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“We won’t solve the climate crisis unless we solve the misinformation crisis,” U.S. Rep. Ro KhannaIn the Frontline series episode “The Power of Big Oil”On PBS.
The major print media, especially newspapers of record, have run a flood of articles about the increasingly negative affects of climate change this last month. In addition to their climate change focus, the articles share two other commonalities: Most refer explicitly to “human-caused climate change.” And none of them cite someone arguing that human activities don’t cause climate change.
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This is a change for major print media, which aim to maintain objectivity by including “both sides” of most issues. As far as they are concerned, there’s only one side now, and it does not bode well for living organisms, especially us.
Climate misinformation thrives in other places, unfortunately.
Rep. Khanna, who is quoted above, should be aware. He is at the front of misinformation regarding climate change from the oil industry and politics. He is a member the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. He is the chairman for the subcommittee Environment that oversees federal climate policy.
Last October, the Oversight and Reform committee called heads of America’s four largest oil companies to testify under oath. Extraction and burning of oil releases greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
The oil industry has cast doubts on this well-documented connection, even as their own scientists argued internally since the 1970s that they did indeed emit such emissions.
Carolyn Maloney, chair of the committee, announced that she would subpoena these internal scientific reports during that hearing. “We need to get to the bottom of the oil industry’s disinformation campaign…,” she said.
Misinformation is just wrong, disinformation is intentional. Maloney noticed a similarity in the tactics used by the oil industry to question the links between smoking, cancer, and earlier tactics used by tobacco companies.
Last year, almost $120million was spent by the oil and natural gas industry on lobbying activities. 2020 will see the following: American Petroleum Institute contributed over $5 million to the Senate Leadership Fund and individual candidates. With the exception of a $12,000 contribution for the Biden campaign, all are Republican candidates or PACS.
Climate change is becoming a highly partisan issue because of the apparent support for the fossil fuel industry and misinformation it funds.
Last September, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reported that 87% of registered Democrats said global warming should be a high/very high priority for the president and Congress.
Only 31% of Republicans agreed.
How does this affect biology?
Earlier this month Australian officials reported that 91% of the Great Barrier Reef suffered coral bleaching from rising water temperatures.
A peer-reviewed article in Nature last month suggests that 20% of the world’s lizard, turtle and snake species are threatened by human activities, including those causing climate change.
New Mexico is confronting “potentially historic” forest fires.
California expects more extreme drought this summer after “dismal” winter precipitation. Over 6 million homeowners there confront first-ever water use restrictions.
Because of climate change’s effects on water levels, and the temperature stressing fish populations, Colorado officials have banned sport fishing from certain sections of the Colorado River.
Rep. Khanna has it right. We can’t solve the climate crisis and its consequences until we fix the well-funded misinformation crisis.
Steve Rissing, Professor Emeritus, is a professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University.
