Yesterday
The return of Trump – a notorious climate change sceptic - seems to have emboldened the Murdoch media’s climate attack dogs.
TweetShareWhatsAppMail
Rarely does the Murdoch media need an invitation to attack environmentalists. It’s been doing it for years, whether it’s in Britain, the US, or Australia.
As DeSmog reported in 2023, Telegraph columnists routinely question climate science and criticise green reforms. In fact, DeSmog’s review of over 2,000 opinion pieces published by the Telegraph in a six-month span, showed that 85 percent of those addressing environmental issues were outright “anti-green.” They didn’t just critique climate policy, but they mocked environmental groups and denied the reality of climate science.
But the return of Trump – a notorious climate change sceptic – seems to have emboldened the Murdoch media’s climate attack dogs.
Take the Sun’s headline on February 1.
“ECO GROWTH FARCE: From bat tunnels to the Ulez, 20 barmy eco rules and groups that have held Britain’s growth back for years.”
The paper doesn’t even try and hide its disdain for environmental policies, ridiculing everything from the 2008 Climate Change Act to Ulez, plastic taxes, and efforts to block airport expansions in the name of Net Zero.
The London mayor Sadiq Khan is thrown into the lion’s den, for threatening to take the government to court to block the Heathrow expansion.
As is Ed Miliband, described by the Sun as “the leftie Cabinet minister imposed an immediate ban on new oil and gas drilling licences when Labour won the election, putting 30,000 jobs at risk.”
And it’s not just Murdoch and mainstream media outlets promoting climate denial propaganda. A recent Global Witness investigation uncovered that the US-based conservative media outlet the Epoch Times has been running Facebook and Instagram ads in the UK, denying the reality of climate change. The ads falsely claim that Arctic ice isn’t melting and that higher CO2 levels aren’t a problem. Worryingly, these ads have got over a million views on Meta platforms.
It’s hard not to see a pattern here. The Murdoch media empire, encouraging more minor conservative outlets to traffic climate denial. And with Trump’s climate-sceptic rhetoric back in the spotlight, they seem more emboldened than ever to push a dangerous agenda that questions science, mocks environmental efforts, and, above all, puts the future of our planet at risk.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is author of Right-Wing Watch
Left Foot Forward
The return of Trump – a notorious climate change sceptic - seems to have emboldened the Murdoch media’s climate attack dogs.
TweetShareWhatsAppMail
Rarely does the Murdoch media need an invitation to attack environmentalists. It’s been doing it for years, whether it’s in Britain, the US, or Australia.
As DeSmog reported in 2023, Telegraph columnists routinely question climate science and criticise green reforms. In fact, DeSmog’s review of over 2,000 opinion pieces published by the Telegraph in a six-month span, showed that 85 percent of those addressing environmental issues were outright “anti-green.” They didn’t just critique climate policy, but they mocked environmental groups and denied the reality of climate science.
But the return of Trump – a notorious climate change sceptic – seems to have emboldened the Murdoch media’s climate attack dogs.
Take the Sun’s headline on February 1.
“ECO GROWTH FARCE: From bat tunnels to the Ulez, 20 barmy eco rules and groups that have held Britain’s growth back for years.”
The paper doesn’t even try and hide its disdain for environmental policies, ridiculing everything from the 2008 Climate Change Act to Ulez, plastic taxes, and efforts to block airport expansions in the name of Net Zero.
The London mayor Sadiq Khan is thrown into the lion’s den, for threatening to take the government to court to block the Heathrow expansion.
As is Ed Miliband, described by the Sun as “the leftie Cabinet minister imposed an immediate ban on new oil and gas drilling licences when Labour won the election, putting 30,000 jobs at risk.”
And it’s not just Murdoch and mainstream media outlets promoting climate denial propaganda. A recent Global Witness investigation uncovered that the US-based conservative media outlet the Epoch Times has been running Facebook and Instagram ads in the UK, denying the reality of climate change. The ads falsely claim that Arctic ice isn’t melting and that higher CO2 levels aren’t a problem. Worryingly, these ads have got over a million views on Meta platforms.
It’s hard not to see a pattern here. The Murdoch media empire, encouraging more minor conservative outlets to traffic climate denial. And with Trump’s climate-sceptic rhetoric back in the spotlight, they seem more emboldened than ever to push a dangerous agenda that questions science, mocks environmental efforts, and, above all, puts the future of our planet at risk.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is author of Right-Wing Watch
No comments:
Post a Comment