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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see Fox / bad trinity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">site/ tool:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.climateofdenial.org/">https://www.climateofdenial.org/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pols</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/watch-senate-grand-old-partiers/">https://www.alternet.org/watch-senate-grand-old-partiers/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div>Watch: <b>Senate Grand Old Partiers pacify planet polluters at climate change cover-up hearing</b></div><div>
</div><div>Brandon Gage June 22, 2023</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) played defense for planet-polluting petrochemical producers in his opening statement at Wednesday's Senate Budget Committee hearing on the fossil fuel industry's shadowy propaganda.</span></div><div>
</div><div>At the heart of the Dollars and Degrees: Investigating Fossil Fuel Dark Money's Systemic Threats to Climate and the Federal Budget proceeding was Big Oil's deliberate decades-long cover-up of their own studies that unequivocally established that the burning of hydrocarbons will lead to an increase in average global temperatures through the atmospheric accumulation of heat-trapping gases: water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and worst of all, carbon dioxide.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)</b> spoke first, teeing up ninety-ish minutes of blistering expert testimony dissecting how the trillion-dollar extra-national energy enterprises have subjugated human civilization for fifty years.</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: 'I don't know what's going on': Chuck Grassley begs for donations as Democratic challenger closes in</div><div>
</div><div>The data collected since the latter half of the Nineteenth Century is an elementary example of the greenhouse effect beyond a reasonable doubt. Still, Republicans constitute the only major conservative party in the world that in its platform disputes said consensus.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But million-dollar-federal-family-farm-subsidy-benficiary Grassley did not just dispute the science — he also accused Democrats of being the recipients of "funding from secret dark money groups" and waging political warfare against contrarians.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Other GOP senators played goalie in their own ways.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, for instance, claimed that it can be "hard to discern the truth" about climate change because progressive environmental organizations outspend their right-wing counterparts. But those campaigns pale in comparison to the breadth of the fraud conducted by companies such as Exxon-Mobil.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>READ MORE: Climate activists are parading a Ron Johnson 'scatue' around Milwaukee: report</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Meanwhile, John Kennedy of Louisiana berated former President George W. Bush's White House ethics czar, Richard Painter, on trivialities that had no clear connection with the topic at hand.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Painter was not, however, having it.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"So I will just say the one thing that I learned in high school debate," Painter recalled. "When you have no argument, change the subject."</span></div><div>
</div><div>Please watch the proceeding in its entirety below or at this link.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans And Dems Spar At Senate Budget Committee Hearing Over Fossil Fuel Dark Money</div><div>www.youtube.com</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Republican senator: Mexico 'would be eating cat food' without the United States</div><div>
</div><div>LNX</div><div>...<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">At the heart of the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><em style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Dollars and Degrees: Investigating Fossil Fuel Dark Money's Systemic Threats to Climate and the Federal Budget</em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">proceeding was Big Oil's deliberate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/?gclid=CjwKCAiAuaKfBhBtEiwAht6H735DWeVhaePbGC4novHCGu9JUDm6hXizSh7eXBZ4Ncac6EauYwnOPBoC-1wQAvD_BwE" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">decades-long cover-up</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/exxons-research-confirmed-fossil-fuels-role-in-global-warming-muckreads" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">their own studies that unequivocally established that the burning of hydrocarbons will lead to an increase in average global temperatures</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">through the atmospheric accumulation of heat-trapping gases: water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and worst of all, carbon dioxide.</span></div><div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) spoke first, teeing up ninety-ish minutes of blistering expert testimony dissecting how the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/exxon-chevron-shell-conocophillips-record-profits-earnings-oil-companies-most-profitable-year/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">trillion-dollar extra-national energy enterprises</a>&nbsp;have subjugated human civilization for fifty years.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/chuck-grassley-begs-for-donations" target="self" title="view post: 'I don't know what's going on': Chuck Grassley begs for donations as Democratic challenger closes in" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'I don't know what's going on': Chuck Grassley begs for donations as Democratic challenger closes in</a></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong />The data collected since the latter half of the Nineteenth Century is an elementary example of the greenhouse effect beyond a reasonable doubt. Still, Republicans constitute the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/12/2/9836566/republican-climate-denial-why" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">only major conservative party</a>&nbsp;in the world that in its&nbsp;<a href="https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">platform</a>&nbsp;disputes said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/19/case-closed-999-of-scientists-agree-climate-emergency-caused-by-humans" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">consensus</a>.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/02/01/billions-in-federal-farm-payments-flow-to-a-select-group-of-producers-report-shows/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">million-dollar-federal-family-farm-subsidy-benficiary</a>&nbsp;Grassley did not just dispute the science — he also accused Democrats of being the recipients of "funding from secret dark money groups" and waging political warfare against contrarians.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Other GOP senators played goalie in their own ways.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, for instance, claimed that it can be "hard to discern the truth" about climate change because progressive environmental organizations outspend their right-wing counterparts. But those campaigns pale in comparison to the breadth of the fraud conducted by companies such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Exxon-Mobil</a>.'''</p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>'Greedy, selfish, self-serving': Ron Johnson blasted for 'taking comfort' in global warming ›</div><div>'What happened to these people?' Illinois Republican scolded for claiming 'we're not having a climate crisis' ›</div><div>'What a weirdo': Twitter shreds 'cartoon character' Republican for declaring 'there is no climate change' ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Where the GOP Presidential Candidates Stand on Climate Change ... ›</div><div>No Republican senator supported a climate plan – where is the ... ›</div><div>Republicans have large generation gap on climate change, poll finds ›</div><div>
</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx an 6 23</font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Top Des Moines meteorologist resigns after receiving death threats for climate change coverage</div><div>
</div><div>Alex Henderson June 22, 2023</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In Des Moines, Iowa, Chris Gloninger has been the top meteorologist at KCCI-TV, the city's CBS affiliate. Gloninger has been reporting on a subject that meteorologists are well aware of: climate change — and some far-right MAGA Republicans have responded with threats of violence.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Wednesday, June 21, Gloninger announced, on Twitter, that he was leaving the station — and cited the threats as a factor in his decision.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In his statement, Gloninger explained, "18 years. 7 stations. 5 states. I am bidding farewell to TV to embark on a new journey dedicated to helping solve the climate crisis. After a death threat stemming from my climate coverage last year and resulting PTSD, in addition to family health issues, I've decided to begin this journey now."</span></div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Biden to fund California power grid upgrade in climate change push</div><div>
</div><div>The Des Moines Register reports that in <b>September 2022, a man in Lenox, Iowa was fined $105 for harassing Gloninger in a series of e-mails. One of them read, "You are worthless Biden puppet, a liar, a conspiracy theorist, and an idiot!!! You give Iowa a bad name, GO HOME B—-.</b>"</div><div>
</div><div>Gloninger, according to the Register, has been with KCCI-TV since July 6, 2021, and he will be leaving this July 7.</div><div>
</div><div>The meteorologist also announced the departure on KCCI, telling viewers, "I did receive a threat last summer that left us a little bit shaken, and I've been working through the healing process.<b> But during that time, both of our families had unexpected serious health issues. Family is important."</b></div><div>
</div><div><b>Gloninger stressed that leaving television will allow him to make climate activism his main focus.</b></div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: State Farm axes new California home insurance policies citing 'escalating risk' of climate change: report</div><div>
</div><div>The meteorologist explained, "Stepping away from TV will allow my wife, and I to help (family members) in their time of need, and will also allow me to make a difference full time in something that I'm very passionate about in the realm of climate change and finding solutions, being able to adapt and mitigate to this issue that we have globally."</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: 'What a weirdo': Twitter shreds 'cartoon character' Republican for declaring 'there is no climate change'</div><div>
</div><div>The Des Moines Register's full report is available at this link.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>Marjorie Taylor Greene stuns experts with scientifically illiterate rant on climate change ›</div><div>Lauren Boebert says liberals want Earth Day to be about climate change 'to divide us' ›</div><div>'You've got to be kidding me': MSNBC host spooked by revelation that climate change is making fungus deadlier ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Iowa meteorologist Chris Gloninger steps down after receiving ... ›</div><div>How the disturbing case of a TV weatherman shows the reality of ... ›</div><div>Iowa needs more trees to offset climate change impacts, scientists say ›</div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/response-wildfire-smoke-choking-new-york-city-fox-news-trots-out-tired-climate-denial">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/response-wildfire-smoke-choking-new-york-city-fox-news-trots-out-tired-climate-denial</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;June 7, as smoke from hundreds of wildfires raging across Canada turned New York City into a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/citizenfisher/status/1666478120566652935" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">dystopian climate change movie</a>, MSNBC host&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1666579995861344256" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Chris Hayes tweeted</a>: “I always thought there would be some kind of climate reckoning when it got bad enough but Covid has taught me that, no, people will just step on the gas and happily mow people down so they never have to admit taking a wrong turn."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/national-tv-news-chokes-out-climate-angle-coverage-canadian-wildfires" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Too little TV news coverage</a>&nbsp;connected the code red air quality in New York and other impacted U.S. cities to climate change, but Fox News and other right-wing media figures retreated even further from a reckoning</b>, stepping on the climate denial pedal by dismissing the link between global warming and wildfires, attacking those that did, and insisting on alternative explanations for why Canada is having its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-07/hundreds-of-fires-are-out-of-control-in-canada-s-worst-ever-season" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">worst-ever wildfire season</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fact, at 2 hours and 41 minutes of coverage, Fox News covered the wildfire story more than either CNN (2 hours and 19 minutes) or MSNBC (41 minutes) on June 7 and mentioned climate change (to deny it) more times in its coverage than its counterparts.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News dismisses the link between wildfires and climate change, mocks those that do make the connection</font></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Scientists say wildfires are becoming more severe as “forests around the world increasingly dry out amid the warming climate”, a fact even&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/nyc-inundated-wildfire-smoke-rupert-murdochs-wsj-calmly-shows-link-climate-crisis-while" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">observed by Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journa</span>l.</a>&nbsp;Experts further note that Canada’s wildfire season is a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/07/canadas-wildfires-new-climate-reality-experts-officials-say" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">harbinger of our climate future</a>” with the United Nations warning that by 2090, “global wildfires are expected to increase in intensity by up to 57% thanks to climate change.”&nbsp; But no amount of evidence, either experiential or academic, changes the tone of the reporting at Fox News when it comes to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/how-fox-news-weaponized-hurricane-ian-push-its-agenda-discredit-climate-science-trash" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">extreme weather</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-breaks-out-all-tools-denier-playbook-downplay-climate-changes-role-western-wildfires" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate-fueled events</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</span>&nbsp;co-host<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Brian Kilmeade mocks AOC,&nbsp;</span>climate change czar John Kerry, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for connecting the dangerous air quality to climate change:</strong>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Every time it’s real hot, climate change. Every time it’s real cold, climate change. When it rains a lot it’s because of climate change. And you guessed it, Canada, with burning forests, 400 separate fires, it’s because of climate change. AOC said it. Of course climate change czar John Kerry said it, and [Karine Jean-Pierre] KJP has one note, listen.</span>” [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006823" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/8/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News host&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Laura Ingraham</span>&nbsp;suggests that coverage of the event is overblown and mocks those reporting the air quality from a climate angle:</strong>&nbsp;“Is this really a novel occurrence for our country or is it getting the coverage of the type it’s getting because it's happening along the East Coast where all the elites live?” Ingraham continued: “The apocalyptic coverage in the New York Times today was just absolutely knee-slappingly hilarious. … CNN's Bill Weir, no stranger to hyperbole himself, used the event to call for action to electrify every car in the United States for humanity’s sake." [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Ingraham Angle</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006826" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006826" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">]</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News hos<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">t&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Sean Hannity accuses Democrats, including AOC, of politicizing the crisis to push their climate agenda</span>:</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;“T</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">onight, smoke from the Canadian wildfires, they blanketed the entire East Coast of the U.S. creating a scary martian-like scene in New York City especially. And as usual, Democrats, they wasted no time. They went right to politicizing the crisis, AOC using the wildfire and heat wave in Puerto Rico to once again push her&nbsp;</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">radical Green New Deal or the climate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">&nbsp;alarmist religious cult agenda</span></b><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">” [</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fox News,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Hannity</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006829" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">]</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">On&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesse Watters Primetime</span>, climate denier and frequent Fox guest Mark Morano&nbsp;</span>dismissed climate change and accused those making the connection of weaponizing the weather while smoking a cigar:&nbsp;</strong>“This is exactly what you would expect to happen. This is Canadian natural disaster mismanagement and now they are trying to blame global warming which makes it, what? Our fault. It's our SUVs. It's our gas stoves which, by the way, didn't New York ban them? Shouldn't we have -- shouldn't wildfires be a thing of the past? I thought they were banning them.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesse Watters Primetime</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//www.mediamatters.org/media/4006839%22" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">On The Five</span>, Jeanine Pirro accuses AOC and Democrats of “pumping up climate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;hysteria</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">”</span>:</strong>&nbsp;“While Americans choke on the smoke, the far left smells an opportunity. AOC thinks this is a great time to push her Green New Deal. She says that we must, ”Adapt our food systems, energy grids, infrastructure and healthcare to prepare for what's to come". Other Democrats are pumping up climate hysteria and bringing back, you guessed it, mask insanity.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006845" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/nyc-inundated-wildfire-smoke-rupert-murdochs-wsj-calmly-shows-link-climate-crisis-while" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">On&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</span></a>,&nbsp;</b>the panel mocks AOC for connecting the crisis to climate change while&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox contributor Kennedy suggests that because wildfires existed before “we started talking about the climate crisis” then the science is not settled:</strong>&nbsp;“There are a lot of reasons for wildfires. Wildfires have been happening for a long time. Before we started talking about the climate crisis.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;So, I want to make sure that the science is settled before we completely turf our economy and flush any innovation we have down the toilet because of a tweet from AOC.”&nbsp;</span>[Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006726" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a>]&nbsp;</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox turns to its go-to explanation for catastrophic wildfires: It’s poor forest management. And it’s environmentalists’ fault.</font></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Forest management has played some role in the unprecedented wildfire season in Canada — while the role of climate change is also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/02/canada-wildfires-record-heat-climate/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">evident and clear</a>. But from watching Fox’s coverage of the fires, you would probably come away with the idea that it’s been Canada’s forest management policies alone driving the worsening fires.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox’s jump to shift blame to poor forest management as a tactic to downplay climate change goes back to at least 2018 when Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/17/668947908/trump-blames-forest-management-again-during-california-visit" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">first blamed California’s forestry policies</a>&nbsp;while touring the aftermath of the deadly Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise. Fox revived the tactic in full force during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-breaks-out-all-tools-denier-playbook-downplay-climate-changes-role-western-wildfires" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">California’s apocalyptic 2020 wildfires.</a>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Helping drive the swift move to blame forest management and environmentalists this time around is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/16/2023/meet-the-murdochs-newest-star" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">News Corps darling</a>, Fox News contributor, and New York Post columnist Miranda Devine who&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/07/smoky-new-york-isnt-climate-change-its-bad-forest-management/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">wrote a June 7 column</a>, “Smoky New York isn’t climate change — it’s bad forest management,” which has been cited by Fox News personalities and amplified by&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JamesGRickards/status/1666795091116130304" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">right-wing</a>&nbsp;media figures online.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fox News host&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rachel Campos-Duffy on&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: “The real blame is on the climate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">&nbsp;cult.</span></strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">…</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;They are an anti-human group and they want to shut our forests and close them off to humans and to industry who know how to manage it. And that's what's happening right now.” [</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fox News,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006838" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/8/23]</a></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">On the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Faulkner Focus,</span>&nbsp;Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz&nbsp;</span>insists that poor forest management is liberals' fault:</strong>&nbsp;I hate to tell it you folks but there have been big forest fires for eons probably since the beginning of time. It's ironic to me because the same people who claim they want the Green New Deal, they fight us every single time on the mitigation efforts to manage the forests, clear out the underbrush, clear out the dead trees and clear out the fuel that makes these things so ignite in such big fashion. They will not do that as Democrats and these left-leaning liberals. [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Faulkner Focus</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006841" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/8/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends&nbsp;</span>co-host<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Steve Doocy dismissed climate change</span>&nbsp;and redirected the blame to “bad forest management”:</strong>&nbsp;“Climate change does not start a fire. It can create dry conditions, and they have really bad dry conditions up in Canada right now. In Canada they are blaming bad forest management because of a very dry winter and they did not get a lot of snow. … Apparently behind the scenes they have not been doing the controlled burns that they should have been doing. And back in 2024 environmentalists wrote a paper and said not enough is being done to fund this kind of forest management and there is going to be hell to pay.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006867" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/8/23</a>]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Sean Hannity&nbsp;also suggested that forest management is the main culprit</span>:&nbsp;</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Here's what nobody talks about. There is a science. You can get an advanced college degree in forestry. There's something called the controlled burns that c</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">limate alarmist cult members&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">are all dead set against. And you see, if you have a controlled burn that prevents the bigger fires like the one they're experiencing in little Justin's neighborhood in Canada that's now making it smoke all the way down here.” [Fox News,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">Hannity</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006858" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">]</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Host Jesse Watters claims that there are fewer wildfires now than 100 years ago to dismiss the role of climate change and prop up the forest management argument:</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;“You might be surprised to find out over the last 100 years, there have been less wildfires, not more. The Wall Street Journal says in the early 1900s about 4% of land worldwide burned every year by 2021 that was down to 2.5%. So instead of obsessing over climate change they should take a look at forest management.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesse Watters Primetime</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006764" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</span>&nbsp;co-host Dana Perino&nbsp;</span>blames wildfires on forest management and liberal policies:</strong>&nbsp;“Canada is experiencing really bad wildfires on their public lands. We have a similar problem, and it has to do with forest management. The Biden administration has policies that are in direct conflict with one another. … Wildfires can occur naturally of course, but if you are actively managing your forest, then you can prevent some of these things. The left has never wanted to do that.”&nbsp; [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006853" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a>]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Pirro suggests that since only half of Americans believe in climate change that Democrats shouldn’t be linking it to wildfires:</strong>&nbsp;Agreeing that poor forest management is the main cause of severe wildfires, Pirro questions why climate change is even part of the discussion: “We’re at a point when I think 49% of Americans believe climate change is caused mostly by human actions, the lowest reported apparently in many years.<b>&nbsp;So why are Democrats, why do they keep pushing climate change over something that could’ve been prevente</b></span><b>d?</b>" [Fox News,&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4006853" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">6/7/23</a></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Related</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">National TV news chokes out the climate angle in coverage of Canadian wildfires</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">06/08/23 2:57 PM EDT</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">With Canadian wildfires, Fox News follows its COVID playbook</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">06/08/23&nbsp;</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News host Jesse Watters says it’s “normal” for the Northeastern United States to be engulfed in smoke from Canadian wildfires</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">06/08/23&nbsp;</font></font></font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-use-misinformation-around-15-minute-cities-pivot-toward-climate">https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-use-misinformation-around-15-minute-cities-pivot-toward-climate</a></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 4 23</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Misinformation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/europe/15-minute-city-conspiracy.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">surrounding a plan</a>&nbsp;to reduce traffic in the city of Oxford, England, is the latest example of how three years after the onset of COVID-19, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers have seamlessly transitioned into climate change denial, and how this message is proliferating not just in Europe, but now in the U.S. as well.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Oxford plan, which aims to cut down on daytime traffic and greenhouse gas emissions from cars, has been conflated with a broader <b>“15-minute city” urban planning concept</b>, which calls for communities where necessities are within walking/biking distance. The plan recently made headlines when right-wing media influencers presented it as one component of the sprawling <b>“Great Reset”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57532368" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiracy theory</a>, saying its goal is to lock down residents and essentially turn cities into&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/04/10/fact-check-false-claim-15-minute-cities-lock-down-residents/11593351002/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">open-air prisons</a>. Backlash, led in part by climate change denier&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230209154749/https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1609255646993457153" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Jordan Peterson</a>, was so severe that academics and politicians who support the plan or the related idea of a 15-minute city got&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/26/world/15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theory-climate-intl/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">death threats</a>.</b></font></font></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What is a 15-minute city?</font></font></font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a nutshell, the concept of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/europe/15-minute-city-conspiracy.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">15-minute</a>&nbsp;city is that life’s necessities such as schools and grocery stores should be just a short walk or bike ride away. According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/technology/carlos-moreno-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theories.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Carlos Moreno</a>, an urban planning professor who helped lay out the plan in Paris, cities should be “designed so that we can live, work and thrive in them without having to constantly commute elsewhere.” <b>The goal is to foster healthier habits and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201214-how-15-minute-cities-will-change-the-way-we-socialise" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">stronger social relationships</a>&nbsp;between neighbors b</b>y prioritizing green space, accessibility, and safety for human bodies, bikes, and public transportation, rather than cars.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The City of Oxford is implementing a separate strategy,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20067/planning_policy/1460/oxford_local_plan_2040" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Local Plan 2040</a>, to help achieve these goals. But that’s not what has drawn so much attention in the media.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The traffic plan approved by the Oxford County Council which triggered backlash is meant to reduce commuting time and greenhouse gas emissions from excess traffic. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-oxford-climate-lockdown-016485612575" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">fact check</a>&nbsp;from the Associated Press: “Oxfordshire has approved a plan to put ‘traffic filters’ on some main roads, restricting drivers’ access during daytime hours and freeing up space for buses, cyclists and pedestrians. But car owners can apply for daylong permits to bypass the new rules, and many other vehicles are exempt. All parts of the county will remain accessible by car, officials said.”&nbsp;</font></font></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing opposition to the 15-minute city has been firmly rooted in COVID conspiracy theories</font></font></font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Despite what is actually happening in Oxford, right-wing influencers have painted the plan as a thin veneer for controlling every aspect of residents’ movement with the goal of preventing them from owning cars or leaving town at all. According to DeSmog,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/16/revealed-the-science-denial-network-behind-oxfords-climate-lockdown-backlash/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">in 2022 in England,</a>&nbsp;<b>COVID-19 conspiracy theorist David Fleming,</b> along with figures tied to climate denial think tank Global Warming Policy Foundation, created a group to oppose the plan and spread false claims via leaflets to Oxford residents. One founding signatory was Del Bigtree, a U.S. filmmaker and founder of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/18/texas-coronavirus-vaccines-ppp/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Informed Consent Action Network</a>, an anti-vaccine group.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The seeds for the conspiracy theory to take root in the U.S. were planted back in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/20211014-ISDG-25-Climate-Lockdown-Part-1-V92.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">April 2020</a>. Frequent Fox News guest and climate change denier<b> Steve Milloy warned of an impending “climate lockdown” </b>and the idea&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-ingraham/will-climate-lockdowns-be-foxs-next-bonkers-conspiracy-theory" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">proliferated</a>, with figures like Laura Ingraham and Alex Jones claiming in 2021 that COVID-19 lockdowns were conditioning the public for even more stringent mandates in the name of climate change.</font></font></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">15-minute city fearmongering comes to the US</font></font></font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ideas driving the 15-minute city are not new. New urbanism and public transit enthusiasts have been gaining traction on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-07-15/there-s-now-a-tiktok-for-cities-and-public-transit-fans" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">social media</a>&nbsp;as Gen Zers and millennials lament their childhood confinement to suburbs that felt unnavigable and isolating. For years, but especially post-pandemic, cities across the globe have prioritized&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/walkable-urban-areas-report-2023-smart-growth-america/641156/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">walkability</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/cities-underused-malls-housing-shortage-crisis-vacant-strip-malls-zoning-reform/640399/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">mixed-use development</a>.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing media are working hard to maintain the status quo in part through elaborate conspiracy theories about 15-minute cities or anything seemingly related. Right-wing media figures including A<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ustralian anti-lockdown campaigner&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSpofforth/status/1627709881045090311?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Bernie Spofforth</a>, Turning Point USA contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DrewHLive/status/1616116247518908417?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Drew Hernandez</a>, and Swedish climate change denier&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/PeterSweden7/status/1628856493607989249?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Peter Imanuelsen</a>&nbsp;have insisted they are being spearheaded by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/great-reset-conspiracy-theory-hotbed-climate-denial" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The World Economic Forum</a>. In truth, the WEF has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/15-minute-city-stickiness/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">mixed</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/15minute-city-falls-short/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">things</a>&nbsp;to say about the concept.&nbsp;</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/elon-musk/right-wing-influencers-leading-social-media-crusade-against-esg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">culture warrior</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/russias-invasion-ukraine/james-lindsay-agrees-pro-kremlin-youtuber-leaders-west-deserve-be-hanged" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">James Lindsay</a>, said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4003639" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">March 7</a>&nbsp;segment on One America News’&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Morning News with Stephanie Myers</span>&nbsp;that 15-minute cities are a means of “more social control.” He went on to say that they would lead to “new kinds of car non-ownership subscription borrowed models, kind of like Uber, but with no owner. All these things going, so that you don't have freedom of movement” before falsely claiming that in Oxford, “you can only leave your zone so many days a year” and “absolutely no vehicle that emits any kind of ah, you know, I guess CO2 or whatever was allowed to drive during certain hours.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the same segment, host Stephanie Myers again suggested that residents of 15-minute cities would be allocated 100 passes per year permitting them to leave their designated zones.&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/business/2023/02/15-minute-city-oxford-conspiracy-theory-cars-lockdown-explained.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">In reality</a>, Oxford drivers will always be able to get wherever they want using alternate routes, as only some roads will have traffic filters. Both Myers and Lindsay are misleadingly referencing the fact that local residents will have to apply for 100 day-long permits per year, where they can use any road at any time of the day free of charge.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4003623" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">April 6</a>&nbsp;segment of OAN’s&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tipping Point with Kara McKinney,</span>&nbsp;Jeffrey Tucker, former editorial director for the Koch-funded&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/american-institute-economic-research/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Foundation for Economic Education</a></b>, blamed Dr. Anthony Fauci for 15-minute cities. Tucker said Fauci, who served as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden&nbsp;and was a lead member of the White House COVID-19 Task Force under Trump,&nbsp;wanted people “imprisoned in our local communities and condemned to forage and eat bugs” and that he and the ruling oligarchy would insist on “no football games, no concerts, no amusement parks, certainly no church. They want us doomed to a kind of a pre-medieval existence with them in charge.”&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the interview, Tucker also used the familiar trope of Democrats supposedly being soft on crime, but he claimed it was intentional. “They really want to dismantle our cities. There’s no better way to do that than through crime,” he said. And the fact that cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco are “collapsing in a miasma of blood and weed” would supposedly give them an excuse, he said.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Climate change denier Marc Morano spoke about 15-minute cities on an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4003669" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">April 10</a>&nbsp;segment of OAN’s&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">In Focus</em>. </span>Morano told OAN contributor Alison Steinberg that 15-minute cities are “conjuring up a little place called … East Germany, where you literally had to apply to the government in order to go from place to place. … All of this again is so that we will stay at home. That's actually the goal. They loved COVID lockdowns.” Steinberg asked of “radical leftists”: “Do you think they really realize — hey, you're not going to be able to drive to go get your little soy crackers that you like eating every night while you’re watching and playing your video games?”&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4003742" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">April 11</a>&nbsp;segment of Fox News'&nbsp;<b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Ingraham Angle</span>, </b>Laura Ingraham spoke with U.K. professor Norman Fenton, who claimed 15-minute cities are “absolutely catastrophic” and that “the idea is essentially to stop you —&nbsp;yeah, it’s to stop you going out of the zone, stop you traveling wherever you want. … But in practice, people will have to go out of the zone to get to work, to take their kids to school and stuff like that.”&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fenton is a member<a href="https://littlesis.org/org/402286-HART" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;of HART</a>&nbsp;(Health Advisory and Recovery Team), described by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailydot.com/debug/hart-vaccine-reactions-channel/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Daily Dot</a>&nbsp;as “a group of prominent proponents of an anti-vaccination, anti-lockdown, anti-mask strategy.” He has&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1451625727812673537?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">inaccurately</a>&nbsp;suggested that the spike in second-wave COVID-19 deaths in 2021 may have been caused by vaccines.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before turning his attention to 15-minute cities, Fenton also railed against the UK government's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58874518" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">net-zero emissions</a>&nbsp;target, misleadingly conflating it with&nbsp;<a href="https://ukfires.org/absolute-zero/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">a report</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.treehugger.com/forget-net-zero-target-should-be-absolute-zero-5194775" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">absolute zero</a>&nbsp;emissions, which is not a current policy goal. He suggests that the government might prohibit airplane travel and shipping in the U.K. by 2050. This is not happening.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Online, one American anti-vaccine group seems particularly concerned about Oxford.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/various-social-media-platforms-are-enabling-known-covid-19-misinformers-promote-anti" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Children’s Health Defense</a>, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vax group,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/childrenshd/4523" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoted</a>&nbsp;a video of a young girl making a speech at a protest in Oxford calling 15-minute cities a “dystopian reality” on Telegram and on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ChildrensHD/status/1627050833706905600" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Twitter</a>. One&nbsp;<a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/15-minute-city-climate-solution-control/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">article</a>&nbsp;on the group’s news site gives credence to the idea that 15-minute cities could in fact lead to “climate lockdowns.” The group also&nbsp;<a href="https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/events/stop-oxford-no-15-minute-cities/stop-oxford--no-15-minute-cities/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c4658877-d390-42a8-bb94-8e4eaf4cf8e6" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoted</a>&nbsp;a February protest against 15-minute cities in Oxford. Kennedy recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/right-wing-media-and-fringe-figures-are-celebrating-rfk-jrs-run-president" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">announced</a>&nbsp;his bid for the presidency.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Infowars&nbsp;<a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/watch-farmer-brilliantly-uses-chickens-to-explain-15-minute-cities/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoted</a>&nbsp;a video that compares a hen house to a 15-minute city because “it’s a spot-on illustration of how they view the people as vassals, or serfs – who only exist to produce eggs to be harvested.” The Telegram channel for the anti-vax group&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/anti-vaccine-bollinger-coronavirus-disinformation-a7b8e1f33990670563b4c469b462c9bf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Truth About Cancer</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/TheTruthAboutCancer_Vaccines/2181" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">wrote</a>&nbsp;that 15-minute cities are proof that “we are under attack” from the “globalist ghouls</span>.”&nbsp;</font></font></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For online conspiracy theory networks, anti-15-minute city propaganda has been a gateway to climate change denial</font></font></font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On social media, an infamous COVID-19 conspiracy theory network has also signaled a shift to climate change denial, with the 15-minute city as a catalyst.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A channel that has been promoted by&nbsp;<b><a href="https://forward.com/news/474596/anti-vaxxers-have-stolen-an-anti-nazi-groups-identity/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">White Rose</a>, an international&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-59255165" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">disinformation group</a></b>&nbsp;that operates on a network of Telegram channels, is among those promoting conspiracy theories about the 15-minute city, in addition to climate change denial.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The channel, Wide Awake Media, has 26k subscribers on its Telegram channel and has recently been&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wideawake_media/status/1642103222000144385?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">gaining</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wideawake_media/status/1636678183876476928?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">traction</a>&nbsp;on Twitter. It has occasionally featured posts about climate change but started posting more often on the topic in&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/wideawakemedia/2778" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">January 2023</a>&nbsp;when the topic of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/16/revealed-the-science-denial-network-behind-oxfords-climate-lockdown-backlash/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">15-minute cities</a>&nbsp;was becoming popular in right-wing media. This topic has&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/wideawakemedia/3231?comment=58917" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">provoked</a><a href="https://t.me/wideawakemedia/3076?comment=53778" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;violent</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/wideawakemedia/3231?comment=58904" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">responses</a>&nbsp;suggesting that leaders who support green policies should be killed.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On March 31, Wide Awake noted on both&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1641755674697768960" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Twitter</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/wideawakemedia/3221" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Telegram</a>&nbsp;that it had turned its attention to climate change, calling it a scam and comparing it to the COVID-19 pandemic.</b></font></font></font></p></div></div><div data-align="center" class="l--gutter-pull paragraph paragraph--type--stories-image paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: -56.2625px; margin-right: -56.2625px;"><div class="field field--name-field-stories-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><figure class="media media--image" role="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twit]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">members of White Rose, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/anger-at-anti-vax-and-conspiracy-misinformation-stickers-spotted-in-bedford/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">made headlines</a>&nbsp;for distributing anti-vax stickers,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/anti-vax-conmspiracy-theory-middleton-19580362" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">posters, and leaflets</a>, have also&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/thewhiterosechat/581359" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">discussed</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/thewhiterosechat/581372" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">group’s shift</a>&nbsp;to 15-minute cities. The group has&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/JoinTheWhiteRose/7934" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">repeatedly</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/JoinTheWhiteRose/7743" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoted</a>&nbsp;Wide Awake, which primarily sells merchandise promoting conspiracy theories, in its channel.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The continued popularity of 15-minute city conspiracy theories proves that climate change denial is the perfect place for anti-vax and anti-mask enthusiasm to thrive as COVID-19 becomes less prominent in the news cycle but their need to prove they are “wide awake” persists.</span> We have also seen that it can be easily adapted for U.S. audiences with their specific villains, such as Fauci, and framed as an affront to American values, such as our obsession with cars.</font></font></font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/weaponized-nonsense-lauren-boebert-climate/">https://www.alternet.org/weaponized-nonsense-lauren-boebert-climate/
</a></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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<b>
Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) referred to climate change as a "religion" during a floor speech in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.</b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
"It's past time<b> House Democrats start to have a little empathy and dismount their moral high horse of climate change. There are thousands of children currently today slaving away in the Congo at Chinese-owned mines. They have to dig for cobalt with their bare hands.</b> Instead of freeing these slaves and even ourselves from the need of these, this resource, they want to buy Chinese-made products," Boebert hollered.<b> "It's clear they have a climate religion. They worship the Earth while I worship the Creator, not the creation</b>. We are here to be <b>good stewards of our land.</b> So <b>stop sacrificing the American families at your altar of climate change</b>."</span>

Exploitative slave labor is a major problem in the industrial extraction of rare-earth minerals like cobalt, which is an essential material in a vast array of products such as electric cars, medical devices, and smartphones. As National Public Radio noted in February, "cobalt is used in the manufacture of almost all lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in the world today."

READ MORE: Lauren Boebert declares war on Disney and immediately loses

NPR further pointed out that "the mines have taken over everything. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced because their villages were just bulldozed over to make place for large mining concessions." NPR added that "it's not chattel slavery from the 18th century where you can buy and trade people and own title over a person like property. But the level of degradation, the level of exploitation is on par with old-world slavery."

NPR added that <b>Chinese companies "have about 70, 80% of the refined cobalt market and probably half of the battery market."</b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
Yet Boebert's own actions and record do not square with her proclamation. First, her Bible explicitly commands in numerous passages that humans be "good stewards" of the Earth.

Faith leaders have championed this idea too. Pope John Paul II once said that "the Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations."</span>


READ MORE: 'Such a pathetic hateful person': Lauren Boebert buried for tweeting unprovoked attack on immigrants

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Second, Boebert opposes legislation and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, putting her at odds with science and reality. In 2021, Boebert filed a bill to nullify the Paris Climate Agreement, which President Joe Biden rejoined, prompting outrage from residents of her district.</span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"As the 'representative' of a district in which 59% of constituents are worried about global warming, 56% think Congress should do more to address global warming, and 72% think carbon dioxide should be regulated as a pollutant, Boebert’s sweeping, ill-informed bill is not only a rebuke to District 3 — which will suffer the impacts of a warming climate disproportionately — but an abrogation of fact itself,"</span> Darmouth student Soleil Gaylord wrote for Colorado Newsline that year.

<b>Jacobin Magazine compared Boebert's anti-climate bill of running a "self-enrichment scheme" aimed at "benefiting her husband's fossil fuel business."</b>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last month, Boebert trivialized the climate crisis by tweeting, "Nothing against climate change. I totally believe in it. It happens four times every year."</span>

Twitter users called out her hypocrisy after Tuesday's outburst.

LoveToHike: "Um aren't Christians supposed to be stewards of the Earth?"

Christian SoxKehd: "Then why is she fine as humanity is destroying the Creator's gift to us? If you hold him in the exalted reverence you claim, wouldn't you wish to preserve the gifted home He left for us."

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gayle Glade: "I don't care if her higher power is Jiminy Cricket or Buddha. That's private. What she is PAID to do is be a legislator. As such she needs to deal with facts, figures, science, and reality. Nothing more. She can preach on Sundays. Mon-Fri she's on constituent time!"</span>

Ken: "If @laurenboebert worships the creator, then wouldn't she and other so-called 'Christians' do what it takes to protect what the creator created?"

KevinMc: "God spent 3 out of 7 days creating the Earth...1 day creating the rest of the universe...2 days creating sea creatures, animals and humans...and then God rested. God thought the Earth was the most important part of his creation...seems worth saving. 'True' story. Look it up."

Waffle Pocket: "Lauren Boebert coming out strong against the planet Earth."

Mo Ray: "Little Miss Cliché trots out her tired talking points to mock those of us who would rather not trash the planet, it's neither helpful nor accurate. Most scientists believe that climate change is real, it's not a religious movement, simply an attempt to prevent further damage."

Randy Watson: "The only creator she worships is Smith & Wesson."

Half Centaur: "Another in a long string of GOP 'weaponized nonsense.'"

Watch below or at this link.


