've posted this now with no link.

Why are you here again?

[MLAA]

10. Please see my post below.

[MLAA]

7. I'm a long time DUer and I heard him disagree with the host interviewing him (mostly praising him) when the host cited

that climate change was one of the serious challenges for farmers. It was an awkward exchange then the host gently tried to address the this before returning to praising Mellencamp. Mellencamp made a couple of statements about scientists being wrong and back in the 70s they said we would have another ice age. Then some babble about the center of the earth getting hotter. This clearly happened and I yelled at the TV.


edited to add: Mellencamp seemed more like he was denying humans had anything to do with causing climate change, rather than denying climate change actually exists. It was a weird, uncomfortable exchange.

[Heidi]

14. We have a term for longtime DUers who disrrupt.

Last edited Mon Sep 22, 2025, 12:04 AM - Edit history (1)

Sleepers. Provide a link, not a synopsis of what you think you heard.

ETA: I apologize to MLAA for my rude comment. In the interest of transparency, I’ll leave the post standing along with this apology and my subsequent apology.

[MLAA]

19. Ouch. A tad harsh to suggest I'm a sleeper without taking a glance at any of the 19,000 posts that have done nothing

but support Dems, Dems causes, other DUers and shut down trolls.

Sl8 found the clip.

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1969598273540227349%7Ctwgr%5E6dc6c54e2b62ca2eda324d1fd00501bc97146ea0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F%3Fcom%3Dview_postforum%3D1002pid%3D20662289

[Botany]

36. Fucking idiot.

“In the early 1960s, C.D. Keeling measured the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: it was rising fast. Researchers began to take an interest, struggling to understand how the level of carbon dioxide had changed in the past, and how the level was influenced by chemical and biological forces. By 2000, computer calculations along with evidence from ancient climates showed unequivocally that human emissions of the gas were raising Earth's temperature.”

*******

https://history.aip.org/climate/co2.htm#maunaloa

In Germany in the 1800s it was proved that the more CO 2 you have in a body of gas the more
heat that body of gas will hold. This is one of the universal gas laws and it has never been dis-
proven one time. The fossil fuel companies have literally spent 100s of billions of dollars selling
the lie that this isn’t true. Exxon’s own scientists knew about this in the 1970s.

https://history.aip.org/climate/xKeeling71-2.htm

[Heidi]

63. I apologize for my rude comment to you.

I was frustrated and out of line.

[MLAA]

68. Thank you Heidi, I appreciate it. We all are on edge these days 🙂

[Captain Zero]

65. JM is drinking too much of his own whiskey

nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. I bet you feel awful for saying that, now that's it's been proved he's a denier.

Leaping to "SLEEPER!!!!" just because someone doesn't immediately post a transcript of a live interview is reckless. And rude.

[Heidi]

64. You are right that it was a rude comment. I have apologized. (nt)

[oldmanlynn]

60. Without having saw it

What you’re describing is essentially a person with a heavy maga view point that is step dancing carefully on the subject so he doesn’t come across as a maga

[sheshe2]

6. No, he did not!

“Here’s all I can say – keep slugging,” said Mellencamp, recalling how he and Willie Nelson and Neil Young formed Farm Aid in 1985 to support family farmers — a commitment they have sustained for four decades, joined by Farm Aid board members Dave Matthews and Margo Price.

“We’ve been slugging since 1985 and let’s keep slugging,” said Mellencamp. “Let’s try to improve the quality of the food that we eat, the air that we breathe and the people that we are.”

Taking the stage midday at Freedom Park, Mellencamp looked at the crowd before him and remarked: “The faces are much younger than they used to be. And I think that’s great that there are younger people trying to improve the planet and the food that we eat. So it’s up to you guys to lead the way.”

snip


In recent years, there also has been an increasing awareness that industrial agriculture practiced on large corporate farms is contributing to the climate crisis. In a report in August 2021, the National Resources Defense Council stated that industrial agriculture is a “significant source” of carbon in the atmosphere.



https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/john-mellencamp-performs-tells-farmers-002615953.html

[MLAA]

11. Please see my post below.

[Emile]

12. Still you never provided a link to prove you are right.

Google search results show he didn't.

[MLAA]

13. Kindly relook at my updated response where I added another sentence.

And no, I did not tape the show. Husband can attest that I yelled at the TV. Though his testimony could be considered hearsay.

[Emile]

15. I have, and still no proof.

[MLAA]

18. Sl8 found the clip.

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1969598273540227349%7Ctwgr%5E6dc6c54e2b62ca2eda324d1fd00501bc97146ea0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F%3Fcom%3Dview_postforum%3D1002pid%3D20662289

[Emile]

21. and what did you learn by watching the clip?

