Plus, The White House Effect on Netflix ...
From the Editor's Desk
Geoff Dembicki has a must-read feature this week on DeSmog, and a shorter version on The Guardian, exposing Exxon’s role in sowing the seeds of doubt and delay to derail international climate treaties. DeSmog obtained hundreds of documents (and the checks) revealing how Exxon funded Atlas Network to spread climate denial in Latin America and all across the Global South — influence that will continue to reverberate as COP30 opens in Belém next week.
As climate denial expert Kert Davies told Geoff, “It’s a pretty ugly history. Exxon seemed to think that if you could make developing nations, and all nations, skeptical that climate change was a crisis, then you’d never have a global climate treaty.”
Rei Takver reveals how billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates funded climate crisis denier Bjorn Lomborg to the tune of $3.5 million. The news comes on the heels of Gates’ recent climate memo, which (wrongly) argues the climate community has a “doomsday outlook” and diverts too many resources from the most effective solutions to improve human well-being. Climate deniers, from Lomborg to the denier-in-chief, celebrated Gates’ memo.
The amazing documentary I wrote about last week, The White House Effect, is now available on Netflix. Please share it with friends and family, and consider what could happen if public demand for climate action were to once again align with genuine political momentum — only this time around, the forces of industry-funded climate obstruction were unable to stop it. After two decades of clearing the PR pollution, we sure hope that moment comes soon.
Watch here.
Climate scientist Michael Mann posted an update of interest to readers who’ve followed our coverage of his long-running defamation lawsuit against the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and National Review (NRO). Mann writes: “We have now reached an agreement with NRO wherein we will drop our appeal (whose fate is uncertain) of these decisions in return for NRO dropping their request for costs (of roughly $541K). While this constitutes the
end of a portion of this complex litigation, we would emphasize once again the key points: The jury’s verdict—finding that the posts hosted by NRO and CEI were false, defamatory, and published with malice—stands.”
Our featured disinformation database profile (below) is a brand new entry we published over the weekend in response to a Halloween Friday attack on climate philanthropy, specifically seeking to spook a cast of UK and EU-based funders. The attack was weak sauce — a Fox News press release disguised as news about a ‘report’ from Americans for Public Trust (another Orwellian doublespeak name for an anti-public-interest right-wing front group) that put forth zero evidence of any wrongdoing on behalf of these philanthropists.
Meanwhile, APT is largely funded by shady DonorsTrust dark money, and has clear ties to Leonard Leo (whom readers may recall received $1.6 billion from Chicago industrialist Barre Seid to boost extreme right causes). DeSmog shines a disinfecting light on these details in the new profile.
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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Image Credit: GatesNotes
‘A Pretty Ugly History’: How Exxon Exported Climate Denial to the Global South
— By Geoff Dembicki (14 min. read) —
With Brazil about to host COP30, DeSmog has obtained copies of checks Exxon mailed to the right-wing Atlas Network in the 1990s to turn Latin America against climate treaties.
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
— By Rei Takver (5 min. read) —
Tax records reveal that the billionaire’s foundation has donated for years to Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center.
Labour’s Big Tech Love Affair Could Blow Up Its Climate Promises
—By Rei Takver (14 min. read) —
The government has signed vast deals with gas-loving, Trump-donating AI giants.
Revealed: Prince William’s Climate Prize Hired PR Firm Tied to Brazilian Fossil Fuel Industry
— By TJ Jordan (6 min. read) —
The agency — LLYC Brasil — promoted the upcoming Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio de Janeiro while under contract to oil giant Petrobras.
‘Deluge’ of Disinformation on TikTok and YouTube Following Historic Flood
— By Joey Grostern (3 min. read) —
Falsehoods about the flooding in Valencia last year were seen by millions on social media, new research finds.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Americans for Public Trust
Americans for Public Trust is a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2020, and describes itself as a watchdog group. The organization is closely tied to conservative activist Leonard Leo, who once served as President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee advisor. APT has heavily targeted prominent Democratic donors and politicians. The group has a history of filing ethics complaints, many of which have been dismissed, targeting progressive and Democratic funders and politicians. APT’s leadership comprises numerous GOP operatives who have held leadership roles with Republican-aligned campaigns and committees.
APT has recently released several reports attacking climate funders, but the reports provide no evidence of any violations of U.S. law or IRS rules for charitable organizations. However, it called for “investigations” and policy “reforms” to “prevent undue foreign influence in U.S. policy fights, as foreign money coming into the United States can undermine our sovereignty and weaken our energy independence.” The reports allege a “radical climate change agenda” is supporting global climate litigation efforts to hold energy and oil industry companies
accountable for their role in climate change.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