READ MORE: 'Then why are you allowed to vote?' Lauren Boebert goes down in flames after new Constitution gaffe

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</font></font></font></div><div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;===</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">odd mix of sci and bible, gets both wrong?</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 23</font></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">illinois

State Representative Chris Miller (R-110th District), a farmer by

trade, recently claimed that climate change concerns are overblown

because of the role trees play in capturing carbon dioxide.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We're

not having a climate crisis, but what we are having is a crisis, crisis

of common sense. If you think about it, CO2 uh, manmade CO2

collectively adds up to one-one-hundredth of one percent of the

atmosphere around the globe.<b> If you think about the entire CO2, it's about four-one-hundredths of one percent. </b>And

there's one thing that I know is that I remember from an Earth science

class, there's something called photosynthesis," Miller said, "and it's

where green leafy plants actually absorb carbon dioxide and produce

oxygen, <b>and it's a way God made it, a way to clean up the climate and to keep things in balance the way it should be."</b></font></span></font></font></p><div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></font></font></div><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under

ideal conditions, such as a cessation of deforestation and restoration

of millions of trees, photosynthesis can aid in mitigating the warming

effects of CO2,<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the National Aeronautics and Space Administration explained</a><span>&nbsp;</span>in 2019. Indeed, countless studies have<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/whats-redd-and-will-it-help-tackle-climate-change/#:_{:text=When%20deforestation%20occurs%2C%20much%20of,Africa%2C%20followed%20by%20South%20America.}" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">definitively concluded</a><span>&nbsp;</span>that<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/deforestation/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">habitat loss and the conversion of forests into acreage to grow feed for livestock</a><span>&nbsp;</span>are exacerbating the climate emergency.</font></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="font-weight: bold;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE:<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/things-arent-moving-fast-enough/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: 'Things just aren't moving fast enough': IPCC issues most dire warning yet in latest report" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Things just aren't moving fast enough': IPCC issues most dire warning yet in latest report</a></font></strong></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Touching

on Miller's remarks about God, social media users pointed out that

humanity is not treating Earth's biosphere responsibly or sustainably.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/LeeMart45282246/status/1638968809586302977?s=20" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lee Martin</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">:

"That's the whole point - we aren't taking care of what God made. We

are poor stewards of the earth, in disobedience of his command."</span></font></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/JudyVoluspa/status/1638968258836692995?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">JudyVöluspá</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">: "He's picking small parts of science just like he picks small parts of the Bible."
</span></font></font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/thom_777H/status/1638966654540345347?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Thom_777</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">: "Republicans ...always so out of touch, non-empathy and anti-science. What happened to these people?"</span></font></font></font></p><p /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></span></font></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omg</font></font></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 3 23</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CARLSON

(HOST): Of course, climate does change, it has always changed. In fact,

the landscape we live in now is formed by climate change. The glaciers

are a product of climate change. The climate is changing now, it never

stops changing. That is a process that we didn't cause and that we can't

control to any great degree. We will never be able to control.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);">And there are upsides to it and downsides to it.</span><b style="background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);">&nbsp;By the way</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, if&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">the

Earth is indeed getting warmer and it seems to be, well, then that will

make more arable land in places like Canada and northern Europe.</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">So,

like everything in this life and the temporal world, it's a mixed

blessing. But you only hear the downsides, which tells you a lot. It

tells you this is not science, it's manipulation.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">These aren't reports from the experts, these are threats</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.</span></font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/21/oreskes-conway-the-big-myth-free-market-capitalism-climate-change-mont-pelerin-society/">https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/21/oreskes-conway-the-big-myth-free-market-capitalism-climate-change-mont-pelerin-society/</a></font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, authors of the classic 2010 book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2010/06/10/oreskes-conway-exposing-merchants-doubt/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming</span></a>, have released a new book placing that doubt machine into a longer arc of U.S. business and political history.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/big-myth-9781635573572/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market</span></a>&nbsp;explores an even more ambitious history dating from the dawn of the 20th century to the present day.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

book documents how today’s prevailing anti-regulatory and

anti-government postures that deride Big Government and cheer for Big

Business did not arise simply from grassroots demands. Instead, they

arose from well-funded industry campaigns creating what Oreskes and

Conway have called a manufactured consensus “quasi-religious belief” in

deregulated markets and an accompanying diehard opposition to

governmental solutions to public policy problems.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fighting Public Utilities, Child Labor Laws</font></span></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">One

of the first campaigns in that spirit occurred within the electricity

utility industry via an organization which eventually became known as

the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/edison-electric-institute/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Edison Electric Institute</a>.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What is now colloquially called<b>&nbsp;EEI, was launched in 1885 as the National Electric Light Association, or NELA</b>.

At the time, it “represented more than five hundred of the largest

privately owned electrical utilities, accounting for more than 90

percent of U.S. kilowatt output,” according to the book.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

the 1920s, according to Oreskes and Conway, “electricity industry

leaders organized one of the largest propaganda campaigns in the history

of the United States.” The campaign aimed to persuade the public that<b>&nbsp;municipal-owned electricity was a bad thing,</b>&nbsp;advocating

instead for investor-owned utilities. In the end, though, it resulted

in higher rates for homeowners and small businesses and bigger profits

for company owners and their bankrollers.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

initially unpopular campaign framed its activities under the guise of

freedom and market efficiency. NELA’s influence operation — involving

rewriting K-12 and university textbooks, courting and funding

industry-friendly professors, utilizing astroturf campaigns, deploying

sophisticated lobbying techniques to facilitate regulatory and

legislative capture, and other deceptive practices —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2015/12/28/miracle-american-oil-continental-resources-corporate-media-oil-exports/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">resembles</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2017/10/29/lng-exports-comments-copy-paste/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">much</a>&nbsp;of the fossil fuel industry’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/13/exxon-shell-bp-api-concerns-carbon-capture/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">political pressure</a>&nbsp;that DeSmog has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2013/01/31/three-states-pushing-alec-bill-climate-change-denial-schools/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">covered</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2013/09/16/frackademia-people-money-behind-edf-fracking-methane-emissions-study/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">uncovered</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2017/06/14/your-energy-america-ddc-advocacy-atlantic-coast-pipeline/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">week-in</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2019/06/06/enbridge-minnesotans-line-3-front-group-oil-pipeline/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">week-out</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3dyyx/how-a-small-blog-became-a-thorn-in-the-side-of-corporate-climate-denial" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">over a decade and a half</a>.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the time, it was th<b>e

first of its kind industrial-scale full-court press, and it provided a

roadmap for other corporate hegemons in subsequent decades. And NELA’s

goal went far beyond merely winning a PR campaign, Oreskes and Conway

conclude; it had much deeper ideological underpinnings.</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“[U]nlike

conventional PR, the aim was not simply to create a positive impression

of a particular business or even of the whole industry,” they write.

“Rather, the goal—expressed outright in numerous documents—was to change

the way Americans thought about private property, capitalism, and

regulation” altogether.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Core

to NELA’s campaign, Oreskes and Conway wrote, was the idea “that

free-market capitalism was the embodiment of freedom, writ large, and

that any restriction on the freedom of any business would put us on a

slippery slope to tyranny.”&nbsp;</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Private

ownership of the electricity industry was, up until then, relatively

rare in the United States and even more so throughout the

industrializing world. But as of 2017,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40913" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">72 percent&nbsp;</a>of

U.S. electricity customers got their power from investor-owned

utilities. NELA’s campaign, in other words, changed history as we know

it.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today, its successor EEI and its member companies continue to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.energyandpolicy.org/eei-campaign-institute/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">wage</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.energyandpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ratepayers-funding-Edison-Electric-Institute-and-other-organizations.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">deceptive</a>&nbsp;PR campaigns to fight renewable energy and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2018/05/23/koch-edison-electric-institute-wooing-interior-department-vincent-devito/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">bolster</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/07/12553/utility-trade-group-funds-alec-attack-americans-who-use-solar" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">continued consumption</a>&nbsp;of fossil fuels.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

NELA campaign’s legacy, however, goes far beyond its sector alone,

according to Oreskes and Conway. “Perhaps most importantly, NELA

pioneered a strategy of insisting that these claims were true,

regardless of the facts,” they wrote.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broadening their view beyond the fossil fuel industry, Oreskes and Conway also detail how the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/national-association-manufacturers/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">National Association of Manufacturers</a>&nbsp;(NAM)

propelled similar efforts across other industries during the same era.

Like EEI, fast-forwarding to the present-day, NAM has served as a key

node of climate denialism</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp;</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But in its earliest days,<b>&nbsp;NAM maintained a different sinister focus, according to&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</em>:

advocating against child labor laws amid what the authors described as a

“pandemic” of workplace deaths both among young workers and the adult

workforce.&nbsp;</b>The sheer volume of such deaths served as one of the

first major wakeup calls in the need for a more active regulatory state,

the book maps out.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

making its case for child labor and against regulations protecting

children, NAM espoused “that the federal government had no business

interfering in business” and called such a notion “socialistic in its

origin, philosophy and associations.”</font></font></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Libertarian Fringe to (Neo)Liberal Mainstream</font></span></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">While

both NELA and NAM laid the groundwork for a paradigm that’s alive and

well today, their ideas were not adopted globally until the formation of

the<b>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/mont-pelerin-society/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Mont Pelerin Society</a>,&nbsp;</b>a

group created in 1947 that like EEI and NAM has received close scrutiny

from DeSmog for years. Oreskes and Conway devote a whole chapter of&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</em>&nbsp;to Mont Pelerin.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like NELA and NAM, Mont Pelerin’s roots lay in anti-regulatory and business-funded ideology.&nbsp;<b>But unlike them, Mont Pelerin came out of academia a</b>nd

via professors committed to the now globally pervasive neoliberal

ideology they created. Mont Pelerin inspired similar groups that are,

like it, still active today, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/koch-industries-inc/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Koch Industries</a>-funded&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/institute-humane-studies-george-mason-university/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Institute for Humane Studies</a>&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/george-mason-university/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">George Mason University</a>&nbsp;and the University of Chicago’s free market-oriented Economics Department.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oreskes

and Conway point to a legion of like-minded groups arising by the

1970s, riding the momentum of an academic community devoted to

neoliberal ideology, and reacting to the gains made in environmental

protection and other areas. Formation of these groups accelerated after

the metaphorical call-to-arms made in a memo written to the<b>&nbsp;U.S. Chamber of Commerce by the then-tobacco industry attorney and soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.&nbsp;</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Known today as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2011/08/23/40th-anniversary-lewis-powell-memo-launching-corporate-propaganda-infrastructure/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Powell Memo</a>,

the 1972 letter called for Big Business to undergo “careful long-range

planning and implementation, in consistency of action over an indefinite

period of years, in the scale of financing available only through joint

effort, and in the political power available only through united action

and national organizations.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Powell Memo, Oreskes and Conway concluded, spearheaded free market fundamentalist groups such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/cato-institute/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Cato Institute</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/koch-family-foundations//#!/stream" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Koch Family Foundations</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/scaife-family-foundations/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Scaife Family Foundations</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2016/01/21/beyond-koch-brothers-scaife-olin-bradley-jane-mayer-dark-money/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Olin Foundation</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/heritage-foundation/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Heritage Foundation</a>, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/federalist-society-law-and-public-policy-studies/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Federalist Society</a>,

among others. All of these entities, and the groups they fund or work

alongside in coalitions, remain powerful forces within U.S. and global

politics.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</span>&nbsp;further highlights how those think tanks and companies also played a<b>&nbsp;key

role in defeating the 2009 and 2010 congressional push, led by

then-President Barack Obama, to pass a federal, market-oriented climate

bill known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act</b>. Critics

would charge that the policy approach taken in the bill, emblematically,

embodies the very “market fundamentalist” ethos reigning over U.S.

politics for the past 100-plus years.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the congressional debate over a bill that would have<b>&nbsp;enshrined the policy lever of cap-and-trade, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2013/02/11/study-confirms-tea-party-was-created-big-tobacco-and-billionaires/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Koch-funded Tea Party network</a>&nbsp;also ascended</b>[<span>vid]</span></font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">previous

congressional pushes in the 2000s for what was ultimately a

business-friendly climate policy, had enjoyed bipartisan support. But&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</em>&nbsp;explains how as the&nbsp;<b>Tea Party</b>&nbsp;network

took flight, Republican Party support for the climate bill — and

broader climate action — eroded to a near-zero level. It has mostly

remained there since.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">At

the same time, the reality of climate change had and has continued to

become all the more clear. That reality though, Oreskes and Conway

wrote, clashes with the&nbsp;<b>religion of market fundamentalism.&nbsp;</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“[H]ad

the market fundamentalists spent so much time defending the magic of

the market-place that they simply couldn’t accept market failure on a

global scale?” the authors asked of the legion of climate-change deniers

who helped to kill the bill. “To accept the enormity of what climate

change portended for civilization was to accept that capitalism, as

practiced, was undermining the very prosperity it was supposed to

deliver. And not just in some distant future, but now.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although

this “quasi-religious belief” in the power of the market holds the

greatest sway with conservatives, Oreskes and Conway argue that belief

in the “magic of the marketplace” has become an intoxicating ideology

within<b>&nbsp;liberal circles too, including within climate policy debates.</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Even in supposedly liberal enclaves like Cambridge, Massachusetts,” where&nbsp;<a href="https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/naomi-oreskes" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Oreskes teaches at Harvard</a>,

“many people think climate change will be best addressed by

technological innovation in the marketplace,” the co-authors surmise,

perhaps in alluding to the prototypical&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2020/05/24/ernest-moniz-labor-fracking-clean-coal-geoengineering/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">industry-friendly</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/18/doe-moniz-blueprint-carbon-capture-pipelines/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">policies</a>&nbsp;pushed by former Obama Administration U.S. Secretary of Energy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2013/04/09/ernest-moniz-keystone-xl-contractor-american-petroleum-institute-fracked-gas-exports/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Ernest Moniz</a>&nbsp;— a professor at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The

rise of right-wing think tanks helped spread the pro-market,

antigovernment gospel across the country and insert what had been

decidedly niche views into the mainstream,” the authors explained of the

ideology’s spread. Other scholars have referred to this as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2016/01/21/beyond-koch-brothers-scaife-olin-bradley-jane-mayer-dark-money/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">“force field” effect</a>,

moving the gravitational pull of what’s possible within U.S. politics

further and further toward right-wing, corporate-created policy

solutions.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ideological roots of anti-democracy, anti-environmental, and anti-regulatory campaigning explored in&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</em>&nbsp;also serve as the heart and soul of the book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-cover-up/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming</span></a>, written by DeSmog co-founders James Hoggan and Richard Littlemore.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you have learned from DeSmog’s reporting shedding light on the climate change denial machine, you’ll love&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</em>,

an excerpt from which follows below. The book is a must-read for all

students of the sordid history of public relations and governmental

capture.&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Go&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/big-myth-9781635573572/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">grab a copy</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/naomi-oreskes" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">check</a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/tr/podcast/widening-the-lens-of-accountability-with/id1439735906?i=1000581948495" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">&nbsp;out</a>&nbsp;some&nbsp;<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-november-16-2022/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">recent</a>&nbsp;interviews on the book, as well, for further background. A&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/727392720" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">video</a>&nbsp;of Professor Oreskes discussing the book can also be seen below.</font></font></font></p><h2 id="h-excerpt-from-the-big-myth" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Excerpt from&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Big Myth</span></font></font></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">In the 1990s,</span>&nbsp;as capitalism was being declared triumphant in many quarters, scientists had proved that man-made climate change was under way.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="1" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">1</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Climate

change was textbook market failure. It arose from everyday economic

activity— using fossil fuels—but was about to impose a huge external

cost, inundating major coastal cities around the globe, making

hurricanes and cyclones even more deadly than they already were, and

dislocating tens or even hundreds of millions of people. It was also

textbook environmental injustice, as poor people would almost certainly

bear the brunt of a problem created by the rich.</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But it also had a textbook answer: putting a price on carbon</b>.

Economists called this solution a “Pigouvian tax”—after the Cambridge

economist Arthur Pigou, who in the early twentieth century had helped

develop the concept of negative externalities. (Pigou also suggested it

would be reasonable for governments to subsidize activities that had

“positive externalities,” such as education.) The idea of pricing social

and environmental costs of carbon was hardly radical; Pigou was firmly

mainstream, a respected scholar at Cambridge University, a leading

figure in what came to be known as the Cambridge school of economics.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="2" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">2</a></span>&nbsp;The

obvious benefit of the Pigouvian approach was that it remedied the

market failure directly by embedding information—in this case scientific

information—into the price of fossil fuels. Then consumers could decide

for themselves whether or not to buy more expensive fossil fuels, and

producers of alternatives could compete on a level playing field.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The Clinton administration proposed to address climate change through a Pigouvian tax, the so-called “BTU” tax</b>&nbsp;(referring to the heat content of fuels as measured in British Thermal Units).<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="3" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none;">3</a></span>&nbsp;But

it was opposed—indeed, ridiculed—by a broad coalition of conservatives,

including, the Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute,

and virtually every right-wing think tank in Americ</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="4" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">4</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The

notorious Global Climate Coalition, a network of fossil fuel producers

and users that in the 1990s successfully prevented the U.S. Congress

from ratifying the Kyoto protocol to the U.N. Framework Convention on

Climate Change, was originally established as a committee of the

National Association of Manufacturers. Even though the idea of putting a

price on carbon was a mainstream economic approach to market failure,

Republicans framed it as just another example of Democrats’ penchant to

“tax and spend.” The Wall Street Journal mocked it as Al Gore’s

“favorite tax</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.”</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="5" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">5</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

his 1979 paper on nonmarket failure, economist Charles Wolf had slipped

into his conclusion the idea that one cause of nonmarket failure was

“premature but politically effective demands for government action.”<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="6" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">6</a></span>&nbsp;In

the 1990s, many Republicans picked up on this theme, arguing that it

was premature to act on climate change. Even at the time, that was

wrong: scientists already had a consensus that man-made climate change

was under way and likely to be very costly.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="7" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">7</a></span>&nbsp;To

act in the 1990s would have been appropriate. It would have been

timely. But Clinton was unable to generate congressional support for

action; Republican opposition made it clear that any proposal to put a

price on carbon would be dead on arrival. In 1999, when Vice President

Al Gore ran for president on a platform prioritizing climate change,

journalist Gregg Easterbrook (brother of Judge Frank Easterbrook)

embarrassed him on the campaign trail with a false story that his

mentor—climate champion Roger Revelle—had experienced a deathbed

conversion and died thinking climate change was not a serious problem.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="8" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">8</a></span>&nbsp;(He had not.)</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As

the 1990s became the 2000s—and scientists declared the evidence

“unequivocal”—market fundamentalist did not adjust their views. To the

contrary, their opposition hardened.</b><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="9" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">9</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In

2006, Lord Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank,

concluded on behalf of the UK government that, yes, fixing climate

change would be expensive—perhaps as much as 1 percent of global GDP per

annum—but not fixing it would cost much more: at least 5 percent and

perhaps as much as 20 percent.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="10" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">1</a><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; box-shadow: none;">0</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Here was a solid argument from a man who could scarcely be accused of being any kind of -ist other than an economist.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In

response, conservatives dug in deeper. Senator Ted Cruz promoted the

canard that global warming had stopped; Senator James Inhofe called it a

liberal conspiracy to bring down capitalism.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="11" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">11</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;No

matter what solutions were proposed—market-friendly or not—the right

wing found reasons to oppose them. The science wasn’t settled (they

claimed). It would be too expensive to fix. We could just adapt. It was

all a hoax. Often these claims were couched in libertarian terms, as

when in 2011 former House Speaker Newt Gingrich deemed the push to

address climate change “the newest excuse to take control of lives.”</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="12" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">12</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

singular exception to climate denial in Republican Party leadership was

Senator John McCain. He and conservative Democrat Joe Lieberman

introduced Climate Stewardship acts in 2003, 2005, and 2007 to address

the carbon dioxide emissions&nbsp;</b>that drive climate change by creating

an emissions trading system—a proven mechanism, albeit more complicated

than a Pigouvian tax. But when given the chance to use it to address

climate change, Republicans refused.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="13" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">13</a></span>&nbsp;The

2003 bill failed on mostly party lines, with a few Democrats and nearly

all Republicans in opposition. But it was a closer call than many

expected, and soon Congress faced intense lobbying pressure against

climate legislation,&nbsp;<b>particularly from NAM and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce</b>. The 2005 version came to a vote and failed 60–38, with only a handful of Republicans voting yea.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="14" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">14</a></span>&nbsp;Two years after that, McCain could not even persuade Republican leaders to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor.<span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="15" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">15</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2009, Congress tried once more, with the American Clean Energy and Security Act (better known as&nbsp;<b>Waxman-Markey,&nbsp;</b>for

its primary sponsors, Massachusetts representative Ed Markey and

California representative Henry Waxman). For the fourth time in a

decade, Congress had the opportunity to address climate change using a

market mechanism, and for the fourth time rejected it.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;The

bill barely passed the Democratic-led House; nearly all Republicans

voted against, as did Democrats from fossil-fuel-producing states (and a

few Democrats who found the bill too weak). The Senate never brought it

to a vote. Democrats concluded they could not overcome the “wall of

opposition” they faced from their Republican colleagues, opposition

fortified by fierce lobbying.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="16" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">16</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;One

analysis concluded that, in the eighteen months between January 2009

and June 2010, electric utilities, oil and gas companies, trade

associations, and think tanks spent at least $500 million against

climate change legislation.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="17" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">17</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Another study tracing anti-climate lobbying back to 2003 places the figure at closer to $1 billion.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="18" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">18</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">The fossil fuel</span>&nbsp;industry’s

economic interests in preventing climate action have always been

obvious; less understood is how it has camouflaged those interests. No

one ever said, “I am denying climate change to protect corporate

profits.” They said they were protecting jobs, protecting the economy,

and protecting free markets from government “encroachment.” They said

they were&nbsp;<b>fighting for capitalism and freedom</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>.</b></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But

historically, capitalism has never been just one thing: Adam Smith’s

eighteenth-century vision of a democratic, distributed marketplace

populated by small bankers and businessmen was a far cry from the

industrial capitalism that developed in early nineteenth-century England

and Germany—with its cruel “Satanic mills”—or the monopolies and

managerial capitalism that came to dominate America in the late

nineteenth century, much less the globally financed capitalism that

emerged at the end of the twentieth century</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.

China has liberalized its markets while continuing to oppress and even

murder its ethnic and religious minorities. There are many capitalisms.

American market fundamentalists fight for a form of capitalism that is

both brutal and ignorant: that brushes aside market failure,

anticompetitive practices, and external costs, in part by denying the

facts of science, the facts of history, and the necessary role of

government in making capitalism work.</span><span class="modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--hover-on-desktop " data-mfn="19" data-mfn-post-scope="0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: initial; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px;"><a role="button" aria-pressed="false" aria-describedby="mfn-content-0000000069385b1600000000164185f1_52111" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; box-shadow: none;">19</a></span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

question is not whether government should set limits that prevent

individual autonomy from producing collective harm, the question is

where we draw the lines. That is not an economic question, it is a

political one. Market fundamentalists have managed to distract from the

political aspects of these decisions and frame them as questions of

“economic freedom.” Thus, a reasonable response to climate change is

rejected as unreasonable “government encroachment.”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All this may make one wonder: was this ever&nbsp;<b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">really</span>&nbsp;</b>about

capitalism? Or freedom? Or was it all just one long, semi-continuous,

shape-shifting defense of the prerogatives of big business? Of freedom

for capital and capitalists? Or had the market fundamentalists spent so

much time defending the magic of the market- place that they simply

couldn’t accept market failure on a global scale? To accept the enormity

of what climate change portended for civilization was to accept that

capitalism, as practiced, was undermining the very prosperity it was

supposed to deliver. And not just in some distant future, but<b>&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">now.</span></b></font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref bib...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/big-oil-outspent-green-groups/">https://www.alternet.org/big-oil-outspent-green-groups/</a>&nbsp;no lnx grfx vid</font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Big oil spent 27 times more than green groups </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">to keep fossil fuels flowing</span></b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Charles Downie ,&nbsp;<b>Robert Brulle and The Conversation February 13, 2023</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">You’ve

probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to

climate change. They’re meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes

of a green, clean future.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But

shiny ads are not all these companies do to protect their commercial

interests in the face of a rapidly heating world. Most also provide

financial support to industry groups that are spending hundreds of

millions of dollars on political activities, often to thwart polices

designed to slow climate change.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>For

example, The New York Times recently reported on the Propane Education

and Research Council’s attempts to derail efforts to electrify homes and

buildings in New York, in part by committing nearly US$900,000 to the

New York Propane Gas Association, which flooded social media with

misleading information about energy-efficient heat pumps.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The

American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents oil

refiners and petrochemical firms, has spent millions on public relations

campaigns, such as promoting a rollback of federal fuel efficiency

standards.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">These

practices have been going on for decades, and evidence shows that

industry groups have played key roles in blocking state and federal

climate policies. This matters not just because of the enormous sums the

groups are spending, but also because they often act as a command

center for political campaigns to kill pro-climate policies.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">We

study the political activities of industry groups. In a recent research

paper, we dug through tax filings to follow the money trail of trade

associations engaged on climate change issues and track the billions

they have spent to shape federal policy.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What we found</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">After

NASA scientist James Hansen sounded the alarm on climate change in

1988, three trade associations – the National Association of

Manufacturers, the Edison Electric Institute and the American Petroleum

Institute – banded together with a couple of electrical utilities to

form the Global Climate Coalition, or GCC.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The

GCC systematically opposed any international regulation of

climate-warming emissions, and successfully prevented the U.S. from

ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 international agreement to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>This

was the first example of trade associations working together to stall

government action on climate change. Similar efforts continue today.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So,

how much do trade associations spend on political activities, such as

public relations? As not-for-profit organizations under the Internal

Revenue Code, trade associations have to report their revenue and

spending.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">We

found that trade associations historically opposed to climate policies

spent $2 billion in the decade from 2008 to 2018 on political

activities, such as advertising, lobbying and political contributions.

Together, they outspent climate-supporting industry groups 27 to 1.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The

oil and gas sector was the largest, spending $1.3 billion. Across the

89 trade associations we examined in nine different sectors of the U.S.

economy between 2008 and 2018, no other group of trade associations came

close.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>No. 1 expense: Advertising and promotion</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What

came as more of a surprise as we were tallying up the data was how much

trade associations are spending on advertising and promotion. This can

include everything from mainstream media ads promoting the industry to

hiring public relations firms to target particular issues before

Congress.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>For

example, until they parted ways last year, Edelman, the world’s largest

public relations firm, received close to $30 million from American Fuel

and Petrochemical Manufacturers to promote fossil fuels, reporters at

the online news site Heated found.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Our

study found that trade associations engaged on climate change issues

spent a total of $2.2 billion on advertising and promotion between 2008

and 2018, compared with $729 million on lobbying. As 2022 lobbying data

shows, their spending continues. While not all of this spending is

directly targeting climate policy, climate change is one of the top

political issues for many industries in the energy sector.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Media

buys are expensive, but these numbers also reflect the specific role

trade associations play in protecting the reputation of the firms they

represent.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[Oil: Power Past Impossible</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">youtu.be]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One

reason that groups like the American Petroleum Institute have

historically taken the lead running negative public relations campaigns

is so that their members, such as BP and Shell, are not tarred [heh]

with the same brush, as our interviews with industry insiders confirmed.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">However,

many firms are now coming under pressure to leave trade associations

that oppose climate policies. In one example, the oil giant Total quit

API in 2021, citing disagreements over climate positions.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Spending on social media in the weeks ahead of the<b>&nbsp;U.S. midterm elections and during the U.N. Climate Conference in November 2022&nbsp;</b>offers another window into these groups’ operations.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A review by the advocacy group<b>&nbsp;Climate Action Against Disinformation&nbsp;</b>found

that 87 fossil-fuel-linked groups spent roughly $3 million to $4

million on more than 3,700 ads through Facebook’s parent company alone

in the 12 weeks before and during the conference.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Revealed: Facebook received millions for ads promoting fossil fuel</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">youtu.be]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The

largest share came from a public relations group representing the

American Petroleum Institute and focused heavily on advocating for

natural gas and oil and discussing energy security. America’s Plastic

Makers spent about $1.1 million on climate-related advertising during

the two weeks of the U.N. conference.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Funneling money to think tanks and local groups</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trade

associations also spent $394 million on grants to other organizations

during the decade we reviewed. For example, they gave money to&nbsp;<b>think tanks, universities, charitable foundations a</b>nd political organizations like associations of mayors and governors.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While

some of these grants may be philanthropic in nature, among the trade

associations we spoke to, most have a political purpose in mind. Grants

channeled to local community groups, as one example, can help boost an

industry’s reputation among key constituent groups, and as a result

their social license to operate.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What this means for climate policy</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Fossil

fuel companies, which reported record profits in 2022, still spend more

on political activities than their trade associations do.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But

industry groups historically opposed to climate policies are also big

spenders, as our research shows. They outspent those that support

actions to slow climate change, such as the solar and wind industries,

by a whopping $2 billion to $74.5 million over the 10 years we reviewed.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This

likely helps to explain why it took Congress almost 35 years after

Hansen first warned representatives about the dangers of climate change

to pass a major climate bill, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></span></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/01/19/fossil-fuel-groups-spent-millions-on-social-media-ads-spreading-climate-disinformation-during-cop27/">https://www.desmog.com/2023/01/19/fossil-fuel-groups-spent-millions-on-social-media-ads-spreading-climate-disinformation-during-cop27/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">f<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ossil

fuel-linked groups spent around $4 million on Facebook and Instagram

ads that spread false climate claims over the COP27 summit, a new report

says.</span></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The physical presence of more than 600 fossil fuel lobbyists&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/636-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-granted-access-cop27/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">overshadowed</a>&nbsp;the November&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/cop27-coverage/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">conference</a>&nbsp;in

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, as world leaders, NGOs and activists gathered

in a bid to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Analysis

out today shows oil and gas interests were also busy online. Climate

Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) – the coalition behind the second “<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-vol-2-exposing-new-trends-in-climate-mis-and-disinformation-at-cop27/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Deny, Deceive, Delay</a>”

report – has documented how PR companies, front groups and oil majors

were actively spreading disinformation in the weeks leading up to and

during the summit.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Researchers

with the coalition’s COP27 Intelligence Unit identified over 3,700 ads

sharing false claims on Facebook and Instagram, platforms owned by Meta.

They also found a rise in content related to outright climate-science

denial by ‘anti-woke’ pundits on Twitter, who pushed #ClimateScam and

lines such as ‘climate is a hoax’.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jennie

King, head of climate research and response at the non-profit Institute

for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) think tank, which led the Intelligence

Unit, said the events of 2022 had “turbocharged a global ecosystem of

disinformation”.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Russia’s

war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply chains have renewed

anti-climate attacks globally, as vested interests falsely attribute

blame for these events to the “cult of Net Zero,” King explained.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Our

report shows Big Oil continues to invest millions in digital

advertising to launder their image as ‘climate champions’, while also

promoting the necessity of fossil fuels.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The coalition’s findings come nearly two years after a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2022/02/28/ipcc-report-calls-out-vested-interests-delaying-climate-action/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">report</a>&nbsp;by

the UN’s climate science body, which found for the first time that

“vested interests” were delaying efforts to tackle climate change.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that actors

representing “vested economic and political interests” had eroded

support for climate policy by generating “rhetoric and misinformation

that undermines science and disregards risk and urgency”.</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate Denial ‘Comeback’</font></span></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Big

Oil companies Shell, Chevron and Exxon all ran ads in the run-up to the

summit, but the majority were posted by PR and fossil fuel front

groups.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

850 organisations surveyed spent between $3-4 million on nearly 3,800

adverts on Facebook and Instagram between September 1 and November 23,

the report found. Adverts promoted fossil fuels as affordable and

reliable, and justified their ongoing use with arguments around energy

independence.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Energy Citizens – a PR and lobby group for the largest trade association for the oil and gas industry the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/american-petroleum-institute/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a>&nbsp;–

ran more daily ads than all the other pages combined, the analysis

found. The ad campaign advocated for U.S. production of fossil gas and

oil, citing nationalist arguments around ‘energy security’.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

analysis found that a number of U.S. based pages ended their ad

campaigns after mid-term elections on November 8. However, the research

found disinformation ramped up with ad campaigns from three industry PR

groups: America’s Plastic Makers, funded by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/american-chemistry-council/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">American Chemistry Council</a>,

which describes itself as ‘the leading association representing the

$553-billion U.S. chemicals industry’, and fossil fuel front groups&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2020/07/22/unplugged-how-gas-industry-fighting-efforts-electrify-buildings/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Affordable Energy for New Jersey</a>&nbsp;and Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition, the Saudi Green Initiative had at least 13 live adverts around the summit, just as Saudi Arabia’s delegation was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/climate/saudi-arabia-aramco-oil-solar-climate.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">accused</a>&nbsp;of pursuing a ‘strategy to keep the world hooked on oil.’</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

findings come as Sultan Ahmed Jaber was announced as the new President

for COP28, making the Dubai summit next year the first to be led by a

current oil executive.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ben

Dennes, a researcher at the University of Exeter who specialises in

environmental communication online, said the $4 million figure was just

the “tip of the iceberg”.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

Meta ad library used in the analysis was a “black box”, with only ads

deemed by Meta to relate to ‘social issues, elections or politics’ fully

accessible.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There

is “unclear and subjective guidance on what this means”, Dennes told

DeSmog, adding that researchers were also unable to analyse Google Ads

in the study as the service does not permit searches for misinformation

and greenwashing content.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was therefore possible that “certain greenwashing and misinformation content has slipped through the net”, Dennes said.&nbsp;</font></p><h2 id="h-culture-warriors-co-opt-climate" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Culture Warriors Co-opt Climate&nbsp;</font></span></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alongside

analysis of industry-linked advertising, researchers also documented

climate disinformation on Twitter over a four week period from the end

of October.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘Anti-woke’

pundits and conspiracy theorists gained the most traction, the report

found, and “often collaborate with a well-funded network of think tanks

and pundits.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate

denial tropes such as ‘climate actors are alarmist’ and ‘climate change

is a hoax’ also featured. Some posts targeted the “loss and damage”

fund, established in Sharm-el-Sheikh to provide financial assistance to

vulnerable nations most impacted by the climate crisis.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Researchers

also found that the hashtag #ClimateScam spiked on Twitter with 362,000

mentions between July and December, raising concerns over a failure to

prevent disinformation on the platform. The original content came from a

non-verified account, but was then adopted by a number of verified

account holders – including U.S. pundit Tom Fitton, a climate denier

with two million followers.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The CAAD coalition is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2022/06/09/big-tech-must-do-more-to-combat-climate-disinformation-super-spreaders-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">advocating</a>&nbsp;for

immediate steps to be taken by tech companies to stem the flow of

climate delayism and “junk science”. It is also calling on governments

and multilateral bodies to implement a “unified definition” of climate

mis-and disinformation within UN key institutions.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This research shows that climate disinformation isn’t going away and, in fact, it’s getting worse.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During

COP, Twitter’s search engine pushed #ClimateScam as a top result

without any justification for the data behind it,” said Erika Seiber,

climate disinformation spokesperson at Friends of the Earth U.S.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Until

governments hold social media and ad companies accountable, and

companies hold professional disinformers accountable, crucial

conversations around the climate crisis are going to be put in

jeopardy.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meta and Twitter were contacted for comment.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from Brulle:&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>by the #</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brulle has previously found that more than $2bn was spent lobbying Congress on climate legislation between 2000 and 2016.</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Over roughly the last three decades, five major US oil companies have spent a total of at least $3.6bn on advertisements</b><span>&nbsp;–

not counting their investments in public relations programs like

sponsored beach clean-ups, or their influence through trade

associations, dark money groups and campaign donations.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;they have a<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;$600bn annual subsidy that they’re defending,</span>&nbsp;according to the [International Monetary Fund].</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>2019:&nbsp;</b><span><b>The

five largest publicly traded oil and gas&nbsp;companies have spent some $1

billion on “narrative capture” and lobbying since the Paris Agreement

was struck in 2016</b>, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://influencemap.org/report/How-Big-Oil-Continues-to-Oppose-the-Paris-Agreement-38212275958aa21196dae3b76220bddc" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">report</a>&nbsp;published this month by Influence Map</span><span>. That spending includes $195 million on “often misleading branding campaigns.”</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In research published in 2</span><b>018,

Brulle found that “environmental organizations and the renewable energy

sector lobbying expenditures were dwarfed by a ratio of 10:1 by the

spending of the sectors engaged in the supply and use of fossil fuels.”</b></font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Though

climate lobbying only accounted for 3.9 percent of the total amount

spent on legislative lobbying between 2000 to 2016, its rates fluctuated

considerably.&nbsp;</b>Early on, relatively little money—only about $50

million, or 2 percent of all lobbying—was spent trying to sway federal

legislators' opinions during the years leading up to and including 2006.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But in the years that followed, climate lobbying expenditures shot up, reaching a&nbsp;<b>high point of $362 million in 2009,</b>&nbsp;which accounted for 9 percent of all lobbying that year alone</span>.

