Tsunamis, draughts, super storms, forest fires—enough disasters “of the century” to fill a millennium were packed into the past 10 years. The problems of the natural world have become as vexing as the biblical plagues of Egypt. Most scientists have weighed the evidence and concluded that some of these disturbances result from global climate change triggered by escalating carbon emissions—the result of our dependence on fossil fuels.
And yet, a multi-million dollar PR machine has gone into overdrive to deny (or minimize) the dangers of climate change. The denial show stars the stooges of Fox News, neutered scientists on corporate payrolls, carnival barkers working for “conservative” (aka militant right wing) foundations and “think” tanks.
As shown by the appropriately-titled documentary Greedy Lying Bastards (out on DVD), the biggest players in the climate change denial industry are the infamous billionaire Koch brothers—whose assets include oil, coal and natural gas—and Exxon Mobil. The aim of the deniers is to sow sufficient doubt in enough people to give politicians (in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry) excuses to stonewall and obfuscate.
The game has been played before—by the tobacco industry, which similarly denied the danger of cigarettes and employed publicists and scientists without shame to plant and harvest seeds of doubt. The good news is that—somehow—Big Tobacco’s grip on society was broken.
Global warming is, of course, a greater problem than nicotine addiction. What good is it to reduce the occurrence of lung cancer if the Earth becomes uninhabitable? Greedy Lying Bastards provides concerned people with strong talking points in the debate over the future of our world.
