Five non-profit groups published a report Wednesday debunking mainstream media claims about the disastrous impacts of the so-called climate change crisis this year, which also included receiving millions of dollars to fund climate coverage.
The “Climate Fact Check 2022” report created by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Heartland Institute, Energy & Environment Legal Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) highlighted ten fact checks of climate disaster claims made by several media outlets like The Associated Press, which took $8 million in donations from left-wing philanthropy groups to cover climate change.
“Climate alarmists and their media allies once again made a slew of claims about natural disasters being caused by manmade emissions in 2022,” the report reads. “And once again, these claims clashed with reality and science.”
According to the report, The Associated Press received donations from large foundations pushing climate alarmism for decades. Such groups included the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Quadrivium, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation.
One example the report included came from an article written by AP reporter Seth Borenstein, called “New abnormal: Climate disaster damage ‘down’ to $268 billion,” which said some worldwide natural disasters like the Pakistan floods, Hurricane Ian, and droughts stretching from Europe to China were “turbocharged by human-caused climate change.”
According to the Climate Fact Check report, the Pakistan floods and the 2022 monsoon season were within the range of natural variability and the wettest since 1961.
“If emissions are to blame, why was it so rainy then?” the report reads. “Also, average peak monsoonal rainfall actually has declined somewhat since the 1950s,” adding that ongoing deforestation has also worsened seasonal monsoon flooding.
Mainstream media outlets blamed Hurricane Ian, the category four disaster that was the deadliest hurricane to strike Florida since 1935, on climate change for the storm’s rapid intensification. Still, the report references the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which points out that the Atlantic basin hurricane activity is within natural variability after a historically quiet first few months of hurricane season.
BBC News reported that Europe experienced its most severe drought in 500 years. However, the report asks if emissions produced by coal-fired power plants, SUVs, and cheeseburgers caused the lack of rainfall, then what happened in the European mega-drought in 1540?
“Is this money funding actual journalism or just rank political activism?” the report asks.
The Associated Press admitted in a report published earlier this year that the news organization received $8 million over three years from various groups, leading to the media group employing more than 24 journalists across the globe to cover “climate issues.”
Fox News reported AP News Vice President Brian Carovillano claimed to only accept money “without strings attached,” adding the news media does not cover stories influenced by donors.
Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, told Fox News Digital that “it’s hard to claim [The Associate Press] is news” when the reporters cover only one side of the climate discourse, adding that the organization became a “propaganda outfit” for leftist organizations with climate agendas.
Milloy said leftist media networks have been pushing “climate hysteria” for 30 years with little to show for their dire predictions.
“Instead of moving on to something else, they’re doubling down on this, and they’re making themselves look worse at the same time,” he added.
Other major media corporations such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal were also fact checked by the non-profit organizations over climate alarmist claims.
“But are damages from those disasters really attributable to ‘climate change’ or are climate activists and their media mouthpieces just trying to surf human tragedy to advance their very political cause?” the report reads.