The next year, 2010, saw only a slight drop, before climate lobbying

efforts plunged, eventually reaching about 3 percent of total lobbying

after 2011.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course, 2009 marked the year that the House of Representatives narrowly&nbsp;<a href="https://grist.org/article/2009-06-26-climate-bill-senate-politics/full/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">passed the landmark climate legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act,</a>&nbsp;also known as the&nbsp;<b>Waxman-Markey&nbsp;</b>bill. However, that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2010/07/climate-bill-blame-game-begins-040132" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">effort died on the floor of the Senate</a>&nbsp;just over a year later.</font></p></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 1 23 not twt</font></p><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Right-wing media just can’t seem to quit old-school climate change denial.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even

as fossil fuel companies moved away from directly questioning

established science in their marketing in favor of more subtle forms of

climate delay and greenwashing, media influencers on the right

repeatedly suggested that climate change is a fake crisis manufactured

by global elites, using the energy crisis, extreme weather events, and a

general mistrust of our institutions to make the case for climate

change denial.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The war in Ukraine was convenient for climate change deniers</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As gas prices&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/business/energy-environment/gasoline-price.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">skyrocketed</a>, in part due to the global energy disruption resulting from the war in Ukraine, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/10/high-gas-prices-low-income-us-biden" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">American families</a>&nbsp;started

to become frustrated, right-wing media took the opportunity to blame

climate policies. They insisted that high prices were being caused by a

fake crisis manufactured by the government, arguing that climate change

was a hoax from the beginning.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">An<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-and-the-oil-dictators-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-oil-supply-opec-energy-production-11665073129" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;October 6</a>&nbsp;Wall

Street Journal editorial claimed that “the White House blames the

industry for high gas prices while it does everything it can to make

drilling more difficult and financially risky.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, Donald Trump went on Fox Business’s&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mornings with Maria</span>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3986013" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">March 2</a>&nbsp;and

called climate change a hoax while discussing the Biden

administration's energy policy, saying that “this climate situation is

killing our country.”</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He did the same thing in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/03/21/on-fox-donald-trump-calls-climate-change-a-hoax-in-the-1920s-they-were-talking-about-global-freezing/?sh=513dc55e3787" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">March 21</a>&nbsp;segment of Fox Business’s&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Varney & Co</span>, saying what the left&nbsp;<a href="https://www.indy100.com/politics/trump-climate-change-hoax-1920s" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">does</a>&nbsp;“is a climate hoax.”</span>&nbsp;When

asked by host Stuart Varney whether climate change is caused by human

activity, Trump responded: “In my opinion, you have a thing called

weather, and you go up and you go down. If you look into the 1920s, they

were talking about global freezing. … The climate’s always been

changing,” he continued.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media Matters documented ample disinformation about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-used-opec-oil-cuts-blame-biden-domestic-gas-price-volatility" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">gas prices</a>&nbsp;and the<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/zombie-keystone-xl-pipeline-embodiment-fox-news-pro-fossil-fuel-campaign" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;Keystone XL pipeline</a>&nbsp;extension

during that period. Some right-wing media influencers claimed the Biden

administration was adding insult to injury by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-accusing-biden-administration-deliberately-spiking-gas-prices-represents-0" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">allegedly driving high gas prices</a>&nbsp;and lying to Americans about what could be done to fix the situation in order to carry out its agenda.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fossil fuel shill Daniel Turner of Power</b>&nbsp;the Future wrote on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DanielTurnerPTF/status/1516031559429758981?s=20&t=wIFE59n-QfTys8J3wBfcJQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">April 18</a>, “There is no climate crisis and oil is back to $110 because everything<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;@JoeBiden</a>&nbsp;says is a lie.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kurt Schlichter, a Townhall columnist and podcast host</span>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter/status/1501329132210524160?s=20&t=2roU1cNSsyQBIBFRu7Cxqg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">alleged that</a>&nbsp;Biden

was more committed to “the idiotic members of the climate change hoax

cult” than he was to lowering gas prices for families.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Schlichter

has been a loud and consistent voice for climate change denial. But for

someone who believes it doesn’t exist, he certainly spent a lot of time

obsessing over it in 2022. He tweeted “climate change is a hoax” or

similar statements at least 145 times in 2022, or an average of nearly

three times per week, and penned op-eds like “Don’t Let Them Reset

Society To Make You Into&nbsp;<a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/07/25/dont-let-them-reset-society-to-make-you-into-a-bugeating-serf-n2610710" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">a Bug-Eating Serf</a>” and&nbsp;<a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/03/09/climate-hoax-hacks-love-putin-n2604239" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“Climate Hoax Hacks Love Putin”</a>&nbsp;in which he claimed that “you cannot claim to both oppose Putin and fight global warming.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton was also an influential Twitter climate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-documenting-and-responding-to-climate-disinformation-at-cop26-and-beyond-full/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">misinformer</a>&nbsp;in 2022</span>,

voicing opposition to climate policy such as the Inflation Reduction

Act, and posting climate skeptic and denialist content. “Taxes on

energy, subsidies for favored corporations, dangerous drug price

controls will increase inflation. And -- Fact check: There is no

‘climate crisis,’” he tweeted on<a href="https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1552736650643619840?s=20&t=2roU1cNSsyQBIBFRu7Cxqg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;July 28</a>.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Judicial Watch is a member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://spn.org/organization/judicial-watch-inc/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">State Policy Network</a>, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/2/25/SPN_National_Report_FINAL.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">deep ties</a>&nbsp;to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Koch-funded lobbying group that has most recently been working to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/02/08/alecs-critical-energy-theory-bills-moving-in-four-states/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">punish fossil fuel divestment</a>. When Biden was considering declaring a climate emergency in July, Fitton&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1549393538621882368?s=20&t=wIFE59n-QfTys8J3wBfcJQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">wrote</a>, “There obviously is no ‘climate emergency’-- for Biden to dictate otherwise is a desperate abuse of power.”</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The right turned reporting on natural disasters into “climate alarmism”</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Last

year, we clearly saw the impacts of major climate-fueled extreme

weather events at home and around the world: Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, a

heat wave and drought in Europe, China, and the American West, and

massive flooding in Pakistan. As of October,&nbsp;<a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/10/world-rocked-by-29-billion-dollar-weather-disasters-in-2022/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">according to</a>&nbsp;insurance broker Aon, there had been 29 billion-dollar disasters in 2022</span>. Additionally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/record-heatwaves-drive-eus-july-excess-deaths-2022-high-2022-09-16/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">according to</a>&nbsp;the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;EU experienced 53,000 more deaths in July compared with that month’s averages for 2016-2019.&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the aftermath of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/01/hurricane-ian-was-costliest-disaster-on-record-after-katrina-in-2005.html#:_{:text=Ian%20caused%20between%20%2450%20billion,an%20otherwise%20tame%20hurricane%20season.}" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Hurricane Ian</a>, which pummeled Florida and South Carolina in late September,<b>&nbsp;Fox News’ Tucker Carlson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994556" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">implied</a>&nbsp;that

humans cannot influence weather events because “they’re called natural

disasters. … They’re products of nature. God’s in charge.” His guest

Candace Owens,</b>&nbsp;who has a&nbsp;<a href="https://documented.net/media/candace-owens-espousing-climate-change-denial-at-tpusa-student-action-summit-july-20-2021" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">history</a>&nbsp;of

climate change denial, reiterated that climate change does not exist

because “if there was no human beings that walked the face of the

planet, there would continue to be hurricanes, like there would continue

to be blizzards, and like there would continue to be tornadoes.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carlson responded to natural disasters with climate change denial on more than one occasion. On&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991247" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">July 20</a>,

he devoted a monologue to undermining the existence of climate change,

reducing climate predictions to: “It’s gonna be hot and then it’s gonna

rain hard.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“No

one really believes in global warming,” he continued, “and that’s why

all of the liberals in the United States live on the coasts – because

they don’t believe it. That’s why many of them fly private, because the

entire theory is absurd and they know it. … The whole thing is a joke.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The day before, on<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991184" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;July 19</a><b>, Fox News host Dan Bongino q</b>uestioned

whether the planet is getting warmer and whether humanity played a role

in it, asking: “What kind of a dunce believes that? Come on. Is it [the

planet] getting warmer? The answer is maybe. … The question isn’t is it

getting warmer; the question is what’s human beings' role in it.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even

in the absence of an extreme weather event, right-wing media regularly

dismissed and challenged the scientific consensus that warming is making

these types of events more severe.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/laura-ingraham-hosts-climate-denier-falsely-claim-climate-science-not-settled" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">October 11 segment</a>&nbsp;o<b>f<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>&nbsp;</i>The Ingraham Angle</span>, host Laura Ingraham brought on climate change denier Tom Harris</b>&nbsp;to

falsely claim that the science isn’t settled: “The real underlying

thing is that there is no climate crisis. … It's all based on models

that don't work. … In fact, we don't even know whether it's going to be

warm or cool in the future. … The only sensible approach is to get ready

for it, to make our infrastructure hardened, to use solid, dependable

sources of energy like coal.”</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The “Great Reset” was a magnet for climate skepticism</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also in 2022, some right-wing media framed climate change as a hoax orchestrated by elites to implement&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/great-reset-conspiracy-theory-hotbed-climate-denial" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">the “Great Reset</a>,” using climate policies and other measures to assert dominance and control over the general population.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These ideas got attention in July, when right-wing media attempted to blame a series of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-figures-are-using-sri-lankas-crisis-push-their-own-anti-climate-agenda" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">complex</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991184" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">global conflicts</a>&nbsp;and unrest on climate policy, and in November as the global community gathered in Egypt to negotiate climate action.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Former Australian journalist and key Twitter climate denial amplifier Peter Clack&nbsp;</b><a href="https://twitter.com/PeterDClack/status/1595251337725640705?s=20&t=xWITlgBl1YM5Do_Ncoz99w" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">attacked</a>&nbsp;plans

made during the conference to provide financial climate support for

developing nations, tweeting, “This is the reality of the Great Reset. …

COP27 has approved - without dissent - reparations starting at $2

trillion because of climate-caused damage. There is none.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998267" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">December 12 segment</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tucker Carlson Tonight</span>, Carlson and meteorologist Joe Bastardi&nbsp;</b>had

a nearly unintelligible conversation packed with climate change denial,

where Bastardi offered that climate advocates might not want to ban

private air travel because “they’ve all got climate vaccines. We don't

know about them, but unlike the covid vaccine, they actually work.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another

cockamamie theory, according to Bastardi, is that climate advocates are

trying to pollute the air as much as possible so that they can have an

excuse to prevent others from using transportation. Bastardi claimed

that another option is that “it's a phony climate war, it's fraudulent,”

and it “has nothing to do with CO2.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though

not explicitly mentioned, these accusations are consistent with the

Great Reset narrative of elites controlling the masses through climate

and public health policy. Carlson posited earlier in the segment, “Could

it be that the climate movement is really about creating a permanent

caste system where the people at the top of society, the Brahmins, can

do literally whatever they want?”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Right-wing journalist Jordan Schachtel mentioned the Great Reset</span>&nbsp;while&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1586020486638600192" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">celebrating</a>&nbsp;Twitter’s

change in ownership, tweeting, “Twitter will now become the network

through which we utterly destroy the forces of The Great Reset. … This

is why the power-drunk covid addicts, climate hoaxers, commies, etc are

furious today.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3996328" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">September 12</a>&nbsp;edition of&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3996328" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Eric Bolling The Balance</a></span>,&nbsp;host

Eric Bolling encapsulated the right’s fearmongering about the Great

Reset, claiming that climate change is a hoax being used “in order to

make people fear the end of the world, convince us to change everything.

They want to control us forever and ever.”</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate contrarians lashed out against so-called censorship</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sometimes,

climate change denial was just a drumbeat regardless of current events.

Prominent right-wing culture warrior influencers used climate change

denial without any context as part of their rotating script attacking

different “liberal” beliefs or simply as a protest against what they

view as censorship.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, after Twitter initially accepted&nbsp; Elon Musk’s acquisition offer on<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/24/elon-musk-twitter-offer-timeline/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;April 25</a>, right-wing contrarians and other influencers were seemingly&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/pbump/status/1518931141092573184" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">emboldened</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dr_diarrhea/status/1518775335675908096?s=20&t=ujyFCvB-6X09ZgqhJq0aYQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“test”</a>&nbsp;the new environment by making&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hammernshackle/status/1518698092836667393?s=20&t=ujyFCvB-6X09ZgqhJq0aYQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">statements</a>&nbsp;that

might reasonably be labeled as misinformation or hate speech under

previous management. This occured in the days following Musk’s takeover

of the platform on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/twitter-elon-musk/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">October 27</a>&nbsp;as well, with some tweets garnering tens of thousands of engagements.&nbsp;</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">former&nbsp;<b>Daily Wire&nbsp;</b>contributor

Greg Price and right-wing Twitter troll and self-described political

commentator Gunther Eagleman repeatedly pushed climate change

misinformation on Twitter in 2022, along with a plethora of other

uncouth and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1602388360873607169?s=20&t=MeVDwlhNn-FDNcnrSD9qgg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiratorial</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1601749908121260032?s=20&t=MeVDwlhNn-FDNcnrSD9qgg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">statements</a>. Eagleman tweeted about climate change being a hoax, scam, or similar statements 48 times this year.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">despite right-wing media’s repeated claims that climate change is a hoax, it was among the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/despite-fox-news-claims-contrary-voters-are-concerned-about-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">top voter concerns</a>&nbsp;during the recent 2022 midterm elections, suggesting climate change denial is a losing argument</span>.<b>&nbsp;

However, as the phenomenon ramps up on Twitter and “free speech”

continues to be a major point of contention in the culture wars,

right-wing media may be empowered to continue pushing these types of

disinformation in 2023.</b></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Methodology ...</font></h3></div></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 11 22</font></div><div style=""><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Computer

scientist, composer, artist, and author Jaron Lanier has for years been

outspoken about his total avoidance of social media platforms because

of the harm that they inflict on their users and the detrimental impacts

that they have on societies. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/27/17618756/jaron-lanier-deleting-social-media-book-kara-swisher-too-embarrassed-podcast" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">2018 conversation</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;Vox&nbsp;producer Eric Johnson, Lanier decried people who refuse to delete their accounts even though they can.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"You

have even more of a responsibility to see if you can get out of it than

someone who genuinely is dependent on it. So, I think that that

argument has a situation exactly backwards. I mean, I and you and the

people we tend to know are privileged. We’re wealthier than ever. We

have more options. That puts a moral onus on us to make some decisions

that do what little we can to help those who are less fortunate, and

this is one of those things," he said.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"If you are actually in a position to quit and you don’t, you’re making yourself part of the problem.</b>&nbsp;You’re

not doing anything to free those who are more trapped. You’re only

enslaving them more by entrenching the system. As an affluent or

valuable person to the system, you’re the one that the whole system is

being funded by," he added, later<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;comparing online platforms to "gambling addiction."</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/destroying-twitter-elon-musk-democracy/" target="_self" title="view post: By destroying Twitter, Elon Musk reveals contempt for democracy" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">By destroying Twitter, Elon Musk reveals contempt for democracy</a></font></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Sunday, Lanier warned in an interview with&nbsp;The Guardian<i>&nbsp;</i>GUK&nbsp;that the takeovers of tech giants like Twitter pose a fatal danger to the future existence of the human race.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“People

survive by passing information between themselves,” Lanier explained to

reporter Edward Helmore. “We’re putting that fundamental quality of

humanness through a process with an inherent incentive for corruption

and degradation. The fundamental drama of this period is whether we can

figure out how to survive properly with those elements or not.”</font></span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lanier

believes that powerful digital arenas such as Twitter, whose owners

allow misinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate speech to flourish,

are exacerbating the threat that humanity faces</span>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“There are all kind of intermediaries. They might be the people who own a platform, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/elon-musk" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Elon Musk</a>, or third parties who are good at sneaking in influence</b>.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The

interveners can be varied. Some are official, some are revealed, others

hidden. Some are competent, some incompetent. Some are random, like an

algorithm that someone made but didn’t understand,"</span>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Lanier said. “I still think extinction is on the table as an outcome. Not necessarily, but it’s a fundamental drama.<b>&nbsp;If we can coordinate ourselves to solve the climate crisis it’s a fundamental sign we haven’t become completely dysfunctional</b></span><b>.</b>"</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/musk-twitter/" target="self" title="view post: Half of Twitter’s top advertisers flee as Elon Musk welcomes Trump back" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Half of Twitter’s top advertisers flee as Elon Musk welcomes Trump back</a></font></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/27/jaron-lanier-tech-threat-humanity-twitter-social-media" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The story continues here</a>.</font></p></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: normal; widows: 1;">=</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><b>tiny effect denier meme?</b></span></font></p><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx grfx date</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>https://www.lomborg.com/press-release-research-reveals-negligible-impact-of-paris-climate-promises</b></font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Paris climate promises will reduce temperatures by <b>just 0.05°C</b> in 2100</span><b>&nbsp;(Press release)</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>A

new peer-reviewed paper by Dr. Bjorn Lomborg published in the Global

Policy journal measures the actual impact of all significant climate

promises made ahead of the Paris climate summit.</div><div>
</div><div>Governments

have publicly outlined their post-2020 climate commitments in the

build-up to the December’s meeting. These promises are known as

“Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs).&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>Dr. Lomborg’s research reveals:</div><div>
</div><div>The

climate impact of all Paris INDC promises is minuscule: if we measure

the impact of every nation fulfilling every promise by 2030, the total

temperature reduction will be 0.048°C (0.086°F) by 2100.</div><div>Even

if we assume that these promises would be extended for another 70 years,

there is still little impact: if every nation fulfills every promise by

2030, and continues to fulfill these promises faithfully until the end

of the century, and there is no ‘CO₂ leakage’ to non-committed nations,

the entirety of the Paris promises will reduce temperature rises by just

0.17°C (0.306°F) by 2100.&nbsp;</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">US

climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved

and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures

by 0.031°C (0.057°F) by 2100.</span></div><div>
</div><div>EU climate

policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and

adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by

0.053°C (0.096°F) by 2100.</div><div>
</div><div>China climate

policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and

adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by

0.048°C (0.086°F) by 2100.</div><div>
</div><div>The rest of the

world’s climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully

achieved and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global

temperatures b<b>y 0.036°C (0.064°F) by 2100</b>.</div><div>Overview in Celsius and Fahrenheit by the year 2100....</div></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Climate denial abounds on Fox as Hurricane Ian devastates Florida</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>On

back-to-back nights during Florida’s Hurricane Ian nightmare, Fox hosts

Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham cast doubt on climate

science</div><div>
</div><div>Special PROGRAMS</div><div>CLIMATE & ENERGY</div><div>WRITTEN BY ILANA BERGER</div><div>
</div><div>PUBLISHED 09/30/22&nbsp;</div><div>In

response to Hurricane Ian, Fox News primetime shows sought to mislead

viewers about how climate change is affecting hurricanes, using bad

faith and often-repeated climate denier talking points.&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>More

than 2.6 million people were without power across the state on Thursday

morning, as extreme flooding left many residents trapped in their homes

and on top of cars. At a press briefing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

called Ian a “500-year flooding event” and added, “The impacts of this

storm are historic and the damage that has been done is historic. …

We've never seen a flood event like this, we've never seen a storm surge

of this magnitude.” There were at least 21 confirmed deaths as of

Friday morning, but that number is expected to rise as recovery efforts

continue.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Fox primetime shows recycle debunked or irrelevant talking points on climate</b></div><div>Meanwhile,

Fox personalities attempted to gaslight viewers into complacency by

describing any hurricane coverage that mentioned climate change as

“alarmist.” Fox also cherry-picked information about the relationship

between climate change and hurricanes to imply that the two are not

related. Climate scientists and media outlets have acknowledged that

there is not enough evidence to support the theory that climate change

will increase the frequency of hurricanes. However, there is evidence

suggesting that higher ocean and air temperatures are causing hurricanes

and storms to intensify more rapidly instead of weakening as they

approach landfall, as happened with Ian. Hurricanes are also absorbing

more moisture and dumping more rain on affected areas. Fox ignored this

crucial connection or refuted it all together.&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div><b>On

September 27, Tucker Carlson called severity warnings leading up to the

storm a “scam” on Tucker Carlson Tonight. But the next day, he called

Hurricane Ian “a catastrophe” and a “national disaster,” adding, “People

will certainly be killed.</b>” C<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">arlson

then tried to use an exchange between CNN’s Don Lemon and Jamie Rhome,

the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, to push his

agenda. Carlson used Rhome’s reluctance to link climate change to

specific events to suggest that for political reasons, the media is more

concerned about climate change than actual climate scientists are.

However, Rhome clearly agreed that climate change is having an impact on

storms, which is consistent with mainstream reporting on the issue. In

fact, on September 28, CNN meteorologist Tom Sater reiterated Rhome’s

point and added, “Since 1950 there have been seven landfall hurricanes

in Florida that were a category 4 or 5 … the first 4 were each in a

different decade. The last three — all in the last 5 years.”</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On September 29, Carlson devoted a good chunk of his show to ranting about climate change as well.</span><b>&nbsp;He

was obsessively focused on hurricane frequency, arguing that somehow, a

decrease in the numbers of storms would cancel out the plethora of

other evidence indicating that the storm events themselves are

intensifying.</b>&nbsp;A<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">fter

citing a NOAA research overview highlighting that hurricanes are

predicted to become more intense, Carlson went on to insist that “the

claim is never proven,” and that “there’s no science behind these

claims.” Later in the segment, he implied that humans cannot influence

weather events because “they’re called natural disasters. … they’re

products of nature, God is in charge.”</span>&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div><b>He then discussed Hurricane Ian with Candace Owens, who has a long history of climate change denial.&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Owens

reiterated that climate change does not exist because “if there was no

human beings that walked the face of the planet, there would continue to

be hurricanes, like there would continue to be blizzards, and like

there would continue to be tornadoes.” She also used several other

environmental concerns such as the hole in the ozone layer, which has

diminished because of the Montreal Protocol, and ocean acidification,

which remains a concern due to climate change, to try and argue that

“they’ve been wrong over and over and over again.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>Video&nbsp;</div><div>CitationFrom the September 29, 2022, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight</div><div>
</div><div><b>On

September 28 edition of The Ingraham Angle, frequent Fox News guest and

climate contrarian Michael Shellenberger and host Laura Ingraham told

viewers that their personal experiences with extreme weather were

untrustworthy and invalid.</b>&nbsp;Ingraham implied that concerns about

climate change only exist because people “feel that the ocean is warmer …

but a feeling is not fact.”&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Shellenberger

falsely claimed that hurricanes are “not intensifying right now, so any

perception that hurricanes are more intense is just a perception fed by

that relentless alarmist media.”</span>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Guest

Mollie Hemmingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, later claimed

that “the left” is pushing a “conspiracy theory” that “man-made climate

change is the cause of hurricanes. … There’s just no evidence for this

theory that people keep holding.” Hemmingway said this despite the fact

that no one is claiming that climate change is the primary cause of

hurricanes, rather it is one factor making them&nbsp;</span>more dangerous.</div><div>
</div><div>Video file</div><div>Video CitationFrom the September 28, 2022, edition of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle&nbsp;</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Hemmingway

and Shellenberger also latched onto the idea that hurricane frequency

is apparently the only metric that should concern the public, glossing

over the very real dangers of threats like higher rainfall rates, which

is the main factor that drives deaths and damage during a hurricane.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;They

were fixated on the number of hurricanes that have occurred over

different periods of time, using various irrelevant data points to

unsuccessfully support their climate denial. They also downplayed damage

caused by storms by saying that nowadays more people live in the areas

most affected by hurricanes. Shellenberger first said that damage caused

by hurricanes “has not increased at all” but then claimed that the

increase in damage is due to the fact that “there’s more wealth in

harm’s way,” going on to claim that the extreme weather events of the

last several decades represent “an incredible success story for

America,” because, in his telling, they could have been worse.&nbsp;</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Before Ian made landfall, Sean Hannity hosted his favorite climate denier Joe Bastardi t</b>o

emphasize that hurricane frequency in Florida has not increased. On

September 28, Hannity said that the media should not discuss climate

change because “this is hurricane season and during hurricane season,

you usually have hurricanes like we did a hundred years ago.” Fox News

contributor Lara Trump insisted that the Democrats' “marketing arm, the

mainstream media” is “now trying to claim that one of the quietest

hurricane seasons in 30 years is somehow due to climate change.”

Finally, former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee, who was a guest on

the show, said that people should reject the established science of

climate change and instead of “worshipping that which is created rather

than the creator … get back to the simple things of science and real

faith and trust in God.”&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>The public is

beginning to increasingly understand the dangers of climate change and

the need for actions that not only reduce climate-causing emissions, but

make our communities less vulnerable to the climate impacts that are

already happening. But as the public and more media outlets are starting

to connect extreme weather to the need for climate action, Fox News

coverage seeks to break those links.</div><div>
</div><div>THE LATEST...</div><div>Fox News host: “Americans are going to have to start strapping up and exercising their Second Amendment rights”</div><div>09/30/22 5:30 PM EDT</div><div>Climate denial abounds on Fox as Hurricane Ian devastates Florida</div><div>09/30/22 2:52 PM EDT</div><div>Pagination</div><div>Current page1</div><div>…</div><div>Next page</div><div>IN THIS ARTICLE</div><div>Climate deniers</div><div>Related</div><div>Climate denial and near climate silence has marred national TV news coverage of Hurricane Ian</div><div>09/30/22 1:48 PM EDT</div><div>Right-wing

media manufacture outrage over CNN host Don Lemon discussing

relationship between climate change and strengthened hurricanes</div><div>09/29/22 1:53 PM EDT</div><div>As Hurricane Ian hits Florida, Fox News undermines climate change</div><div>09/27/22&nbsp;</div><div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-are-outraged-biden-spent-tenth-his-un-speech-climate-change">https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-are-outraged-biden-spent-tenth-his-un-speech-climate-change</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing

media are expressing outrage that President Joe Biden mentioned climate

change during his September 21 speech at the United Nations General

Assembly.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bThDV2g5Go" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">nearly-30 minute speech</a>, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/europe/biden-russia-united-nations.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">focused mainly on the Russian invasion of Ukraine</a>, also included&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/21/remarks-by-president-biden-before-the-77th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">calls for global cooperation</a>&nbsp;on important issues including food insecurity, human rights, and climate change. The climate part of his speech lasted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994017" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">roughly 3 minutes</a>&nbsp;and included celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/biden-takes-climate-law-victory-lap-at-u-n/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">also</a>&nbsp;touched

on recent climate disasters and the need for global emissions

reductions, as well as promising billions of dollars in international

climate finance.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite

the relatively modest amount of time he spent on climate change, many

in right-wing media were outraged that he even mentioned climate at all.

Their comments included climate denial and falsehoods about the

importance of climate change to the global community.</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing media falsely claimed that the global population doesn’t care about climate change</font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate change is a serious concern around the world. For example, a January 2021 survey found that a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.undp.org/press-releases/worlds-largest-survey-public-opinion-climate-change-majority-people-call-wide-ranging-action" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">majority of people around the globe</a>&nbsp;want greater climate action. And a September 2021 Pew poll found that the world’s population increasingly views climate change&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/14/climate-change-threat/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">as a personal threat</a>. In August of this year,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/08/31/climate-change-remains-top-global-threat-across-19-country-survey/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">another Pew survey</a>&nbsp;found

that a “​​median of 75% across 19 countries in North America, Europe

and the Asia-Pacific region label global climate change as a major

threat.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/25/afrobarometer-climate-week/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">people from the global south</a>&nbsp;— those who have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/05/02/scientists-just-showed-why-climate-change-is-enormously-unfair/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">contributed the least to the climate crisis but disproportionately suffer its effects</a>&nbsp;— are often some of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054809644/climate-change-cop26-loss-and-damage" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">loudest voices</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-strike-a-climate-deal-poor-nations-say-they-need-trillions-from-rich-ones-11634568010" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate action</a>. Around the same time that Biden gave his UN speech, indigenous peoples from around the world&nbsp;<a href="https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affairs-desk/we-will-all-die-if-we-continue-like-this-indigenous-people-push-un-for-climate-justice/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">were protesting in New York</a>&nbsp;for climate justice. The president of Kenya made&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/africa/kenyas-william-ruto-unga.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate change a key part</a>&nbsp;of his UN speech, and the prime minister of Pakistan, a country that has seen over 30 million displaced due to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/19/1123798981/climate-change-likely-helped-cause-deadly-pakistan-floods-scientists-find" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate-fueled monsoon flooding</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/22/pakistan-pm-thanks-biden-for-un-speech-urging-world-for-flood-aid" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">thanked Biden</a>&nbsp;for “highlighting the plight of the flood victims.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate change and poverty, meanwhile, are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.undp.org/blog/climate-change-and-rise-poverty" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">inextricably linked</a>, as are climate change and&nbsp;<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/19/climate-change-food-insecurity-hunger-drought/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">global hunger</a>.

These facts, however, were still not enough to convince right-wing

commentators in the U.S. that climate change is a significant threat to

the global population.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, on the September 22 edition of Newsmax’s&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994096" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Wake Up America</a></em>,

host Rob Finnerty stated that “there's 193 sovereign nations in that

room right there. … And nobody cared about that part of the speech. They

needed a lot more from the American president, with everything going on

in the world right now, and they get climate change.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On Fox News’&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994097" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Fox & Friends</a></em>, co-host Steve Doocy insinuated that people living in poverty don’t care about climate change,<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">stating,

“Suddenly he’s talking about climate change. And, you know, there are

675 million people living in poverty around the world. And for the

president of the United States to be talking about climate change rather

than trying to figure out a way to feed them.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Doocy also entirely missed the fact that Biden did discuss food in his speech; he mentioned the term “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/21/remarks-by-president-biden-before-the-77th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">food insecurity</a>” 6 times, while also mentioning “feeding the world.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/21/biden-started-strong-at-un-then-bumbled-his-way-into-woke-irrelevance/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">editorial board of the right-wing New York Post</a>&nbsp;also

claimed that the world's poor don’t care about climate change. They

referred to climate change as part of a “laundry list of left-liberal

shout-outs,” before writing that the speech focused “on climate change,

which Biden claimed lists first among the ‘challenges that matter most

to people’s lives.’ The planet’s 674 million people living in abject

poverty don’t agree, Joe.”</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing

media also dipped into one of their favorite overused talking points

when it comes to climate change: U.S. action is worthless because China

is the biggest polluter</font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There were also criticisms claiming China does not care about climate change.&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994098" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Fox & Friends</a></em>&nbsp;co-host

Brian Kilmeade remarked about Biden’s climate comments that “climate

change is unbelievable. The fact is that China could not care less.” On&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994099" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Wake Up America</a></em>,

The Daily Caller’s Briana Lyman took this China criticism a step

further, stating that if “you want to talk about climate change, then

you need to talk about China because China is responsible for more than

double the emissions of the United States. … I think it's a dereliction

of duty when he doesn't tie China and climate change together.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kilmeade’s comments ignore the fact that China is by far the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grid.news/story/global/2022/08/17/china-is-beating-the-us-in-clean-energy-can-america-catch-up-the-race-in-five-charts/#:_{:text=China%20is%20the%20world's%20biggest,biggest%20investor%20in%20clean%20energy.&text=President%20Joe%20Biden%20just%20signed,electric%20vehicles%2C%20and%20much%20more.}" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">largest market for clean energy in the world</a>, and that its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/world/asia/china-climate-change.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060</a>&nbsp;came about a year before the U.S. passed major climate legislation. Yes, its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-08/china-to-add-more-coal-plants-than-thought-to-ease-energy-crunch" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">coal plants (and emissions) are a huge problem</a>, but to say that the country doesn’t care about climate change (especially when an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/26/china/china-sichuan-power-crunch-climate-change-mic-intl-hnk/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">unprecedented heat wave</a>&nbsp;just hit the country)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/07/opinion/cop26-china-climate.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">is absurd</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Regarding Lyman’s comments, Biden did&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/21/remarks-by-president-biden-before-the-77th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">mention</a>&nbsp;that

the United States “will work with every nation, including our

competitors, to solve global problems like climate change.” Immediately

after this, he referenced China and said the U.S. will not seek out

conflict with them.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lyman also touched on a&nbsp;<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/11/china-tries-to-save-earth-republicans-furious.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">longtime</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/world/asia/china-trump-climate-change.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">right-wing trope</a>&nbsp;about

climate change: that countries like China are the problem because they

currently emit the most carbon, and because of this, it’s foolish to

think that the U.S. should act on climate change. But the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-which-countries-are-historically-responsible-for-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">United States is the largest historical emitter</a>;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/chart-of-the-day/2021/10/the-us-still-produces-far-higher-per-capita-emissions-than-china" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">per capita emissions in the U.S. vastly outweigh those of China;</a>&nbsp;and many of our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/11/02/deeply-unfair-to-blame-climate-crisis-on-india-and-china-campaigners-say" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">products are manufactured</a>&nbsp;in China.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Solely

blaming China while absolving the U.S. for its own pollution problems

and its outsized role in spreading climate denial does nothing for

solving climate change in the long run.</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing

media also exaggerated the time Biden spent talking about climate

change, and they threw in some good-old-fashioned climate denial</font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three minutes out of 30 is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/07/briefing/climate-change-heat-waves-us-europe.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">arguably not enough time to devote to a problem</a>&nbsp;that

has led to a summer of destructive extreme weather across the globe.

But it was still enough to annoy right-wing media figures.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Again on&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994100" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Wake Up America</a></em>, host Rob Finnerty stated that “the president spent&nbsp;<b>a lot of time</b>&nbsp;talking

about climate change during his speech. … This, of course, coming at a

crucially important time. We’re seven months into the worst war in

Europe that we've seen since World War II, and the president took the

opportunity to campaign for Democrats and talk about climate change.”

Additionally, on the September 21 edition of&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994101" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Kudlow</a></em>, guest Steve Moore falsely claimed that&nbsp;<b>“he spent half the time talking about climate change.”</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps

the worst reaction came from Newsmax host Eric Bolling, who went on a

climate denial rant on the September 21 edition of&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3994102" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;"><b>Eric Bolling The Balance</b></a></span>.

He called climate change “another made-up crisis lurking just around

the corner,” adding, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” He then&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-climate-change/fact-check-al-gore-did-not-predict-ice-caps-melting-by-2013-but-misrepresented-data-idUSL1N2RV0K6" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">blamed Al Gore for supposedly inaccurate predictions</a>&nbsp;about

climate change and chastised former President Barack Obama for buying a

house near the sea despite being concerned about rising sea levels.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The right-wing blow-up over Biden’s climate comments is not surprising. To these figures and outlets,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/22/18510518/green-new-deal-fox-news-poll" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">any action on climate</a>, big or small, is akin to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/green-new-deal-drives-conservatives-nuts-so-right-wing-media-going-attack" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">radical socialist takeover of the U.S. economy</a>. In particular, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-vicious-response-california-heat-wave-harbinger-things-come" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">right has increased its climate denial</a>&nbsp;and

criticism of climate policies in recent months. As climate change

worsens and global citizens come together to clamor for climate action,

right-wing media will continue to<b>&nbsp;double down on denial and lies to&nbsp;<a href="https://heated.world/p/fox-is-lying-about-wind-energy-these" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">protect their polluting interests</a>.</b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Fox News’ vicious response to the California heat wave is a harbinger of things to come</div><div>09/16/22&nbsp;</div><div>As

a climate-fueled heat wave stresses California's electric grid,

right-wing media are disingenuously attacking electric vehicles</div><div>09/02/22&nbsp;</div><div>The Inflation Reduction Act is not the Green New Deal no matter what Fox News says</div><div>08/19/22&nbsp;</div><div>
</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">interesting update /case study/ cross section ~ BBB?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">coastal elite = Hollywood celeb eco-hypocite gore pvt jet</font></div><div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 8 22</font></p><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.38;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>on August 16, Joe Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://grist.org/politics/biden-signs-the-inflation-reduction-act-into-law/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">signed</a>&nbsp;the

Inflation Reduction Act, the single biggest climate package in history,

into law. With its historic investments in clean energy, the IRA is

widely considered a surprise win for Democrats ahead of November’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/12/house-to-vote-on-inflation-reduction-act-tax-and-climate-bill.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">midterm elections</a>, despite major fossil fuel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/07/can-a-boon-for-the-fossil-fuel-sector-really-be-called-a-climate-bill" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">concessions</a>&nbsp;in the bill that will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/wilson-center-expert-analysis-inflation-reduction-act" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">expand drilling</a>&nbsp;and ultimately harm vulnerable communities</b>.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While some oil and gas companies went so far as to publicly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/oil-companies-see-net-positive-in-climate-bill/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">celebrate</a>&nbsp;the legislation,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-incorrectly-attacks-inflation-reduction-act-claiming-it-will-raise-taxes-individuals" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Republicans</a>&nbsp;and right-wing media&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/tucker-carlsons-dangerous-lie-biden-targeting-his-audience-87000-armed-irs-agents" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">mobilized</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-bend-facts-inflation-reduction-acts-new-ev-tax-credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">against it</a>.&nbsp;</b>Now, in an attempt to distract from the realization of one of President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/biden-manchin-raise-taxes-middle-class-400000-campaign-promise-corporations-rich.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">key campaign promises</a>, right-wing media are capitalizing on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-kerrys-family-private-jet-emitted-300-metric-tons-carbon-biden-took-office" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">tried</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2022/05/27/world-economic-forum-davos-climate-change-private-jets/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">and</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/02/07/pelosi-spent-almost-500k-on-private-jets-since-october-2020/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">true</a>&nbsp;tactic

— trying to discredit the climate movement, and government climate

action as a whole, by vilifying certain wealthy advocates for their

personal consumption habits.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On August 15,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/leonardo-dicaprio-funneled-grants-dark-money-group-fund-climate-nuisance-lawsuits-emails-show" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">FoxNews.com</a>&nbsp;published

emails suggesting that the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation may have helped

fund state and local lawsuits against oil and gas companies that seek

to hold them accountable for climate change impacts, which occurred as a

result of the industry lying about the consequences of burning fossil

fuels. This should come as no surprise, given that DiCaprio has long

been an&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/4441219/leonardo-dicaprio-oscars-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">advocate</a>&nbsp;for climate action and a donor to climate-related causes.</span>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In 2017, his foundation awarded&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171002192851/https:/www.leonardodicaprio.org/leonardo-dicaprio-foundation-awards-20-million-in-environmental-grants/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">$20 million in grants</a>&nbsp;to

100 environmental organizations, a small fraction of which went to the

Collective Action Fund for Accountability, Resilience and Adaptation.

The fund “supports precedent-setting legal actions to hold major

corporations accountable for costs associated with the effects on

climate of their pollutants,”</b>&nbsp;and was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.macfound.org/grantee/resources-legacy-fund-10114587/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">associated</a>&nbsp;with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/resources-legacy-fund/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Resource Legacy Fund</a>, an environmental conservation and grant-making 501(c)(3) organization<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">. Fox alleges that the emails prove the money went through the fund to support Sher Edling</span>, the law firm representing the cities and local governments suing big oil<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. It’s unclear how much DiCaprio donated to&nbsp;<b>Resource Legacy Fund, but Fox labeled it a “dark money”</b>&nbsp;group

in the August 15 piece, suggesting that both DiCaprio and the law firm

were unethically forcing taxpayers to cover lawsuits, which would force

an industry Fox&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-heaps-praise-fossil-fuel-industry-russian-war-ukraine-rages" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">constantly</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-use-bidens-green-economy-comments-launch-full-scale-defense-fossil-fuels" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">champions</a>&nbsp;to pay up for decades of deception. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/leonardo-dicaprio-awarded-grantsfor-climate-change-lawsuits" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Washington Examiner</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/15/leonardo-dicaprio-foundation-sher-edling-oil-companies-nuisance-lawsuits/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Daily Caller</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/15/leonardo-dicaprio-funneled-grants-through-dark-money-group-to-fund-climate-nuisance-lawsuits/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">New York Post</a>&nbsp;all picked up the story.</span></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox attempts to tie big oil lawsuits to liberal elitism</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Fox

News picked up the story, contrasting DiCaprio’s activism, which they

framed as deceptive, with his carbon-intensive lifestyle</span>. On&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3992546" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Hannity</a></em>, host Sean Hannity claimed the lawsuits further justified&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazils-bolsonaro-wrecks-dicaprio-after-global-warming-tweet-lecture" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">right-wing</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/mark-ruffalo-leonardo-dicaprio-ben-stiller-letter-protest-canada-gas-pipeline" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">media’s</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/01/18/fact-check-leonardo-dicaprio-falsely-claims-u-s-per-capita-the-largest-polluters-in-the-world/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">fixation</a>&nbsp;on

DiCaprio: “The climate litigation and Dicaprio's arrangements

specifically raises a whole host of legal and ethical concerns, but

hypocrisy and bad optics are nothing new for this climate activist.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3992544" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Outnumbered</a></span>,&nbsp;co-host Kayleigh McEnany</b>&nbsp;recalled

DiCaprio’s “apocalyptic quote” from his 2016 Oscars speech on the

urgency of climate action while discussing the lawsuits. "He doesn't

act” as if climate change is an existential threat, McEnany said, “<b>It has not kept him from traveling across the world on gas-guzzling private jets.”&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3992540" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Jesse Watters Primetime</a></em>&nbsp;featured Brian Claypool, a lawyer and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxla.com/video/1060518" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">frequent</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODO54qRBgX4" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Fox News</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6310665369112#sp=show-clips" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">guest</a>,

who told correspondent Christina Coleman that it was “ironic that

Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation is funding a law firm to sue big

oil companies for alleged deception when he him very self is deceiving

the public on where these charitable contributions are going.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3992534" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">August 16</a>&nbsp;episode of&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</em>, co-host&nbsp;<b>Dana

Perino even suggested DiCaprio's donation was “behind the collusion and

price gouging of increasing gas prices on Americans,</b>” because oil companies pass on the costs of hiring a legal team to consumers. (Meanwhile, these companies have seen&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oil-companies-record-profits-2022-exxon-chevron/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">record-breaking profits</a>.)</span>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In general, climate activists on the left have not been shy to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1553287090082926594?s=20&t=NoPm6WMCC6rgdaOEYyIOyA" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">criticize</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateHuman/status/1557913805014925319" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">the use</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesliefinlay/how-celebrity-private-jet-emissions-affect-environment" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">private jets</a>&nbsp;by the rich. After the release of DiCaprio’s climate change-themed movie&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Don’t Look Up</em>, climate journalist Molly Taft&nbsp;<a href="https://gizmodo.com/what-don-t-look-up-s-action-campaign-gets-so-wrong-1848319605" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">wrote</a>&nbsp;in Earther:</font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);"><div class="block-quote__quote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Whenever DiCaprio is in the news for his climate charity work, a right-wing outlet always&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10297483/Leonardo-DiCaprio-hopes-Dont-Look-alter-behavior-climate-change-despite-private-jet-use.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; margin-top: 0px;">smugly runs a piece</a>&nbsp;about

his private jet use. While these critiques are in bad faith, they do

point out their own inconvenient truth that DiCaprio is part of the

sliver of rich people who could actually make a real carbon dent if they

changed up their lifestyles or gave away more of their money … The

actions DiCaprio is promoting as part of&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;">Don’t Look Up</em>&nbsp;fail to properly confront power. Celebrity activism is inherently a strange, slippery slope."</font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></h3><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing media appoints climate spokespeople and projects fossil fuel corruption onto the climate movement</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It

is naive to think that those elevating the story are really concerned

about taxpayers, especially when extreme weather driven by climate

change&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072077479/extreme-weather-in-u-s-cost-688-lives-and-145-billion-noaa" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">costs taxpayers</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2022/07/26/climate-change-could-cost-ohio-billions" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">billions</a>&nbsp;every year.&nbsp;</span>Similar

lawsuits against oil companies have been moving through courts for

years now, and many are currently pending, embroiled in disagreements

over whether there is state or federal jurisdiction.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/us-cities-states-sue-big-oil-climate-change-lawsuits/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">According to PBS</a>, “some recent federal court decisions show support for state jurisdiction” in similar climate suits.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/more-us-climate-change-lawsuits-against-big-oil-head-back-state-court-2022-08-17/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">On August 17,</a>&nbsp;a

federal appeals court panel said that two of these two lawsuits belong

in state courts, which is considered a win for plaintiffs. One of the

plaintiffs is being represented by the law firm Sher Edling.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The same people attacking the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation have brazenly supported fossil fuel industry corruption</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/16/2116946/-Fox-News-Attacks-Leo-DiCaprio-For-Funding-Nuisance-Climate-Lawsuits-Daily-Caller-Gets-Confused" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Daily Kos</a>, Chris Horner, the person who gave FoxNews.com the emails, “is better known for<a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/08/25/chris-horner-coal/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;getting paid by fossil fuel companies</a>&nbsp;to

target climate scientists with baseless or frivolous and harassing or

vexatious FOIA lawsuits demanding they release their emails in an

attempt to rerun the Climategate disinfo playbook.”</span>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Michael Krauss, a George Mason University law professor who Fox quoted extensively in the piece on DiCaprio, has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrauss/2022/05/11/steven-donzigers-pathetic-attempt-to-avoid-disbarment-in-dc/?sh=16c768f9bddf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">previously</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrauss/2021/06/28/the-donziger-saga-continues/?sh=3f9e8fa6215a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">gone after</a>&nbsp;Steven Donziger</b>, a human rights lawyer who was confined to&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/04/27/deconstructed-steven-donziger-chevron-ecuador/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">one thousand days</a>&nbsp;of

house arrest after winning a $9.5 billion lawsuit against Chevron after

the company deliberately contaminated the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest

and poisoned the Indigenous communities that live there. Krauss called

Chevron, which spilled 16 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and 17

million gallons of crude oil into open, unlined pits,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrauss/2021/06/28/the-donziger-saga-continues/?sh=3f9e8fa6215a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“courageous”</a>&nbsp;for

its “persistence” in “defending itself against Donziger,” after it

launched a massive smear campaign against him. Notably, George Mason

University&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/us/koch-donors-george-mason.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">accepted</a>&nbsp;an estimated $50 million from Koch foundations between 2005 and 2015.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leonardo

DiCaprio is not and has never been an accurate representation of who is

the most concerned about climate change, and it is deeply misleading to

portray him as such. Nonetheless, Fox keeps attempting to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-attacks-john-kerry-shows-how-specious-networks-argument-against-climate-action-really" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">appoint politicians</a>&nbsp;like John Kerry and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/celebrities-hypocritical-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">wealthy celebrities</a>&nbsp;like

Prince Harry, Thom Yorke, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the face of the

climate movement, obscuring the role of the activists on the ground who

have worked tirelessly to pass legislation like the IRA and the

millions of people around the world harmed by climate change and

environmental injustice.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-science-technology-climate-and-environment-9038738cbda161f43e5d0d2fbd5e738b" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Research poll</a>&nbsp;from June,&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Black

and Hispanic Americans and women are among the groups most likely to be

“strongly concerned about the impact of climate change on them

personally and about how their personal choices affect the climate.”</span></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When things don’t go your way, blame far-left infiltration or a teenager</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Right-wing

media’s fixation on “dark money” and celebrity activism is not new.

