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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/sep/12/greenpeace-climate-change-denial-dealing-doubt-report
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| Report offers field guide to the climate change denial industry | Report offers field guide to the climate change denial industry |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| It writes boilerplate legislation, runs extensive PR campaigns, puffs CVs with fake credibility, facilitates or promotes the intimidation of climate scientists and advocates, publishes books, organises speaking tours and conferences, gets on the telly and radio a lot, uses Freedom of Information laws as a surveillance tool, pays scientists to speak and - crucially - it manufactures doubt and confusion among policy makers, politicians and the public about climate change. | It writes boilerplate legislation, runs extensive PR campaigns, puffs CVs with fake credibility, facilitates or promotes the intimidation of climate scientists and advocates, publishes books, organises speaking tours and conferences, gets on the telly and radio a lot, uses Freedom of Information laws as a surveillance tool, pays scientists to speak and - crucially - it manufactures doubt and confusion among policy makers, politicians and the public about climate change. |
| To get this work done, it has accepted many millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests or ideologically-driven conservative donors who funnel their cash through anonymous trust funds because they are too cowardly to put their mouths and their money in the same place. | To get this work done, it has accepted many millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests or ideologically-driven conservative donors who funnel their cash through anonymous trust funds because they are too cowardly to put their mouths and their money in the same place. |
| We're talking about the international climate science denial industry. Now it has a field guide, of sorts, courtesy of researchers at environment group Greenpeace. | We're talking about the international climate science denial industry. Now it has a field guide, of sorts, courtesy of researchers at environment group Greenpeace. |
| Published this week, Dealing in Doubt: The Climate Denial Machine Vs Climate Science recounts the history of efforts to underplay the risks of human-caused climate change, to deny the scientific evidence and to misrepresent the state of the collective knowledge of genuine scientists on the issue. | Published this week, Dealing in Doubt: The Climate Denial Machine Vs Climate Science recounts the history of efforts to underplay the risks of human-caused climate change, to deny the scientific evidence and to misrepresent the state of the collective knowledge of genuine scientists on the issue. |
| Oh, and it comes with fun little caricatures of some of the key characters in the denial industry. | Oh, and it comes with fun little caricatures of some of the key characters in the denial industry. |
| The title of the report "Dealing in Doubt" comes from a tactic employed and articulated by tobacco industry executives in a 1969 memo, which read: | The title of the report "Dealing in Doubt" comes from a tactic employed and articulated by tobacco industry executives in a 1969 memo, which read: |
| Our consumer I have defined as the mass public, our product as doubt, our message as truth -- well stated, and our competition as the body of anti-cigarette fact that exists in the public mind.... | Our consumer I have defined as the mass public, our product as doubt, our message as truth -- well stated, and our competition as the body of anti-cigarette fact that exists in the public mind.... |
| Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the "body of fact" that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy. | |
The fact that some of the key players in today's climate misinformation campaign were also campaigning to convince the public that cancer sticks were not cancer sticks is recounted in the book Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway. | The fact that some of the key players in today's climate misinformation campaign were also campaigning to convince the public that cancer sticks were not cancer sticks is recounted in the book Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway. |
| Greenpeace's latest Dealing in Doubt report (it's a decent update from a 2010 version) tracks the history of the formation and tactics of the climate science denial industry, identifies key players and organisations and documents some key campaigns (the report also cites a fair bit of my own work over recent years, but don't let that put you off). | Greenpeace's latest Dealing in Doubt report (it's a decent update from a 2010 version) tracks the history of the formation and tactics of the climate science denial industry, identifies key players and organisations and documents some key campaigns (the report also cites a fair bit of my own work over recent years, but don't let that put you off). |
| One argument I would have with the report, is the way it has generally avoided the role that deep-seated conservative free market ideology plays in people's rejection of the implications of human-caused climate change and their motivation to campaign against it. | One argument I would have with the report, is the way it has generally avoided the role that deep-seated conservative free market ideology plays in people's rejection of the implications of human-caused climate change and their motivation to campaign against it. |