[MLAA]

22. I learned that we disagree on what we saw. And we both have better things to do than continue this thread.

Have a good day.

[Emile]

24. LOL

Have a good day.

[Heidi]

26. Are you effin' kidding us? He ASSERTS that climate change is happening

He believes—as do I—that the planet will survive but that humans and other life form may/will not. YOU explain how that’s climate change denial. Go ahead. We’ll wait.

[NickB79]

40. Mellonkamp falls squarely into Category 2 of climate denialism

When he brought up the crazy claim that the Earth's core is warming (it's cooling, btw) as an explanation for climate change.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial

2. Attribution skeptics or deniers (who accept the climate change trends but claim there are natural causes for this, not human-made ones): "A few of them even deny that the rise in the atmospheric carbon dioxide content is anthropogenic; they claim that the atmospheric carbon dioxide is released from the ocean by natural processes.

[muriel_volestrangler]

57. Like fuck he does. He lies that "the core of the Earth gets hotter and it's been happening forever"

It's not (very gradually gets cooler), and to lie like that is malicious. He repeats the climate denier tropes - "always happened", "scientists said it was cooling".

If you don't know anything about climate denial, you might think that's not denial. But it is. The point is he denies that what's happening now is unusual, and that humans are causing it. That is just what climate change deniers do. Find out more about it, before defending it.

[sl8]

17. Video clip of the interview:

Poor quality, but all I've found so far:

Link to tweet

[Owl]

20. Dang. That was disappointing from Mellencamp.

[MLAA]

25. I thought so also and it was awkward for the interviewer.

I just spent the last few minutes getting harangued by a poster and called a sleeper by another poster for expressing a similar reaction.

[Xavier Breath]

38. It was disappointing.

He's one of the few artists I ever paid to see in person, and I've got quite a few of his albums.

Just another aging rocker I'll have to view with a jaundiced eye.

[MLAA]

62. He was just becoming big my last year or so in college and I too loved his music.

I also loved Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell album.

[Montauk6]

23. MMMMMMmmmmm, walks a thin line...

He's from the school of thought that the planet itself is invincible but, unlike the bozovian Right, he's not saying we have zilch to panic about. Planet survives, the people end.

Make of that what you will. Big beautiful voluptuously phat-ass kudos to sl8 for posting the video.

[Heidi]

27. Oh, he did not.

I watched the clip. He asserted the opposite.

[CivicGrief]

29. He denied the reason,

Which is just as bad. I sense a foolish libertarian slant in his words. Or he is utterly naive.

[Heidi]

30. That's not climate change denial. (nt)

[CivicGrief]

33. The result is the same.

Can you see that?

[Heidi]

35. This thread isn't about the result. It's about an accusation of climate change denial.

Can you see that?

[CivicGrief]

39. Denial comes in many forms.

We did not cause it. Scientists were wrong. We can’t do anything about it. Nothing to see here. Quibbling over semantics can do harm.

[Heidi]

43. Primarily it comes in the form of actual denial,

which—to his credit—he didn’t do. To be honest, I don’t give half a :poop: about this guy’s opinion. It won’t change a thing about *anyone’s* CO2 mitigation efforts.

[CivicGrief]

45. Well, saying the earth has

Naturally occurring periods of heating and cooling does deny a change. Maybe his point about the core heating up gives him an out, but I don’t buy what he said. I don’t care about his opinions, but he has a platform to speak to many people.

[stopdiggin]

47. denying that climate change is human driven - is absolutely denial and deflection

and ignorance with a capital 'I' ... Please don't lend any support to the arrant nonsense and conspiracy crowd. (of which Mellencamp appears to be a solid and contributing member)

The scientific community uses the term anthropocentric global warming (AGW) - and specifically spotlight, and attempt to tease out and quantify - the element of human based contribution. Scientific consensus opinion is that there is a fairly significant (and important) human based factor in current climate behavior.

[SamuelTheThird]

70. Climate scientists would define what he said as denial

I think they know a tad more than you.

Saying climate change is due to the core of the earth is denialsm.

[NickB79]

37. "Now let's talk about climate change. I don't know about that"

"I do know the Earth's core has been getting hotter."

That's literally what climate deniers do, now that they can't deny the warming trend we're in: claim any warning we see is part of a natural cycle to minimize human influence, to deflect any attempts to reduce carbon emissions.

https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2017/04/04/how-we-know-climate-change-is-not-natural/

In this day and age, with the mountains of evidence at our disposal, anything less than "Climate change is real, the climate scientists were right, and humans are causing it" is in the denier/minimizer camp.

[Heidi]

41. But he doesn't deny it, does he?

He may be an “it’s-too-late” guy (lots of scientists agree that we’re now at mitigation level rather than reverse the paradigm level) or a “Gaia-will-survive” guy (which is woo but so far not historically inaccurate—I have far-left friends who hold the same view).