When Republicans face scrutiny, they try to paint Democrats as beholden

to radical, hypocritical elites who are out of touch with real

Americans.&nbsp;</span>On August 16,&nbsp;<b>FoxNews.com also published an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-kerrys-climate-office-rife-ties-far-left-green-groups" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">article</a>&nbsp;attempting

to frame Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry's

office as radical because some officials who work there have previously

worked for other large environmental organizations.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally, the article quotes&nbsp;<b>Myron Ebell,</b>&nbsp;who calls large green groups and those affiliated with them the “climate aristocracy.” Ebell, a noted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/myron-ebell/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate denier</a>&nbsp;who

led&nbsp;Trump’s EPA transition team, is the director of the Competitive

Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center for Energy and Environment. Chris

Horner was also a CEI fellow, and the organization has filed briefs and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.climatedocket.com/2019/01/24/cei-chuck-todd-meet-the-press-climate-denial/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">launched campaigns</a>&nbsp;defending the oil companies being targeted by the lawsuits discussed above, and has also received funding from the industry.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">related</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox's attacks on John Kerry shows how specious the network’s argument against climate action really is</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">02/05/21&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In 160 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Fox networks mentioned the Green New Deal 564 times</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">08/08/22&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolds, right-wing media is pinning the blame on Greta Thunberg and climate activists</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">03/08/22&nbsp;</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p></div><div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">london protests 7 22 break glass in emergency so they did</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wow omg ingraham? 1100 dead</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 22</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>with thousands dying from extreme global heat in recent days, and as President Joe Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/20/1112485228/biden-climate-initiatives" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">announced</a>&nbsp;new

executive actions to address the climate crisis, right-wing media

figures and climate deniers are downplaying the heat wave and the threat

from human-caused climate change.</b></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Europe,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/weather/heat-records-outpace-cool-records-globally-climate/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">extreme “red” heat warnings</a>&nbsp;were issued in the United Kingdom for the first time, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-experiences-hottest-day-ever-24521070" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Wales</a>&nbsp;recorded its highest-ever temperature.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/7/20/23270092/europe-uk-heat-wave-roads-trains-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Railroad lines, major highways, and airport runways</a>&nbsp;in the U.K. buckled under the extreme heat. Multiple regions of Germany also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/20/europe-uk-heat-wave-dome-record/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">set all-time highs</a>, as did at least part of Denmark. Over 2,000<a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/07/18/heat-wave-europe-death-toll" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;people</a>&nbsp;have died in Spain and Portugal due to the extreme heat, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-france-fires-heat-waves-b7c3ecaba66d9851ba0381e68d207784" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">fueled wildfires</a>&nbsp;there and in parts of France. These record-setting events are not contained to Europe.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/18/heatwave-europe-unitedstates-records-uk/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Parts of the U.S. and Central Asia</a>&nbsp;are suffering from extreme heat as well.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even though the extreme heat event in Europe is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/world/uk-heat-red-warning-record-climate/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">truly exceptional</a>, and its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2022-07-18/uk-weather-how-climate-change-impacts-exceptional-heatwaves" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">connections</a>&nbsp;to the climate crisis are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/07/19/europe-heat-wave-climate-change-uk-france" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">unquestionable</a>,

multiple right-wing media figures used the extreme heat event to

downplay and criticize any possible action to address the climate

crisis.</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing media also attacked Biden for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/18/biden-climate-emergency-manchin/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">considering</a>&nbsp;declaring

a climate emergency during this deadly heat wave. Instead Biden

unveiled much more modest steps to address climate impacts, such as

putting $2.3 billion toward community resilience and infrastructure and

bolstering offshore wind development.&nbsp;<b>The Federalist&nbsp;<a href="https://thefederalist.com/2022/07/19/biden-has-no-right-to-declare-a-national-climate-emergency/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=biden-has-no-right-to-declare-a-national-climate-emergency" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">falsely declared</a>&nbsp;that “Biden has no right to declare a ‘national climate emergency</b>,’' though The Washington Post&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/20/here-what-could-happen-if-biden-declares-climate-emergency/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">explained</a>&nbsp;that

such a move would “tap a variety of long-standing emergency authorities

under the National Emergencies Act and other laws.”&nbsp;<b>LifeSiteNews&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-may-declare-national-climate-emergency-wednesday-seize-executive-power-sources-say/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">fearmongered that&nbsp;</a>the emergency powers would result in “climate lockdowns.”</b>&nbsp;And other right-wing media&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/100044290341097/posts/640797340739938" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">suggested</a>&nbsp;that there is no crisis at all.</font></font></font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="if6yj63wwbo3" id="if6yj63wwbo3" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Right-wing media denied the existence of the climate emergency</a></font></font></font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News host Dan Bongino questioned</span>&nbsp;whether the planet is getting warmer and whether humanity played a role in it, asking:</strong>&nbsp;“What

kind of a dunce believes that? Come on. Is it [the planet] getting

warmer? The answer is maybe. … The question isn’t is it getting warmer;

the question is what’s human beings' role in it.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hannity</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991184" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton wrote on Twitter:</strong>&nbsp;</span>“There is obviously no ‘climate emergency'.” [Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1549393538621882368?s=20&t=xI6NTfOuJmdD_pFK7HxMRw" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox host Tucker Carlson devoted a monologue to undermining the existence of climate change,</strong>&nbsp;</span><b>reducing

climate predictions to: “It’s gonna be hot and then it’s gonna rain

hard.” “No one really believes in global warming,” he continued, “and

that’s why all of the liberals in the United States live on the coasts –

because they don’t believe it… The entire theory is absurd and they

know it. … The whole thing is a joke</b>.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tucker Carlson Tonight</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991247" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">On Fox, conservative British political commentator Douglas Murray dismissed the urgency of the climate crisis</strong>,

saying, “Whenever there is not an absolutely vital recent emergency, we

can always fall back on – oh and the climate emergency.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991203" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox anchor Dana Perino&nbsp;</span>asked: “What has changed with the science that would lead a president to need to declare an emergency?”</strong>&nbsp;[Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">America’s Newsroom</em><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991232" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">, 7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox host Todd Piro</span>&nbsp;said

that climate impacts, particularly the ones affecting the most

vulnerable communities, did not meet his criteria for an emergency:</strong>&nbsp;“While

we all love clean air and clean water — I, in fact, use both … this is

not an emergency that we need to focus on today. We got a lot of other

problems in the world.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991221" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox

host Sean Hannity responded to new actions by the Biden administration

to address climate change by dismissing the role of human influence over

global warming</strong>&nbsp;saying, “I think these might be acts of nature, and God, and way out of the realm of something that human beings can prevent.</span>” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hannity</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991245" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="nwglbsgxe8" id="nwglbsgxe8" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Conservatives also downplayed the deadly extreme heat</a></font></font></font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Climate change denying author Bjorn Lomborg dismissed the dangerous extreme heat event, writing on Twitter:</strong>&nbsp;“Standard climate scare</span>.” [Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BjornLomborg/status/1548650922502389761?s=20&t=WLuGM0ZwK9BX9DHKyJLlXg" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/17/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Climate denier Steven Milloy</span>&nbsp;on Twitter dismissed a Washington Post article linking the Europe heat wave to climate change, writing:</strong>&nbsp;“Hot in some places. Cool in others. Just weather. Not climate.” [Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1549384734735847428?s=20&t=xI6NTfOuJmdD_pFK7HxMRw" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</span>&nbsp;</span>co-host Brian Kilmeade dismissed the dangers extreme heat poses to human health, saying:</strong>&nbsp;“Don’t

panic. It is summer. If it was December and this was happening, then I

would say, this is a little weird. But it's just a little bit hotter

than usual.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/fox-host-downplays-record-heat-wave-dont-panic-it-summer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Daily

Wire founder Ben Shapiro said on his radio show that the heat wave and

wildfires were being reported so fervently because “you always know that

it’s the slow season newswise when you start getting weather reports

from Europe.</strong>&nbsp;</span>… The thing that they will never tell you,

the media, is that more people die of cold every year than die of heat

every year, but the cold narrative doesn’t tend to play into the climate

change narrative that they wish to progmulate.” [The Daily Wire,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Ben Shapiro Show</em>,<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991180" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991180" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22]</a></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox host Jesse Watters dismissed the extreme heat event as regular seasonal weather, saying:</strong>&nbsp;“Joe Biden has seen more seasons than a lot of us. He knows that it gets cold in January and hot in July.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesse Watters Primetime</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991253" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Watters

followed this up with an interview during which an on-screen graphic

read: “Dems worried about weather, not real problems.</span>”</strong>&nbsp;[Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jesse Watters Primetime</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991254" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox host Greg Gutfeld said: “We are in a full-blown heat wave hysteria.</span>”</strong>&nbsp;He

said that while he does believe “it’s getting warmer,” climate

advocates should “think about the opportunity cost of all the zealotry.

You know? Panic didn’t work.” [Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Five</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991241" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="8kfrknpnzp7i" id="8kfrknpnzp7i" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Right-wing media also attacked the Biden administration for considering a climate emergency declaration</a></font></font></font></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Conspiracy

theorist Alex Jones claimed on his Infowars show that a climate

emergency would be orchestrated by a “scientific global dictatorship

whose aim is 90% world depopulation,” and that it would lead to a

“dystopia”</span>:</strong>&nbsp;“You’re gonna live in a 200-square-foot

coffin apartment, you’re gonna be given forced inoculations five, six

times a year, you’re gonna be sterilized, you’re gonna be killed.”

[Infowars,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Alex Jones Show</em>,<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991215" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;7/20/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The Wall Street Journal editorial board called a possible emergency declaration “a serious abuse of power.</span>”</strong>&nbsp;[The Wall Street Journal,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-beast-mode-presidency-joe-biden-climate-emergency-democrats-sheldon-whitehouse-supreme-court-11658268249?mod=error_page" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Kilmeade called Biden’s executive orders tone-deaf and “<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">agenda-driven</span>,”<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;insisting that they “will do nothing but hurt the price of oil and gas.</span>”</strong>&nbsp;[Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</em>,<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991128" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991128" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hannity quoted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannitys-hurricane-harvey-expert-climate-denier" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate denier Joe Bastardi</a>,

saying on his radio show that Democrats’ response to climate change is

the “systemic dismantling of the American way of life. It’s not a

rational response to a climate crisis.”</strong>&nbsp;[Premiere Radio Networks,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Sean Hannity Show</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991182" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hosts of Fox’s&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Outnumbered</span>&nbsp;claimed a possible<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;climate emergency declaration from Biden “could cause a global depression,” is “suicide,” and is “going to kill the economy.</span>”</strong>&nbsp;[Fox News,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Outnumbered</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991127" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">7/19/22</a>]</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">related: Tucker Carlson tells idiotic lie that “no one really believes in global warming”</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">07/20/22&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox contributor calls for more coal plants as a solution to extreme heat</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">07/20/22&nbsp;</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">National TV networks mention climate change in 32% of segments on global extreme heat</font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">07/19/22&nbsp;</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-documenting-and-responding-to-climate-disinformation-at-cop26-and-beyond-full/">https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-documenting-and-responding-to-climate-disinformation-at-cop26-and-beyond-full/</a></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box !important;">Report authors</strong>: Jennie King, Lukasz Janulewicz, Francesca Arcostanzo</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributing

partners: CASM Technology, Conscious Advertising Network, Climate

Nexus, Eco.Bot-Net, Friends of the Earth, Purpose, Reset Australia and

Stop Funding Heat.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Special

acknowledgments to Paula Matlach, Kata Balint, Cecile Simmons, Sara

Bundzten and Melanie Smith for their efforts in ISD’s climate “War

Room”, monitoring climate mis- and disinformation during COP26.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box !important;">Published:</strong>&nbsp;9 June 2022</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

February 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

took an unprecedented step, citing mis- and disinformation and the

“politicization of science” as key barriers to action. For the first

time, a document accepted by all Member Governments stated that rhetoric

from “vested economic and political interests… undermines climate

science” and in turn has driven “public misperception of climate risks

and polarised public support for climate actions”. The diagnosis was

explicit, and built on a growing body of evidence produced across the

environmental and research sectors in recent years: to solve the climate

crisis, we must also tackle the information crisis.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Drawing

on research compiled over the past 18 months, and especially in the

margins and aftermath of COP26, we have clear evidence of the challenge

at hand: the failure to stem mis- and disinformation online has allowed

junk science, climate delayism and attacks on climate figures to become

mainstreamed</b>. Our analysis has shown how a small but dedicated

community of actors boast disproportionate reach and engagement across

social media, reaching millions of people worldwide and bolstered by

legacy print, broadcast and radio outlets. Far from helping to mitigate

this issue, tech platform systems appear to be amplifying or

exacerbating the spread of such content. Moreover, the taxonomy of harm

relating to climate mis- and disinformation has been poorly defined to

date, providing an inadequate basis for response.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

report – ‘Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate

Disinformation at COP26 and Beyond’ – is a collective effort to quantify

the problem and establish concrete responses for the months and years

ahead. Produced by ISD, CASM Technology and the Climate Action Against

Disinformation alliance (CAAD), it is a data-driven examination of the

landscape, actors, systems and approaches that are combining to prevent

action on climate.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the executive summary, please click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-documenting-and-responding-to-climate-disinformation-at-cop26-and-beyond" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-decoration-line: none; box-sizing: border-box !important;">here</a>.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box !important;">Published:</strong>&nbsp;9 June 2022</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

this executive summary we outline the most prominent discourses

identified before, during and after COP26. These narratives show how the

climate conversation has moved from outright climate denialism to

delayism and distraction from acting. As these narratives infiltrate

general discourse, stances on climate actions are entrenching into

broader individual identity and grievance politics, emerging as a new

front in the culture wars.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

report – ‘Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate

Disinformation at COP26 and Beyond’ – is a collective effort to quantify

the problem and establish concrete responses for the months and years

ahead. Produced by ISD, CASM Technology and the Climate Action Against

Disinformation alliance (CAAD), it is a data-driven examination of the

landscape, actors, systems and approaches that are combining to prevent

action on climate. Looking ahead, we have outlined recommendations for

governments, multilateral bodies, tech platforms and the media in

addressing this threat online.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the full report, please click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/deny-deceive-delay-documenting-and-responding-to-climate-disinformation-at-cop26-and-beyond-full" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-decoration-line: none; box-sizing: border-box !important;">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Summative-Report-COP26.pdf">https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Summative-Report-COP26.pdf</a></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TABLE OF CONTENTS</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Glossary of Terms</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Part 1: Discourses of Delay</font></b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Hypocrisy and Elitism</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Absolutionism</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Unreliability of Renewables</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Ineffective Electric Vehicles</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Part 2: Understanding the Network - A Structural Analysis of Accounts on Twitter</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Network Overview (Graphika analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Key Communities (Graphika analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Key Actors</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Part 3: A Policy Response to Climate Mis- and Disinformation</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 1 - Implement a unified definition of climate mis- and disinformation within key institutions</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(e.g. IPCC, UNFCCC) and reflect these criteria in tech company Community Standards or Terms of Service</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Definition</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Current actions by platforms</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Indicative examples of content</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 2 - Enforce platform policies against ‘Repeat Offender’ accounts</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Repeat Offender Network (Graphika analysis)</font></b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case studies</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Peter Imanulesen</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o John Stossel</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o&nbsp;<b>Michael Shellenberger</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Bjorn Lomborg</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Tony Heller</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Patrick Moore</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Key takeaways</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 3 - Limit media exemption loopholes within legislation</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case Study 1: Recommendation algorithms on Facebook (Global Witness analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case Study 2: Labelling misleading content on Facebook (Media Matters analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case Study 3: A comparison of climate sceptic actors and Facebook’s Climate Science Center</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 4 - Improve transparency on climate disinformation trends and the role played by algorithmic</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amplification</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Most cited media outlet</font></b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o The Daily Mail</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o The Guardian</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o The Telegraph</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>o Watts Up With That (WWUT)</b></font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o The Wall Street Journal</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• In-depth case study: Sky News Australia (ISD and Purpose analysis)</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 5 - Strengthen platform labelling on ‘missing context’ and the re-posting of old or recycled</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">content</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Overview of the<b>&nbsp;Ad Tech ecosystem</b>&nbsp;(CAN analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 1: ExxonMobil (Eco.Bot-Net analysis)</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 2: American Petroleum Institute (Eco.Bot-Net analysis)</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 6 - Restrict paid advertising and sponsored content from fossil fuel companies, known front</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">groups, and/or actors repeatedly found to spread disinformation around climate</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 1: The Daily Mail during COP26</font></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 2: PragerU opposition to EVs</font></b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Policy Ask 7 - Enable API image-based searched to support research on viral disinformation</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 1: Private jets in Glasgow</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Case study 2: Attacks on Txai Surui (Avaaz analysis)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Appendix 1: Methodology</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• COP26 ‘War Room’ - Technical Set-up</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Data collection strategy</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Overview of Beam</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">o Climate dashboards</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Other analyses</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Network mapping</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Media Matters (Policy Ask 3, Case Study 2)</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Queries/Keyword Dictionaries</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...FAR-LEFT

There is no broadly agreed definition of the far-left, and the

scholarship on radical or far-left actions and groups in contemporary

Western societies is much less developed than that surrounding the

far-right. Following Cas Mudde and political researcher Luke March, as

well as established framing of the far-right (see below), we propose a

distinction between left-wing radicalism and extremism. Under this

frame, the latter groups would be considered anti-democratic, while the

former advocate fundamental political and economic changes without being

anti-democratic per se. Radical left groups, actions or networks are

typically rooted in Marxist, socialist or anarchist ideologies, and

pursue an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist and radically egalitarian

and anti-fascist agenda, often with an internationalist outlook.&nbsp;</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>FAR-RIGHT</b>

There are no unanimously agreed parameters or traits for the term

‘far-right’, but for the purposes of this report we refer to the

well-established framing put forward by Dutch political scientist and

right-wing extremist expert Cas Mudde and UK-based academic Elisabeth

Carter. This understands the extreme right to be typically marked by

several of the following characteristics: nationalism, racism,

xenophobia, anti-democracy, and strong-state advocacy or

authoritarianism. We use the generic umbrella term ‘far-right’ to cover

both radical and extreme right-wing groups, actions, and ideologies. The

conceptual difference between right-wing radicalism and extremism is

that the former is not explicitly anti-democratic (e.g. far-right

libertarian, anti-Muslim groups), while the latter is characterised also

by an explicit anti-democratic stance (e.g. openly fascist, neo-Nazi

groups). Both share the core ideology of exclusivist nationalism, which

openly advocates against the principle of egalitarianism.&nbsp;</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>LUKEWARMERS / LUKEWARMERISM</b>

The term ‘lukewarmer’ originated as a self-description by various

authors and bloggers publishing on climate related topics, such as

British Viscount and author Matt Ridley, before being picked up by media

outlets as a wider narrative trend. Academic research has since defined

this term as a basic acceptance of anthropogenic climate change

combined with a belief that the threat is exaggerated, impacts will be

markedly less than predicted by most climate scientists, or that global

warming may even have beneficial effects. A key component of

lukewarmerism is to claim that the ‘small and manageable’ effects of

climate change render efforts to limit emissions ‘too difficult or

expensive’, and that related calls to action are ‘alarmist’...</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent years we have witnessed a clear evolution in rhetoric opposing the idea of climate change</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and related action. While outright denial of climate change is still present and espoused by many</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pundits, or found in their former outputs, it has largely been confined to the margins of public</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">debate. According to various large-scale polls - including a 2021 study of 1.2 million people in 50</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">countries by UNDP and the University of Oxford - there is a strong public mandate to address the</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">climate crisis. Denying the reality and impacts of climate change, or the need for corresponding</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">action, is therefore unlikely to hold sway as it might have done in previous decades. In its place,</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">narratives have trended towards discrediting any proposal for mitigation, adaptation and transition</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">- arguments sometimes referred to as ‘discourses of delay’ (see Fig. 1).</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ‘opposition playbook’ (i.e. the tactics used by those seeking to undermine action on climate</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">change) has been forced to adjust to this new paradigm, including by historically polluting industries</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and those with vested interests. Even with broad consensus on the issue of climate, there is a long</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">road ahead to achieving meaningful policy change in line with IPCC warnings and the goals of the</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paris Agreement. By focussing efforts in that gap - between recognition, buy-in and action - actors</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">who oppose action can maintain the status quo without resorting to the now unpalatable opinions</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">of the nineties and early noughties. Arguments framed as ‘pro-green’ can still advocate for inertia</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">or inactivism, often using the veneer of fiscal pragmatism, free market logic and concerns about</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">individual liberty. In this way, environmentalism has followed policy issues like migration and public</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">health as a new front in the culture wars, becoming ever-more enmeshed in broader identity and</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">grievance politics. Whether through conspiracies like ‘climate lockdown’, or by conflating climate</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">with divisive issues like critical race theory, LGBTQ+ rights and abortion access, the goal of much</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">climate change mis- and/or disinformation is now is to distract and delay. Yet, with the window to</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">act deemed “brief and rapidly closing”, such an approach may prove fatal.</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Monitoring by Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) over the course of COP26 and beyond</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">confirms these trends (more information about coalition partners can be found at the start of this</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">report). We identified four key ‘discourses of delay’ across social media, which continue to achieve</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">high reach and engagement or set the parameters for debate in contexts globally. These are:</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>PART 1: DISCOURSES OF DELAY</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">l ‘Hypocrisy and Elitism’</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">l ‘Absolutionism’</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">l ‘Unreliability of Renewables’</font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">l ‘Ineffective Electric Vehicles’ ...</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nice grf</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1:Taxonomy

for ‘Discourses of Delay’ from Lamb, W., Mattioli, G., Levi, S.,

Roberts, J., Capstick, S., Creutzig, F., . . . Steinberger, J. (2020).

Discourses of climate delay. Global Sustainability, 3, E17.

https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.13</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Absolutionism [but india china]</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘Absolutionism’,

the second major narrative we identified and analysed, seeks to absolve

a given country from taking any climate action by highlighting the

perceived failings of another state or multilateral group. In the United

States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia and other countries

broadly categorised as ‘Western’, this line of argument tends to focus

on China and, to a lesser extent, India for making insufficient progress

or having weak onward targets. Russia and Saudi Arabia can also be

cited, but are far less frequent targets for this line of argument.

Analysis of this narrative has featured in previous ISD research across

several geographies and is pivotal to delayist rhetoric, not least in

the political sphere. Content generally condemns domestic policymaking

on principle, claiming such efforts are: i) futile in reducing global

carbon emissions (since others pollute more); ii) a form of

‘self-inflicted harm’ that punishes citizens (through loss of

livelihoods, rising prices, lifestyle changes etc.); and/or iii) will

cede power to geopolitical foes (who benefit from continued fossil fuel

use and export)....</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix w/ kohler box in bkgd]</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the most widely shared Facebook post came from a page called ‘W<b>yoming Energy Families</b>’,

garnering over 19k shares and 13k likes. The page is overtly pro-oil,

gas and coal and opposed to measures like Biden’s Build Back Better bill

or increased use of wind power. Numerous US accounts shared the same

image of a random EV charging port with a technical device directly

adjacent, which they claimed to be a diesel generator. Such content is

now marked as “False Information” by Facebook, highlighting that this is

not a diesel generator powering the station, but content remains live

on the platform. Other examples include: ● A high-volume public group

called ‘Kaitlin Bennett’ with over 100k members and upwards of 400 posts

a day, often memes in support of various US conservative talking points

(823 shares/2k likes) ● A page labelled as ‘satire/parody’ called ‘No

Definite Purpose’ which boasts 55k followers (204 shares) ● A page

labelled as ‘interest’ called ‘The Lockdown Left Lunacy’ which has 3.6k+

followers and posts memes around rightleaning talking points. It also

contains large volumes of content sceptic of COVID-19, vaccines and

related public health measures ..</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EV</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A viral Bjorn Lomborg video from 2016 was re-shared in various forms by PragerU, </b>a

right-wing digital media entity, amassing 2.6m views/1k shares on a

single post during COP26. Older posts containing the video were viewed

2.4 million times with 4.8k likes (PragerU on Facebook), 7.1m times

(PragerU’s own website) and 1.9m times with 32k likes (PragerU on

YouTube). The video claims that EVs have an equal, if not markedly

worse, carbon footprint than existing petrol-based vehicles and thus

constitute a ‘green myth’...</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nice cluster grfs]</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">major communities</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the largest and most vocal cohort in this network are right-wing groups, activists and pundits from the US, UK and Canada.</b>

Graphika’s mapping showed these groups were more active in

conversations immediately preceding COP26 than dedicated climate sceptic

and conspiracy accounts. All clusters tied to the political right-wing

combined made up 43.31% of the map, compared with 31.36% comprising

those focussed on science scepticism and related conspiracies.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Several

top influencers at the core of the network fall into the category of

sharing right-wing content: Dinesh D’Souza, Ezra Levant, Rita Panahi and

PragerU.</b> These conservative pundits and organisations have

successfully built followings in their own right on Facebook, Twitter,

YouTube, and alt-tech platforms. While climate issues are not part of

their main content strategy, they nevertheless engage in frequent

criticism of their respective governments’ environmental policies,

attack or ridicule prominent climate activists, or employ narratives

outlined in the previous section of this report. During COP26 in

particular, they downplayed the climate emergency and amplified

accusations of hypocrisy against politicians and other figures attending

the Glasgow summit. The other major group in the network consists of

four anti-science clusters.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As

highlighted above, they coalesce around geographies, but showed

interconnectedness during COP26 around content that extended beyond

their local and national issues. It is noteworthy that COVID-19 and

climate sceptic accounts overlap both structurally and in the content

they share. The network includes several anti-vaccine clusters within

the wider anti-science groups. For the purposes of this report, the

terms “vaccine-sceptic, “anti-vaccine” and “anti-vaxx” cover a range of

attitudes, characterised by distrust of a specific vaccine (e.g. for

COVID-19) or immunisation regimes more broadly. “Vaccine sceptics” are

not categorically opposed to vaccines, but have reservations to varying

degrees about their safety, necessity or inclusion within health

mandates. By contrast, “anti-vaxxers” are fundamentally opposed to

vaccination as a matter of principle. Their reasons range from

suppositions derived from conspiracy theories to the deeply held belief

that vaccines constitute a harmful intervention into the body’s

biochemical processes, potentially causing long-term damage. The most

widely followed accounts in the UK-based Anti-Science/Conspiracy group

are a mix of anti-vaccine influencers alongside prominent climate

denialist.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">..</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">stry-linked delegates</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">versus those representing indigenous communities and other frontline movements).</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the vast majority of posts in this category came from accounts known</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">to share right-wing and far-right content, rarely engaging with the substance of</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">negotiations and instead focussing on COP26 as a symbol of the ‘liberal woke agenda’.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In total we identified 199,676 mentions of this narrative on Twitter (tweets and</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">retweets) and 4,377 posts on Facebook, which were shared 101,749 times between</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10 October and 19 November 2022. Social media activity peaked during the opening</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">days of the summit, a trend echoed for all narratives analysed below. In the case</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">of ‘Hypocrisy and Elitism’, volume and engagement were largely spurred by the</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">arrival of delegates in Glasgow, in particular celebrities, world leaders and other</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">prominent public figures. Such content declined once negotiations began in earnest,</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">but for some outlets had already set the tone of their coverage and remained</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a consistent theme.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Page 33</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The most significant influencers in this category, such as Patrick Moore, Michael Shellenberger,</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bjorn Lomborg, Tony Heller or Friends of Science&nbsp;</b>(see below), are characterised by their primary</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">focus on creating and sharing climate-related content. They most commonly come from scientific</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">or academic backgrounds and some were previously involved in the green movement. This allows</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">them to present themselves as ‘rationalist’ environmentalists and claim greater credibility for their</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">analysis. It also gives them significant appeal online and the potential to galvanise far broader</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">audiences, since they are frequently invited by conservative media outlets as ‘climate experts.’ It</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">should be noted, however, that there are cases where these pundits also delved into other policy</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">areas or culture wars-type content.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A prime example of this phenomenon is Michael Shellenberger, who contributed to a ‘Woke Religion</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Taxonomy’</b>&nbsp;that presented climate action and several other causes as ‘easily debunked myths and</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">supernatural beliefs.’ In 2021, Shellenberger also published a book critical of policies he claims</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">contribute to homelessness in San Francisco, with the subtitle ‘Why Progressives ruin cities’, before</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">announcing his candidacy as an Independent in the 2022 California Gubernatorial race (against</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrat incumbent Gavin Newson). This branching-out is reciprocated by accounts that focus on</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">portraying themselves as ‘rational’ voices against ‘woke’ society.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The remaining key influencers in the ‘Anti-Science’ group fall into this contrarian set, sometimes</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>branded as the ‘Intellectual Dark Web</b>.’ While their focus is on social wedge issues, climate change</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also plays a role in such ‘anti-woke’ messaging. Jordan B. Peterson, the fourth most followed account</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in the overall network, falls into this category and has a track record of both climate-sceptic and</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">climate denialist statements (covered below and in other sections of the report). Peterson’s central</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">placement in the network emphasises the role such influencers play in amplifying and sustaining</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a climate sceptic community. Another member of this group, Peter Boghossian, collaborated with</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shellenberger on the abovementioned ‘Woke Religion Taxonomy...</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Description</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Dr Jordan B&nbsp;</b></font><b>Peterson</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook - 1.4m</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instagram - 2.9m</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TikTok - 442k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter - 2.2m</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube - 4.5m</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reddit: 274k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Quora: 41.9k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now-emeritus Professor of Psychology</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">at the University of Toronto, Peterson</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">initially achieved fame on YouTube for his</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">polemical takes on culture and liberalism.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He has since become a ‘celebrity</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">intellectual’ within conservative circles,</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sparking controversy on everything from</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">feminism and gender identity to racial</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">privilege and university censorship.&nbsp;<b>Over</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the course of 2021, Peterson became more</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>publicly vocal on environmental issues,</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>amplifying stances by other pundits like</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lomborg and Shellenberger.</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In January 2022, Peterson was widely</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">criticised for inaccurate statements made</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">about climate science, environmental</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">modelling and other issues on the Joe</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rogan podcast. This included claims such</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">as “there’s no such thing as ‘climate’”</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">because “‘climate’ and ‘everything’ are</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the same word”; that “more people die</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">every year from solar energy than from</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nuclear”; and that US carbon emissions</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">have decreased over the past 20 years due</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">to fracking. Following pushback from the</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">scientific community,&nbsp;<b>Peterson tweeted a</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>thread to his 2.2m followers encouraging</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>them to read ‘Hot Talk, Cold Science:</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate’ by</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the (now deceased) climate sceptic Fred S.</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Singer.&nbsp;</b>As documented by DeSmog, Singer</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">was a career climate change denialist</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and a regular recipient of funds from the</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Heartland Institute.&nbsp;<b>In a 2018 episode of</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Rogan’s podcast, Peterson joked that he</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>had learnt ‘how to monetize social justice</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>warriors’ through his own reactionary</b></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>content.</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>---</b></font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>d</b></font><span><b>’Souza</b> is a right-wing commentator</span></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and author, who started his career</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in the Reagan administration and</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mainstream conservative think tanks</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the American Enterprise Institute and</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the Hoover Institution. Chiefly known</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">for his controversial views on race, as</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">well as producing conspiracy-based</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">content on the cultural left and US</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democratic Party, D’Souza has also</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">garnered attention for his climate</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">denialism.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This includes comparing</span></font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Greta Thunberg to ‘Nordic white girls</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">with braids’ from ‘Nazi propaganda’</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">campaigns, and a track record of</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">stoking outrage about alleged climate</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">hypocrisy.</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ezra Levant&nbsp;</b></font></font></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook - 73k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(personal), 276k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Rebel News)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instagram - 3.2k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(personal) / 210k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Rebel News)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TikTok - 12.4k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Rebel News)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter - 296.6k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(personal) / 263.3k</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Rebel News)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube - 1.52m</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Rebel News)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Canadian conservative lawyer</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">turned media figure. He is the founder</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">of the right-wing media organisation</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Rebel Media,</b> notorious for its extreme</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">anti-Muslim views. In the past, the</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">outlet had far-right figures Tommy</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robinson and Gavin McInnes on its</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">payroll. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Levant himself has a long</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">track record of supporting the fossil</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">fuel industry in his home province of</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alberta, particularly in his 2010 nonfiction book “Ethical Oil.” .</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Former environmentalist turned ‘ecopragmatist’ pundit. Shellenberger</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

co-founded the Breakthrough Institute in 2003 and has been the

FounderPresident of Environmental Progress since 2015. He regularly

writes about climate and energy for Forbes. His position has been

described as a “lukewarmer” towards climate change: He publicly

apologised on behalf of environmentalists for a ‘climate scare’ while

supporting fracking and the shale gas industry, as well as highlighting

the world’s improved ability to withstand natural disasters. He is also a

keen supporter of nuclear power, and the 2017 annual report of the

Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association of the US nuclear

industry, suggests he was engaged by the group to give media interviews

and write op-eds.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">

In 2020, Shellenberger published the debunked climate book ‘Apocalypse

Never’, and in October 2021 was featured on Joe Rogan’s podcast talking

about ‘Climate Change Alarmism.’</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Following

COP26, he attacked it as “neo-feudal” pageantry and that it “gathered

all of the world’s douchebags in a single conference.”</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">moore: A former President of Greenpeace Canada, </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">who

has since been denounced by the organisation for ‘offering

anti-environmental opinions on a wide range of issues’ and for being ‘a

paid spokesman for a variety of polluting industries.’ Greenpeace

particularly criticises how Moore uses his former ties to the group to

claim legitimacy and expertise, especially his refuted claim that he

co-founded Greenpeace. Moore is the author of ‘</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist,’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Director of the C02 Coalition, and Senior Fellow at the Heartland Institute.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <b>Notably,

his claims denying a climate crisis and portraying global warming as

potentially beneficial were shared on Twitter by then-US President

Donald Trump after Moore was featured by Fox News in 2019.</b> He has in

the past also denied anthropogenic climate change before the US Senate.

He also shares his views on climate policy on social media</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.

A twitter thread calling Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a

‘pompous little twit’ and claiming her Green New Deal proposals would

cause ‘mass death worse than WW2’ garnered widespread attention.</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><span style="font-family: "><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PragerU’</font></b></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a

tax-exempt, non-profit media company, primarily targeting millennials

and Gen-Z audiences online in the US. Their outputs span a range of

conservative narratives, with the self-described aim to “promote

American values…[as] an alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology

in culture, media, and education”. Its founder, radio host Dennis

Prager, has openly claimed that the Green New Deal “will lead to

bloodshed, loss of liberty, loss of human rights” and that “climate

change is God’s will”.<b> PragerU’s online platform was launched in part

through investment from fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, and

regularly platforms other key players in this network such as Bjorn

Lomborg, Patrick Moore, Dinesh D’Souza and Alex Epstein</b>. According

to their main website, PragerU content has garnered over 5 billion views

with 4 million average views daily. It also claims that 60% of its

YouTube audience are under 35 and 70% of them’ changed their mind on at

least one issue’ after viewing PragerU content (further profiles

available via Media Matters for America; DeSmog; New York Times).</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>key amplifier</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>scott adams:</b>

A cartoonist and author, best known for the popular “Dilbert” comics,

Adams has turned into an internet provocateur popular with right-wing

audiences. During the 2016 Republican primaries he compared Donald Trump

to Jesus and vocally supported him while in office. Despite later

criticism around the 2020 Presidential Debate, Adams originally defended

Trump’s controversial response to the neo-Nazi violence in

Charlottesville in 2017. As part of Adams’ wider propagation of

conspiracies, including predictions that Republicans would be hunted and

killed if Joe Biden won the 2020 election, he also engages in climate

denialism commentary.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">President of the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch, Fitton</b>

has also promoted false claims about the 2020 Iowa caucuses and vote

counting during the 2020 US Presidential elections. He was identified as

a major amplifier of COVID-19 disinformation by the Federation of

American Scientists and linked to the Trump administration’s efforts to

portray Antifa as a left-wing terrorist group</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.

