The Koch Brothers & Climate Change

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has posted a PowerPoint presentation on the Koch brothers and their efforts to spread disinformation on climate change. Taking a cue from Naomi Oreskes' Merchants of Doubt, USC is attempting to spread the word through the more popular outreach provided by their website. They write,

"The Koch brothers want to use their vast oil, coal, and natural gas wealth to buy up our newspapers, and that is bad news for clean energy and climate change coverage.

First up on the Koch's wish list: Tribune Company newspapers read by millions daily, including the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, and South Florida Sun Sentinel.

We need strong independent journalism that focuses on the facts about climate change and renewable energy, not more fossil fuel fiction.

As a new UCS investigation shows, a number of Koch-funded climate contrarians are the same corporate front groups that Big Tobacco used to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking. How do we know? We have their playbook.

The media has a big role to play in exposing this kind of disinformation, and that job will not get any easier if the Koch brothers get their way.

Tell the Tribune Company not to sell out to the Koch brothers.

Please make your letter personal by adding in your own thoughts and concerns. Every letter makes a difference, but customized letters have the greatest effect!

For more information, see our recent media analysis Unreliable Sources: How the News Media Help the Koch Brothers and ExxonMobil Spread Climate Disinformation."

How would you evaluate the Union of Concerned Scientists' argument? Totally persuasive? Somewhat persuasive? If you see reasons to doubt the information they're providing, please share that with all of us.