| That's not to say that cold hard cash from the dirty end of town doesn't have a major role, but as Oreskes and others have written, there's a strong correlation between how people see the world politically and their willingness to accept or reject the multiple lines of evidence around human-caused climate change and the risks it poses. | That's not to say that cold hard cash from the dirty end of town doesn't have a major role, but as Oreskes and others have written, there's a strong correlation between how people see the world politically and their willingness to accept or reject the multiple lines of evidence around human-caused climate change and the risks it poses. |
| The report doesn't find much space either for the role of the media in spreading climate science misinformation, but there's plenty of material over at the US-focused Media Matters and the UK's Carbon Brief. | The report doesn't find much space either for the role of the media in spreading climate science misinformation, but there's plenty of material over at the US-focused Media Matters and the UK's Carbon Brief. |
| Key funders - both historic and current - of climate science and policy misinformation are identified in Dealing in Doubt. For example, there's foundations controlled by the American Koch brothers, which the report says have sunk more than $60 million into groups running campaigns to block action on climate change. We also have the $27.4 million spent by oil company ExxonMobil over the years. | Key funders - both historic and current - of climate science and policy misinformation are identified in Dealing in Doubt. For example, there's foundations controlled by the American Koch brothers, which the report says have sunk more than $60 million into groups running campaigns to block action on climate change. We also have the $27.4 million spent by oil company ExxonMobil over the years. |
| Then there's also the emerging role of two linked funds in the United States - Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund - which I first wrote about in February 2012 for DeSmogBlog. | Then there's also the emerging role of two linked funds in the United States - Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund - which I first wrote about in February 2012 for DeSmogBlog. |
| As the Greenpeace report summarises, between 2002 and 2011 these two organisations funneled some $146 million from anonymised conservative philanthropists into more than 100 groups - many of which have been running projects to block climate action. The Guardian reported the role of the trusts earlier this year. | As the Greenpeace report summarises, between 2002 and 2011 these two organisations funneled some $146 million from anonymised conservative philanthropists into more than 100 groups - many of which have been running projects to block climate action. The Guardian reported the role of the trusts earlier this year. |
| There is also a potted and seldom-told history of how key figures in the United States worked to connect with like-minded people in Australia to encourage efforts Down Under to counter calls to cut emissions. | There is also a potted and seldom-told history of how key figures in the United States worked to connect with like-minded people in Australia to encourage efforts Down Under to counter calls to cut emissions. |
| One of the first efforts came courtesy of free market promotion unit The Institute of Public Affairs, which doesn't reveal its funders, which in 1990 sponsored a tour by veteran sceptic Fred Singer around Australia. The IPA's magazine reported Singer's visit: "The greenhouse theory of global warming is contradicted by the evidence, a prominent US scientist has told the IPA." | One of the first efforts came courtesy of free market promotion unit The Institute of Public Affairs, which doesn't reveal its funders, which in 1990 sponsored a tour by veteran sceptic Fred Singer around Australia. The IPA's magazine reported Singer's visit: "The greenhouse theory of global warming is contradicted by the evidence, a prominent US scientist has told the IPA." |
| Later, Dealing in Doubt recalls planning meetings in the mid-90s with conservative think tanks in the US and Australia where strategies were developed to counter calls for action. | Later, Dealing in Doubt recalls planning meetings in the mid-90s with conservative think tanks in the US and Australia where strategies were developed to counter calls for action. |
| One of those characters, Australian businessman and former mining executive Hugh Morgan, was announced by Liberal MP Greg Hunt in 2011 as a member of the Coalition's business advisory council on climate change. | One of those characters, Australian businessman and former mining executive Hugh Morgan, was announced by Liberal MP Greg Hunt in 2011 as a member of the Coalition's business advisory council on climate change. |
| Yet the Dealing in Doubt report isn't a historic document. | Yet the Dealing in Doubt report isn't a historic document. |
