Newsmax's climate denial
Written by Jason Campbell
Published
On August 13, Axios’ Lachlan Markay reported that Newsmax Media has registered several web domains that seem critical of the reality of climate change.
This news comes on the heels of the United Nations’ devastating report on the threat climate change poses to our planet. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the recent IPCC report a “code red for humanity.”
Newsmax repeatedly pushes rhetoric that denies the existence of climate change and the threat it poses for our society.
On July 20, host Rob Schmitt interviewed climate denier Steve Milloy regarding one of the forest fires devastating the West Coast this summer. During the interview, Milloy denied that the climate is warming and suggested that the government log forests to prevent fires (it is not true that logging helps prevent forest fires). Milloy further said the “environmentalists” were “sacrificing the forest on the altar of global warming.”
On August 10, hosts Steve Cortes and Jenn Pellegrino interviewed Anthony Lupo, who is on the payroll of the climate-denying Heartland Institute. During the interview, the hosts and Lupo denied the threat that climate change poses. Additionally, Cortes suggested that people are not worried about climate change because Miami waterfront real estate prices continue to rise
On April 23, in a ridiculous moment, host John Bachman referenced the debate over carbon capture and its potential to alleviate the climate crisis. Bachman asked, “If we take all the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, what are the trees going to turn into oxygen?”
The world is facing an unprecedented challenge in combating the threat of climate change. With only 50% of Americans recognizing that climate change is a critical threat to our society, Newsmax’s rhetoric damages our country’s capacity to respond to this crisis.