Al Jazeera reporter Shihab Rattansi told MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Wednesday that fossil fuel companies contribute to climate change which negatively impacts some of the very areas that are most prized by the industry -- like Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
While covering Hurricane Harvey from Texas, Rattansi took a moment to talk to Velshi about why storms seem to be more destructive in recent years.
"It's pretty clear something has gone wrong here," Rattansi said of the unexpected flooding. "We're in what's called the Golden Triangle... the reason why it's called the Golden Triangle is because this is the first place in the United States that they discovered large quantities of oil. And that led to the Texas oil boom and the money flowing into this region."
"It's pretty clear though," he continued, "money has not been flowing into this region for the infrastructure for the climate change effects that we knew were inevitable because of the oil and gas industry's activities on this coastline, even after those oil and gas industries were covering up what they knew about climate change in the '70s."
Rattansi asserted that as an "Al Jazeeera guy", his job was to "get to the point."
"You can't make a connection between the oil and gas industry and climate change much clearer," he said. "In the past, oil and gas companies have gotten away with sort of covertly losing their toxic waste in emergencies like this."
"This is something we've been warned about for years by climate scientists," the newsman added. "Pro Publica had a piece just last year warning something like this was about to happen in the Houston area... And there aren't the preparations for it. And yet, so much money has been generated here."
Seconds later, Velshi announced that MSNBC had lost contact with Rattansi.