In any case, he’s just a B-list celebrity with reasonably good hair and an opinion. I can’t imagine that his opinion will dissuade climate action efforts.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

53. Cons like you are doctrinaire and unwilling to learn. . . nt

[uppityperson]

59. Is that what your library research showed you?

[GreenWave]

28. 2+ 4+10 equals 16

A chunk of Antarctica broke off and is in the process of adding two more feet to ocean levels. Another chunk is breaking off to add an additional 4 feet and a whopper behind that of 10 more feet.

So that means on the average 16 more feet cougar melonheadcamp. Not normal!

[walkingman]

31. Well, that's the consensus for many people that don't believe in science.

[sop]

32. Surprised no one's posted anything about face eating cougars.

[displacedvermoter]

51. You mean

John "Face Eating" Cougar Mellencamp?

[Totally Tunsie]

34. Well. I saw it too, and he DEFINITELY denied climate change.

Interesting that the only place its being reported online is through Facebook posts about it, and for whatever reason, there is a big denial rom AI that it happened. IT DID!

A sample of one of his comments (paraphrasing) was: "They've been talking about this supposed change in climate since the 1970's and if it were true, we'd all be wearing overcoats right now." He had several other comments but the late hour and a good dose of the flu have blanked me out. He was really rather snide, and I was appalled at what he had to say. How strange that this dialogue has apparently been scrubbed when others were allowed their say.

All I can find at the moment are posts by others appearing on Facebook. A few samples:
1)"And then he denies climate change in the post-interview with CNN’s climate reporter!"
2)"His interview was insane. Cranky old man denying current reality. And I'm of his generation."
3)"He claimed that scientists were wrong in their assumptions."

By the way, wasn't Neil Young's "Big Crime" an amazing song? TRUTH..."But there's crime in DC at the White House".
[

|

ETA: LOL - took me so long to post that much had to be deleted as obsolete.

[geojazz]

46. Thanks for agreeing with me!!

Mellencamp is wrong on this!! His comments are dangerous! Living in S. Florida, I see encroaching effects every year! Anyone that can agree with him is totally out of touch with reality!!

[Deuxcents]

58. Neil Young has never waived from his convictions..that, we can count on 📎

[MrWowWow]

42. Mellencamp Is a Denier of Human-Induced Climate Change

His exact phrasing about climate change being just a natural cycle, and dismissing human impact (“I don’t know about that … it’s been happening forever … we won’t kill the planet”), puts him squarely in the category of denying anthropogenic climate change, even if he couches it in softer language. That position is consistent with what’s classically called climate denial.

[Lulu KC]

44. CNN transcript

I'm on my way out the door so I can't dissect this, but found this for later. I'm curious.

https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/se/date/2025-09-20/segment/05

[muriel_volestrangler]

55. Anyone who thinks that's not climate denial needs to read that, and then inform themselves about climate denial

because it is simple climate denial, with bullshit fake science - "I think the core of the Earth gets hotter and it's been happening forever". No, that's a lie. If you start off your talk with a direct lie, you are a denier. This is not ignorance on his part. He's lying to the interviewer on purpose. He goes on to wheel out the tired crap that all deniers do about "scientists said it was cooling in the 70s".

Look, people here may like his economic politics, but that's denial as bad as Trump. Educate yourselves, and accept that your hero in one category can be a dangerous idiot in another.

[Maru Kitteh]

61. ⬆️⬆️ THIS ⬆️⬆️

[stopdiggin]

48. saying that, "But humans aren't necessarily causing it .. " - - is absolutley denial

contrary to scientific consensus. and pig ignorant.

Next!

[MichMan]

49. I just wish celebrities would reduce their own carbon footprints by getting rid of their McMansions and private jets

Make a statement by setting an example

[SamuelTheThird]

50. What a fucking nitwit

Was never really a fan but he seemed ok. Brainrot

[betsuni]

66. George Carlin: "The planet is fine. The people are fucked. ... The planet isn't going anywhere, we are." *

Last edited Mon Sep 22, 2025, 09:05 AM - Edit history (1)

Mellencamp: "We are not going to kill this planet. We might kill ourselves but we won't kill the planet. The planet will live on."

*Carlin's 1992 The Planet is Fine

[Heidi]

67. No one wants to hear virtually the same view

from a sacred cow. I love(d) George Carlin, as do many here. Thank you for this post.

[SamuelTheThird]

69. Carlin's remark was stupid

Saying 'the planet' will be fine means what?

We're currently in the 6th extinction, and that is human induced. So it's a lot more than humans just affected.

Carlin to my knowledge never denied anthropogenic climate change, the way John Cougar just did.