Hot Air:

Right Wing Media Ridicule UN Climate Conference

By Kevin Howley, December 11, 2023

Mainstream media coverage of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai has focused on the outsized role oil, gas, and coal industry executives are playing in the negotiations. NPR noted that this year’s meeting, which wraps up tomorrow, has “broken a record for the largest number of fossil fuel representatives to attend.”

The New York Times reported that “…Sultan Al Jaber, the oil executive presiding over the climate talks, came under fire for saying there is ‘no science’ behind the idea that fossil fuels must be phased out in order to keep average global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.”

And Reuters recounted how Britain’s King Charles “pleaded with world leaders” to take action to reduce carbon emissions, even as “tensions around the war in Gaza threated to distract delegates from making progress.” In light of the unfolding climate calamity, distraction of this sort doesn’t come cheap.

Hidden Agenda

But the distraction from substantive agreements on climate action pales in comparison to the denialism in right wing media coverage of the UN climate meeting. Without putting too fine a point on it, conservative reporting on COP28 reveals willful ignorance in the face of an existential threat to life on this planet.

Headlined, “Time For A Climate Exit,” American Thinker appropriately calls out the hypocrisy of holding the climate meeting in the Dubai, “the ostentatious 7-star playground capital of the United Arab Emirates.” But before you can say, “rigged election,” columnist Viv Forbes shifts into global conspiracy mode: “The sinister hidden agenda of COP28 in Dubai is about rationing and depopulation – they want to ration energy, reduce meat production, and eliminate wasteful driving and ‘useless eaters.’”

Over at Daily Caller, this headline is sure to irritate the budget conscious environmentalists of MAGA Nation: “Biden Could Jack Up Food Prices, Wreak Environmental Havoc With ‘Sustainable” Jet Fuel Subsidies.” And if that’s not enough to strike fear the hearts of DC readers, Tucker Carlson’s ominous warning should do the trick: “Tucker, Shellenberger Discuss How ‘Anti-Human’ Climate Activist ‘Attacks’ On ‘Cheap Energy’ Could Bring Down America.”

Speaking of Melania’s VP choice, WND reposted Carlson’s agist screed against John Kerry, the U.S. Presidential Special Envoy on Climate: “Another Half-Demented 80 Year-Old Yelling Things About Things He Doesn’t Understand.” Carlson added that John Kerry and Joe Biden “don’t care about our future because they don’t have one of their own.” That’s saying something from a world-class nihilist.

What a Gas

Ageism wasn’t the only thing in the air when right wing media set its sights on John Kerry’s appearance at COP28. Headlined: “Loud Fart Sound Greets John Kerry Talk On Global Climate Threats,” Breitbart reports, “The 79-year-old former secretary of state was discussing U.S. policy on coal power plants at the COP28 Climate Change Conference in Dubai on Sunday when an audible rush of high pressure fetid air was released in front of a live audience.”

American Thinker doubles down on the scatological humor, revisiting windbreaking episodes from the likes of fellow Democrats Eric Swalwell and Jerry Nadler. “Talk about methane emissions! Should we cull him? I mean, how many ‘fartgate’ and ‘poopgate’ scandals can one political party have?

It’s intrepid reporting like this that makes me long for the days when conservatives focused on Kerry’s flip-flops, not his flatulence.

The Usual (Female) Suspects

For right wing media, COP28 signals the start of open season on Democrats, from Kamala Harris to Hillary Clinton. Headlined, “Kamala: You Need To Pay $3B to Fight Climate Change In Other Countries” Hot Air writes, “The American taxpayers will foot the bill for a United Nations fund to fight climate change in other countries. Talk about America last.”

Townhall turns up the heat with this item: “Hillary Clinton Flat-Out Lies At Climate Conference,” while Gateway Pundit offers readers this bit of red meat: “Failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, attended the 28th annual United Nations climate conference (COP28) in Dubai to lie about the number of deaths attributed to climate change, focusing on issues caused by extreme heat, which experts refer to as ‘global boiling.’”

Playing Dumb

Leave it to the conservative outrage machine to take cheap shots at “Lying Hillary.” But the far more insidious coverage denies the severity of the crisis. Pegged to an extreme winter storm that brought record snowfall and freezing temperatures to Britain, Hot Air plays dumb with this headline: “The Global Warming Outside Is Frightful: UK Edition.”

Or how about this cheeky bit of celebrity news from WND to distract readers from confronting the climate crisis: “William Shatner Pleads With King Charles On Climate Change: ‘We’re All Going To Die!”

Vegan Eco-Terrorists & Climate Zealots

Gateway Pundit mocks climate activists with labels like “vegan eco-terrorists,” claiming “the climate change zealots (Communists) are not only coming for your gas-powered vehicles, they want to destroy the cattle and farming industry under the guise of reducing carbon emissions with a ‘net zero plan.’”

Meanwhile, channeling the late movie legend and world renowned gun nut, Charlton Heston, The Federalist issues this warning: “Climate Zealots, Keep Your Hands Off My Dinner Plate.”

Like election deniers, climate change know-nothings simply won’t stand for inconvenient truths.

Kevin Howley is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Social Movement Studies, and  Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture. He is the author and editor of several books, including Media Interventions and Drones: Media Discourse and the Public Imagination.

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