| The climate misinformation groups continue to provide material for potential updates. US groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Cato Institute and the American Tradition Institute continue their work, with Australia's The Institute of Public Affairs and the UK's Global Warming Policy Foundation among those joining the choir. | The climate misinformation groups continue to provide material for potential updates. US groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Cato Institute and the American Tradition Institute continue their work, with Australia's The Institute of Public Affairs and the UK's Global Warming Policy Foundation among those joining the choir. |
| Myron Ebell, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has dismissed the report. In a paywalled story on ClimateWire, Ebell said:"I hope, in that timeline, that [Greenpeace] reaches the point in the last few years in which we have won the debate and they are still in denial. The fact is that we said starting in the 1990s that global warming may turn out to be a problem, but it's not a crisis." | Myron Ebell, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has dismissed the report. In a paywalled story on ClimateWire, Ebell said:"I hope, in that timeline, that [Greenpeace] reaches the point in the last few years in which we have won the debate and they are still in denial. The fact is that we said starting in the 1990s that global warming may turn out to be a problem, but it's not a crisis." |
| One organisation identified in the Greenpeace report is the Heartland Institute, which - when it's not misrepresenting the Chinese Academy of Sciences - is hanging billboards suggesting if you believe in global warming then you're no better than a terrorist. | One organisation identified in the Greenpeace report is the Heartland Institute, which - when it's not misrepresenting the Chinese Academy of Sciences - is hanging billboards suggesting if you believe in global warming then you're no better than a terrorist. |
| In a couple of weeks time, the United Nations-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will begin releasing its latest round of reports summarising the science and impacts of climate change, five years after their last round of reports. | In a couple of weeks time, the United Nations-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will begin releasing its latest round of reports summarising the science and impacts of climate change, five years after their last round of reports. |
| The Heartland Institute is onto it, and have in recent days been holding "briefings" ahead of the release of a counter report - the Non Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (see what they did there?). | The Heartland Institute is onto it, and have in recent days been holding "briefings" ahead of the release of a counter report - the Non Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (see what they did there?). |
| Internal Heartland Institute documents have shown that one of the authors of the report, Australian geologist Dr Bob Carter, was to be paid $1667 a month for his work on the report (for anyone interested, Skeptical Science has a good summary of the key differences between the genuine IPCC report and the NIPCC). | Internal Heartland Institute documents have shown that one of the authors of the report, Australian geologist Dr Bob Carter, was to be paid $1667 a month for his work on the report (for anyone interested, Skeptical Science has a good summary of the key differences between the genuine IPCC report and the NIPCC). |
| Dealing in Doubt also has a section looking at the qualifications of many sceptic commentators and how their "expertise" (or lack of it) tends not to correlate with the frequency with which they are wheeled out by some media outlets. | Dealing in Doubt also has a section looking at the qualifications of many sceptic commentators and how their "expertise" (or lack of it) tends not to correlate with the frequency with which they are wheeled out by some media outlets. |
| One example would be British hereditary peer and UKIP figure Lord Christopher Monckton, who wrote that he had been "appointed" as an expert IPCC reviewer, only for the IPCC to remind him that nobody actually "appoints" IPCC reviewers and that practically anyone (no journalists allowed) can self-register. | One example would be British hereditary peer and UKIP figure Lord Christopher Monckton, who wrote that he had been "appointed" as an expert IPCC reviewer, only for the IPCC to remind him that nobody actually "appoints" IPCC reviewers and that practically anyone (no journalists allowed) can self-register. |
| Dealing in Doubt serves as a handy reference guide for anyone new to the cogs, wheels and fuel that constitute the climate science denial machinery. The report concludes: | Dealing in Doubt serves as a handy reference guide for anyone new to the cogs, wheels and fuel that constitute the climate science denial machinery. The report concludes: |
| The individuals, organizations and corporate interests who comprise the 'climate denial machine' have caused harm, have slowed our response time, which will in the end cost more in impacts – both economic and ecological. | The individuals, organizations and corporate interests who comprise the 'climate denial machine' have caused harm, have slowed our response time, which will in the end cost more in impacts – both economic and ecological. |