Online trolls aren’t the only ones sowing climate misinformation.
New research finds that major corporations and government officials — including President Donald Trump — bear much of the responsibility for spreading falsehoods about global warming.
The mendacity isn’t without consequence either. A report released Friday by the International Panel on the Information Environment says climate misinformation disseminated by the world’s powerbrokers is confusing the public and hurting efforts to address global warming.
“Climate misinformation is being amplified by institutions with the power to shape narratives and suppress inconvenient truths,” said Ece Elbeyi, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen and the report’s lead author, in a statement. “As long as these actors continue to manipulate the flow of information, the prospects for effective and equitable climate action will remain dangerously out of reach.”