Fitton denied that Judicial Watch has a stance on climate change,

despite trying to obtain the private communication of climate scientists

working for the US government. However, his personal social media

profile involves posts calling climate change ‘fanaticism’ and labelling

it a totalitarian ideology, together with other topics like critical

race theory.</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tony

heller: Also known by his pen name Steven Goddard, Heller’s main output

is the blog Real Climate Science. A debunked claim that the world is

cooling and climate scientists falsify the data, which gained prominent

exposure in conservative media, has been traced back by Media Matters to

Heller’s blog. In 2017, Heller was invited as an expert to a hearing of

the Washington state legislature. The same year, he was also a

panellist on an event at that year’s CPAC conference. Beyond his climate

focus, Heller has also spread other conspiracy theories about the Sandy

Hook school shooting, former President Obama’s birthplace and the 2020

US Presidential election.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">solutions</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...In

April 2022, the US-based Climate Disinformation Coalition, along with

Friends of the Earth, Avaaz, and Greenpeace USA, released an analysis of

social media companies’ policies.</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The 27-point evaluation of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Facebook,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Pinterest, TikTok,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Twitter and YouTube </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">found

that all companies fell short on adopting definitions and policies to

address the issue at scale, and continue to conceal data about the

prevalence and impact of climate disinformation </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">on their products or services.&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Of

the five companies assessed, Pinterest and YouTube were deemed to have

taken the most notable steps, including explicit mis-/disinformation

policies informed by climate experts - both scored 14 out of a possible

27. </b>Pinterest’s new policy rollout, which directly cites language

from the above definition within their community standards, helped raise

their score. In contrast, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter fared the worst,

receiving 9, 7, and 5 points respectively due to a lack of transparency

and detail on how they are holding repeat offenders accountable. The

full report shows how social media leadership has largely failed to take

action against climate disinformation despite promises to do so. This

lack of transparency prevents climate experts, researchers and advocates

from monitoring the severity of the problem and uprooting the

mis-/disinformation ecosystem at a time when the window for climate

action is fast closing.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ask 2 ban repeat offenders</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the

largest technology companies claim to be tackling disinformation,

climate or otherwise, through policies within their Terms of Service or

Community Standards. By engaging third-party fact-checkers, the premise

is that posts rated ‘false’ or ‘misleading’ will be labelled, downranked

and/or removed, and some punitive action taken against the related

account depending on the severity of the content and number of ‘strikes’

already recorded. It follows that such measures should be properly

enforced and, above all, prevent ‘repeat offenders’ acting with impunity

on their platforms. Unfortunately this is not the case, even for the

types of disinformation explicitly covered by company policies (e.g.

Twitter’s Covid-19 Misleading Information Policy and Civic Integrity and

Election Fraud Policy; Facebook’s Covid-19 Misinformation Policy).&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As

reported by CNN in September: “Some platforms have three-strike

policies for specific violations, others use five strikes. Twitter

(TWTR) doles out strikes separately for misinformation related to

Covid-19 and civic integrity, which could give misinformation spreaders

up to nine chances before being booted from the platform. On YouTube and

Facebook (FB), expiration timelines for strikes — 90 days and a year,

respectively — could provide loopholes for people looking to post

misinformation spread out over time, especially when using multiple

accounts, experts say. And in some cases, strikes don’t always amount to

a ban.”&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As

in other areas like public health, our research shows that a small

group of accounts create the majority of anti-climate content, originate

or amplify new lines of attack, and have disproportionate influence on

the public debate across social media (see also CCDH’s report on the

‘Toxic Ten’). Many of these accounts have been labelled by fact-checkers

as sharing false or misleading content, yet remain live even after

repeated flags by our coalition directly to platforms’ internal teams.

Such disinformation is often not limited to climate issues, but runs the

gamut of ‘culture wars’ talking points: from anti-vaxx and COVID-19

scepticism to conspiracies like the New World Order, unsubstantiated

claims of ‘voter fraud’, or Holocaust denial.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In

some cases, such as with Paul Joseph Watson and Alex Jones,

high-visibility figures have eventually been banned, although not before

they could garner millions of interactions for their content and

cultivate profiles on other mainstream and ‘alt-tech’ platforms to

maintain an audience.</b> There is also limited consistency across

platforms - while Watson has been suspended from Facebook, he boasts

1.1m Twitter followers, 1.9m YouTube subscribers and even maintains an

Instagram account with over 40k followers. Meanwhile, articles and posts

re-sharing Watson’s content, as well as public fan groups, remain

active on Facebook.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">eg</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pPETER IMANUELSEN&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An

emerging trend appears to be ‘contrarian’ or polemical figures using

climate to spread their broader worldview and recruit new followers.

This includes vlogger Peter Imanuelsen - Twitter alias @PeterSweden -

who featured prominently in our COP26 data collections with posts such

as on page 65. <b>Imanuelsen is a controversial figure beyond climate,

previously tweeting that “the Holocaust is a lie to further the agenda

of the NWO”, that Hitler “had some good points” and that “the globalists

(mainly Jews) are the ones bringing in the muslims to Europe”</b>. He

has also espoused strong antiimmigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric, as

documented by Media Matters in 2018 and more recently by Hope not Hate.

The repeated framing of climate action as “communism” or “global

tyranny” may also prove a dog-whistle to antisemitic tropes, tying into

recent conspiracies like The Great Reset which play on scapegoating of

‘Jewish elites’.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>From

ISD analysis, Imanuelsen’s major amplifiers span Bitcoin advocates,

COVID-19 conspiracists and accounts using the anti-Biden catchphrase

‘Let’s Go Brandon’, many with their own follower counts in the tens of

thousands to millions.</b> Notable accounts retweeting his content

include a UK actress (519k followers), a Mexican influencer (804k

followers), a US-based OnlyFans model (505k followers), an NFT trader

(260k followers) and a lifestyle coach (142k followers).&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On

the political front, his posts have been re-tweeted by figures

including Martin Daubney from the right-wing party Reform UK, Dutch

right-wing politician Thierry Baudet,<b> former US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Monica Crowley,</b>

and Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts. Many of these accounts were

most engaged with content around COVID-19, but would likely be exposed

to Imanuelsen’s rhetoric on climate in parallel. Brandwatch shows

235,700 retweets or quote tweets of his posts in the period from 25

October - 14 November 2021 (immediately before and during COP26).

Applying a filter to look for COVID-19 related keywords (e.g. medical;

covid; QR code; mask; hospital) and climate keywords (e.g. climate;

power plant; global warming; COP26), we found 85,569 retweets contained

the former and 54,454 retweets contained the latter, although some will

constitute an overlap.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>...jOHN STOSSEL&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On

the other side of the spectrum is John Stossel. Starting his career as a

primetime TV host on ABC’s 20/20 segment, he sparked controversy for

using child interviewees to push an anti-environmental stance. Stossel

transitioned to Fox Business News from 2009-2016, after which his own

production company became one of the top contractors for the Charles

Koch Institute. The company secured over $1.5 million in Koch contracts

from 2017-2019, in addition to nearly $500,000 of Koch donations to

Stossel’s non-profit. He is currently suing Facebook for defamation

after a fact checker debunked one of his posts, stating it contained a

video with active climate disinformation. This has resulted in a

reduction of ad revenue and traffic to his page. However, on Twitter

Stossel received the highest average interaction per post among the 16

key accounts monitored. His 9 posts about COP26 drew an average of 905

interactions each - three times greater than the average (though this is

likely due to his sparse posting relative to others, rather than any

inherent quality of his content.) [twt pix]</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On

1 November, as COP26 officially began in Glasgow, Stossel posted a

“Paris Climate Fraud” video that amassed over 300,000 views on Twitter.

Three days later, he tweeted a video of a panel presentation he hosted

in 2019, organised by the polluter-funded and frequently fact checked

Heartland Institute. It featured Patrick Michaels, who once guessed that

around 40% of his research funding came from fossil fuels; David

Legates, whose climate denial led him to be reassigned under the Trump

administration; and Willie Soon, who in 2015 was outed by the New York

Times for receiving over a million dollars from the fossil fuel industry

to produce climate disinformation. This lineup of climate deniers was

not new, and the video itself had already been fact checked by

ClimateFeedback where it was rated to have “very low” credibility and

said to use “imprecise language that misleads viewers about the

scientific understanding of climate change”. However, since Twitter

lacks a climate disinformation policy that would recognise and action

fact checks, the clip could once again gain traction online. On 1

November, Stossel also posted a video to Facebook which has garnered

over 900,000 views and frames nuclear energy as “the ONLY technology”

which could help mitigate climate change. The clip once again repurposed

old content which had already been fact-checked, featuring individuals

who create and/or propagate climate disinformation regularly...</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">stossel

has not slowed down with his climate disinformation efforts since

COP26. On 30 November 2021, he posted a YouTube video attacking Poynter,

the highly esteemed journalism institution that oversees the fact

checking organisations used by Facebook (including ClimateFeedback). The

transcript of the video was quickly picked up by right-wing and/or

polluter-funded outlets like the Daily Signal, Heartland, TownHall and

PatriotPost. In it, Stossel interviews other figures known for spreading

anti-science misinformation: a contributing editor at the Manhattan

Institute for Policy Research, as well as Michael Shellenberger and

Bjorn Lomborg who are covered in further detail below.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER </b>Producing

203 climate-focused tweets during COP26, Michael Shellenberger was a

key influencer during the summit, garnering over 124,000 interactions

for content attacking COP26 or the premise of climate change. On 28

October, before the summit had even begun, Shellenberger shared Bjorn

Lomborg’s article in the Wall Street Journal which questioned the

impacts of climate change and was retweeted a thousand times. He

featured continually in our dataset throughout the event, often

achieving some of the highest engagement figures in a given day. On

November 11, as negotiations neared their climax, he tweeted a graphic

entitled “Woke Religion: A Taxonomy” which was co-authored with academic

Peter Boghossian and positions climate change alongside other

contentious issues such as racism, gender identity, crime and mental

illness. Under the ‘Myths’ column for climate are statements such as

“The Earth’s climate was safer in the past”, “We can power world with

renewables” and “Human civilization is unsustainable”, while

‘Supernatural Beliefs’ (defined as beyond scientific understanding or

known laws of nature) include “Humans causing sixth mass extinction”,

“Prosperity doesn’t depend on high energy use” and “Study of ‘tipping

points’ is scientific”. In the same diagram, ‘Taboo Facts’ and ‘Taboo

Speech’ (things which are supposedly</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">censored

from mainstream debate) encompass “Deaths from natural disasters have

declined 90% since 1900”, “Renewables are dirty to produce and

distribute”, “Fracking reduces carbon emissions” and “Economic

development outweighs impact of climate change”.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

taxonomy also implies that oil and gas companies, the Koch Brothers and

“climate deniers” have been unfairly cast as villains in the climate

debate, while actors like Greta Thunberg, climate scientists and UN

officials are uncritically chosen to lead. Shellenberger’s taxonomy was

liked over 6.5k times and retweeted over 2k times, including from a

number of influential accounts across media and politics. Like others

highlighted in this section, he has become central to so-called

‘anti-woke’ networks on social media, who in turn expose their audiences

to such climate sceptic or actively misleading content. Posts like the

one described above have been shared by figures such as journalist Glenn

Greenwald (1.7m followers), former OANN correspondent and far-right

activist Jack Posobiec (1.6m followers), Fox News host Bret Baier (1.3m

followers) and contributor Brit Hume (1.2m followers), Republican

Congressman Dan Crenshaw (1.1m followers), conspiracy theorist and

‘alt-right’ agitator Mike Cernovich (847k followers), Spanish People’s

Party politician Toni Cantó (425k followers), right-wing content mill

PragerU (617k followers), and Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi (284k

followers). The breadth and cumulative reach of these accounts is

notable, as is their potential to influence public opinion at a

transnational level. This further reinforces how a handful of

individuals can serve as engines for a wider movement, providing content

or lines of attack which are easily repurposed in different geographic

contexts.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...<b>BJORN LOMBORG</b>

Lomborg has cultivated a strong presence in both legacy and social

media, most notably via his regular column in the Wall Street Journal

(WSJ) and frequent platform in outlets across the globe including Fox

News, The Daily Mail, the New York Post, Sky News Australia, talkRADIO

and Forbes. One of Lomborg’s first columns for WSJ was fact checked by

PolitiFact, but this did not prevent their editorial page editor Paul

Gigot from interviewing him on Fox News, a clip which Lomborg then

posted to his Facebook page. During COP26, an old video of Lomborg was

repurposed by right-wing propaganda hub PragerU to attack electric

vehicles, garnering millions of interactions on Facebook - this case

study is documented fully in Policy Ask 6.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He

also appeared in The Washington Post thanks to a column by Marc

Thessein (itself fact checked), who is affiliated with a group funded

partially by polluters and tobacco companies and has a history of

platforming climate disinformation. While the fact-checks may have

slowed Lomborg’s spread on Facebook, he still garnered over a thousand

interactions for one post alone. Meanwhile on Twitter, where there were

no parallel measures to curb reach, Lomborg neared 20,000 interactions

for his 60 climate posts over the COP period. The Daily Mail also

appeared as a top performing domain in our overall dataset, within which

Lomborg’s COP26 op-ed was the second most shared link. Across the

monitored timeframe, key amplifiers of Lomborg’s content included Fox

News contributor Brit Hume (1.2m followers), talkRADIO host Julia

Hartley-Brewer (367k followers), conservative Canadian YouTuber Lauren

Chen (325k followers), Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi (284k

followers), British MP and member of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group Steve

Baker (152k followers), and prominent Polish climate denier Łukasz

Warzecha (130k followers).</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>TONY HELLER</b>

A retired computer engineer turned video producer, Heller posted nearly

300 tweets to his nowsuspended account and garnered almost 30,000

interactions during COP26. Heller is commonly known by the pseudonym

‘Steven Goddard’ and formerly contributed to climate denial blog

WattsUpWithThat - he has previously described global warming as “the

biggest scientific fraud in history”. In addition to content on COVID-19

conspiracy theories, which led to his suspension from Twitter in

mid-December 2021, Heller also pushed the debunked conspiracy that

temperature records are being manipulated to justify climate action. He

has been repeatedly fact-checked for such claims, including by

ClimateFeedback and Politifact, but remained a key influencer online

during the Glasgow summit. While Heller’s content has earned him

temporary suspensions from YouTube and Twitter, previous bans were

lifted and do not seem to have affected his general rhetoric - the most

recent suspension from Twitter appears to be permanent, but came after

he had amassed hundreds of thousands of interactions on topics including

COVID-19 and climate change.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>&nbsp;PATRICK MOORE</b>

Canadian activist Patrick Moore is another individual whose online

reach has not been curbed by repeated fact-checks. He presents himself

as a Greenpeace “Co-Founder”, although the organisation has strongly

distanced itself from any former affiliation and Moore’s more recent

stances on climate. He now oversees the CO2 Coalition. Moore

self-describes as a ‘sensible environmentalist’, and achieves

continually high engagement on Twitter in particular. A week before

COP26 began he achieved nearly 45k likes and 16k retweets for one post,

sharing a Sky News Australia segment in which the host condemned youth

climate activists as “selfish, badly educated virtue-signalling little

turds”. His most popular content tends to push back against ‘woke media’

who dismiss those sceptical of the climate crisis/emergency as

‘eco-traitors’. Similar to Shellenberger and Lomborg, Moore’s success is

partially dependent on branding himself a pro-climate ‘liberal’,

although his content is frequently debunked or rated false by entities

like ClimateFeedback, The Tyee and PolitiFact. Despite such

comprehensive fact-checks, Moore’s social media presence remains

unfettered and high-traction. For example, over 6000 users liked his

erroneous claim that COP26 was running on diesel fuel, with nearly 3000

retweets. An official fact-check by the COP Presidency team (commented

under Moore’s post) received only 70 likes and less than 20 retweets - a

stark reminder of the attention disinformation can gain in the face of

verified sources. During COP26 alone, key amplifiers of Lomborg’s

content included Jordan B. Peterson (2.4m followers), Rebel News

journalist Ezra Levant (353k followers), and conservative Canadian

politician Maxime Bernier (186k followers)</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...these case studies are by no means exhaustive, but highlight a few key features of the ‘<b>repeat offender’ cohort:</b></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;1)

The network is mutually reinforcing, with many actors

cross-referencing, sharing or making appearances in each other’s

content.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> T</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">his

creates an impression of consensus and ‘critical mass’ on social media,

and confers false legitimacy on individuals in the wider media

landscape.&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>2) Accounts are repeatedly fact-checked without any meaningful response from platforms.</b>

Many of the largest tech companies tout their partnership with

‘independent, third-party’ fact-checkers, certified via bodies like the

International Fact Checking Network (IFCN), to identify, review and take

action on questionable content. As Facebook highlights on its website,

this model is intended to combat viral misinformation, with a focus on

false claims that are ‘timely or trending and important to the average

person’. The company also states that ‘pages, groups, accounts and

websites that repeatedly share misinformation will face some

restrictions, including having their distribution reduced’, among other

punitive actions. Our analysts found some instances where fact-checking

labels had been applied to content, or where users were directed to more

reliable content hubs and sources. However, beyond this lowest-tier

measure there is little evidence of any enforcement against known

disinformers, even during critical moments like a global climate summit

or extreme weather event.</font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;3) Repeat offenders have often spread mis- or disinformation on multiple topics.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This

is most clearly observed in the number of high-traction accounts

sharing misleading claims on climate and COVID-19, but encompasses a

wider range of issues - from anti-vaxx sentiment and genocide denial to

conspiracies such as QAnon, the Great Reset and electoral fraud. This

should provide an even greater incentive for platforms to act, since an

effective response against such accounts could have a ‘force multiplier’

effect and mitigate harm in multiple areas</span></font></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">POLICY

ASK 3: IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY AND DATA ACCESS FOR VETTED RESEARCHERS AND

REGULATORS ON CLIMATE MISINFORMATION TRENDS, AS WELL AS THE ROLE PLAYED

BY ALGORITHMIC AMPLIFICATION...</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exxonmobil-funder-of-clim_b_8684320">&nbsp;https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exxonmobil-funder-of-clim_b_8684320&nbsp;</a></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>&nbsp;ExxonMobil, Funder of Climate Change Deniers</b></font></font><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's

been an interesting time watching the ExxonMobil attempt to defend its

track record on climate science, in the wake of revelations that it had

bone fide climate scientists properly studying the issue since the

1970's.

Co-author of exxonsecrets.org

It's been an interesting time watching the ExxonMobil attempt to defend

its track record on climate science, in the wake of revelations that it

had bone fide climate scientists properly studying the issue since the

1970's.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

#ExxonKnew investigations by Inside Climate News and the LA Times have

had ExxonMobil's head of PR, Ken Cohen, furiously tweeting, writing

letters, and appearing on news programmes to defend his company's honor.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Our

company's work to help understand the role that man-made CO2 emissions

play in climate fluctuations has continued unabated for four decades,"

he opined in the Wall St Journal.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

that's the point. ExxonMobil did know about the science. So the

question now is how can the company explain its role in funding, to the

tune of $31m 1998-2014, the think tanks running climate denial campaigns

specifically aimed at undermining the very science that Exxon's own

scientists were studying?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

new review of the climate change papers published by ExxonMobil to

somehow defend its position has shown that there was 100 percent

consensus among its scientists that global warming is caused by human

interference.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon's

denial appears to have begun in earnest with CEO Lee Raymond, back in

the 90's. Raymond became CEO of Exxon in 1993, and CEO and Chairman of

the newly-merged ExxonMobil in 1999.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"A

factual, common sense approach will also serve us well as we address

the issue that perhaps poses the greatest long-term threat to our

industry -- so-called global climate change," Raymond told the annual

meeting of the America Petroleum Institute (API) in 1996.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

same year, he told Exxon staff in the company magazine "Lamplight" that

"scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human

activities affect global climate."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In

1998, Exxon lobbyist Randy Randol was present at a meeting organised by

the API, along with a number of the think tanks Exxon funded, where

they created a communications strategy to undermine support for the

Kyoto Protool, by questioning the science</span><span style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243);">.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

leaked strategy's stated goal was "A majority of the American Public,

including industry leadership, recognizes that signifcant uncertainties

exist in climate science and therefore raises questions among those

(e.g. U.S. Congress) who chart the future U.S. course on global climate

change."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Victory,

it stated, would be achieved when Americans, industry and media

understood the uncertainties on climate science, and those supporting

the Kyoto Protocol "on the basis of extant science appear out of touch

with reality."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leaks

of the paper may have led to the campaign being quashed, but this was

the strategy that ExxonMobil was to fund to the present day.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

think tanks present at the meeting included a number of those funded by

ExxonMobil Foundation, under the leadership of Ken Cohen, its chair

since 1999.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), while it no longer

receives ExxonMobil funding, is launching a film challenging the science

of global warming in Paris on December 7, as part of its 20-year

campaign undermining climate science.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under

Lee Raymond's chairmanship, before his retirement in 2005, ExxonMobil

spent millions funding these denial campaigns, and on a number of ads in

the New York Times opinion pages. In one, in 2000, entitled "Unsettled

Science," ExxonMobil quoted science on temperatures in the Sargasso Sea

to prove that global warming wasn't happening.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Raymond himself cited the study at the company's AGM that year. The scientist who authored it, wrote to ExxonMobil saying:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I

believe ExxonMobil has been misleading in its use of the Sargasso Sea

data. There's really no way these results bear on the question of human

induced climate warming... I think the sad thing is the a company with

the resources of ExxonMobil is exploiting the data for political

purposes."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Think

tanks receiving grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation include the

Competitive Enterprise Institute, which was the leading think tank

pushing climate denial, coordinating the "<b>Cooler Heads Coalition." At one point, ExxonMobil funded nearly all the groups listed in the coalition.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243);">In

2005, the CEI ran a TV ad proclaiming "C02 is Life." This was the last

straw for the UK's Royal Society, which complained to ExxonMobil and led

Cohen to declare, in 2007, that the company was no longer funding these

organisations. The world's media heralded the move.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;But ExxonMobil quietly continued funding the think tanks, extensively. In 2009, it dropped a few more.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While

Ken Cohen might try to state that the organizations he funded could do

what they wanted, it's important to note that in some years, the company

specifically spelt out its funding as being for their work on climate

change.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Even

today, ExxonMobil continues to be a member of -- and to fund -- the

American Legislative Exchange Council which, at its annual meeting, has

hosted a number of climate change-denying scientists to question the

existence of global warming</b>. Research has revealed that that

ExxonMobil donated at least $1.6 million to ALEC between 1998 and 2012.

In 2014 it gave them more.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

study published in PNAS on November 23 looked at the effect of grants

from ExxonMobil and the Koch brothers on the discourse around climate

science. It showed that the climate denial echo chamber organizations

they funded produced misinformation that effectively polluted mainstream

media coverage of climate science and polarized the climate policy

debate.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

way ExxonMobil is reacting to the #ExxonKnew revelations is bizarre. In

the full knowledge of the climate change science, provided to it by its

own scientists, this company has spent years, and many millions,

funding the myths created by the denier industry to obfuscate the

science and slow change.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To

me, although I'm not a lawyer, knowing about the harm caused by your

product, then spending millions on trying to create doubt about the

facts of that harm, sounds very similar to what another industry did

with its product.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

post is part of a "Corporate Skullduggery" series produced by The

Huffington Post, in conjunction with the U.N.'s 21st Conference of the

Parties (COP21) in Paris (Nov. 30-Dec. 11), aka the climate-change

conference. The series will put a spotlight on businesses that have

actively tried to mislead the public about the dangers of climate change

or about their own contributions to rising temperatures. To view the

entire series, visit here.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2015/11/23/research-confirms-exxonmobil-koch-funded-climate-denial-echo-chamber-polluted-mainstream-media/">https://www.desmog.com<b>/2015</b>/11/23/research-confirms-exxonmobil-koch-funded-climate-denial-echo-chamber-polluted-mainstream-media/</a></font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PNAS</span>)

shows that the climate denial echo chamber organizations funded by

ExxonMobil and Koch family foundations produced misinformation that

effectively polluted mainstream media coverage of climate science and

polarized the climate policy&nbsp;debate.&nbsp;</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 17.6px;">The abstract and full text of the study can be found here:&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/18/1509433112.abstract" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none; font-weight: 500; line-height: 17.6px;">Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate&nbsp;change.</a></font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

analysis of 20 years’ worth of data by Yale University researcher Dr.

Justin Farrell shows beyond a doubt that ExxonMobil and the Kochs are

the key actors who funded the creation of climate disinformation think

tanks and ensured the prolific spread of their doubt products throughout

our mainstream media and public&nbsp;discourse.</font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“</span>The

contrarian efforts have been so effective for the fact that they have

made it difficult for ordinary Americans to even know who to trust,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/11/23/why-are-so-many-americans-skeptical-about-climate-change-a-study-offers-a-surprising-answer/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Dr. Farrell told the Washington Post</a>&nbsp;which

was first to cover the news of the study’s release.&nbsp;“This

counter-movement produced messages aimed, at the very least, at creating

ideological polarization through politicized tactics, and at the very

most, at overtly refuting current scientific consensus with scientific

findings of their own,” Dr. Farrell&nbsp;said.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PNAS</span>’s press briefing note about the article by Dr.&nbsp;Farrell:</font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate

funding likely influences the nature and content of polarizing texts

pertaining to climate change, according to a study. Political

polarization has become a hallmark of climate change policy discussion,

with multiple groups in various sectors contributing to public discourse

regarding climate and energy. To quantify the influence of corporate

funding in climate change discourse, Justin Farrell analyzed more than

39 million words of text produced by 164 organizations active in the

climate change counter-movement between 1993 and 2013. The author

examined the ideological content of the produced texts, as well as the

funding behind the organizations that produced the&nbsp;texts.</font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Organizations with corporate funding were more likely to have produced polarizing texts, the author found, with&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">ExxonMobil and the Koch family foundation acting as influential funders (emphasis added)</span>.

Further, according to the author, corporate funding may have influenced

the ideological content of produced texts. The results suggest

quantitative evidence of the influence of funding in the climate change

debate that had previously been hypothesized, and suggests an analytical

model for integrating texts with the social networks that created them,

according to the&nbsp;author.</font></span></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This study confirms once again the central thesis of industry-funded attacks on climate science, which inspired the DeSmog book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-cover-up" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Climate Cover-up</a>&nbsp;and countless articles about the deception campaign over the past&nbsp;decade.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now

let’s see how the mainstream media cover this story — that is what I’m

most curious to see. (The Washington Post article was pretty

straightforward, although it gave ExxonMobil an unchallenged last word,

and Joby Warrick seemed to pose a bogus question to Dr. Farrell equating

the fossil-funded disinformation campaign with pro-climate-action

campaigns, but Dr. Farrell correctly rebutted such a&nbsp;comparison.)</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will

this study, published in a highly authoritative journal, finally compel

the newsrooms and boardrooms of the traditional media to take

responsibility to undo some of the damage done by their complicity in

spreading fossil fuel industry-funded&nbsp;misinformation?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/11/3469735/false-balance-media-biased-climate/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">false balance</a>&nbsp;— quoting a distinguished climate scientist and then speed-dialing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/patrick-michaels" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Pat Michaels</a>&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/cato-institute" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Cato Institute</a>&nbsp;for an opposing quote — finally&nbsp;stop?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will editors commit to serving as referees to ensure the same industry&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;pollution isn’t published any&nbsp;longer?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s

critically important today that the public hears the scientific facts

about climate change without the confusion injected into the policy

debate by well-funded think tanks and their highly paid&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;operative&nbsp;counterparts.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr.

Farrell’s research also provides further evidence of the public

deception orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry, and should prove

valuable to investigators examining ExxonMobil as well as other current

and future efforts to hold polluters accountable for their&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;pollution.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here is a video produced years ago,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/video/doubt" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">“Doubt” by The Climate Reality Project</a>, which provides a nice overview of this&nbsp;issue[vid]&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVjr-qOpNk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVjr-qOpNk</a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also highly suggested: track down access to&nbsp;<a href="http://sonyclassics.com/merchantsofdoubt/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Merchants of Doubt</a>,

the full-length documentary by Food Inc. director Robert Kenner that

exposes the history of tobacco-to-climate denial and their common&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;manipulators such as&nbsp;<a href="http://climatehustler.org/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Marc Morano</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/s-fred-singer" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Fred Singer</a>.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s far beyond the time to end the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-cover-up" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">climate cover-up</a>. And responsible media can lead the&nbsp;way.</font></font></p></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></p></div><div><article class="c-person" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: -150px;"><div class="c-person__bio" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 60px 0px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exxonmobil-funder-of-clim_b_8684320">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exxonmobil-funder-of-clim_b_8684320</a></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ExxonMobil, Funder of Climate Change Deniers</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's

been an interesting time watching the ExxonMobil attempt to defend its

track record on climate science, in the wake of revelations that it had

bone fide climate scientists properly studying the issue since the

1970's.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By&nbsp;</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cindy Baxter, Contributor</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Co-author of exxonsecrets.org</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Updated December 1, 2016</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stacks and burn-off from the Exxon Mobil refinery are seen at dusk in St. Bernard Parish, La., Friday, Feb. 13, 2015.]</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's

been an interesting time watching the ExxonMobil attempt to defend its

track record on climate science, in the wake of revelations that it had

bone fide climate scientists properly studying the issue since the

1970's.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

#ExxonKnew investigations by Inside Climate News and the LA Times have

had ExxonMobil's head of PR, Ken Cohen, furiously tweeting, writing

letters, and appearing on news programmes to defend his company's honor.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Our

company's work to help understand the role that man-made CO2 emissions

play in climate fluctuations has continued unabated for four decades,"

he opined in the Wall St Journal.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

that's the point. ExxonMobil did know about the science. So the

question now is how can the company explain its role in funding, to the

tune of $31m 1998-2014, the think tanks running climate denial campaigns

specifically aimed at undermining the very science that Exxon's own

scientists were studying?</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

new review of the climate change papers published by ExxonMobil to

somehow defend its position has shown that there was 100 percent

consensus among its scientists that global warming is caused by human

interference.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon's

denial appears to have begun in earnest with CEO Lee Raymond, back in

the 90's. Raymond became CEO of Exxon in 1993, and CEO and Chairman of

the newly-merged ExxonMobil in 1999.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"A

factual, common sense approach will also serve us well as we address

the issue that perhaps poses the greatest long-term threat to our

industry -- so-called global climate change," Raymond told the annual

meeting of the America Petroleum Institute (API) in 1996.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

same year, he told Exxon staff in the company magazine "Lamplight" that

"scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human

activities affect global climate."</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In

1998, Exxon lobbyist Randy Randol was present at a meeting organised by

the API, along with a number of the think tanks Exxon funded, where

they created a communications strategy to undermine support for the

Kyoto Protool, by questioning the science</span><span style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243);">.</span></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

leaked strategy's stated goal was "A majority of the American Public,

including industry leadership, recognizes that signifcant uncertainties

exist in climate science and therefore raises questions among those

(e.g. U.S. Congress) who chart the future U.S. course on global climate

change."</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Victory,

it stated, would be achieved when Americans, industry and media

understood the uncertainties on climate science, and those supporting

the Kyoto Protocol "on the basis of extant science appear out of touch

with reality."</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leaks

of the paper may have led to the campaign being quashed, but this was

the strategy that ExxonMobil was to fund to the present day.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

think tanks present at the meeting included a number of those funded by

ExxonMobil Foundation, under the leadership of Ken Cohen, its chair

since 1999.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), while it no longer

receives ExxonMobil funding, is launching a film challenging the science

of global warming in Paris on December 7, as part of its 20-year

campaign undermining climate science.</b></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under

Lee Raymond's chairmanship, before his retirement in 2005, ExxonMobil

spent millions funding these denial campaigns, and on a number of ads in

the New York Times opinion pages. In one, in 2000, entitled "Unsettled

Science," ExxonMobil quoted science on temperatures in the Sargasso Sea

to prove that global warming wasn't happening.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Raymond himself cited the study at the company's AGM that year. The scientist who authored it, wrote to ExxonMobil saying:</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I

believe ExxonMobil has been misleading in its use of the Sargasso Sea

data. There's really no way these results bear on the question of human

induced climate warming... I think the sad thing is the a company with

the resources of ExxonMobil is exploiting the data for political

purposes."</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Think

tanks receiving grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation include the

Competitive Enterprise Institute, which was the leading think tank

pushing climate denial, coordinating the "<b>Cooler Heads Coalition." At one point, ExxonMobil funded nearly all the groups listed in the coalition.</b></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243);">In

2005, the CEI ran a TV ad proclaiming "C02 is Life." This was the last

straw for the UK's Royal Society, which complained to ExxonMobil and led

Cohen to declare, in 2007, that the company was no longer funding these

organisations. The world's media heralded the move.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;But ExxonMobil quietly continued funding the think tanks, extensively. In 2009, it dropped a few more.</span></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While

Ken Cohen might try to state that the organizations he funded could do

what they wanted, it's important to note that in some years, the company

specifically spelt out its funding as being for their work on climate

change.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Even

today, ExxonMobil continues to be a member of -- and to fund -- the

American Legislative Exchange Council which, at its annual meeting, has

hosted a number of climate change-denying scientists to question the

existence of global warming</b>. Research has revealed that that

ExxonMobil donated at least $1.6 million to ALEC between 1998 and 2012.

In 2014 it gave them more.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

study published in PNAS on November 23 looked at the effect of grants

from ExxonMobil and the Koch brothers on the discourse around climate

science. It showed that the climate denial echo chamber organizations

they funded produced misinformation that effectively polluted mainstream

media coverage of climate science and polarized the climate policy

debate.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

way ExxonMobil is reacting to the #ExxonKnew revelations is bizarre. In

the full knowledge of the climate change science, provided to it by its

own scientists, this company has spent years, and many millions,

funding the myths created by the denier industry to obfuscate the

science and slow change.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To

me, although I'm not a lawyer, knowing about the harm caused by your

product, then spending millions on trying to create doubt about the

facts of that harm, sounds very similar to what another industry did

with its product.</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

post is part of a "Corporate Skullduggery" series produced by The

Huffington Post, in conjunction with the U.N.'s 21st Conference of the

Parties (COP21) in Paris (Nov. 30-Dec. 11), aka the climate-change

conference. The series will put a spotlight on businesses that have

actively tried to mislead the public about the dangers of climate change

or about their own contributions to rising temperatures. To view the

entire series, visit here.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(253, 250, 243); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2015/11/23/research-confirms-exxonmobil-koch-funded-climate-denial-echo-chamber-polluted-mainstream-media/">https://www.desmog.com<b>/2015</b>/11/23/research-confirms-exxonmobil-koch-funded-climate-denial-echo-chamber-polluted-mainstream-media/</a></font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PNAS</span>)

shows that the climate denial echo chamber organizations funded by

ExxonMobil and Koch family foundations produced misinformation that

effectively polluted mainstream media coverage of climate science and

polarized the climate policy&nbsp;debate.&nbsp;</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 17.6px;">The abstract and full text of the study can be found here:&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/18/1509433112.abstract" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none; font-weight: 500; line-height: 17.6px;">Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate&nbsp;change.</a></font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

analysis of 20 years’ worth of data by Yale University researcher Dr.

Justin Farrell shows beyond a doubt that ExxonMobil and the Kochs are

the key actors who funded the creation of climate disinformation think

tanks and ensured the prolific spread of their doubt products throughout

our mainstream media and public&nbsp;discourse.</font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“</span>The

contrarian efforts have been so effective for the fact that they have

made it difficult for ordinary Americans to even know who to trust,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/11/23/why-are-so-many-americans-skeptical-about-climate-change-a-study-offers-a-surprising-answer/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Dr. Farrell told the Washington Post</a>&nbsp;which

was first to cover the news of the study’s release.&nbsp;“This

counter-movement produced messages aimed, at the very least, at creating

ideological polarization through politicized tactics, and at the very

most, at overtly refuting current scientific consensus with scientific

findings of their own,” Dr. Farrell&nbsp;said.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PNAS</span>’s press briefing note about the article by Dr.&nbsp;Farrell:</font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate

funding likely influences the nature and content of polarizing texts

pertaining to climate change, according to a study. Political

polarization has become a hallmark of climate change policy discussion,

with multiple groups in various sectors contributing to public discourse

regarding climate and energy. To quantify the influence of corporate

funding in climate change discourse, Justin Farrell analyzed more than

39 million words of text produced by 164 organizations active in the

climate change counter-movement between 1993 and 2013. The author

examined the ideological content of the produced texts, as well as the

funding behind the organizations that produced the&nbsp;texts.</font></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Organizations with corporate funding were more likely to have produced polarizing texts, the author found, with&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">ExxonMobil and the Koch family foundation acting as influential funders (emphasis added)</span>.

Further, according to the author, corporate funding may have influenced

the ideological content of produced texts. The results suggest

quantitative evidence of the influence of funding in the climate change

debate that had previously been hypothesized, and suggests an analytical

model for integrating texts with the social networks that created them,

according to the&nbsp;author.</font></span></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This study confirms once again the central thesis of industry-funded attacks on climate science, which inspired the DeSmog book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-cover-up" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Climate Cover-up</a>&nbsp;and countless articles about the deception campaign over the past&nbsp;decade.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now

let’s see how the mainstream media cover this story — that is what I’m

most curious to see. (The Washington Post article was pretty

straightforward, although it gave ExxonMobil an unchallenged last word,

and Joby Warrick seemed to pose a bogus question to Dr. Farrell equating

the fossil-funded disinformation campaign with pro-climate-action

campaigns, but Dr. Farrell correctly rebutted such a&nbsp;comparison.)</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will

this study, published in a highly authoritative journal, finally compel

the newsrooms and boardrooms of the traditional media to take

responsibility to undo some of the damage done by their complicity in

spreading fossil fuel industry-funded&nbsp;misinformation?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/11/3469735/false-balance-media-biased-climate/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">false balance</a>&nbsp;— quoting a distinguished climate scientist and then speed-dialing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/patrick-michaels" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Pat Michaels</a>&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/cato-institute" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Cato Institute</a>&nbsp;for an opposing quote — finally&nbsp;stop?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will editors commit to serving as referees to ensure the same industry&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;pollution isn’t published any&nbsp;longer?</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s

critically important today that the public hears the scientific facts

about climate change without the confusion injected into the policy

debate by well-funded think tanks and their highly paid&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;operative&nbsp;counterparts.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr.

