2023 was the warmest year on record, John. And right now, many in the Midwest are experiencing a snowless winter, including Minneapolis, which saw its warmest Christmas ever at 54 degrees.
97% of scientists agree that humans are the cause, but consumers of right-wing media didn’t hear that fact in 2023. Why? Because right-wing outlets like Fox News and Newsmax are putting climate deniers front and center in their programming.
— Media Matters, 12/22/23
So, who are these climate deniers getting all the right-wing airtime? One is a former academic who consulted with oil and gas companies during her time in academia. Another is a blogger and Senior Fellow at the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank that pushes for weakening and repealing renewable energy policies.
Starting to get the picture, John?
Right-wing media aren’t just stopping at platforming climate deniers. Their personalities and guests are also excusing and justifying violence against peaceful climate demonstrators. Media Matters even cites examples where right-wing pundits suggest protesters should be “beaten with a bullwhip” and forced to work in labor camps.
So what’s the impact of all this propaganda and hate? For starters, it makes having a real policy conversation about what we can do to stop the climate crisis nearly impossible.
But, there is reason for hope: climate change is inherently a local issue that you can see with your own eyes. That means different communities experience climate change in different ways. By using factual, local journalism to share stories about how the climate crisis is impacting local communities, we can counter the lies and stand up to right-wing hate.
At Courier, our local newsrooms in nine battleground states are doing just that, and we need your help to keep our stories free to read, with no paywalls or subscription fees.
To put it bluntly: we rely on donors like you to keep doing this work.
Thank you,
Courier HQ