Everybody who pays the slightest attention to the news (or this blog) knows that News Corp has done a u-turn on climate change. I suggested at the time that it was solely a method to attempt to get the Morrison government re-elected. However, I did wonder if this was imposed on the Australian outlets by edict from Murdoch1.
That backflip has manifested itself as a ‘campaign’ which they named “missionzero2050” which began on October 11. You can tell that this campaign is bogus by their continuing to roll out some of the old arguments such as:
- Australia’s emissions are small compared to other countries, especially China, so we don’t really need to do anything drastic.
- Renewables are an unreliable source of energy, so are not an adequate replacement for fossil fuels.
- Australia’s coal is cleaner than that from other countries, so it’s better we export coal than other countries do so.
- Natural gas has half the emissions of coal, so it would be a good replacement for coal.
- Carbon capture and storage to remove CO2 from the atmosphere so emissions reduction is less important
- Criticising putting a price on Carbon.
- Nuclear power is the way to go2.
These are all bogus arguments and are not very different to the ramblings of Morrison and some of his colleagues when they tried to hoodwink the punters into believing that they were actually doing something about greenhouse gas emissions.
During his visit to the US in late September, Morrison had a consolation dinner not with Rupert Murdoch, but with Robert Thomson (global CEO of News Corp) who was the special guest at a knees-up hosted by New York Consul-General and ex-NSW Liberal premier Nick Greiner. Also in attendance was Australia’s ambassador to the US, former Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos3.
Discussed at this meeting with Thomson was the upcoming UN Glasgow conference. However, Thomson said that News Corp Australia’s “missionzero2050” campaign was the brainchild of local editors and he first learned about it when The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed that the company’s ‘newspapers’ were about to do a climate backflip4. The fact that this has not happened at Murdoch’s oxymoronic Fox News also seems to indicate that this was solely developed by local editors5.
That this backflip has apparently not been imposed on News Corp Australia by head office in New York, makes it clear that Murdoch has not changed his spots, but that this “missionzero2050’ is indeed a greenwashing attempt to have the Morrison government re-elected.
Sources
- https://blotreport.com/2021/10/14/climate-backflip/
- https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-news-corps-new-spin-on-climate-change-169733
- https://www.smh.com.au/national/scott-morrison-s-news-corp-dinner-in-new-york-20210921-p58tlo.html
- https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/news-corp-global-boss-discussed-glasgow-climate-summit-with-morrison-20211021-p5923e.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/business/news-corp-climate-change.html
It’s truly a pathetic farce that after decades of rubbishing both the science and major scientific figures of global warming research, our nasty Aussie branch of Moloch Media suddenly whistles a green-as-emerald tune. Mendacity, sham and pure expediency are now embedded in almost everything that is done in this nation’s politics and its media outlets, bar a few independent ones. What an achievement for Australia to have arrived in an ethical-cultural garbage heap quite similar to that of the degraded, decadent USA, up the arsehole of which our governments never cease to forage like poo-munching gerbils, while issuing stupid cant about a “great and powerful friend” etc. Yes, so much of contemporary political affairs in Australia is disgustingly chockers with cheap liars, pompous pretenders, sleazy chancers and cynical pragmatists, that I wonder: were we really ever much more than a mob of fools and Al Grassby-like spivs? The world beyond us now seems to largely think we are all those things.
Russell,
Those in government are like that: cheap liars, pompous pretenders, sleazy chancers and cynical pragmatists.