2. Seth Meyers

While we enjoyed Colbert’s zingers more, we’re actually ranking Seth Meyers above him because Meyers actually seems more practiced at covering climate on his show on a more regular basis—and it shows in his decision of what to talk about.

Meyers doesn’t have a traditional monologue; instead, he structured the start of the show around his “A Closer Look” segment, where he sits at a desk and goes over the news, “Weekend Update”-style. This monologue covered Hurricane Ida and its impacts on the East Coast (including tornadoes in New Jersey and flooding in New York), then segued into the infrastructure bill and renewable energy, with lots of pop culture sideroads sprinkled in for good measure. He didn’t try to hold the audience’s hand on climate, and it was nice to see him trust his viewers. What’s more, he also called out Sen. Joe Manchin’s ties to fossil fuels, which is doubly nice.

Were his jokes funnier than Colbert’s? Not really. But did it seem like Meyers’s writing room actually cares about making climate jokes up-to-date and not just relying on the same old bits about not having coffee or chocolate anymore? Sure did.

Hot Burn: “I love that Bernie takes on Republicans like someone just stole his spot in the airport parking lot.”

Cringe line: “You know it was a New Jersey tornado because it was in a velour tracksuit shaking down a restaurant owner for protection money.” (This is, admittedly, funny, but Molly is from New Jersey and feels compelled to defend its honor.)