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Newsmax Makes Climate Change Boring With Denial Rerun Starring Usual Suspects [1]

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Date: 2023-10-17  

With all the exciting conspiracy theories out there on social media, we were a bit surprised to see what managed to make it out of the small phone screens and into the medium-sized TV screens this week on Newsmax’s " A Climate Conversation ."

The new video sounds like a throwback to disinfo from the old days, when deniers were still trying to pretend like their argument was scientific and legitimate, and not just political partisanship to oppose policies that impact their fossil-fueled funders. Indeed, the film was hosted by Kim Monson, a radio host at KLZ 560 AM, whose webpage advertises the radio station’s app as offering "conservative truth" (not the regular kind).

According to the trailer (because we definitely didn't catch it live on Sunday night) Monson supposedly seeks out "answers that are science-based and not subject to political interests." The website claims the Climate Conversation "cuts through the rhetoric and propaganda" to "uncover the truth concerning our changing planet," offering a resource that is supposedly "grounded in science and free of political cheap-shots."

So to provide that totally not-political view, Monson of course took to Newsmax, the clearly political, right-wing news channel dubbed "Trump TV" that is facing a $1.6 billion defamation suit over its election disinformation. Because, you know, Newsmax clearly has an audience that’s hungry for a rigorous science-based discussion!

And who does Monson turn to as supposed experts able to undercut the 97% consensus she references in the film and provide the "science-based" answers that aren't "subject to political interests"?

Predictably, she platforms someone who works for the CO2 Coalition (a political advocacy group open to shady fossil fuel industry-linked funding ), a representative of Friends of Science , (a Canadian political advocacy group with a history of oil funding ), and someone from PTS Advance (an energy industry staffing company ).

And it looks like Newsmax’s new film is subject to financial conflicts of interest at the very least, since it’s sponsored in part by the industry-backed Heartland Institute and features a slate of faux experts.

Let’s just hope people remember that the industry-funded "conservative truth" that Monson's employer proudly offers is not a real alternative to the sort of truth that doesn't need a political qualifier in front of it.

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