has been blasted as ‘hypocritical’ over a rallying cry to save the environment after.
The actor, 92, told a Good Morning Britain presenter on Wednesday that his children would have ‘difficulty living’and called upon to warn the nation that ‘we’re all going to die.’
His call to arms comes just two years after he was on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, an aerospace manufacturer owned by Amazon founder Bezos, 59.
ITV viewers on X, formerly, known as Twitter questioned William’s environmental credentials over the trip, with one fuming: ‘@GMB Williams Shatner, on your news, is a hypocrite and all these people travelling around the world talking about climate change.
‘William Shatner didn’t care about the climate when he went into space polluting the air with rocket fuel, a case of do what I say but not what I do.’
Another raged: ‘Did I just hear that right? William Shatner who apparently went to space says climate change is due to stupid people.’
‘The irony. William Shatner, the man that went to the edge of space in the Blue Origin for fun. Hypocrisy at its absolute finest,’ a third added.
Speaking about the environment, William told GMB’s North America correspondent Noel Phillips: ‘We’re dying man. Your children are going to have difficulty living. Do you understand that?’
Asked if he genuinely feared we face extinction, he boomed: ‘Insects are going extinct. We don’t go around saying, “Oh my god, insects are going.” Who cares? And we stupid human beings don’t even know they existed in the first place.’
He also urged King Charles to give his starkest warning yet over the climate change crisis in his opening speech at COP28 in Dubai, saying he should open with: ‘Very quickly, we’re all going to die.’
Speaking about the UN Climate Change Conference, he added: ‘England is one of the foremost countries in the world and it has to lead.’
He warned: ‘We’re burrowing into our own graves.’
Prior to taking part in Blue Origin’s Club for the Future program for aspiring astronauts in 2021, William admitted he was feeling some pre-flight jitters.
He said: ‘I’m terrified. I’m Captain Kirk, and I’m terrified going to space. You know, I’m not really terrified. Yes I am. It comes and goes like a summer cold.’
After completing the mission on October 13, during which the crew hit zero-G and experienced several minutes of weightlessness William became .
Reflecting on his trip a year later, William said the adventure left him with
It also reminded him of the further destruction of Earth at the hands of humans.
He wrote in his book Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder: ‘The extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna … things that took 5bn years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread,’
‘My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.’
The trip at the time proved somewhat controversial, with Prince William criticising
Although he did not mention anyone by name, he said the wealthy should be ‘trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.’
Last month, an international team of scientists said with the planet’s vital signs .
This year has seen , such as in September, which saw the largest jump in average heat since at least 1940.
Devastating wildfires and , adding to the.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
