Spring is in the air and my irises are out, so you get to share the joy. But joy is not what you come here for so I rapidly continue onto...Meet the Money Behind The Climate Denial Movement, in that reliable source The Smithsonian, and twat to me by Peter "who he" Strachan. Subtitled Nearly a billion dollars a year is flowing into the organized climate change counter-movement. But, it isn't true. As they immeadiately back off in the text: According to Brulle's research, the 91 think tanks and advocacy organizations and trade associations that make up the American climate denial industry pull down just shy of a billion dollars each year, money used to lobby or sway public opinion on climate change and other issues. (The grand total also includes funds used to support initiatives unrelated to climate change denial, as explained in a quote Brulle gave to The Guardian: “Since the majority of the organizations are multiple focus organizations, not all of this income was devoted to climate change activities.”) (my bold).
So what fraction of that ~$1B is dedicated to GW? 100%, 10%, 1%? They have literally no idea at all - or if they have ideas they aren't sharing them. But that's a great step forward from Brulle's paper, which doesn't mention this bijou problemette at all. How did that pass peer review?
1 comment:
Ahhh, but the beauty of this publication as it circulates around the world is that their admission (that not all of the money is devoted to climate issues) will be conveniently left out and the headline number will be trumpeted from various rooftops.
Plus ca change...
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