Farrell’s research also provides further evidence of the public

deception orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry, and should prove

valuable to investigators examining ExxonMobil as well as other current

and future efforts to hold polluters accountable for their&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;pollution.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here is a video produced years ago,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/video/doubt" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">“Doubt” by The Climate Reality Project</a>, which provides a nice overview of this&nbsp;issue[vid]&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVjr-qOpNk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVjr-qOpNk</a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also highly suggested: track down access to&nbsp;<a href="http://sonyclassics.com/merchantsofdoubt/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Merchants of Doubt</a>,

the full-length documentary by Food Inc. director Robert Kenner that

exposes the history of tobacco-to-climate denial and their common&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PR</span>&nbsp;manipulators such as&nbsp;<a href="http://climatehustler.org/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Marc Morano</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/s-fred-singer" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">Fred Singer</a>.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s far beyond the time to end the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-cover-up" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">climate cover-up</a>. And responsible media can lead the&nbsp;way.</font></font></p></div></article></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cic</font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">july 2020</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="su-post-title" clear="clear" color="color" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px;"><a href="https://climateinvestigations.org/bbc-radio-series-tracks-history-of-climate-denial/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">BBC Radio Series Tracks History of Climate Denial</font></a></h2><div class="su-post-meta" color="color" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted: July 27, 2020</font></div><div class="su-post-excerpt" color="color" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

BBC has launched a two hour series on the history of corporate climate

denial. The series starts in 1988 and traces the rise in climate policy

attacks through the George W. Bush Administration in the 2000s. They

been researching this series for several months. Great to hear it

finally! Featured interviews include Naomi Oreskes,&nbsp;<a class="read-more" href="https://climateinvestigations.org/bbc-radio-series-tracks-history-of-climate-denial/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;">…</a></font></p></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-five-corrupt-pillars-of-climate-change-denial-122893">https://theconversation.com/the-five-corrupt-pillars-of-climate-change-denial-122893</a></font></font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx many</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Conversation</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The five corrupt pillars of climate change denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 28, 2019 8.00am EST</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Author</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mark Maslin</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Professor of Earth System Science, UCL</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Disclosure statement</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mark

Maslin is a Founding Director of Rezatec Ltd, Director of The London

NERC Doctoral Training Partnership and a member of Cheltenham Science

Festival Advisory Committee. He is an unpaid member of the Sopra-Steria

CSR Board. He has received grant funding in the past from the NERC,

EPSRC, ESRC, Royal Society, DIFD, DECC, FCO, Innovate UK, Carbon Trust,

UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust

and British Council. He has received research funding in the past from

The Lancet, Laithwaites, Seventh Generation, Channel 4, JLT Re, WWF,

Hermes, CAFOD and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Partners</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">University College London</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

fossil fuel industry, political lobbyists, media moguls and individuals

have spent the past 30 years sowing doubt about the reality of climate

change - where none exists. The latest estimate is that the world’<b>s

five largest publicly-owned oil and gas companies spend about US$200

million a year on lobbying to control, delay or block binding climate

policy.</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Their

hold on the public seems to be waning. Two recent polls suggested over

75% of Americans think humans are causing climate change.&nbsp;</b>School

climate strikes, Extinction Rebellion protests, national governments

declaring a climate emergency, improved media coverage of climate change

and an increasing number of extreme weather events have all contributed

to this shift. There also seems to be a renewed optimism that we can

deal with the crisis.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

this means lobbying has changed, now employing more subtle and more

vicious approaches – what has been termed as “climate sadism”. It is

used to mock young people going on climate protests and to ridicule

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old young woman with Asperger’s, who is simply

telling the scientific truth.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anti-climate change lobbying spend by the five largest publicly-owned fossil fuel companies. Statista, CC BY-SA</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>At

such a crossroads, it is important to be able to identify the different

types of denial. The below taxonomy will help you spot the different

ways that are being used to convince you to delay action on climate

change.</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Do experts have something to add to public debate?</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>1. Science denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

is the type of denial we are all familiar with: that the science of

climate change is not settled. Deniers suggest climate change is just

part of the natural cycle. Or that climate models are unreliable and too

sensitive to carbon dioxide.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some

even suggest that CO₂ is such a small part of the atmosphere it cannot

have a large heating affect. Or that climate scientists are fixing the

data to show the climate is changing (a global conspiracy that would

take thousands of scientists in more than a 100 countries to pull off).</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All

these arguments are false and there is a clear consensus among

scientists about the causes of climate change. The climate models that

predict global temperature rises have remained very similar over the

last 30 years despite the huge increase in complexity, showing it is a

robust outcome of the science.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read more: Five climate change science misconceptions – debunked</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[grapf]

Model reconstruction of global temperature since 1970. Average of the

models in black with model range in grey compared to observational

temperature records from NASA, NOAA, HadCRUT, Cowtan and Way, and

Berkeley Earth. Carbon Brief, ]</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

shift in public opinion means that undermining the science will

increasingly have little or no effect. So climate change deniers are

switching to new tactics. One of Britain’s leading deniers, Nigel

Lawson, the former UK chancellor, now agrees that humans are causing

climate change, despite having founded the sceptic Global Warming Policy

Foundation in 2009.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It

says it is “open-minded on the contested science of global warming,

[but] is deeply concerned about the costs and other implications of many

of the policies currently being advocated”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. In other words, climate change is now about the cost not the science.</span></b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>2. Economic denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

idea that climate change is too expensive to fix is a more subtle form

of climate denial. Economists, however, suggest we could fix climate

change now by spending 1% of world GDP. Perhaps even less if the cost

savings from improved human health and expansion of the global green

economy are taken into account. But if we don’t act now, by 2050 it

could cost over 20% of world GDP.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We

should also remember that in 2018 the world generated

US$86,000,000,000,000 and every year this World GDP grows by 3.5%. So

setting aside just 1% to deal with climate change would make little

overall difference and would save the world a huge amount of money. What

the climate change deniers also forget to tell you is that they are

protecting a fossil fuel industry that receives US$5.2 trillion in

annual subsidies – which includes subsidised supply costs, tax breaks

and environmental costs. This amounts to 6% of world GDP.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

International Monetary Fund estimates that efficient fossil fuel

pricing would lower global carbon emissions by 28%, fossil fuel air

pollution deaths by 46%, and increase government revenue by 3.8% of the

country’s GDP.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>3. Humanitarian denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate

change deniers also argue that climate change is good for us. They

suggest longer, warmer summers in the temperate zone will make farming

more productive. These gains, however, are often offset by the drier

summers and increased frequency of heatwaves in those same areas. For

example, the 2010 “Moscow” heatwave killed 11,000 people, devastated the

Russian wheat harvest and increased global food prices.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Geographical

zones of the world. The tropical zones span from the Tropic of Cancer

in the North to the Tropic of Capricorn in the South (red shaded region)

and contains 40% of the World population. Maulucioni/Wikipedia, CC

BY-SA</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More

than 40% of the world’s population also lives in the Tropics – where

from both a human health prospective and an increase in desertification

no one wants summer temperatures to rise.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Deniers also point out that plants need atmospheric carbon dioxide to grow so having more of it acts like a fertiliser.</b>&nbsp;This

is indeed true and the land biosphere has been absorbing about a

quarter of our carbon dioxide pollution every year. Another quarter of

our emissions is absorbed by the oceans. But losing massive areas of

natural vegetation through deforestation and changes in land use

completely nullifies this minor fertilisation effect.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate

change deniers will tell you that more people die of the cold than

heat, so warmer winters will be a good thing. This is deeply misleading.

Vulnerable people die of the cold because of poor housing and not being

able to afford to heat their homes. Society, not climate, kills them.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This argument is also factually incorrect.&nbsp;</b>In

the US, for example, heat-related deaths are four times higher than

cold-related ones. This may even be an underestimate as many

heat-related deaths are recorded by cause of death such as heart

failure, stroke, or respiratory failure, all of which are exacerbated by

excessive heat.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">US weather fatalities for 2018 alongside the ten- and 30-year average. National Weather Service, ]</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>4. Political denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate

change deniers argue we cannot take action because other countries are

not taking action. But not all countries are equally guilty of causing

current climate change. For example, 25% of the human-produced CO₂ in

the atmosphere is generated by the US, another 22% is produced by the

EU. Africa produces just under 5%.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given

the historic legacy of greenhouse gas pollution, developed countries

have an ethical responsibility to lead the way in cutting emissions. But

ultimately, all countries need to act because if we want to minimise

the effects of climate change then the world must go carbon zero by

2050.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[graf

Per capita annual carbon dioxide emissions and cumulative country

emissions. Data from the Global Carbon Project. Nature. Data from the

Global Carbon Project]</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Deniers

will also tell you that there are problems to fix closer to home

without bothering with global issues. But many of the solutions to

climate change are win-win and will improve the lives of normal people.

Switching to renewable energy and electric vehicles, for example,

reduces air pollution, which improves people’s overall health.</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Developing

a green economy provides economic benefits and creates jobs. Improving

the environment and reforestation provides protection from extreme

weather events and can in turn improve food and water security.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>5. Crisis denial</b></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

final piece of climate change denial is the argument that we should not

rush into changing things, especially given the uncertainty raised by

the other four areas of denial above. Deniers argue that climate change

is not as bad as scientists make out. We will be much richer in the

future and better able to fix climate change. They also play on our

emotions as many of us don’t like change and can feel we are living in

the best of times – especially if we are richer or in power.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

similarly hollow arguments were used in the past to delay ending

slavery, granting the vote to women, ending colonial rule, ending

segregation, decriminalising homosexuality, bolstering worker’s rights

and environmental regulations, allowing same sex marriages and banning

smoking.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

fundamental question is why are we allowing the people with the most

privilege and power to convince us to delay saving our planet from

climate change? grafs</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12 21</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">a

massive outbreak of tornadoes left scores dead across eight states this

weekend, and given that this weather arose in a warmer, changed

climate, President Biden, his&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/12/politics/deanne-criswell-fema-climate-change-cnntv/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">FEMA Administrator</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/12/11/tornadoes-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">numerous</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/12/us/climate-change-tornado-disaster-risk/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">news outlets</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUeTNVFB3sI" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">climate</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/was-tornado-outbreak-related-to-climate-change-explainer-f360fab5c31602df3573d3f651ba74d0" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">scientists</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/GrantWTSP/status/1470427436827484161" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">meteorologists</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/facethenation/status/1470057283619074052" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">discussed</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;how such an extreme event could be influenced by climate change.</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Despite all that qualified nuance, the right (predictably) went nuts. Rupert Murdoch’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/dont-buy-the-psuedo-scientific-hype-about-tornadoes-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York Post</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;and Fox News&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-host-criticizes-those-pointing-out-potential-link-between-deadly-kentucky-tornado" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">were very mad</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;but didn’t exactly have anyone on hand who knew the science well enough to offer any science to the contrary</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">For their attempted refutation, Breitbart&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2021/12/12/fact-check-biden-claims-kentucky-tornado-linked-to-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">cited Steven Koonin</u></a></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">, who in turn cited now-quite-outdated reports and their wishy-washy trend observations (which aren’t the point!).&nbsp;</span><a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2021/12/13/no-science-doesnt-confirm-climate-change-causes-tornado-carnage-n2600499" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Town Hall cited</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Steve&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Milloy,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">as&nbsp;</span></span><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/12/13/joe-biden-fema-kentucky-midwest-tornadoes-climate-change/" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">did the Daily Caller</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">,

because apparently defending Big Tobacco gives you climate expertise to

answer questions actual scientists are still working out.</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In&nbsp;</span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211213210552/https://mailchi.mp/climatedepot/meteorologist-bidens-tornado-climate-link-utter-bullsht-opposite-to-observational-evidence-tornadoes-blamed-on-global-cooling-in-1970s" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">an email to supporters</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">,

Climate Depot’s headline claimed a “Meteorologist calls Biden’s tornado

climate link ‘utter bullsh*t,’” quoting and linking to Chris Martz, who

is in fact&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMartzWX/status/1469892769598644225" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">not only not a meteorologist</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, but not even a college graduate, having&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMartzWX/status/1469346198674886664" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">just completed his first semester</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;at Millersville University. (Though&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMartzWX/status/1470500104838729739" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Chris did note</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;that

geophysics PhD and American Meteorological Fellow Michael Mann

“oversimplifies the issue” and “isn’t a trained meteorologist.”)</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Marc Morano’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">s email also cites an old post by&nbsp;</span></span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/may/11/more-errors-identified-in-contrarian-climate-scientists-temperature-estimates" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">climate satellite mistake-maker</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;Roy Spencer, followed by a reference to Roger Pielke Jr., who is&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/12/2063888/-With-COP-Closing-Deniers-Beclown-Themselves-Then-Cry-I-ve-Been-Cancelled-When-People-Laugh" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">making good use of his cramped office</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;by

tweeting quotes from the IPCC as though the consensus view of tornado

trends has a bearing on this specific event’s conditions. (Generous of

Jr. to stop&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/1469428090254217218" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">publicly airing his weird daddy issues</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;long enough to give his opinion on tornadogenesis!)</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">After Pielke&nbsp;</span><a href="https://realclimatescience.com/2021/12/covid-conspiracies/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">is our favorite climate-, covid-</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/Climate_Takes/status/1469696809450811394" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sandy Hook- and Obama birther</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">-</span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/22/1550894/-In-Midst-of-Heat-Wave-Drudge-Dredges-Up-Faked-Temp-Fraud-Charge" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">conspiracy</u></a></b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>&nbsp;theorist: Tony Heller</b>.

He excerpted a bunch of old newspaper clippings to prove that, since

tornadoes happened in the past before climate change, that means climate

change must not be changing the climate in which they form now. (Makes

sense, right?)</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

Pielke Jr.’s appearance in Morano’s email alongside his apparent peers

Chris Martz (class of ‘25) and Tony Heller (no class at all) is just the

warm-up, the paltering of what past trends may or may not mean for a

current situation.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And

others in conspiracy-land are offering their opinions and asking some

“legitimate” questions, and it’s pretty entertaining, in the dark and

depressing way this sort of thing is amusing.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">As&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-says-joe-biden-may-have-used-weather-weapons-create-tornadoes-killed-scores" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Media Matters reported</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">,

Alex Jones, fresh off his court losses regarding aforementioned Sandy

Hook school shooting conspiracy theories, told his InfoWars audience

that the Biden administration “officially” ordered Texas to turn off the

power last February. Which means “the question is did [President Biden]

use weather weapons to cause the tornadoes? That’s a legitimate

question to ask.”</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">It’s not like this is the first time an InfoWarrior has offered some creative explanations for extreme weather.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/27/1791293/-Infowars-John-Kerry-s-Antarctica-Energy-Beam-Saved-Hawaii-from-Hurricane-Lane" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Remember back in 2018 when</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;Jones’s co-conspiracy-theory-conspirator suggested that<b>&nbsp;John Kerry saved Hawaii from a hurricane with an energy beam fired from Antarctica?</b>&nbsp;(Or is that not a legitimate question to ask? We’re unsure of the meaning of the phrase at this point.)</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Even that’s not the craziest take though!&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/1/2066979/-A-Severe-Wobble-of-Earth-Will-Soon-Reveal-Hidden-Planet-Nibiru-The-True-Cause-Of-Climate-Change" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">Remember the Wobble prediction</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;that

aliens are controlling the Earth’s movement — the real cause of climate

change — and are soon going to wobble us so hard it reveals the mystery

planet Nibiru?</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Well, since Tony Heller’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/10/2068559/-CO2-Coalition-s-Newest-Member-Tony-Heller-Just-Got-Kicked-Off-Twitter-for-Covid-Conspiracies" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">banned from Twitter he’s taken to Gab</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, and his fellow poster there&nbsp;</span><a href="https://gab.com/ROGTruth1/posts/107436752641174636" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">ROGTruth1 has an update for us on The Wobble</u></a><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;we discussed the other day: It’s what actually caused the tornadoes, and a bunch of other events!</span></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The

temporary wobble in the earth’s axis has been superseded by a severe

wobble. So, the regular disturbances which have been a true cause of

climate change are now manifesting as more significant events.” From an

earthquake in Peru on November 28th, to cold in Europe, earthquakes in

Japan, windstorm in Turkey and tornadoes in the US, the wobble’s just

getting started.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Apparently

“soon” in December, a “Massive New Madrid Adjustment (unzipping) will

occur over a period of 3 weeks” leading to the “entire region west of

the Mississippi” to “sink” and “shift Southwest,” causing “major

disruption through the Ohio valley and up through the St. Lawrence

Seaway.” After that 3 week cataclysm but also still in “December soon”

will be a 150 foot tsunami that “will hit the UK and Western Europe,”

while “backwash of up to 50’ will hit the Eastern seaboard of the USA.”</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If

you’re as concerned as we are, rest assured that while there will be

“no warnings from the elite that are fully briefed and aware,” the good

news is that “half of humanity has been subliminally contacted.”</font></span></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those

of you who have been contacted already, you know the plan. Those that

haven’t? Sorry, we can’t say anything further, but you should consider

listening to the “experts” cited here if you’re worried, they seem to

have things pretty well figured out.</font></span></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AP june 2017</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>WASHINGTON (AP) — Does he or doesn’t he? Believe in climate change, that is.</div><div>
</div><div>You’d

think that would be an easy enough question the day after President

Donald Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the landmark

global accord aimed at combatting global warming.</div><div>
</div><div>But don’t bother asking at the White House.</div><div>
</div><div><b>“I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion” with the president, responded Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Friday.</b></div><div>
</div><div>“You should ask him that,” offered White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway.</div><div>
</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt dodged the question, too.</div><div>
</div><div>The president also ignored it during an unrelated bill-signing.</div><div>
</div><div><b>It’s

quite a reversal for Trump, who spent years publicly bashing the idea

of global warming as a “hoax” and “total con job” in books, interviews

and tweets. He openly challenged the scientific consensus that the

climate is changing and man-made carbon emissions are largely to blame.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>“Global warming is an expensive hoax!” he tweeted in 2014.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But

Trump has been largely silent on the issue since his election last

fall. On Thursday, he made scarce mention of it in his lengthy remarks

announcing America’s exit from the Paris accord. Instead, he framed his

decision as based on economics.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Here’s what he’s said before:</div><div>
</div><div>_</div><div>
</div><div>TRUMP’S TWEETS:</div><div>
</div><div>The

president’s twitter feed once was filled with references to “so-called”

global warming being a “total con job” based on “faulty science and

manipulated data.”</div><div>
</div><div>An Associated Press search

of his twitter archives revealed at least 90 instances in which he has

referred to “global warming” and “climate change” since 2011. In nearly

every instance, he expressed skepticism or mockery.</div><div>
</div><div>“This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bulls--- has got to stop,” he wrote in January 2014, spelling out the vulgarity.</div><div>
</div><div>Often the president has pointed to cold weather as evidence the climate scientists are wrong.</div><div>
</div><div>“It’s

46 (really cold) and snowing in New York on Memorial Day — tell the

so-called “scientists” that we want global warming right now!” he wrote

in May 2013 — one of several instances in which he said that warming

would be welcome.</div><div>
</div><div>“Where the hell is global warming when you need it?” he asked in January 2015.</div><div>
</div><div>The same message was echoed in the president’s books.</div><div>
</div><div>In

“Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America,” Trump made a reference

to “the mistaken belief that global climate change is being caused by

carbon emissions.”</div><div>
</div><div>“If you don’t buy that — and

I don’t — then what we have is really just an expensive way of making

the tree-huggers feel good about themselves,” he wrote.</div><div>
</div><div>_</div><div>
</div><div>CANDIDATE AND SKEPTIC:</div><div>
</div><div>“I’m

not a believer in man-made global warming,” Trump told conservative

radio host Hugh Hewitt in September 2015, after launching his bid for

the White House. He bemoaned the fact that the U.S. was investing money

and doing things “to solve a problem that I don’t think in any major

fashion exists.”</div><div>
</div><div><b>“I am not a believer,” he

added, “Unless somebody can prove something to me ... I am not a

believer and we have much bigger problems.” LOMBORG SHUFFLE?]</b></div><div>
</div><div>By March 2016, the president appeared to allow that the climate was changing — but continued to doubt humans were to blame.</div><div>
</div><div>“I

think there’s a change in weather. I am not a great believer in

man-made climate change. I’m not a great believer,” he told The

Washington Post. “There is certainly a change in weather,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>Then-campaign

manager, Conway explained Trump’s view this way: “He believes that

global warming is naturally occurring. That there are shifts naturally

occurring.”</div><div>
</div><div>_</div><div>
</div><div>EVOLVING PRESIDENT:</div><div>
</div><div>In

an interview with The New York Times in November, after the election,

Trump was asked repeatedly whether he intended to leave the Paris accord

and appeared to have a new open-mindedness.</div><div>
</div><div>“I’m looking at it very closely,” Trump told the newspaper. “I have an open mind to it. We’re going to look very carefully.”</div><div>
</div><div>He

went on to say that he thought “there is some connectivity” between

human activity and the changing climate, but that, “It depends on how

much.”</div><div>
</div><div>Asked about the comment several days

later, Trump’s now-chief of staff Reince Priebus told Fox News that

Trump “has his default position, which is that most of it is a bunch of

bunk.”</div><div>
</div><div>“But he’ll have an open mind and listen to people,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>Stay tuned.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">negin imi</font></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: "><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/exxonmobil-climate-science-denial/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/exxonmobil-climate-science-denial/</font></a></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: "><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The truth about ExxonMobil's campaign to fund climate science denial</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Elliott Negin and Independent Media Institute October 26, 2021</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

a secret video recording made public in late June, a top ExxonMobil

lobbyist—Keith McCoy, who was fired soon afterward—not only conceded

that the oil giant's support for a carbon tax is a sham, but he also

admitted that the company quietly financed climate science denier groups

to stave off government action and maximize its profits—a fact that my

organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and others revealed

more than a decade ago.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Did

we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes," McCoy, then

ExxonMobil's senior director of federal relations, said during the

interview. "Did we join some of these 'shadow groups' to work against

some of the early efforts? Yes, that's true. But there's nothing illegal

about that. We were looking out for our investments. We were looking

out for our shareholders."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For

all his candor, McCoy got at least one thing wrong. ExxonMobil did

"join"—in other words, pay—denier groups to spread disinformation to

blunt initial government attempts to curb carbon emissions. But McCoy

inaccurately used the past tense. In fact, the company continues to fund

them.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That videotaped interview caused some major heartburn for McCoy's boss, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods, especially since the<b>&nbsp;House

Committee on Oversight and Reform has invited Woods—as well as top

executives from the American Petroleum Institute, BP America, Chevron,

Shell Oil and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—to testify</b>&nbsp;at a hearing

on October 28 on the "long-running, industry-wide campaign to spread

disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global

warming."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ExxonMobil has been at the heart of that campaign.&nbsp;<b>Since

1998, the company has paid a network of seemingly independent think

tanks and advocacy groups more than $39 million to manufacture doubt

about climate science and stymie government action. Only Charles Koch

and his late brother David, owners of the coal, oil and gas conglomerate

Koch Industries, are known to have spent more.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

2020, according to ExxonMobil's most recent corporate grantmaking

report, the company spent $490,000 on three grantees—the American

Enterprise Institute ($100,000), the&nbsp;<b>Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University ($140,000)</b>,

and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($250,000). That amount is down from

the $790,000 the company reported it spent on nine climate science

denier groups in 2019 and a fraction of what it spent in the past, but

there's a catch.</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">True,

the company lost more than $22 billion in 2020 and cut back its grants

across the board. But another factor for this decline is that&nbsp;<b>ExxonMobil changed how it reports grants.</b>&nbsp;As

first reported by Salon, the company only listed grants of $100,000 or

more in its 2020 annual giving report. In previous years, it included

grants of $5,000 or more. The change reduces transparency and ultimately

means there is no way to tell how much the company spent in smaller

donations to support climate disinformation in 2020 or compare the

grants it made in 2020 with previous years.</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Only

three denier groups—the same three named in the 2020 grantmaking

report—received $100,000 or more from ExxonMobil in 2019. That year,

their grants collectively amounted to $625,000.&nbsp;<b>The other six denier

groups the company funded in 2019—the Center for American and

International Law ($5,000), the Federalist Society ($10,000), the Hoover

Institution ($15,000), the Manhattan Institute ($90,000), Mountain

States Legal Foundation ($5,000) and the Washington Legal Foundation</b>&nbsp;($40,000)—collectively

received $165,000. None of those grants, even if ExxonMobil continued

them, would wind up in the 2020 report, given the company's new

threshold.</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still,

it's worth taking a closer look at where the bulk of ExxonMobil's

self-reported climate disinformation budget did go in 2020.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce</font></b></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since

2014, ExxonMobil has given more than $5 million on top of its annual

dues to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—a major player in blocking action

on climate change for decades. A few years after becoming an ExxonMobil

grantee, the&nbsp;<b>Chamber gained some unwanted notoriety by financing a

widely debunked report that then-President Trump cited as a primary

rationale for pulling the United States out of the Paris climate

agreement.</b></font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In 2019, however, the Chamber appeared to flip 180 degrees,</b>&nbsp;declaring

on its website, "Our climate is changing and humans are contributing to

these changes. Inaction is simply not an option." The assertion that

human activity is merely contributing to climate change is inaccurate,

given that burning fossil fuels is the primary cause, but the statement

did represent a quantum leap from when the association spuriously

maintained in comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency

in 2009 that "a warming of even 3 [degrees Celsius] in the next 100

years would, on balance, be beneficial to humans."</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That

said, the Chamber vowed in an August 24 press release to "do everything

[it] can to prevent" the proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation

bill—which would slash carbon emissions from the electric power and

transportation sectors—"from becoming law." And in a section on its

website addressing climate change, the Chamber calls for "the increased

use of natural gas" to make "further progress."</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Increase

the use of natural gas?! That runs counter to what climate science says

about the need to swiftly decarbonize the energy sector, essentially

trading one major carbon pollution source—coal—for another—methane,

which is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet.

Moreover, according to a December&nbsp;<b>2019 study in the scientific

journal Environmental Research Letters, the carbon dioxide emissions

attributable to the boom in natural gas use over the last decade alone

have now surpassed the emissions avoided by closing coal-fired power

plants.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Enterprise Institute</font></b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Economist

Benjamin Zycher might be considered the climate science denier in

residence at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which has received

$4.86 million from ExxonMobil since 1998. Zycher insists that a carbon

tax would be "ineffective," has called the Paris climate agreement an

"absurdity," and rejects the scientific consensus about the causes and

seriousness of global warming.</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zycher published his most recent broadside against climate science in the Summer 2021 issue of<b>&nbsp;National Affairs, a formerly independent conservative policy quarterly that AEI brought in-house in 2019</b>.

In his essay, "The Case for Climate-Change Realism," he falsely argued

that the "available science" does not support the notion that human

activity is "the single most significant cause of climate change" and

the "available data" undercut the assessment that extreme weather events

are "evidence of an ongoing climate crisis."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As

he has in previous articles, Zycher cited roundly debunked hypotheses

for the primary causes of climate change, including a shift in northern

Pacific Ocean circulation patterns called the Pacific Decadal

Oscillation, which scientists have determined is incapable of causing a

long-term warming trend, and "changes in<b>&nbsp;solar activity,"</b>&nbsp;when, in fact, the sun's energy has declined since the 1980s while average global temperatures have continued to climb.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

summer was not a fortuitous time to be peddling discredited theories.

On August 9, less than two months after Zycher posted his essay, the UN

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark,

nearly 4,000-page "code red for humanity" report warning that the

climate crisis is close to spiraling out of control and human activity

is "unequivocally" to blame.</font></b></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zycher's

main objective? To make a case, no matter how specious, for continued

reliance on fossil fuels, which he falsely claimed are less expensive

than renewables. Proposals to cut carbon emissions, including the Paris

agreement, would have little real impact, he argued, and could "be

accomplished only by substituting expensive energy for cheaper energy."

In fact, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg, it is "now cheaper

to build and operate new large-scale wind or solar plants in nearly

half the world than it would be to run an existing coal or [natural]

gas-fired power plant." To be sure, no one would confuse Zycher for a

scientist or National Affairs for a peer-reviewed journal. But he serves

ExxonMobil's interests as a seemingly independent expert who continues

to express doubt about climate science and the viability of renewable

energy, thereby providing cover for climate science deniers in Congress.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George Washington University's Regulatory Studies Center</font></b></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

relatively unknown Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington (GW)

University received $140,000 from ExxonMobil in 2020 and $1.2 million

from the company since 2013.<b>&nbsp;Director Susan Dudley founded the center

in 2009 after serving as President George W. Bush's "regulatory czar"

at the Office of Management and Budget and, before that, running the

Regulatory Studies Program at Koch-financed Mercatus Center at George

Mason University.</b>&nbsp;She currently serves in various capacities for

other longtime climate science disinformation groups, including the

Koch-founded Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, and the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

Regulatory Studies Center portrays itself as an "objective, unbiased"

policy shop, but—like the Mercatus Center—its primary raison d'être is

to weaken and quash government regulations, according to a 2019 analysis

by the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. The GW center's

main tools are reports and public comments it submits to Congress, and

although it does not get much mainstream news media attention,<b>&nbsp;it has

found a receptive audience on Capitol Hill—and in the previous

administration. Much of the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda,

Public Citizen found, echoed the center's recommendations, including

"dramatically reducing the cost that the government attributes to carbon

emissions."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But

should the Regulatory Studies Center be lumped in with climate science

disinformation groups? In response to the Public Citizen report, as well

as criticism from UnKoch My Campus and GW student groups, the center

issued a statement in February disputing the charge that it rejects

climate science. "Contrary to unsubstantiated claims, no one in the

Regulatory Studies Center questions climate science," it said. "In fact,

most of the Center's scholars do not focus on environmental or energy

issues at all. Those who have written on climate issues address economic

and legal questions, not the science."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whether

or not the center directly disputes climate science is beside the

point. In the face of incontrovertible scientific evidence, most

ExxonMobil-funded disinformation groups have revised their position on

the reality of climate change.&nbsp;<b>Instead of challenging the science,

their efforts now tend to focus on denigrating renewable energy,

overstating the costs of transitioning to a clean energy economy while

ignoring the benefits, and preventing government action. That is exactly

what the Regulatory Studies Center does.&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">In

recent years, for example, it has published papers and filed public

comments opposing stronger efficiency standards for home appliances and

vehicles that would dramatically reduce carbon emissions.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

center also has enlisted the help of unabashed climate science deniers.

In the fall of 2018, for example, it tapped Julian Morris to file a

public comment supporting the Trump administration's proposed rollback

of Obama-era standards for cars and light trucks designed to increase

fuel economy and, for the first time, substantially reduce tailpipe

carbon emissions.&nbsp;</b>Morris, president and founder of the International

Policy Network and vice president of research at the Reason

Foundation—two libertarian, climate science denier organizations—falsely

declared in a paper published in March 2018 that the "effects of

climate change are unknown—but the benefits may well be greater than the

costs for the foreseeable future."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Millions More for Disinformation</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

money ExxonMobil donated in 2020 to AEI, the GW Regulatory Studies

Center and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce represents only a small

percentage of the company's recent outlays to sway public opinion and

blunt government climate action. It is difficult to document all of the

company's related expenditures, but they include:</font></b></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More

than $5 million on Facebook ads in 2020, which is more than half of the

$9.6 million that the U.S. oil and gas industry spent on the ads,

according to an analysis by the think tank InfluenceMap that reviewed

more than 25,000 ads on Facebook's U.S. platform. Many of the ads

described natural gas as a "green" fuel source and argued that cutting

carbon emissions would drive up energy costs.</font></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">An estimated $10 million in annual dues to the American Petroleum Institute (API</span>)

(based on how much Shell Oil recently revealed it paid). The U.S. oil

and gas industry's oldest and largest trade association, API is working

overtime to b<b>lock stricter methane emissions standards.</b>&nbsp;McCoy

indirectly referenced API during the secretly taped interview when he

said ExxonMobil relied on third parties to publicly represent its

interests in Congress. "We don't want it to be us, to have these

conversations, especially in a hearing," he said. "It's getting our

associations to step in and have those conversations and answer those

tough questions and be, for the lack of a better term, the&nbsp;<b>whipping boy for some of these members of Congress."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At

least $100,000 in annual dues to trade associations (based on what it

reported it spent in 2019) that have a long track record of peddling

climate disinformation, including the&nbsp;<b>National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.[ipaa]</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Nearly $834,000 during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles to 118 of the 139 climate science deniers currently in Congress.</b>&nbsp;Over that same time period, the company reportedly spent nearly<b>&nbsp;$41 million to lobby in Washington,</b>&nbsp;but

neither McCoy nor ExxonMobil's other in-house lobbyists have broached

the topic of a carbon tax—the company's avowed top priority—with

legislators since 2018, according to its quarterly lobbying reports.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">So

while ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods and his colleagues proclaim that they

fully understand the threat posed by climate change and are "committed

to being part of the solution," the evidence shows they continue to

spend tens of millions of dollars every year to promote gridlock in

Congress on the issue</span>.<b>&nbsp;The future of the planet as we know it

hangs in the balance, but as McCoy acknowledged in his interview,

ExxonMobil was—and still is—looking out for its investments and its

shareholders' short-term interests, regardless of the long-term

consequences.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elliott Negin is a senior writer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">guk</font></div><div style="font-family: "><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: "><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/09/big-oil-delay-tactics-new-climate-science-denial</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Big oil’s ‘wokewashing’ is the new climate science denialism</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘Discourses of delay’ by the fossil fuel companies.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Academic researchers say the fossil fuel industry has a new tool to delay efforts to curb emissions – a social justice strategy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amy Westervelt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@amywestervelt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thu 9 <b>Sep 2021</b>&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ExxonMobil

has been touting its commitment to “reducing carbon emissions with

innovative energy solutions”. Chevron would like to remind you it is

keeping the lights on during this dark time. BP is going<b> #NetZero</b>,

but is also very proud of the “digital innovations” on its new,

enormous oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile Shell

insists it really supports women in traditionally male-dominated jobs.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

casual social media user might get the impression the fossil fuel

industry views itself as a social justice warrior, fighting on behalf of

the poor, the marginalized, and women – at least based on its marketing

material in recent years.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These

campaigns fall into what a handful of sociologists and economists call

“discourses of delay”. While oil and gas companies have a long track

record of denying climate change, even after their own scientists

repeatedly warned of the harm caused by burning fossil fuels, now the

industry’s messaging is far more subtle and in many ways more effective

than outright climate science denial.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>By

downplaying the urgency of the climate crisis, the industry has new

tools to delay efforts to curb fossil fuel emissions. And worse yet:

even industry critics haven’t fully caught up to this new approach.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If

you just focus on climate denial, then all of this other stuff is

missed,” explains Robert Brulle, an environmental sociologist and

visiting professor at Brown University.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brulle,

who published a peer-reviewed study in 2019 that analyzed major oil

corporations’ advertising spending over a 30-year period, says the

“lion’s share” of ad dollars were directed not toward denial, or even

toward the industry’s products, but toward pro-fossil fuel propaganda –

campaigns that remind people over and over again about all the great

things oil companies do, how dependent we are on fossil fuels, and how

integral the industry is to society. //API ROWE]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“They’re spending probably five or 10 times more on all this corporate promotion advertising,</b>” he says. “And yet the climate movement seems to only focus on the science denial part.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ExxonMobil

has used Twitter campaigns to emphasize progress on addressing climate

change while also downplaying the urgency of the crisis. Source: Twitter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil

companies stopped pushing overt climate denial more than a decade ago.

And while conspiracy theories claiming climate change is a hoax may

surface occasionally, they are no longer an effective strategy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead,

the fossil fuel industry, utilities and the various trade groups,

politicians and think tanks that carry water for both, have pivoted to

messages that acknowledge the problem, but downplay its severity and the

urgency for solutions. Instead companies are overstating the industry’s

progress toward addressing climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

a paper published in the journal Global Sustainability last July,

economist William Lamb and nearly a dozen co-authors catalogued the most

common messaging from those who would prefer to see inaction on climate

for as long as possible. According to Lamb’s team, the industry’s “d<b>iscourses

of delay” fall into four buckets: redirect responsibility (consumers

are also to blame for fossil fuel emissions), push non-transformative

solutions (disruptive change is not necessary), emphasize the downside

of action (change will be disruptive), and surrender (it’s not possible

to mitigate climate change).</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This

was a paper that was born on Twitter, funnily enough,” Lamb says. Lamb

and collaborators Giulio Mattoli and Julia Steinberger began compiling

the fossil fuel messaging they saw repeatedly on social media. Then they

asked other academics from various fields to add what they were seeing

too, and patterns soon emerged.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lamb

says they explicitly left denial out of the equation. “What we tried to

do was really examine delay as something distinct,” he says. “From our

view, delay had not received the kind of attention it deserves.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of

all the messaging geared toward delaying action on climate, or

assurances that the fossil fuel industry has a grip on possible

solutions, Lamb and other authors agreed that one theme was far more

prevalent than the rest: “the social justice argument.”</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>This

strategy generally takes one of two forms: either warnings that a

transition away from fossil fuels will adversely impact poor and

marginalized communities, or claims that oil and gas companies are

aligned with those communities. Researchers call this practice

“wokewashing”</b></span>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter

ads, like this video by ExxonMobil, reflect popular messaging around

social justice, implying that the company is aligned with diverse

communities. Researchers call this practice ‘wokewashing’.]<span style="font-family: ">Composite: Twitter]</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">An email Chevron’s PR firm <b>CRC Advisors </b>sent

to journalists last year is a perfect example. It urged journalists to

look at how green groups were “claiming solidarity” with Black Lives

Matter while “backing policies which would hurt minority communities</span>”.

