Climate Deniers Take New Cynical Tact, As Americans Wither
It’s bone-chilling cold around much of the country so it’s once again time for the climate change deniers to return to their old, debunked mantra of “What climate change? What global warming?”
Uninformed, cynical voices like trump, who vowed that if elected, on his first day in office, he would “drill, drill, drill”; Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Color. and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kent., continue to be the loudest irritants while they give cover to the worst polluters who keep a low profile.
The climate change denial industry, funded by powerful gas and oil interests, are winning as new polls show that many Americans are feeling overwhelmed, defeated and just beaten down by the existential fears of global climate change.
Meanwhile, the worst polluters are changing their strategies to a “new denial” to deal with the unassailable fact, backed by 99 percent of studies, that humans cause climate change. The new denial strategy no longer categorically rejects climate change but is heavily turning to social networks to undermine climate science and scientists, and chip away at public confidence in solutions to climate change.
“These lies, welcomed, enabled, and often funded by oil and gas tycoons who benefit financially, are cynically used by political leaders to explain why they remain stubbornly incapable of taking urgent corrective action,” said a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
Those who say climate change is a hoax have a particularly selective and short memory, failing to note that 2023 was the hottest year on record, as billions of people across the world experienced extreme heat, droughts, wildfires and major floods.
Climate change protesters interrupted Republican rallies last week, leading Boebert to mock them with a posting, “You’ve got to appreciate the irony of climate protestors trudging through a foot of snow and -30 degree wind chills to yell about how the planet is warming. They just don’t see it, do they?”
At another event in Iowa, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, was speaking when a climate protester ran on stage and was tackled by security guards. Massie saw the body slamming and joked, “The irony of protesting global warming during a once in a lifetime cold snap/blizzard. dude found out!” And at a trump event, a climate protester held up a sign calling trump a “climate criminal,” leading trump adviser Chris LaCivita to respond with “Climate change? It’s minus 15 degrees. Read the room, man.”
Four years ago, trump was campaigning in the Midwest where the temperature hit 60 degrees below zero with the wind chill. That prompted trump to tweet, “People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Warming? Please come back fast, we need you!”
The CCDH report found that deniers are using new methods to spread disinformation. The center analyzed 4,458 hours of climate-denial content on YouTube and found that the percentage of posts completely denying climate change have dropped from 65 percent of posts in 2018 to 30 percent today.
At the same time, posts criticizing proposed solutions to climate change have soared to 70 percent of content. Criticisms focus on the alleged high costs and undependable use of renewable energy like solar and wind power, and alleged destruction to the environment because of the use of alternative energy, while they claim that eliminating fossil fuels will wreck personal and the national economy.
The CCDH report quoted such biased sources as Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who called the current weather, “global freezing,” another indication, Kudlow claimed, that climate change is a “complete and utter hoax.”
The report noted that right wing platforms, like one led by Glenn Beck, are receiving thousands of likes for Beck’s new denial claims. For example, a recent posting on Beck’s far right platform denies that climate change caused “Maui’s wildfires, or ANY wildfires” despite multiple studies showing otherwise. Another recent post attacks the reliability of climate experts, claiming “the ‘experts’ have gotten their doomsday predictions wrong EVERY time.”
Beck also has claimed that the Biden administration is using climate change as a cover to push for “a great reset and government control.”
“They don’t care about saving the planet, they know climate change is not going to kill millions around the world, this is all about gaining power and control over you […] they are using this so-called emergency to justify a reset,” Beck said.
Another example is a video from the Heartland Institute, a climate denialist think tank, titled “Noble Lies and the Evil They Allow.” It features William Happer, a physicist who rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. In 2018, trump named Happer to the National Security Council to counter evidence linking carbon dioxide emissions to global warming.
In the video, Happer claims that renewable energy will come “at the expense of decent ordinary citizens, who are forced to accept unreliable, expensive electrical power from environmentally devastating wind and solar power sources.”
Yet another video titled “The Real Climate Crisis” was posted by the PragerU, a conservative, non-profit organization. It is narrated by climate contrarian Alex Epstein, an author who advocates for the expansion of fossil fuels and who rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. In the video, Epstein claims that “the world faces a serious crisis, one that will ruin whole economies and lead to needless suffering and death. The crisis is related to climate change but not in the way you’re probably thinking: it’s the global energy crisis, a man-made crisis created by climate change policies.”
