First off I have to say that Neil DeGrasse Tyson is one of the most inspiring people ever.
Anyways, the problem is the current mindset of the population. What people don't realize is that we already have all these technologies available. Desalinizing water, renewable energy sources, alternatives to paper, etc. People are just so profit-driven they they don't care about the implications of today's actions.
I used to have the mindset that we are fucked as a species and we screwed ourselves over. This is not true - if we continue with the current mindset though, we are. At the moment we have the technology to live in a world where almost everyone has food, water, and fresh air. Technology is also exponentially increasing at a ridiculous rate. It is just a matter of actually putting more effort in all of these fields, and that is not currently happening. Space exploration is one of the most important of these fields as well.