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The Spectacle Blog

Greens Planning to Lie More Effectively About Global Warming

By Matthew Vadum on 5.2.09 @ 11:17PM

The New York Times reports that environmentalists inadvertently emailed a copy of a memo in which they argued their vocabulary needs a strategic overhaul:

The problem with global warming, some environmentalists believe, is “global warming.”

The term turns people off, fostering images of shaggy-haired liberals, economic sacrifice and complex scientific disputes, according to extensive polling and focus group sessions conducted by ecoAmerica, a nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm in Washington.

Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about “our deteriorating atmosphere.” Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up “moving away from the dirty fuels of the past.” Don’t confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like “cap and cash back” or “pollution reduction refund.”

EcoAmerica has been conducting research for the last several years to find new ways to frame environmental issues and so build public support for climate change legislation and other initiatives. A summary of the group’s latest findings and recommendations was accidentally sent by e-mail to a number of news organizations by someone who sat in this week on a briefing intended for government officials and environmental leaders. [...]

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

Aaron| 5.3.09 @ 8:56AM

I was saying the other day in a discussion at work that it won't be long until the word "green" will become distasteful for most people when speaking of anything other than color.

This article is further evidence that this movement is nothing more than the advancement of bogus science to save one's own job in the name of "climate change". There is indeed climate change, the same that there are four seasons of change each year and a night and day change every day.

This is also undeniable proof that the lefties are on the defense and quite possibly retreating from some of their original positions on the environment.

Deborah D| 5.3.09 @ 9:50AM

They really are a sleezy bunch of money grubbers aren't they, Mr. Vadum? I love the title of your post, by the way. You nailed it.

Christopher Holland| 5.4.09 @ 12:26AM

What liberals do not understand about global warming propaganda is that the moment it hits ordinary people in the hip pocket, they stop listening. They can lie until they are blue in the face, but the hip pocket nerve will win out every time. The bottom line about global warming is that it is just another attempt to screw Joe Sixpack by lumbering him with a mess of big government that he does not need and does not want.

Roy| 5.4.09 @ 2:54AM

Re Holland: maybe, but it already is hitting ordinary people in the hip pocket. How many new coal plants would we have, pushing the price of electricity how low, if not for the globodoom movement's successful obstructionism?