Chevron later denied that it had anything to do with this email,

although it regularly hires CRC and the bottom of the email in question

read: “If you would rather not receive future communications from

Chevron, let us know by clicking here.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Another

common industry talking point argues a transition away from fossil

fuels will be unavoidably bad for impoverished communities.</b> The

argument is based on the assumption that these communities value fossil

fuel energy more than concerns about all of its attendant problems (air

and water pollution, in addition to climate change), and that there is

no way to provide poor communities or countries with affordable

renewable energy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Chevron

also claimed solidarity with Black Lives Matter last year, although it

is also responsible for polluting the Black-majority city it’s

headquartered in: Richmond, California, </b>where Chevron also pays for a

larger-than-average police force. Meanwhile the American Petroleum

Institute, Big Oil’s largest trade group and lobbyist, funds diversity

in stem programs, but it also declines to acknowledge the

disproportionate impacts on communities of color.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Discourses of delay don’t just show up in advertising and marketing campaigns, but in policy conversations too.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’ve

gone through thousands of pieces of testimony on climate and clean

energy bills at the state level, and all of the industry arguments

against this sort of legislation included these messages,” says J

Timmons Roberts, professor of environment and sociology at Brown

University, and a co-author on the “discourses of delay” paper.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">People need a sort of field guide to these arguments so they’re not just duped.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

a recently published study focused on delay tactics in Massachusetts,

for example, Roberts and his co-authors catalogued how fossil fuel

interest groups and utility companies in particular used discourses of

delay to try to defeat clean energy legislation. Another recent study

found similar campaigns against clean energy and climate bills in

Connecticut. “The social justice argument is the one we’re seeing used

the most,” he says.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lamb sees the same thing happening in Europe.</b>

“Often you do see those arguments come from right of center

politicians, which suggests hypocrisy in a way because they’re not so

interested in the social dimension on parallel issues of social justice

like education policy or financial policy.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While

the social justice argument stands out as a favorite at the moment,

Lamb says the others are in regular rotation too, from focusing on what

individual consumers should be doing to reduce their own carbon

footprints to promoting the ideas that technology will save us and that

fossil fuels are a necessary part of the solution.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“These

things are effective, they work,” Roberts says. “So what we need is

inoculation – people need a sort of field guide to these arguments so

they’re not just duped.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This

story is published as part of Covering Climate Now, a global

collaboration of news outlets strengthening coverage of the climate

story.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://climateinvestigations.org/the-climate-change-countermovement-brown-university-report-and-panel/">https://climateinvestigations.org/the-climate-change-countermovement-brown-university-report-and-panel/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Climate Change Countermovement: Brown University Report and Panel</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Climate Investigations Center on February 28, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>Kert Davies</div><div>Earlier

this month, CIC’s Kert Davies was an invited speaker at a collaborative

conference held at Brown University on the economic impacts of climate

change and the opposition to policy advances. The day long event,

America’s Climate Change Future: Housing Markets, Stranded Assets, and

Entrenched Interests, gathered experts on a range of climate change

topics ranging from increased flood risk and stranded assets in fossil

fuels, to the climate change countermovement and misinformation

campaigns.</div><div>
</div><div>Alongside keynote speaker Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse and Brown professor Timmons Roberts, Davies

participated in a discussion on a recently published paper by Justin

Farrell of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The

paper’s focus on the “institutional and corporate structure of the

climate change countermovement” helped shaped a discussion which

outlined the existing body of research the paper built on.</div><div>
</div><div>The

panelists examined the corporate genesis of the climate denial movement

and the many methods of influence that have been utilized to stall

effective climate change policy. Using documents and analysis found on

Climate Files, Davies recounted how the largest oil majors, including

Shell and Exxon, had extensive internal knowledge about climate change

science and impacts decades before it became a topic of global concern.

Rather than addressing the threat that their product posed to the world,

the documents show that the fossil fuel industry engaged and funded a

climate change countermovement to deny the urgency their own scientists

knew to be true.</div><div>
</div><div>See video below of the full

session with Davies, Senator Whitehouse and professor Roberts called,

“Pushing Against Climate Denial and Defending Science.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Brown University: New Report on Climate Change Countermovement</div><div>Brown

University’s Climate Development Lab recently released a supplemental

report titled Countermovement Coalitions: Climate Denialist

Organizational Profiles tracking the affiliations and output of twelve

organizations that “engaged in public misinformation campaigns about

climate change” from 1989 to present day. Collaborating with CIC and

drawing from Climate Files, ExxonSecrets, and other resources, the

report highlights the coalitions’ “insular nature,” showing many to

“share leadership teams, major donors, key members, and mission

statements.” <b>The twelve organizations highlighted by the Brown team are:</b></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-family: roboto, " color="color"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/global-climate-coalition" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Global Climate Coalition</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/information-council-environment" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Information Council on the Environment</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=104" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Alliance for Climate Strategies</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coalition_for_Vehicle_Choice" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Coalition for Vehicle Choice</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://climateinvestigations.org/climate-deniers/cooler-heads-coalition/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Cooler Heads Coalition</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/center-energy-and-economic-development" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Center for Energy and Economic Development</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://v/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Americans for Balanced Energy Choices</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-coalition-clean-coal-electricity" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alliance_for_Energy_and_Economic_Growth" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coalition_for_Affordable_and_Reliable_Energy" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Energy</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coalition_for_American_Jobs" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Coalition for American Jobs</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16.6406px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.betterenergyfuture.org/about/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.07s ease-in-out 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Partnership for a Better Energy Future</font></a></li></ol></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">aha: recall origins in Heartland reverse engineer: if AGW real, world gov't no capitalism</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also fork 1 origin // sununu collectivist jackboots story 1 threatened</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">vax everywhere = neg?</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">gw denial eroded faith in sci for decades and made us vuln to vaxxer BS&nbsp;</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">--> civil war</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">?!</span></b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">fox murd</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">ochs burn down the world for money and power (vax and AGW) ; koch gop<b>&nbsp;anti-gubmint erode norms</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>,&nbsp;</b></span></font></div><div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">fox

briefly forgot trump TV hacks and acted like a news org and reported

FACT that trump lost AZ, immediate threat from oann newsmax reb mercer

soc media play</font></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times 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lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div><b>Black flag:&nbsp;</b>Understanding the Trumpists' latest threatening symbol</div><div>
</div><div>Chauncey DeVega and Salon October 12, 2021</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div>It's

an old truism that the "real bad men" (and bad women) "move in silence

and violence." That's certainly true for the most dangerous and most

effective of Donald Trump's allies, henchmen, henchwomen, and other

followers. But for Donald Trump himself, and most of his political cult,

that rule does not apply....</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/trumpists/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/trumpists/</a></div></div><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">172 pp report corp denial 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">figures</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;1. Scope of Research 7</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;2. Climate Actions for NRG Energy, Inc. and Peabody Energy Corporation 9</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;3. Climate Actions for NIKE, Inc. and FMC Corporation 10</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;4. Affiliations with Industry Groups That Support or Oppose</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Climate Science and Science-Based Policy 13</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;5. Affiliations with Think Tanks and Other Organizations That Support or</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Misrepresent Climate Science 15</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;6. Total Lobbying Expenditures by Stock Market Sector, 2002–2010 19</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;7. Summary of Corporate Statements and Actions on Climate</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Change Science and Policy 21</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;8. Venues Where Contradictory Companies Express Concern about</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Climate Change or Misrepresent Climate Science 24</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;9 Climate Actions for Exxon Mobil Corporation 26</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10 Climate Actions for ConocoPhillips 28</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">11. Climate Actions for Caterpillar Inc. 29</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12. Climate Actions for DTE Energy Company 30</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tables</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;1. Political Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures Ranked</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;by Funding Ratio 16</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;2. Political Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures Ranked</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;by Lobbying Totals for Top Lobbying Companies 17</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;3. Selected Quotes from Members of Congress Who Have</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Misrepresented Climate Science</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/a-climate-of-corporate-control-report.pdf">
</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/a-climate-of-corporate-control-report.pdf">https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/a-climate-of-corporate-control-report.pdf</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">very good on trade gp</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;A proposed 2012 budget document, for example, indicated that Heartland has and will

continue to provide several thousand dollars per

month to many academic scientists who have

been “high-profile individuals who regularly and

publicly counter the alarmist [anthropogenic

global warming] message.” The documents also

outlined Heartland’s plan to challenge the teaching of climate science in public schools; the plan

included a module to teach high school students

that “whether humans are changing the climate

is a major scientific controversy.”

The documents showed that Heartland’s financial backing comes from anonymous donors,

the fossil fuel industry—including Murray Energy Company and Marathon Oil Corporation—

and other corporate interests such as the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce, which has vocally opposed climate policy actions (U.S. Chamber of

Commerce 2009)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, two industry trade groups representing many of the companies in this study have

actively fought against science-based climate

policy. The National Association of Manufacturers

(NAM), on whose board sit officers from 12 of

the companies in our sample (Figure 4), strongly

opposed the EPA’s Endangerment Finding. The

NAM questioned the science on which the finding was based and warned that regulating carbon

emissions “will inevitably cripple the economy”

(NAM 2009). In its comment on the EPA Endangerment Finding, the NAM implied that it was

speaking on behalf of 11,000 member companies; however, because there is no public list

of member companies, this claim is difficult

to verify.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which also

refuses to publish a list of members (though

it allegedly represents millions of businesses),

criticized the EPA Endangerment Finding with

even more vehemence. The Chamber alleged

that the EPA “proposes a rule based entirely

on untested scientific sources—mostly a U.N.

report,” and cited “profound and wide-ranging

scientific uncertainties” as the basis of its.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MOC:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State

Name Quote

NH-Sen (R) Kelly Ayotte “There is scientific evidence that demonstrates

there is some impact

from human activities. However, I don’t think the evidence is

conclusive.”

(McDermott 2010)

MN-Rep (R) Michele Bachmann “…the science indicates that human activity

is not the cause of all this

global warming. And that in fact, nature is the cause, with solar

flares, etc.”

(Grandia 2009)

TX-Rep (R) Joe Barton “Global warming is ‘unequivocal?’ It’s just flat

out not true!” (Barton 2011)

MO-Sen (R) Roy Blunt “There isn’t any real science to say we are

altering the climate path

of the earth.” (Hair 2009)

OK-Sen (R) Tom Coburn “I am not the smartest man in the world, but I

have been trained to read

scientific documents, and [anthropogenic climate change] is malarkey.”

(Roberts 2009)

OK-Sen (R) James Inhofe “With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all

of the phony science, could it

be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated

on the American people? It sure sounds like it.” (Inhofe 2003)

WI-Sen (R) Ron Johnson “I absolutely do not believe in the science of

man-caused climate change.

It’s not proven by any stretch of the imagination.” (Miller 2010)

IA-Rep (R) Steve King “It’s not rational, it’s a religion that we’re up

against . . . the presumption of

the greenhouse effect is at least, from what I saw, was pretty

convincingly

rebutted.” (Keyes 2010)

MN-Rep (D) Collin Peterson “They’re saying to us [that climate change

is] going to be a big problem

because it’s going to be warmer than it usually is; my farmers are going

to

say that’s a good thing since they’ll be able to grow more corn.” (Power

and Hughes 2009)

CA-Rep (R) Dana Rohrabacher “There is no consensus. Yet we are bombarded

by radical environmentalists, and the media hype, with the common

refrain ‘case closed: global

warming is real.’” (Rohrabacher 2009)

WI-Rep (R) Jim Sensenbrenner “I personally believe that the solar flares

are more responsible for climatic

cycles than anything human beings do.” (Berliant 2009)

IL-Rep (R) John Shimkus “There is a theological debate that this is a

carbon-starved planet—

not too much carbon.” (Mail Online 2010)

MI-Rep (R) Fred Upton “The principle argument for [delaying EPA’s

greenhouse gas regulation]

is that it will allow Congress time to create its own plan for

regulating

carbon. This presumes that carbon is a problem in need of regulation.

We are not convinced.” (Phillips and Upton 2010)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Demands

for Climate Risk Disclosure

I

n 2007, Andrew Cuomo, then attorney general of the state of New York,

investigated five companies (Xcel Energy

Inc., Peabody Energy Corporation, Dominion Resources Inc., Dynegy Inc.,

and AES Corporation) interested in building new coal-fired power plants

(Confessore 2008). Cuomo pursued the case on the grounds that the

proposed plants carried substantial business risk related to climate

change, particularly from the possibility of

legislation restricting carbon emissions, and that these risks had not

been adequately disclosed, thereby misleading investors. Xcel Energy

Inc. settled its part of the investigation in 2008 by agreeing to

disclose business risks

associated with climate change, including physical and legislative

risks, in its annual reporting to the federal

government, and to disclose more information about its carbon emissions

(Confessore 2008).

This unprecedented case came during a time of broader demand on utility

companies for greater consideration

of climate change risk. Many other

companies, including Sempra Energy,

Ameren Corporation (Sheehan 2008),

ConocoPhillips (Hays 2007), and Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Ceres

2010) were receiving shareholder

proposals that specifically requested

greater disclosure on the financial

risks of climate change.

The Cuomo investigation and

shareholder demands sent a strong

message: climate change represents

serious financial risks that publicly

traded companies need to analyze

and then disclose to their investors

(Sheehan 2008). Shortly thereafter,

the SEC issued guidance to companies for considering and discussing in

their annual Form 10-K reports any

significant business risks posed by

climate change (SEC 2010)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" 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size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trade Group Memberships</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Business Roundtable</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Center for Energy and Economic Development</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> National Association of Manufacturers</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> National Mining Association</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> U.S. Chamber of Commerce</div><div>
</div><div>Action: Peabody</div><div>funded the American</div><div>Energy Security Study,</div><div>which published stories</div><div>that undermine established climate science</div><div>
</div><div>chanpion: relevant Spending</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Total political contributions:</div><div>$684,283</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Total lobbying expenditures:</div><div>$33,420,000</div><div>•<span style="white-space:pre"> </span> Funding ratio of anti-climate to</div><div>pro-climate members of Congress:</div><div>4.0 to 1</div><div>
</div><div>....</div><div>inconsistent:&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>...d Alcoa Inc., an aluminum producer, took many actions in support of

science-based climate policies, while FMC Corporation, a chemical manufacturer, took steps to spread

misinformation on climate science and oppose

climate policy efforts (Figure 3).

<b>Fourteen companies were inconsistent in regard

to their statements about climate change<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">. </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">While

all companies in our sample stated they were

taking voluntary internal action to reduce carbon

emissions, half of them also misrepresented some

element of established climate science in their

public communications.</span> These companies included

Ameren Corporation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, ConocoPhillips, DTE Energy Company, <b>Exxon

Mobil Corporation, FMC Corporation</b>, Marathon

Oil Corporation, Murphy Oil Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, <b>Peabody Energy</b>

Corporation, Progress Energy, Inc., TECO Energy,

Inc., <b>Valero Energy Corporation, and Waste Management,</b> Inc. For a description of how we characterized the misrepresentation of science for

this study, see Appendix A; for corporate statements on climate change from each company

in our sample, see Appendix C...</div><div><div>
</div><div>General Electric Company, Boeing Company, and</div><div>Exxon Mobil Corporation spent significantly more</div><div>in political contributions and lobbying expenditures</div><div>&nbsp;than the rest of the companies in our sample.&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>With the exception of Caterpillar Inc., all the</div><div>companies donating most heavily to anti-climate</div><div>members of Congress were in the energy sector,</div><div>with <b>eight of the 10 energy sector companies in</b></div><div><b>our sample donating three times more to anticlimate&nbsp;</b></div><div><b>candidates than to pro-climate candidates.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div>By contrast, only five companies (AES Corporation,...</div><div>Alcoa Inc., NRG Energy, Inc., Sempra Energy,</div><div>and NIKE, Inc.) donated at least twice as much</div><div>to pro-climate candidates as to anti-climate</div><div>candidates, and none of these companies were</div><div>in the energy sector.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Most companies in our sample had</b></div><div><b>lobbying expenditures that dwarfed their</b></div><div><b>contributions to individual candidates</b>.&nbsp;For instance, <b>Marathon</b></div><div>Oil Corporation spent $43.7 million on federal ...</div></div><div>lobbying from 2002 to 2010, but its PAC donated

only $1.2 million to individual candidates in the

four election cycles from 2004 to 2010 (Andoni

and Jaime 2011).

For companies in the energy sector, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">lobbying

expenditures increased by 92 percent from 2007

to 2009, when climate change bills were being

actively debated in Congress</span> (Figure 6).&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>Although

these results were driven to some extent by companies with the largest lobbying expenditures—

notably Boeing Company and General Electric

Company, which dominated the industrials

sector’s trend—we observe that<b> total lobbying

expenditures for all companies in our sample

increased 160 percent between 2002 and

2010 </b>(during which time inflation was only

21.2 percent).&nbsp;</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although corporate executives testifying in Congress are under oath, and therefore

have a legal obligation to tell the truth to policy

makers, they sometimes express opinions in such

testimony that do not align with their statements

and actions in other venues.

<b>Exxon Mobil Corporation (Figure 9, p. 26) is well

known for having heavily funded skeptic organizations that spread misinformation about climate

science (Hoggan and Littlemore 2009; UCS 2007</b>).

In a 2008 congressional hearing, a company executive took exception to a senator’s allegation that

Exxon Mobil was “supporting junk science and

trying to make people think that [climate change]

is not an issue.” The executive replied, “I think all

of us recognize it is an issue . . . and I think we are

dealing with it, and we are doing so in a responsible fashion” (Simon 2008).&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Despite this claim

and a company announcement that same year

that Exxon Mobil would stop funding skeptic

organizations, results from investigations (this

one and others) indicate that the company has

continued to make public statements that doubt

climate science and to fund and affiliate with

groups that spread misinformation (Adam 2009)</span>.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ConocoPhillips

(Figure 10, p. 28) provides another

example of the inconsistency of executive congressional testimony with

corporate behavior elsewhere. At a May 2008 hearing before the Senate

Judiciary Committee, a company executive testified, “ConocoPhillips has

acknowledged the

scientific consensus that human activity. . . is contributing to

increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can

lead to

adverse changes in global climate” (Lowe 2008).

He further stated that the company supported

“a mandatory national framework in the U.S. for

reducing carbon dioxide emissions” (Lowe 2008).

Yet shortly before climate legislation was introduced in the Senate in

February 2010, ConocoPhillips (along with Caterpillar Inc., BP, Marsh,

and

Xerox) withdrew from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group of

corporations that advocates...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Influence of Private Corporations: Koch Industries</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Although this report focuses on the influence of</div><div>publicly

traded companies, privately held corporations have played a larger role

in the climate change denial campaign in recent years (Mann</div><div>2012). While the finances of publicly held companies</div><div>are under some scrutiny from the government and</div><div>shareholders, private companies are not subject to</div><div>these outside pressures and thus can operate even less</div><div>transparently.</div><div>Most prominent among the private funders of climate science misinformation are Koch Industries and</div><div>its largest co-owners, Charles G. and David H. Koch. A</div><div>conglomerate that encompasses manufacturing plants</div><div>and refineries, venture capital, and consumer goods,</div><div>Koch Industries is one of the largest private companies</div><div>in the United States (Google Finance 2012). Through</div><div>funding of political campaigns, ideological think tanks,</div><div>political nonprofits, and large-scale lobbying efforts,</div><div>Koch Industries and affiliated charities and foundations</div><div>have systematically exerted enormous political influence on the climate dialogue at both the national and</div><div>local scale.</div><div>Since 1997, the Koch Foundation has given more</div><div>than $55 million to groups that misrepresent climate</div><div>science

or oppose climate policies, including the Heritage Foundation and

several Koch-founded organizations: Americans for Prosperity,

FreedomWorks, and the</div><div>Cato Institute (Mann 2012; Greenpeace 2011). In political contributions, Koch Industries led the energy sector</div><div>between 2006 and 2010 with a staggering $7.27 million</div><div>contributed to political candidates (Greenpeace 2011).</div><div>Koch Industries has also worked aggressively to delay&nbsp; and derail climate regulations at the state and regional</div><div>levels. For example, it has made substantial financial</div><div>contributions through its affiliates to the Yes on Prop</div><div>23 campaign (which opposed California’s Global Warming Solutions Act). Koch Industries also contributed</div><div>generously to a campaign, led by Americans for Prosperity, against the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative</div><div>(RGGI), the market-based cap-and-trade system sponsored by 10 U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States</div><div>(Greenpeace 2011).</div><div>Although a substantive amount of Koch Industries’</div><div>involvement in the climate dialogue has been revealed,</div><div>this is likely not the complete picture. Greater transparency in the political activity both of public and private</div><div>corporations is needed so that politicians, shareholders,</div><div>and the public may understand and hold accountable</div><div>those who are influencing the national conversation</div><div>on climate science and policy.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/how-exxon-chevron-and-their-buddies-58986784/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/how-exxon-chevron-and-their-buddies-58986784/</a></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">f</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">OOTNOTES:</span></font></font></p><div class="css-cmf3mf e1rvx4i30" itemprop="podcastDescription" style="letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 2rem; margin-top: 1rem;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50132400" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Exxon accused of misleading investors on climate change</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://influencemap.org/report/Climate-Lobbying-by-the-Fossil-Fuel-Sector" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An investor enquiry: how much big oil spends on climate lobbying</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://influencemap.org/report/Climate-Lobbying-by-the-Fossil-Fuel-Sector" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://influencemap.org/report/Climate-Lobbying-by-the-Fossil-Fuel-Sector</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-exxonmobil-20170822-story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Column: A new study shows how Exxon Mobil downplayed climate change when it knew the problem was real</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/opinion/exxons-climate-concealment.html?r=2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exxon’s Climate Concealment</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/opinion/exxons-climate-concealment.html?r=2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/opinion/exxons-climate-concealment.html?r=2</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05042018/shell-knew-scientists-climate-change-risks-fossil-fuels-global-warming-company-documents-netherlands-lawsuits" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Shell Knew Fossil Fuels Created Climate Change Risks Back in 1980s, Internal Documents Show</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/sep/19/shell-and-exxons-secret-1980s-climate-change-warnings" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Shell and Exxon's secret 1980s climate change warnings</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jan/01/on-its-hundredth-birthday-in-1959-edward-teller-warned-the-oil-industry-about-global-warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">On its 100th birthday in 1959, Edward Teller warned the oil industry about global warming</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jan/01/on-its-hundredth-birthday-in-1959-edward-teller-warned-the-oil-industry-about-global-warming</font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/science/earth/24deny.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/did-exxonmobil-just-admit_b_8625514" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Did ExxonMobil Just Admit It’s Still Funding Climate Science Deniers?</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/did-exxonmobil-just-admit_b_8625514" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/did-exxonmobil-just-admit_b_8625514</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/18/1509433112.abstract" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/18/1509433112.abstract" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/18/1509433112.abstract</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/nov/25/two-faced-exxon-the-misinformation-campaign-against-its-own-scientists" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Two-faced Exxon: the misinformation campaign against its own scientists</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/nov/25/two-faced-exxon-the-misinformation-campaign-against-its-own-scientists</font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2020/02/04/rex-tillerson-to-oil-industry-not-sure-humans-can-do-anything-to-battle-climate-change/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Rex Tillerson to oil industry: Not sure humans can do anything to battle climate change</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08062017/exxon-climate-fraud-rex-tillerson-erased-wayne-tracker-emails-witness" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Exxon May Have Erased 7 Years of Tillerson's 'Wayne Tracker' Emails, Witness Says</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30102019/exxon-climate-fraud-trial-rex-tillerson-testifies-denies-misleading-investors" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Rex Tillerson Testifies, Denying Exxon Misled Investors About Climate Risk</font></a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘All Rhetoric and No Action’: Oil Giants Spent $1 Billion on Climate Lobbying and Ads Since Paris Pact, Says Report</font></a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmog.com/2019/03/22/paris-oil-exxon-chevron-bp-total-shell-billion-climate-lobbying-advertising-influencemap/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">&nbsp;https://www.desmog.com/2019/03/22/paris-oil-exxon-chevron-bp-total-shell-billion-climate-lobbying-advertising-influencemap/</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/10/22/attribution-science-fossil-fuels-climate-change-001290" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new science fossil fuel companies fear</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/10/22/attribution-science-fossil-fuels-climate-change-001290" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/10/22/attribution-science-fossil-fuels-climate-change-001290</a></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a target="blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-21/oil-companies-exxon-climate-change-denial-report" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Report details how ExxonMobil and fossil fuel firms sowed seeds of doubt on climate change</font></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-21/oil-companies-exxon-climate-change-denial-report" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-21/oil-companies-exxon-climate-change-denial-report</a></font></li><p style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px;" /></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2019/03/22/paris-oil-exxon-chevron-bp-total-shell-billion-climate-lobbying-advertising-influencemap/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.desmog.com/2019/03/22/paris-oil-exxon-chevron-bp-total-shell-billion-climate-lobbying-advertising-influencemap/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NO LNX grfx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘All Rhetoric and No Action’: Oil Giants Spent $1 Billion on Climate Lobbying and Ads Since Paris Pact, Says Report</font></b></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Sharon Kelly on <b>Mar 22, 2019</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">A

new report by a British think tank estimates that since the 2015 Paris

Agreement, the world’s five largest listed oil and gas companies spent

more than $1 billion lobbying to prevent climate change regulations

while also running public relations campaigns aimed at maintaining

public support for climate action.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Combined,

the companies spend roughly $200 million a year pushing to delay or

alter climate and energy rules, particularly in the U.S. — while

spending $195 million a year “on branding campaigns that suggest they

support an ambitious climate agenda,</b>” according to InfluenceMap, a UK-based non-profit that researches how corporations influence climate policy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">InfluenceMap cites as an example <b>ExxonMobil’s heavily-touted algae-biofuels research,</b>

which the oil giant says “offers some of the greatest promise for

next-generation biofuels” with significant climate benefits and has made

it the focus of its “The Tiny Organism” ad campaign.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">InfluenceMap

notes that “detailed disclosures from the company show its goal of

10,000 barrels of bio-fuel a day would equate to only<b> 0.2 percent of its current refinery capacity.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Oil

majors are projecting themselves as key players in the energy

transition while lobbying to delay, weaken, or oppose meaningful climate

policy,” Edward Collins, author of the new report, said in a statement.

“They advocate gradual implementation of market-based and technological

climate solutions, but the latest [United Nations Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change] report makes clear that urgent policy action

and limitations on fossil fuel use are needed to avoid dangerous climate

change.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Today’s

report updates the group’s 2016 report that estimated these companies

spent $115 million a year lobbying against climate regulations — even

policies companies said they supported.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Say one thing,” said <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Senator<b> Sheldon Whitehouse,</b> as he described InfluenceMap’s 2016 research on the floor of the U.S. Senate</span>, “do another.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

new estimates suggest that spending to influence climate policy by the

five oil giants has increased sharply over the last two years.</b></font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It also comes as global banks are investing more in fossil fuel projects since the Paris Agreement.</b>

In addition, the five oil companies are spending heavily on finding and

producing more fossil fuels — and putting only a tiny fraction of their

budgets into efforts to transition away from climate-altering fuels.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“This

spending accompanies the expansion of the companies’ operations with

combined annual sales of over $1 [trillion] and profits of $55 [billion

in] 2018, the vast majority of which is oil and gas related,”

InfluenceMap wrote. “Combined capital investment will increase to $115

[billion] in 2019 but only about 3 percent of this will go to low carbon

investments, according to company disclosures.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lobbying One Message While Advertising Another</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

report focuses on the world’s five largest listed oil and gas

companies, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total, and Chevron, leaving out

state-controlled oil giants like Saudi Aramco and China’s Sinopec.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">InfluenceMap examined the extent to which each company’s branding efforts and advertising campaigns focused on climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Shell's <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">branded content</span> about its emissions scenario in The New York Times</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shell’s branded content about its “Sky” emissions scenario in The New York Times.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The

research suggests that Total maintains the highest proportion of its

branding activities on climate (29 percent),” the new report finds. “<b>Following

this, ExxonMobil, which has faced significant negative media attention

in 2018, allocates 19 percent. Shell and BP followed with 16 percent and

14 percent respectively</b>. Chevron appears far less concerned, using approximately 2 percent of its branding budget on climate issues in 2018.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

think tank’s research also looked at what the companies were saying to

government regulators, either directly or through industry groups funded

by the oil majors.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Since

Paris, Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil have led in opposition to a range of

climate-motivated policy stands,” InfluenceMap wrote. “<b>For example, in 2018 both BP and Chevron have directly lobbied U.S. policymakers for a rollback on U.S. methane requirements</b>.” (Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the major constituent in natural gas.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The

report credits Shell and Total for becoming “more positive on a number

of climate policy issues” since 2015, but adds that they “continue to

support policies that will extend the role for fossil fuels in the

energy mix and remain part of highly climate-oppositional trade

associations.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mixed Messages and Industry Trade Groups</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At

times, the public stances of a corporation’s leadership stand starkly

at odds with the messages from industry groups funded by that same

corporation.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, on electric vehicles, <b>Shell’s CEO Ben Van Beurden had a very direct and simple message in July 2018. “We need battery electric vehicles,</b>”

he said. And a year earlier, at the oil industry conference, CERAWeek,

in 2017, he expressed support for “regulations that speed up investment

in low carbon technologies and ? at the same time ? move consumer

demand.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil and gas lobbying on climate policies through trade associations. Credit: InfluenceMap, 2019</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In

May 2018, the American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. trade

group for oil and gas, pushed the U.S. Congress to move in the opposite

direction by rolling back incentives for electric vehicles.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“American Petroleum Institute (API) opposes mandates and subsidies,” API testified before the U.S. House of Representatives,</b>

according to InfluenceMap’s new report. The fossil fuel trade group

voiced its opposition for subsidies for electric vehicles, adding that

“the level of market penetration achieved by electric vehicles should

not rely on government interference.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The

report also notes the difficulty in tracking corporate lobbying in the

U.S. given the rise of so-called “dark money” groups and the lack of

transparency surrounding political contributions in the U.S. “Political

contributions that were made without full disclosure of their ultimate

source totaled $539 [million] in the 2018 election cycle</span> according to OpenSecrets.org,” the report says.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Social Influencers</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">InfluenceMap also dives deep into how companies used<b> social media</b> to influence Americans during the mid-term elections last year.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“During

this time ExxonMobil was by far the most prolific spender, racking up

over $400K in four weeks on over 360 individual political ads,”

InfluenceMap wrote. “The ads urge rejecting specific ballot initiatives

whilst promoting the benefits of increased fossil fuel production.

Facebook’s data indicates that ExxonMobil’s ads made over 10 million

‘impressions’ in this time with users in Colorado, Texas, and

Louisiana.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil industry spending on Facebook and Instagram ads leading up to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Credit: InfluenceMap, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All

of this spending has implications for shareholders, InfluenceMap

observed — and some shareholder groups appear to be listening.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“InfluenceMap’s

research confirms a widely held suspicion that Big Oil’s glossy

sustainability reports and shiny climate statements are all rhetoric and

no action,” Catherine Howarth, Chief Executive of ShareAction, a UK

charity focused on responsible investment, said in a statement

accompanying the report. “These companies have mastered the art of

corporate doublespeak — by boasting about their climate credentials

while quietly using their lobbying firepower to sabotage the

implementation of sensible climate policy and pouring millions into

groups that engage in dirty lobbying on their behalf.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeSmog has reached out to ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total, and Chevron for comment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We

firmly reject the premise of this report. We are very clear about our

support for the Paris agreement, and the steps that we are taking to

help meet society’s needs for more and cleaner energy,” Shell said in a

statement provided to The Guardian. <b>“We make no apology for talking

to policymakers and regulators around the world to make our voice heard

on crucial topics such as climate change and how to address it.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We

have not been afforded the opportunity to review the data but we

disagree with the assertion that Chevron has engaged in ‘climate-related

branding and lobbying’ that is ‘overwhelmingly in conflict’ with the

Paris Agreement,” Chevron said in a statement provided to DeSmog, adding

that the c<b>ompany was taking “prudent, cost-effective actions” and

seeking “balanced and transparent” policies to reduce greenhouse gas

pollution. “We believe climate change is real and human activity

contributes to it. We accept the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change</b>.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nrdc 2010?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Who’s Behind the Smears</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth</div><div>American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</div><div>American Council for Capital Formation</div><div>American Energy Alliance</div><div>American Enterprise Institute</div><div>Americans for Prosperity</div><div>American Legislative Exchange Council</div><div>American Solutions for Winning the Future</div><div>Atlas Economic Research Foundation</div><div>Capital Research Center</div><div>The Cato Institute</div><div>Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change</div><div>CO2isGreen</div><div>Coalition for Affordable American Energy</div><div>Competitive Enterprise Institute</div><div>Congress of Racial Equality</div><div>Energy Citizen</div><div>Fraser Institutes</div><div>FreedomWorks</div><div>Foundation for Research on Energy and Environment</div><div>Frontiers of Freedom</div><div>George C. Marshall Institute</div><div>The Heartland Institute</div><div>The Heritage Foundation</div><div>Independent Women's Forum</div><div>Institute for Energy Research</div><div>Koch Industries</div><div>Mackinack ? Center for Public Policy</div><div>The Manhattan Institute</div><div>National Black Chamber of Commerce</div><div>National Center for Policy Analysis</div><div>National Center for Public Policy Research</div><div>Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy</div><div>Property and Environment Research Center</div><div>The Reason Foundation</div><div>The Tax Foundation</div><div>Texas Public Policy Foundation</div><div>U.S. Chamber of Commerce</div><div>Washington Legal Foundation</div><div>Young America's Foundation</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/alliance-for-energy-and-economic-growth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">lliance for Energy and Economic Growth</strong></a>&nbsp;<strong style="">(AEEG)</strong>&nbsp;was created by the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S.Chamber_of_Commerce" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">U. S. Chamber Of Commerce</a></strong>&nbsp;and is led by a VIP list of companies that oppose clean energy and climate legislation.&nbsp;<strong style="">AEEG</strong>&nbsp;has organized numerous climate change "<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.yourenergyfuture.org/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">dialogues</a>" with state-level&nbsp;<strong style="">Chambers of Commerce</strong>,

which typically include industry-sponsored economic impact studies

which paint doom-and-gloom scenarios of massive job losses and higher

energy costs (<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.accf.org/pdf/NAM/NorthCarolina.pdf" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">example here</a>),

presentations that raise doubts about the science, and presentations on

the difficulty of doing anything about global warming.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/healthy_economic_growth_under.html" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Even these slanted studies actually show healthy economic growth under federal climate policy</a>,

but these results are not presented to the public. For the real story

on clean energy jobs check out NRDC economist Laurie Johnson’s&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/acela_vs_comprehensive_climate.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">blog</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="ACCF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="" /></a><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/american-council-for-capital-formation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Council For Capital Formation</a></strong>&nbsp;(ACCF) has partnered twice with the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Manufacturers" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">National Association Of Manufacturers</a></strong>&nbsp;to produce&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.accf.org/publications/126/accf-nam-study" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and disseminate distorted economic analyses that overstate the costs of climate legislation</a>&nbsp;and which have been prominently featured at the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.yourenergyfuture.org/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">US Chamber of Commerce</strong>-organized "forums"</a>&nbsp;on climate over the past year. The&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCF/NAM</strong>&nbsp;studies have been credibly&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/namaccf_distorting_their_own_d.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">debunked more than once</a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCF&nbsp;</strong>has been supported by a number of major corporate interests, including&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=77" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://archive.corporateeurope.org/docs/ICCFsupporters.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Southern Co. and the&nbsp;<strong style="">American Petroleum Institute</strong></a>.</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></font></p><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="ACCCE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font></strong></strong><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4349" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Coalition For Clean Coal Electricity</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(ACCCE)</strong>&nbsp;is the number one group representing Big Coal. Created through the renaming and merger of two former front groups,&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Balanced_Energy_Choices" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Americans For Balanced Energy Choices</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(ABEC)</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Energy_and_Economic_Development" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Center For Energy And Economic Development</a>&nbsp;(CEED)</strong>,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.cleancoalusa.org/docs/members/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">ACCCE&nbsp;</strong>members and funders</a>&nbsp;include a number of companies directly and indirectly reliant upon coal as a major source of revenue. According to&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE’s</strong>&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/521/799/2008-521799853-0595d582-9O.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2008 tax return</a>,

the group brought in $47 million in revenues, nearly 7 times what it

reported the previous year. Coal companies and the nation's biggest

railroad association accounted for&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/how_to_melt_glaciers_and_influ.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">fifty percent</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE’s</strong>&nbsp;budget in 2008.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE</strong>&nbsp;opposed the Waxman-Markey climate bill, and recently&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/duke_departs_coal_coalition_al.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Duke Energy left the group</a>&nbsp;because

of its entrenched opposition to meaningful climate legislation. The

organization's lobbying expenses in 2009 have been left murky by a

revision of their disclosure report which removed more than $10 million

from their reported expenditures on federal lobbying (see&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE</strong>'s 2nd quarter 2009 reports&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/media/ACCCE%20original.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">before</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=dbad9acd-d8ed-476e-bda8-203326f56616" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">after</a>).</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Already infamous for its campaign featuring animated&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/JustOneThing/story?id=6444773&page=1" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">lumps of coal singing Christmas carols revised to tout coal's virtues</a>,&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE</strong>'s most recent embarrassment has blown into a full-fledged scandal:&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/bonner-and-associates-long-and-undemocratic-history-astroturfing" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Bonner & Associates</a></strong>, Washington DC's most famous 'astroturf' consulting firms, was forced to admit that it had produced and sent&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/accce-coal-lobby-drops-bonner-associates-over-forged-letters" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">forged letters</a>&nbsp;to members of Congress opposing clean energy and climate legislation, on behalf of&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE</strong>. The scandal has resulted in Rep. Edward Markey's House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0146" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">investigate</a>&nbsp;<strong style="">ACCCE'</strong>s campaign.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="api" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="aee" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="ier" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="naom" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="AEA" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="" /></a><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Alliance" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Energy Alliance</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(AEA)</strong>&nbsp;is a 501(c)4 political action group the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?search=national+association+of+manufacturers&ns0=1&title=Special%3ASearch&fulltext=Search&fulltext=Search" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">National Association Of Manufacturers</a></strong>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Petroleum Institute</a></strong>&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978735-2,00.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">formed to fight the Clinton administration's</a>&nbsp;BTU tax proposal in 1993, and in recent years funded by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.npr.org/blogs/secretmoney/2008/09/udall_radio_ad.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil and Koch Industries</a>. Now coupled with the 501(c) (3)&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Institute_for_Energy_Research" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Institute For Energy Research</a></strong>&nbsp;and run by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.npr.org/blogs/secretmoney/2008/09/udall_radio_ad.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thomas Pyle</a>,

