climate denial

Governments Must Tackle Climate Disinformation, Experts Urge

November 16, 2024 Joey Grostern, DeSmog. Resist! climate crisis, climate denial, Politics and Policy, Scientist Activism

Governments around the world must take “immediate and decisive action” to tackle climate disinformation, scientists and campaign groups have urged as talks at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan enter their fourth day. A coalition of 55 climate information integrity groups and 42 leading climate scientists and experts have signed an open letter urging countries to counter the risk of false and misleading claims that are wrecking efforts to slow climate change. It comes two days after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke at COP29 arguing that “there is no national security without climate security” – and a week after the election in the United States of Donald Trump, who has previously called climate change a “hoax”.

The First Gas Utility Sued For Climate Deception

October 16, 2024 Emily Sanders, DeSmog. Resist! climate crisis, climate denial, Climate Justice, Energy, Oil and Gas Industry, Oregon, Science Denial

For the first time, a gas utility could be on the hook for its role in deceiving the public about the climate crisis. Multnomah, Oregon, has added NW Natural — Oregon’s oldest and largest supplier of “natural” gas, also known as fossil or methane gas — to the list of defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to make fossil fuel companies pay $52 billion for their role in the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome. NW Natural “has routinely misrepresented” the climate harms of gas while undermining the energy transition “in an effort to frighten customers and discourage policy makers from using their authority to protect the public,” according to the county’s amended complaint.

Climate-Science Deniers Are Plotting Against The Clean Energy Transition

March 17, 2024 Rebecca Burns, DeSmog. Educate! Big Oil, Clean Energy, climate denial, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Green Economy, Oil and Gas

Last July, a small group of rabble-rousers boarded a trio of powerboats, banners and bullhorns in hand. They were headed for the massive floating construction site of an offshore wind farm 35 miles from the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. As the boats motored through the swells, the self-styled activists broke into a chorus of pleas for the wind farm construction to cease—chants likely intended less for the still-faraway workers than for the camera there to capture footage. “Hear this message: We’re here to save the whales!” called out a man in a black polo shirt.

Climate Denial Network Behind ‘Classic Astroturf’ Farmers’ Campaign

February 8, 2024 Clare Carlile, Adam Barnett and Phoebe Cooke, DeSmog. Educate! Astroturfing, climate crisis, climate denial, European Union (EU), Farmers, Food and Agriculture

A network of climate science deniers has been accused of “hijacking” rural concerns over a new social media campaign “to save the farming industry”. ‘No Farmers, No Food’ has gained over 50,000 followers on X in the fortnight since its launch, which was framed as a response to the widespread farmers’ protests sweeping across Europe. The campaign, which started in the UK, has rapidly won support from a number of international pundits, from Canadian climate science denier Jordan Peterson, to Fox News contributor and host Tomi Lahren, who has called climate change a “hoax”. Populist politicians in the UK and elsewhere have also declared their support.

In Trial, Climatologist Confronts Climate Deniers Who Maligned His Work

January 28, 2024 Diane Bernard, DeSmog. Educate! climate denial, Climate Justice, Defamation, Legal System, Michael Mann

Twelve years after he sued two climate deniers for defamation, climate scientist Michael Mann took the stand during the second week of the trial against them in Washington, D.C. Mann’s testimony painted a picture of a respected and accomplished scientist and academic who has been deeply hurt, personally and professionally, by accusations of scientific deception. In 2012, Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn publicly accused Mann, then a professor at Penn State University, of scientific misconduct and fraud. Both Simberg — an adjunct scholar at the far-right think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has a track record of platforming climate science deniers — and Steyn —a blogger and then-frequent guest on Fox News — challenged Mann’s climate research, and likened the situation to the sexual predator scandal that shook Penn State earlier that year.

Cabinet Ministers Join Climate Science Deniers At National Conference

May 16, 2023 Joey Grostern and Adam Barnett, DeSmog. Educate! climate crisis, climate denial, Conservative, United Kingdom (UK)

The National Conservatism (NatCon) conference kicks off today in Westminster, London, featuring a roster of high-profile speakers drawn from the upper reaches of the government and the conservative right. A DeSmog analysis has found climate denial and a hostility to net zero to be a common feature among many of the individuals speaking at the three-day summit. The gathering comes as Rishi Sunak’s government – which is already off track to meet the UK’s climate commitments – pursues new fossil fuel extraction, and prominent figures in the right-wing media continue to cast doubt over net zero policy. The NatCon conference is being organised by the US-based think tank the Edmund Burke Foundation.

The New Climate Denial: Don’t Worry, Do Nothing

October 27, 2021 Julie Hollar, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Educate! climate crisis, climate denial, Media, Washington Post

Upon the release of the latest dire report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (8/9/21), the Washington Post (8/10/21) published a strongly worded editorial under the headline, “Climate Doubters Lose One of Their Last Remaining Arguments.” In it, the editorial board argued that those who say we shouldn’t “force economic disruption” because warming “might not be as bad as some fear” have lost “one of their last remaining arguments.” The IPCC report demonstrates that “experts are more certain than ever that dire consequences are coming,” the board noted, “ruling out the benign warming scenarios doubters insisted were still possible,” and concluding that governments must “eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century” to avoid the worst outcomes.

Daily movement news and resources