“Listening to a modern environmentalist is like listening to a doctor who’s on the side of the germs, somebody who doesn’t have your best interests at heart,” Epstein said on Jordan Peterson’s YouTube show, which attracts 7.5 million subscribers.
The Prager University Foundation, known as PragerU, is nonprofit advocacy group and media organization that promotes conservative viewpoints on various political, economic, and sociological topics. Despite the name including the word “university”, it is not an academic institution and does not confer degrees.
PragerU’s videos contain misleading or factually incorrect information promoting climate change denial. Many videos promote fossil fuels, criticize the use of renewables, and dispute the scientific consensus on climate change.[2] According to the non-profit think tank InfluenceMap, targeted ads posted on Facebook included misleading material that cast doubt on science, framed climatic concerns as ideological and hysteria, and promoted a conspiracy theory that “big government control” is the real motivation behind energy policies to reduce gas emissions. PragerU’s climate-denying output has included comparisons of climate activists to Nazis and claims that renewable energy is harmful to the environment.
Another Peterson show features an interview with Canadian politician Danielle Smith.
“In the terms that the environmentalists themselves hypothetically hold dear, the idea that we can make the planet more habitable on an environmental, on the environmental front by impoverishing poor people, by raising energy prices and food prices, is absolutely, it’s not only absurd logically, but I think it’s tantamount to genocidal,” Smith said.
The report found that YouTube earns up to $13.4 million a year from channels posting climate change misinformation while the organizations posting the misinformation collect millions in ad revenues. A CCDH report in 2021 showed how Google and Facebook monetize climate denial content. At the time, Google promised to enforce its policies about not accepting false information.
“But what they defined as climate denial content then does not reflect the realities now,” the report said. “It is vital that those advocating for action to avert climate disaster take note of this substantial shift from denial of anthropogenic climate change to undermining trust in both solutions and science itself, and shift our focus, our resources and our counternarratives accordingly.
“The narrative shift from ‘Old Denial’ to ‘New Denial’ seeks to undermine the solutions to mitigating the climate crisis and delay political action. A failure to shift our strategies would be enormously damaging,” the report said.
A poll by the non-partisan research organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, found that “More Americans are pessimistic about the impact they can have on climate change compared with three years ago. Most people are taking a variety of steps that reduce their climate impact, but they are often more motivated by finances than environmental concerns.”
The poll found that only about half of Americans think their actions influence climate change, a decline from the two-thirds who said the same three years ago. They are also slightly less concerned about the effects of climate change on them personally and less likely to say individuals have much responsibility to address climate change compared to 2019.
The poll determined that 71 percent of Americans believe that climate change is happening, 11 percent don’t think it’s happening, and 18 percent aren’t sure. Democrats are more likely to believe that climate change is happening than Republicans (90 percent vs. 51 percent).
“Americans are particularly concerned by the impact climate change will have for future generations. The effect on coastal communities and low-income people is of great concern to many as well. The public is less concerned about the effects of climate change on them personally,” the poll determined.
Fewer Americans are engaging in activism related to climate change. Fifty-four percent have spoken with friends or family about climate change. Twenty-seven percent follow environmental organizations on social media, 20 percent volunteer or donate money to environmental organizations, and 14 percent have contacted their elected representatives regarding energy and climate policy.
“Americans view the responsibility of addressing climate change as a national and global effort with the private sector and government more responsible than individuals,” the survey showed.
Overall, 42 percent of those polled approve of how President Biden is handling climate change, down from 52 percent in September 2021. Among Democrats, 71 percent approve, while 81 percent of Republicans disapprove.
Meanwhile, trump was named the most dangerous climate change denier in the U.S. in a 2023 story by Utopia, a German-based news service focusing on sustainability.
“His stay in office from 2017 to 2021 emboldened climate change deniers on every level, and he continues to be an influential figure in American politics,” the story said. “During his presidency, Donald Trump took various actions that were dismissive of the climate crisis.”
The other people and organizations on the list include:
2. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose “obstructionism hurt climate policy and renewable energy in the United States.”
3. Former Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. “Long a prominent and outspoken figure against evidence of climate change, Inhofe’s fervent denialism and theatrical displays make him a key player in obstructing climate protection efforts.”
4. Singer Ted Nugent, a rock musician and vocal supporter of conservative causes, particularly gun and hunter’s rights. He is a trump supporter and has made a statements critical of former President Barack Obama, one of which was perceived as potentially threatening and led to Nugent being investigated by the Secret Service. His views have been considered racist by some.