(former aide to Republican Tom DeLay and former lobbyist for Koch

Industries and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association)

veteran oil lobbyist.&nbsp;<strong style="">AEA&nbsp;</strong>has been active in the climate debate, from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/who_are_these_guys_yet_more_po.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">running ads repeating false claims about the costs of climate legislation</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/08/22/dirty-energy-town-hall/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">trashing clean energy at town halls</a>&nbsp;around the US - this time&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/us_govt_debunks_spanish_study.html" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">using false claims about the dangers of clean energy jobs</a>.</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></font></p><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="AEI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font></strong></strong><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AEI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Enterprise Institute</a>&nbsp;</strong>(AEI)<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>has a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=9" title="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">long track record</a>&nbsp;of distorting the science and solutions of climate change. Its&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.aei.org/ra/5" title="http://www.aei.org/ra/5" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">arguments</a>&nbsp;tend

to de-emphasize the environmental and economic risks of climate change,

exaggerate the costs of addressing the problem and question the value

of putting a policy in place at all, as this recent&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.aei.org/article/101050" title="http://www.aei.org/article/101050" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wall Street Journal op-ed</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<strong style="">AEI</strong>&nbsp;fellow Steven Hayward. In 2007, the British newspaper&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/feb/02/frontpagenews.climatechange" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Guardian</a>&nbsp;reported that&nbsp;<strong style="">AEI&nbsp;</strong>was offering to pay scientists $10,000 to debunk global warming.&nbsp;<strong style="">AEI</strong>&nbsp;has received substantial funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and has received tobacco funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/cgi/getdoc?tid=cuo83c00&fmt=gif&ref=results&title=PUBLIC%20POLICY%20GROUPS&bates=2065244019" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Philip Morris</a>.&nbsp;</font></strong></strong></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="ALEC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a>&nbsp;(ALEC)&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>is&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Energy_Publication" title="http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Energy_Publication" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">one-stop shopping</a>&nbsp;for elected officials interested in perusing the wares of an array of Koch-funded opposition organizations including&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Institute_for_Energy_Research" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Institute for Energy Research</strong>&nbsp;</a>,&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/american-council-for-capital-formation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Council For Capital Formation</a>,</strong>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mercatus_Center" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Mercatus Center</a></strong>&nbsp;and other sources.&nbsp;<strong style="">ALEC&nbsp;</strong>publishes its own materials as well, including a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/energy/CCOverview.pdf" title="http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/energy/CCOverview.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Climate Change Overview for State Legislators”</a>&nbsp;which

downplays the science and risks of global warming and exaggerates the

costs of addressing it. The Overview was written by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=1211" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Daniel Simmons</a>, who moved from&nbsp;<strong style="">ALEC&nbsp;</strong>to become the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/08/22/dirty-energy-town-hall" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Energy Alliance’s&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</strong>Director of State Affairs.&nbsp;<strong style="">ALEC<a name="aei" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="pe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="aswf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;</a></strong>has received&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funding</a>&nbsp;from ExxonMobil and has been associated with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/r/t/j/rtj27a00/Srtj27a00.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>.&nbsp;</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="ASWF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/07/29/newt-aswf-billionaires" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">American Solutions for Winning the Future</strong></a>, a 527 political organization chaired by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newt_Gingrich" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Newt Gingrich</a>, has been fighting clean energy for several years.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peabody_Energy" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Peabody Energy</b></a>, the world's largest coal company and one of the groups biggest backers, has&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?ein=205457079&cycle=2008" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">contributed $250,000</a>&nbsp;in

the most recent 2010 election cycle to support American Solutions'

activities. The oil and gas company Devon Energy also contributed&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2010&ein=205457079" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">$250,000</a>, while Arch Coal, the utility American Electric Power and oil services company Plains Exploration and Production&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2010&ein=205457079" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">gave $100,000</a>&nbsp;each. Recently,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/201004290004" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Media Matters</a>&nbsp;reported

the group tried to downplay the impact of the Gulf oil disaster oil by

claiming natural oil leaks in the Gulf are greater than the blown oil

well in the Gulf. But as the oil spews into the ocean at a rate many

times higher than first estimated, no oil-whether man made or natural-is

good for the ocean environment. The Gingrich group also has been

attacking the American Power Act as a gas tax that would hurt the

economy, a specious claim&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/new_study_predicts_increased_e.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">debunked</a>&nbsp;by the recent economic report by the Peterson Institute. In 2009, American Solutions ran a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/behind_the_wingnut_attacks_on.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">misleading TV advertisement</a>&nbsp;against the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2454/show" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">American Clean Energy and Security Act</a>&nbsp;shortly before it was passed by the US House in June,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/behind_the_wingnut_attacks_on.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">organized an email-drive</a>&nbsp;targeting members of Congress and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.americansolutions.com/take-action/2009/06/complete-the-5-for-5-stop-the-energy-tax-challenge.php" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">continues to collect signatures and mobilize</a>&nbsp;its followers to oppose clean energy and climate legislation.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="AFP" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Americans for Prosperity</strong></a>&nbsp;<strong style="">(AFP)</strong>&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/americans_for_prosperity_astro_1.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">front-group</a>&nbsp;founded and funded by members of the family that owns&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.polluterwatch.com/2010/02/polluters-charles-and-david-koch-admit-it-they-fund-front-groups-to-deny-climate-science" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Industries</a>,

one of the largest privately-held companies in the world, with $100

billion in sales and 70,000 employees. According to an extensive&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries" target="_blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">investigative report</a>&nbsp;by

Greenpeace, AFP received more than $5 million from Koch family

foundations from 2005-2008. In 2008, Koch Industries executive vp and

board member the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/521/527/2008-521527294-0551517d-9.pdf" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">David H. Koch</a>&nbsp;was listed as chairman of the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/52-1527294/americans-prosperity-foundation.aspx" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Americans for Prosperity Foundation</strong></a>. Various members of the Koch family make up of the most consistent sources of&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/koch-industries-funding-anti-climate-agenda-and-now-democratic-senators" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funding</a>&nbsp;of opposition to clean energy, including&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/americans-prosperity-history-research-background-funding" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">$1,000,000 to&nbsp;<strong style="">AFP</strong>&nbsp;in recent years</a>. Beginning in 2008,&nbsp;<strong style="">AFP</strong>&nbsp;organized Astroturf&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/2008_summer_of_no_love.html" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"hot air balloon"</a>&nbsp;events to highlight their opposition to clean energy and climate legislation, a tactic they resumed in the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.americansforprosperity.org/082409-afp-takes-its-hot-air-balloon-tour-out-west-expose-hidden-energy-tax-hike-cap-and-trade-legis" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">summer</a>&nbsp;of 2009. They are continuing to fund&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/americans_for_prosperity_distorting_climate_change" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">anti-climate change events</a>&nbsp;in 2010. This Astroturf campaign has been repeatedly exposed, including this item in the Wall Street Journal's&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/17/astroturfing-the-climate-bill/" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">blog</a>&nbsp;Environmental Capital.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Tax_Reform" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Americans for Tax Reform</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(ATR)&nbsp;</strong><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.atr.org/index.php?search_term=global+warming&search_submit=1&button=" title="http://www.atr.org/index.php?search_term=global+warming&search_submit=1&button=" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">denies the science of global warming and opposes federal policies to address it.</a>&nbsp;<strong style="">ATR</strong>&nbsp;focused on costs and denial in their 2008 “<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.atr.org/pdf/2008/071508ot-cogdreport.pdf" title="http://www.atr.org/pdf/2008/071508ot-cogdreport.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cost of Government</a>” report.&nbsp;<a name="caae" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">ATR</strong>&nbsp;is run by conservative Washington insider&nbsp;</a><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grover_Norquist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Grover Norquist</a>, who once wrote a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://cei.org/gencon/027,03051.cfm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">letter</a>&nbsp;along with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/wiki/index.php/Deniers:Competitive_Enterprise_Institute(CEI)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Competitive Enterprise Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;demanding

that the Bush Administration withdraw its Climate Action Report 2002

posted on the EPA website because it was based on “junk science.”&nbsp;<strong style="">ATR</strong>&nbsp;has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=90" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/x/k/l/xkl95c00/Sxkl95c00.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=APCO_Worldwide" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">APCO Asssociates</strong>,&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;now APCO Worldwide, was a PR agency that partnered with&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/w/q/q/wqq02a00/Swqq02a00.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Philip Morris</a>&nbsp;to develop grassroots and science front groups such as&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/2045930493-0504.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(TASSC)</strong>. It supported&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/2045930493-0504.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry views</a>&nbsp;on regulation and other anti-regulatory efforts on topics such as&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/astroturf-the-only-grass-that-withstands-toxic-friends-of-science" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">global warming.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;<strong style="">TASSC</strong>&nbsp;was headed by junk science king and climate science denier&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_J.Milloy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Steve Milloy</a>, who still is hosted on&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/will-fox-news-stop-peddling-junk-science" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fox News</a>&nbsp;shows as a science expert on global warming.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="AERF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/atlas-shrugs-exxon-launches-new-blitz-false-prophets" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Atlas Economic Research Foundation</strong></a>&nbsp;has cosponsored&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://atlasnetwork.org/networknews/2009/01/15/atlas-cosponsors-heartland-ecent-on-climate-change/" title="http://atlasnetwork.org/networknews/2009/01/15/atlas-cosponsors-heartland-ecent-on-climate-change/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Heartland&nbsp; Institute&nbsp;</strong>events</a>&nbsp;dedicated to the proposition that climate change is not a crisis and has&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/atlas_economic_research_foundation" title="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/atlas_economic_research_foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">supported organizations such as the&nbsp;<strong style="">John Locke Foundation</strong></a>,&nbsp; a group that has attacked efforts by state elected officials working on climate solutions with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=104" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Alliance&nbsp; for Climate Strategies</strong></a><strong style="">.</strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">Atlas</strong>&nbsp;has helped spawn dozens of conservative libertarian think tanks such as the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manhattan_Institute_for_Policy_Research" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Manhattan Institute</strong></a><strong style="">.</strong>&nbsp;Atlas has received money from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Atlas_Economic_Research_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Philip Morris</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=17" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CSCDGC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">The&nbsp;</strong><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_the_Study_of_Carbon_Dioxide_and_Global_Change" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>is run by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=14" title="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=14" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sherwood Idso</a>&nbsp;and his sons&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=15" title="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=15" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Craig</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=16" title="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=16" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Keith</a>, long-time climate science deniers. The Center runs the science denial site&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=24" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">CO2 Science</strong></a>. The group has worked with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=88" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Greening Earth Society</strong></a>, founded by the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Western_Fuels_Association" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Western Fuels Association</strong></a>. It also has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=24" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CO2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Per its unapologetically Orwellian name,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.co2isgreen.org/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">CO2isGreen</strong></a>&nbsp;runs

anti-climate/clean energy advertisements reflecting the strident

climate science denial sentiments of the oil and coal executives who run

it. H. Leighton Steward is chairman of CO2IsGreen.org and the related

front group&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.plantsneedco2.org/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">PlantsNeedCO2.org</strong></a>. Steward has worked at&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.samoversandshakers.com/guests/dr-h-leghton-steward/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Shell

and Burlington Resources. He has chaired the U.S. Oil and Gas

Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association, and the Louisiana Mid

Continent Oil and Gas Association</a>. Steward currently serves on the board of&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.eogresources.com/about/board_off.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">the oil and gas company EOG Resources</a>. In 2001, Steward was&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.api.org/Newsroom/2007-goldmedal.cfm" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">awarded</a>&nbsp;the American Petroleum Institute's Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092404797.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Washington Post reports:</a>&nbsp;"Steward

has joined forces with Corbin J. Robertson Jr., chief executive of and

leading shareholder in Natural Resource Partners, a Houston-based owner

of coal resources that lets other companies mine in return for

royalties."&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.astrotruth.org/big-oil/co2-is-green/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">According to Astrotruth.org:</a>&nbsp;"[Robertson] is the CEO of Natural Resources Partners L.P., which belongs to the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fightcleanenergysmears.org/behind_the_smears.cfm#ACCCE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity</strong></a>.

ACCCE is a 'pro coal group' that is linked to at least thirteen

fraudulent letters mailed to members of Congress purporting to be from

seniors, veterans, African American, Latino and Women's organizations

expressing opposition to ACES. In 2008, ACCCE spent at least $45 million

on a clean coal advertising campaign, and during the first two quarters

of 2009, ACCCE has spent over a million dollars in direct federal

lobbying."</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CAAE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A46598-2000Jan28" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Coalition for Affordable American Energy</strong></a>&nbsp;<strong style="">(CAAE)</strong>&nbsp;is a coalition of more than 180 trade associations sponsored by the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chamber_of_Commerce" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">U. S. Chamber of Commerce</strong></a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Manufacturers" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">National Association of Manufacturers</strong></a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">CAAE</strong>&nbsp;is chiefly responsible for a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.uschamber.com/publications/reports/090428_climateprovision.htm" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">misleading study</a>&nbsp;projecting&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/industry-funded-study-predicts-economic-doom-obama-climate-proposal" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">job losses and increased energy costs</a>, under an Obama energy plan, and they won&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-12-092.asp" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">praise from President George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;for their support of offshore domestic oil drilling.&nbsp;<strong style="">CAAE</strong>&nbsp;was formed in 2008 to push for a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/14/AR2008071402259.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">pro-oil drilling agenda</a>&nbsp;with industry heavyweights.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="Atlas" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><a name="CRC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=20" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Capital Research Center</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(CRC)&nbsp;</strong>runs the<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.capitalresearch.org/gw/index2.html" title="http://www.capitalresearch.org/gw/index2.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">GreenWatch.org</a>&nbsp;website collects information on non-profit environmental advocates, and is heavily biased against climate science.<a name="exxon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="core" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;<strong style="">CRC&nbsp;</strong>has taken funding from&nbsp;</a><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=20" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Capital_Research_Center_and_the_tobacco_industry" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Philip Morris</a>.&nbsp;</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CATO" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=21" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Cato Institute</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>tends to focus on&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/cato-institute-and-patrick-michaels-its-small-world-after-all" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">disputing the science</a>&nbsp;behind global warming and questioning the rationale for taking action. The organization’s 2009&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb111/hb111-45.pdf" title="http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb111/hb111-45.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Handbook for Policymakers”</a>&nbsp;on

global warming begins with the suggestions that Congress should “pass

no legislation restricting emissions of carbon dioxide” and “inform the

public about how little climate change would be prevented by proposed

legislation.”&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/robert-l-bradley-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Robert Bradley</a>, an adjunct scholar at the&nbsp;<strong style="">Cato Institute</strong>, is also a founder and the CEO of the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fightcleanenergysmears.org/behind_the_smears.cfm#IER#IER" title="blocked::#IER" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Institute for Energy Research</strong></a>. In 2007 the&nbsp;<strong style="">Cato Foundation</strong>&nbsp;gave&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/237/237432162/237432162_200803_990.pdf" title="http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/237/237432162/237432162_200803_990.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">$120,000</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_Hope_Environmental_Services" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New Hope Environmental Services</a>, a "an advocacy science consulting firm" founded and run by long-time climate science denier&nbsp;<a name="PatrickMichaels" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=4" title="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=4" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Patrick J. Michaels</a>, who uses New Hope to public his&nbsp;<i>World Climate Report</i>, a sort of ongoing journal of denial of climate science. Michaels is also a senior fellow at the&nbsp;<strong style="">Cato Institute</strong>, which paid him&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_J.Michaels" title="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_J.Michaels" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">$98,000</a>&nbsp;to write a book “The Satanic Gases” with fellow skeptic Robert Balling. Over the years, Michaels’ work has been&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_J.Michaels" title="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_J.Michaels" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">financed by a number of coal and polluter interests</a>, including the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Western_Fuels_Association" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Western Fuels Association</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Intermountain_Rural_Electric_Association" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Intermountain Rural Electric Association</strong></a><strong style="">.</strong>&nbsp;According to an&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">investigative report</a>&nbsp;by Greenpeace,&nbsp;<strong style="">Cato</strong>&nbsp;received family foundation grants from oil services giant&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Industries</a>&nbsp;worth $3,358,000 between 1997 and 2008.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=25" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(CFACT)</strong>&nbsp;is a major critic of climate science and helped organize a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Copenhagen_Climate_Challenge" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">conference</a>&nbsp;during the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen to dispute ongoing efforts to combat global warming.&nbsp;<strong style="">CFACT&nbsp;</strong>advisors include&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=4" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Patrick Michaels</a>,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=12" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Michael Fumento</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/dennis-avery" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dennis Avery</a>, major critical voices of climate change science.&nbsp;<strong style="">CFACT</strong>&nbsp;has been&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Committee_for_a_Constructive_Tomorrow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funded</a>&nbsp;by conservative foundations and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=25" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon</a>, among others.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CEI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Competitive Enterprise Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;is

one of the oldest conservative think tanks dating back to the Reagan

years of the 1980s. It has also been closely involved in putting out

misinformation about global warming, and stated a front group called

the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/myron-ebell" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cooler Heads Coalition</a>&nbsp;in

1997, a group of conservative and fossil fuel funded organizations

opposed to efforts to implement clean energy regulations and cut global

CO2 emissions. CEI has been a major recipient of funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon</a>&nbsp;and other oil companies. Last year, CEI was behind the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/the_competitive_enterprise_ins.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">specious claim</a>&nbsp;that

the government was hiding evidence that fighting global warming would

cost more than it was saying publicly. CEI has also jumped on the

hackergate bandwagon making&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://mediamatters.org/research/201003310031" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">outrageous claims</a>&nbsp;that the stolen emails were proof that global warming was a fraud. CEI was also a close ally of Philip Morris and has received&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hundreds of thousands of dollars</a>&nbsp;in grants from Big Tobacco.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fightcleanenergysmears.org/pdfs/cei.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Read more</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="CORE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congress_of_Racial_Equality" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Congress of Racial Equality</strong></a>&nbsp;<strong style="">(CORE)</strong>&nbsp;was founded in 1942 to champion civil rights. Its chairman and CEO is&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/roy-innis" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Roy Innis</a>, also on the board of the conservative&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Hudson_Institute" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Hudson Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;which receives funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/koch-industries-inc" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Industries</a>. Between 2003 and 2006,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=111" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;donated more than $275,000 to&nbsp;<strong style="">CORE</strong>, including for projects described as "Global Climate Change Environmental Outreach."&nbsp;<strong style="">CORE</strong>&nbsp;has focused on opposing clean energy and climate legislation by claiming it would&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.eenews.net/tv/transcript/838" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">raise energy prices disproportionately for minorities</a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">CORE's</strong>&nbsp;original founders have&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/congress-on-racial-equality-core" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">criticized the organization for "renting out" its reputation</a>&nbsp;to companies like ExxonMobil.<a name="free" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a name="ec" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a name="ec" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=93" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">The Cooler Heads Coalition</strong></a>&nbsp;is a loose association of more than a dozen conservative climate skeptic groups and publishes the website&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.globalwarming.org/about" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">globalwarming.org.</a>&nbsp; It was hosted and financed by the anti-regulatory group&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=93" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Consumer Alert</strong></a>&nbsp;and is chaired by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/myron-ebell" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Myron Ebell</a>, who directs the global warming and energy policy program at the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Competitive Enterprise Institute</strong></a>.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="EC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font></font></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Energy_Citizens" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Energy Citizens</strong></a>&nbsp;is a "grass roots" campaign against climate and energy legislation which has&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.grist.org/article/2009-08-21-energy-citizens-rallies-organized-by-industry-lobbyists" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">organized rallies</a>&nbsp;in the Midwest and South during the August Congressional recess. The&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2009/08/12/2" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Energy Citizens</strong>&nbsp;coalition</a>&nbsp;includes business and industry groups and conservative advocacy organizations like&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FreedomWorks" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Freedomworks</strong></a><strong style="">.&nbsp;</strong>Greenpeace USA recently exposed&nbsp;<strong style="">Energy Citizens'</strong>&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/GP%20API%20letter%20August%202009-1.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funding ties to the oil industry</a>, including the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">American Petroleum Institute</strong></a>.</font></font></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="FI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/fraser-institute-ipcc-london-report" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Fraser Institute</strong></a>, a Canadian based anti-regulatory think tank, publishes in-depth critiques of climate science, including a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.realclimate.org/FraserAnnotated.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">110-page report</a>&nbsp;attacking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ipcc.ch/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">report</a>. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Institute</strong>&nbsp;also offers&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fraserinstitute.org/researchandpublications/publications/6819.aspx" title="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/researchandpublications/publications/6819.aspx" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">lesson plans</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fraserinstitute.org/newsandevents/news/5184.aspx" title="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/newsandevents/news/5184.aspx" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">educational materials</a>&nbsp;designed to encourage children to be skeptical of mainstream climate science<a name="da" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Fraser Institute</strong>&nbsp;has sought funding from the&nbsp;</a><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/lbc53a99" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>&nbsp;and has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=107" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="FW" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedomworks" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">FreedomWorks</strong></a>&nbsp;is an Astroturf campaign organization run by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dick_Armey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dick Armey</a>, former Republican House Majority Leader and noted corporate lobbyist. In 2004&nbsp;<strong style="">FreedomWorks</strong>&nbsp;merged with&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Citizens for a Sound Economy</strong></a>, a major advocacy group founded by oil services giant&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.polluterwatch.com/?s=koch" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Industries</a>&nbsp;executive David Koch.&nbsp;<strong style="">Freedomworks</strong>&nbsp;has been a driving force behind the anti-healthcare, anti-tax,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/lobbying-clients-teaparties/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">anti-clean energy opposition groups</a>&nbsp;showing up at town halls and rallies across the states, and it has asked its "grass roots activists" to send a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.freedomworks.org/press-releases/help-us-stop-the-national-energy-tax" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">letter</a>&nbsp;to members of Congress. In 2009&nbsp;<strong style="">Freedomworks</strong>&nbsp;joined the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4451" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Energy Citizens</strong></a>&nbsp;coalition, which is funded in part by the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">American Petroleum Institute</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>and other organizations.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.fightcleanenergysmears.org/pdfs/freedomworks.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Read More</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="FFF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=35" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Frontiers of Freedom Foundation&nbsp;</strong></a><strong style="">(FF)</strong>&nbsp;was formed in 1996 by former Wyoming Senator Malcolm Wallop as an anti-regulatory&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Frontiers_of_Freedom" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">think tank</a>. It has hosted some 55 articles on its website focusing on&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=13&Itemid=68" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate science denial</a>&nbsp;and high estimates of the cost of climate policy.&nbsp;<strong style="">Frontiers of Freedom&nbsp;</strong>reinforced the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tax_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Tax Foundation’s</strong></a>&nbsp;characterization of cap-and-trade as a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=464" title="http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=464" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tax on the poor and middle class</a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">FF</strong>&nbsp;also&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=451&Itemid=76" title="http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=451&Itemid=76" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">smears</a>&nbsp;climate science and spreads&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=440&Itemid=76" title="http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=440&Itemid=76" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate disinformation</a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">FF</strong>&nbsp;has worked closely with and has been funded by the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/tjj68c00/pdf?search=%22frontiers%20of%20freedom%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=35" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="FREE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FREE" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Foundation for Research on Energy and the Environment</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(FREE)</strong>&nbsp;sponsors

controversial seminars for federal judges that promote “free market

environmentalism,” events that have been criticized for creating

judicial conflicts of interest.&nbsp;<strong style="">FREE</strong>&nbsp;states it

does not accept direct corporate support for its judicial seminars and

only takes money from foundations whose founder is deceased (called

dead-men foundations). A Koch&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.communityrights.org/TaintedJustice/Chap3.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">report</a>&nbsp;on its&nbsp;<strong style="">FREE&nbsp;</strong>funding raised questions about the accuracy of the disclosure.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="GCMI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=36" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">George C. Marshall Institute</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>produced a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=729" title="http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=729" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Cocktail Conversation Guide”</a>&nbsp;on with suggestions for denying the dangers of global warming in any “social setting.” The&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/George_C_Marshall_Institute" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Marshall Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;was

originally established in the 1980s to promote President Reagan’s Star

wars program but in recent years it has increasingly turned its

attention to climate change. It has promoted climate skeptic&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/patrick-michaels" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Patrick Michaels</a>&nbsp;books on its website and has received substantial funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=36" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>. Its former chairman was&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/frederick-seitz-dead" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Frederick Seitz</a>, a climate skeptic and former tobacco consultant.&nbsp;</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="heartland" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">The&nbsp;</strong><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=41" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Heartland Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;is a conservative think tank that strongly criticizes climate science and runs a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">web site</a>&nbsp;that includes misleading information about the science behind climate change.&nbsp;<strong style="">Heartland</strong>&nbsp;has hosted annual&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Third_International_Conference_on_Climate_Change" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">conferences</a>&nbsp;to dispute consensus agreements around climate change. It also promoted the faulty Spanish green jobs&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/imported_lies_debunking_the_sp.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">study</a>&nbsp;that was debunked by experts.&nbsp;<strong style="">Heartland</strong>&nbsp;is funded by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heartland_Institute" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">conservative foundations</a>&nbsp;and fossil fuel companies such as&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=41" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon.</a>&nbsp;It has received funding from and been a frequent ally of the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/mmr57d00/pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry.</a></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="HF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">The&nbsp;</strong><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=42" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Heritage Foundation</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>is a mainstay of misinformation and exaggeration when it comes to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/cda0904.cfm" title="http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/cda0904.cfm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.heritage.org/Research/tradeandeconomicfreedom/wm2408.cfm" title="http://www.heritage.org/Research/tradeandeconomicfreedom/wm2408.cfm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">policy</a>&nbsp;issues. In the last couple of years,&nbsp;<strong style="">Heritage</strong>&nbsp;has&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/heritage_foundation_torturing.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/heritage_foundation_torturing.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">misinterpreted of the impacts of global warming on the US economy</a>, twisted news reports to justify scary claims about&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/heritage_foundation_fools_itse.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/heritage_foundation_fools_itse.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">‘climate taxes’</a>,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/a_heritage_of_shame.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ljohnson/a_heritage_of_shame.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">issued bad economic analyses and deceptive presentations</a>, and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/astevenson/the_heritage_foundations_clima.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/astevenson/the_heritage_foundations_clima.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">released exaggerated claims about economic ruin</a>&nbsp;and impacts in the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/slyutse/beyond_offsets_benefits_to_us.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/slyutse/beyond_offsets_benefits_to_us.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">agricultural sector</a>&nbsp;should Congress pass climate legislation. This is only a representative sample. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Heritage Foundation</strong>&nbsp;also teamed up with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=115" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Institute for Energy Research</strong></a>&nbsp;to promote the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/credit_for_trying_spanish_stud.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/credit_for_trying_spanish_stud.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">widely debunked “Spanish” study.</a>&nbsp;Heritage has been funded by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=42" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco companies</a>. According to an&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">investigative report</a>&nbsp;by Greenpeace, oil services giant&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Industries</a>&nbsp;and its family foundations gave the Heritage Foundation grants worth $3,358,000 between 1997 and 2008</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="IWF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Independent_Women%27s_Forum" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Independent Women’s Forum</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;(IWF)&nbsp;</strong>spread misinformation on climate science and touts the work of&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.iwf.org/news/show/20230.html" title="http://www.iwf.org/news/show/20230.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate deniers</a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">IWF</strong>&nbsp;is run by&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nancy_Pfotenhauer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nancy Pfotenhauer</a>&nbsp;(formerly Nancy Mitchell), Koch Industries’&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?year=2000&lname=Koch+Industries&id=" title="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?year=2000&lname=Koch+Industries&id=" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">chief in-house lobbyist</a>&nbsp;from 1996 to 2001 when she left Koch to become the director of the&nbsp;<strong style="">IWF</strong>. In 2003,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://web.archive.org/web/20031119043957/http:/iwf.org/news/031028a.shtml" title="http://web.archive.org/web/20031119043957/http:/iwf.org/news/031028a.shtml" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">IWF affiliated itself&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Americans for Prosperity</strong></a>, which replaced&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=27" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Citizens for a Sound Economy</strong></a>.&nbsp;<strong style="">IWF</strong>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Independent_Women%27s_Forum" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funded</a>&nbsp;primarily by conservative foundations.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="IER" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=115" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Institute for Energy Research</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>is<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>a partner organization to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Energy_Alliance" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">American Energy Alliance</strong></a>&nbsp;that employs the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.americanenergyalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=171&Itemid=144" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">same staff</a>&nbsp;and supports misinformation trashing clean energy. It supported and promoted the “<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/credit_for_trying_spanish_stud.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/credit_for_trying_spanish_stud.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Spanish</a>” and “<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/another_response_to_the_danish.html" title="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/another_response_to_the_danish.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Danish</a>”

studies critical of clean energy jobs, both of which have been debunked

by credible sources. IER also argues that efforts to curb global

warming would&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/global-warming/" title="http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/global-warming/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">accomplish little at too great a cost</a>, promotes&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/cost-of-climate-change-policies/" title="http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/cost-of-climate-change-policies/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">ACCF/NAM</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong style="">Heritage Foundation</strong>&nbsp;studies</a>&nbsp;that exaggerate the costs of climate policy, and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2009/07/28/lost-in-translation/" title="http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2009/07/28/lost-in-translation/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">discourages U.S. leadership</a>&nbsp;on the international stage. &nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/robert-l-bradley-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Robert Bradley</strong></a>, a former Enron executive, is the CEO of IER and one of its founders.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/who_are_these_guys_yet_more_po.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Thomas Pyle</strong></a>, a former Koch and oil-industry lobbyist, is the President of IER and the&nbsp;<strong style="">American Energy Alliance</strong>, the 501c4 counterpart to IER.<a name="ifer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;One of IER's directors, Steven Hayward of the&nbsp;<strong style="" /></a><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">American Enterprise Institute</a></strong>, was exposed in 2007 for attempting to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/03/aei-letter/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">pay IPCC scientists</a>&nbsp;to criticize the IPCC's findings on climate science.IER has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=115" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></font></p><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="koch" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font></strong></strong><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Koch Industries</a>&nbsp;</strong>the

giant privately owned oil services company, is a major funder of

climate change denial groups, funneling money to organizations opposed

to climate change legislation through its foundations, the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/claude-r-lambe-foundation" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Claude R. Lambe Foundation</strong></a>; the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/charles-g-koch-foundation" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Charles G. Koch Foundation</strong></a>; and the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/david-h-koch-foundation" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">David H. Koch Foundation</strong></a>. According to a thorough&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">investigative report</a>&nbsp;released

by Greenpeace, Koch foundations have doled out more than $48 million to

group to promote its pro-oil agenda. These include the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/mercatus-center" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Mercatus Center</strong></a>&nbsp;(1997-2008: $9,874,500),&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/americans-for-prosperity-found" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP)</strong></a>&nbsp;($5,176,500 from 2005-2008),&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/the-heritage-foundation" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">The Heritage Foundation</strong></a>&nbsp;(grants worth $3,358,000 between 1997 and 2008), and the&nbsp;<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/cato-institute" target="blank" class="gray" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Cato Institute</strong></a>&nbsp;(foundation grants of $5,278,400 between 1997 and 2008).</font></strong></strong></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="MCPP" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=50" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Mackinac Center For Public Policy</a>&nbsp;</strong>is a large conservative think tank in Michigan that spreads climate change&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=8512" title="http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=8512" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">denials</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=9472" title="http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=9472" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">smears</a>&nbsp;prominent climate policy consultants. It has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=50" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil.</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="MI" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong></a><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=51" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Manhattan Institute</a>,&nbsp;</strong>founded by former CIA Chief William Casey,<strong style="">&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>publishes&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.manhattan-institute.org/energymyths/myth10.htm" title="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/energymyths/myth10.htm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate science denials</a>&nbsp;and has hosted&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/disingenuous-environmentalist-offers-solution-no-funding-model" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bjorn Lomborg</a>, a favorite of climate deniers, in the last several years. The Manhattan Institute has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=51" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/hsx14d00/pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco companies</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="NCPA" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=55" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">National Center For Policy Analysis</a>&nbsp;(NCPA)&nbsp;</strong>disseminates&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.nationalcenter.org/Kyoto.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">climate science denials</a>&nbsp;and exaggerates the economic costs of mitigation.&nbsp;<strong style="">NCPA</strong>&nbsp;is an&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Center_for_Policy_Analysis" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">anti-regulatory think tank</a>&nbsp;that has attacked efforts to combat global warming. It was caught up in the web around convicted Washington lobbyist&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062401080.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jack Abramoff</a>, who used the organization as part of a scheme to defraud Indian tribes. The Center also has received&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/z/o/o/zoo67c00/Szoo67c00.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco funding&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;from Philip Morris, as well oil companies such as&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=59" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil.</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="NCPP" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The&nbsp;<strong style="" /></a><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.nationalcenter.org/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">National Center For Public Policy Research</a></strong>&nbsp;is an anti-regulatory think tank that has attacked efforts to&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.nationalcenter.org/Kyoto.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">combat global warming</a>. It was caught up in the web around convicted Washington lobbyist&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062401080.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jack Abramoff</a>, who used the organization as part of a scheme to defraud Indian tribes. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Center</strong>&nbsp;also has received&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/z/o/o/zoo67c00/Szoo67c00.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco funding&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;from Philip Morris, as well oil companies such as&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=59" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon.</a></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="PRIPP" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pacific_Research_Institute_for_Public_Policy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy</strong></a><strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>(<strong style="">PRIPP</strong>),<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>based in San Francisco,<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>supported and funded&nbsp;<i><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.aconvenientfiction.com/" title="http://www.aconvenientfiction.com/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An Inconvenient Truth…or Convenient Fiction</a>,&nbsp;</i>a

film attacking the science of global warming and intended as a rebuttal

to former Vice-President Al Gore’s documentary. The film was produced

by&nbsp;<strong style="">PRIPP</strong>&nbsp;Senior Fellow&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=46" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Steven Hayward</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.heritage.org/press/events/ev041807a.cfm" title="http://www.heritage.org/press/events/ev041807a.cfm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">promoted</a>&nbsp;by the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=42" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Heritage Foundation</a></strong>.&nbsp;<strong style="">PRIPP</strong>&nbsp;has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=61" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and from the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cee34e00/pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>.</font></strong></strong></p><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="PERC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font></strong></strong><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=62" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Property And Environment Research Center</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(PERC)</strong>&nbsp;is a private property rights think tank based in Bozeman, MT. It touts the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.perc.org/articles/article906.php" title="http://www.perc.org/articles/article906.php" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">economic benefits</a>&nbsp;to American farmers as a reason not to act against climate change.&nbsp;<strong style="">PERC</strong>&nbsp;has been a part of the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cooler_Heads_Coalition" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cooler Heads Coalition</a>&nbsp;and has taken funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=62" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobi</a>l.</font></strong></strong></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="NBCC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=113" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">National Black Chamber Of Commerce</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(NBCC)</strong>&nbsp;and its president&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=1094" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Harry C. Alford</a>&nbsp;have vigorously opposed&nbsp; H.R. 2454, participating in&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.nationalbcc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=814:houston-chronicle-3500-people-rally-against-the-climate-change-bill-in-downtown-houston&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=7" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">rallies</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=3f34f593-8c87-46f2-bba7-f622481ecfb2" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">testifying before Congress</a>. In a recent Senate hearing, Alford recently called Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://climateprogress.org/2009/07/17/black-chamber-of-commerce-ceo-alford-calls-barbara-boxer-a-racist-stop-future-hurricane-katrinas/" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">racist</a>&nbsp;for her comments about NAACP's support of the climate change legislation.&nbsp;<strong style="">NBCC</strong>&nbsp;has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=113" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/f/i/r/fir86d00/Sfir86d00.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry.</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=65" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Science And Environmental Policy Project</a>&nbsp;(SEPP)&nbsp;</strong>was founded by<strong style="">&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=S.Fred_Singer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Fred Singer</a>,&nbsp;</strong>a leading climate science skeptic, and was originally associated with the Unification Church. Singer, who also worked with the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/no-apology-is-owed-dr-s-fred-singer-and-none-will-be-forthcoming" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>, worked closely with a variety of climate skeptic groups, including the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=21" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Cato Institute</a></strong>,&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Competitive Enterprise Institute</a></strong>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=42" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Heritage Foundation</a></strong>.&nbsp;<strong style="">SEPP</strong>&nbsp;received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=65" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="RF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Reason_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">The Reason Foundation</a>,&nbsp;</strong>publisher of Reason Magazine,<strong style="">&nbsp;</strong>promotes the tenets of&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://reason.org/news/show/1003118.html" title="http://reason.org/news/show/1003118.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Free Market Environmentalism (FME)”</a>&nbsp;to

argue that those who suffer from the effects of global warming have

little legal or moral claim for compensation from GHG emitters. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Reason Foundation</strong>&nbsp;received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=63" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/tsa90b00/pdf?search=%22reason%20foundation%20pm%20funding%22" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry.</a></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="TF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tax_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">The Tax Foundation&nbsp;</a></strong>&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/25104.html" title="http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/25104.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">opposed ACESA</a>&nbsp;and issued a&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/24472.html" title="http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/24472.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">study</a>&nbsp;on the costs of cap and trade legislation.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wayne_Gable" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wayne Gable</a>, a former Managing Director of Federal Affairs at Koch Industries, served as president of the&nbsp;<strong style="">Tax Foundation</strong>&nbsp;from 1989-1991.&nbsp; He is now on the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/board/feed" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">board</a>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=115" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Institute For Energy Research</a></strong>. The&nbsp;<strong style="">Tax Foundation</strong>&nbsp;has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/files/gcr_contributions_public_policy08.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="TPPF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Texas Public Policy Foundation</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(TPPF)</strong>&nbsp;fellows recently wrote on&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.texaspolicy.com/commentaries_single.php?report_id=2771" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">why reducing global warming pollution won't work</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.texaspolicy.com/commentaries_single.php?report_id=2768" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">devastating impact the American Clean Energy and Security Act would have</a>&nbsp;on all aspects of American life. It has received&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funding</a>&nbsp;from conservative foundations and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=68" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon.</a></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="USCC" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">The&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._Chamber_of_Commerce" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">US Chamber Of Commerce</a>&nbsp;(The Chamber)</strong>&nbsp;wouldn't

ordinarily make a list of front groups since in general it is what it

claims: a representative of business interests. However, in the case of

the climate debate,&nbsp;<strong style="">The Chamber</strong>&nbsp;presents the

positions of three of America's biggest coal producers as representative

of the entire body, a misrepresentation that some members have&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22101.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">complained</a>&nbsp;about. In fact,&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/the_us_chambers_fringe_climate_1.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nineteen of&nbsp;<strong style="">The Chamber's</strong>&nbsp;board members</a>&nbsp;support federal policy on climate, while only four—including those three coal companies—oppose it.&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/climate_scopes_trial_the_chamb.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="">The Chamber's</strong>&nbsp;calls to hold a “Scopes Monkey” trial on global warming science</a>&nbsp;evidence that the body has chosen to present the views of a few coal companies as representing US business in general. This&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/are_chamber_of_commerce_presid.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">analysis</a>&nbsp;connects the dots between Union Pacific Railroad and its support for UP Director and&nbsp;<strong style="">Chamber</strong>&nbsp;President Tom Donohue, dirty coal and&nbsp;<strong style="">The Chamber's</strong>&nbsp;anti-climate legislation stance.&nbsp;<strong style="">The Chamber</strong>&nbsp;spent&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/08/nation/la-na-chamber9-2010mar09" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">$144 million</a>&nbsp;on lobbying in 2009, a 60% increase from 2008.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="WLF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=69" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">The Washington Legal Foundation</a></strong>&nbsp;<strong style="">(WLF)</strong>&nbsp;publishes

articles on the business threats posed by regulation of global warming

pollution, such as vulnerability to tort claims.&nbsp;<strong style="">WLF</strong>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_Legal_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">funded</a>&nbsp;by conservative foundations and has received funding from the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu:8080/g/b/u/gbu94b00/Sgbu94b00.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tobacco industry</a>&nbsp;and has received money from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=69" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Exxon</a>.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a name="YAF" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_America%27s_Foundation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Young America’s Foundation</a>&nbsp;(YAF)&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;publishes climate-denial creeds and&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.yaf.org/SpeakerDetails.aspx?id=279&terms=climate" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">promotes</a>&nbsp;prominent climate-denier&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.desmogblog.com/chris-horner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chris Horner</a>, a senior fellow at the&nbsp;<strong style=""><a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: capitalize;">Competitive Enterprise Institute</a></strong>&nbsp;which has received funding from&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ExxonMobil.</a>&nbsp;

Horner is author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming

and Environmentalism,” and “A Field Guide to Climate Criminals.”&nbsp;<strong style="">YAF</strong>&nbsp;President&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,686064,00.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ron&nbsp;Robinson&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;is a director of&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_United" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Citizens United</a>&nbsp;and of&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a class="gray" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20150919074236/http://exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=133" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">American Conservative Union</a>, which have been skeptical of climate change.&nbsp;</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style=""><strong style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></font></strong></font></div></div>