Weekend Reader: Communicating climate, a guided tour

Weekend Reader: Communicating climate, a guided tour

Covering climate change as a disaster scenario isn't a strategic mistake, it's a necessity.

Monday's NBC Nightly News led with the disastrous flash flood.


Following the traditional mangling of what a "thousand year flood" is, the reporter asked the county executive if something other than "bad luck" caused the second such flood in three years. There was no mention of climate, nor of the poor land use policies believed to be another factor. (Key moment is at 3:13 in this video.)

Enter good ol' Al Roker. Methodically, rapidly and good naturedly, the veteran meteorologist laid out the link between climate change and ungodly downpours on Thursday's NBC Today Show in less than 40 seconds. So it can be done.

Also this week, Harvard's Shorenstein Center ran a lengthy piece by veteran NPR correspondent and Shorenstein fellow Elizabeth Arnold. Amidst many useful points about news coverage of climate, Arnold makes the fundamental point that it's too gloomy to connect with news consumers.

Funny, I had always wondered why Schindler's List hadn't been re-cast for Broadway as a musical comedy. But seriously, folks.... Arnold prescribes a greater mix of solutions-oriented stories to leave readers, listeners, and viewers with a message of hope. Easy for an NPR veteran to say, but just try that over at NBC Nightly or cable news, where I toiled for 18 years.

Case in point: Media Matters for America, a left-of-center press watchdog nonprofit, estimated that Roseanne Barr's racist tweet got 16 times as much cable news attention as the news that Puerto Rico's death toll in Hurricane Maria may have been understated by a factor of 70. A factor of 70. And while there's no actual data on this, I'm guessing that Roseanne's linking racism to her taking Ambien got more news coverage than scientists linking climate change to weather disasters like Ellicott City.

These days -- particularly in these Trump days -- many of the key climate stories are political ones. I'll pre-assign a Peabody Award to any story that can turn Washington's climate politics to a positive, solutions-oriented piece. The bottom line as I see it, is that we're dealing with the classic symptoms of addiction, and the patient, hereinafter known as "us," doesn't yet know we have a problem.

Covering climate change as a disaster scenario isn't a strategic mistake, it's a necessity.

Having said that, there are a few valuable places that specialize in monitoring climate coverage, or in exploring how these issues are communicated by scientists, activists, and journalists.

Climate Feedback is a California-based group dedicated to critiquing mainstream press coverage of climate scientists. Its science-heavy staff and advisors pick apart news stories and opinion pieces for scientific accuracy, conspicuously picking apart a Wall Street Journal editorial that exclusively relied on climate-denying sources.

Media Matters for America is a news watchdog site whose political biases, and Democratic party loyalties, are clear. But they offer solid research and frequently rapid-response analysis, like the one above on Al Roker's flood coverage when coverage of climate change or other environmental issues hits or misses the mark.

Two academic outposts cover polling data and the receptiveness of audiences for climate news and information. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the Center for Climate Change Communication often partner on projects. At the University of Colorado, the Media and Climate Change Observatory does monthly content counts on how heavily (or not) climate issues are being covered internationally.

Top Weekend News

Pope Francis plans to meet with business giants like BP and Black Rock on climate change. (Axios)

The New York Times has a deep dive on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's cozy relationship with a coal baron.

From PRI's Living On Earth, Steve Curwood talks with two authors of the study estimating a huge death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria. The numbers are......complicated.

From Bob Berwyn at Inside Climate News: Some hurricane experts say it's time to create Category Six.

Opinion Pieces and Editorials

The New York Times editorializes on Trump's "climate foolishness."

Paul Krugman, The Times's Nobel Laureate economist, weighs in on "Coal, Cash and Bad Faith."

NPR's Scott Simon with an essay on why Roseanne and Samantha Bee got far more attention than the news on Puerto Rico's death toll.

This Week in Trump

The climate movement tries to outmaneuver President Trump. (LA Times)

Podcasts of Note

On the Commonwealth Club's Climate One podcast, Greg Dalton talks with three of California's top gubernatorial candidates.

From PRI's Living On Earth, EHN's Peter Dykstra and Steve Curwood take a look beyond the headlines at a tree-sitting Appalachian pipeline protest, and discuss Forest Service workers who are taking construction lessons from beavers.

From last August, but perfect for the start of Atlantic Hurricane season: The Weather Channel's Mike Bettes and Dr. Rick Knabb show what you'll need for a hurricane preparedness kit.

The Revelatormapped light pollution, and the huge new contributions from fracking operations. It's bad news for migratory birds.

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Supreme Court allows fossil fuel companies to sue over California clean car rules

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that fuel producers can challenge California’s authority to set stricter emissions limits under a longstanding Clean Air Act waiver.

Adam Liptak reports for The New York Times.

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Clean energy projects face steep tax credit cuts under Republican megabill

Hundreds of wind, solar, and battery storage projects across the U.S. could lose vital tax incentives under a Republican-led bill that threatens to reverse key provisions of Biden’s 2022 climate law.

Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser report for POLITICO.

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Republicans in Senate clash over how fast to cut clean energy tax breaks

Senate Republicans are divided over how quickly to roll back green energy tax credits enacted under President Biden, exposing internal party tensions as they push to finalize legislation by July 4.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

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No going back: GOP plan to repeal Inflation Reduction Act could lock in dangerous global heating

Republicans in Congress are moving to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy incentives, a shift scientists warn would drive up emissions and make climate extremes more likely by the end of the century.

Lisa Friedman reports for The New York Times.

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Trump’s FEMA cuts leave flood-prone cities scrambling for aid

President Trump’s decision to cancel a major disaster mitigation grant program has left dozens of U.S. cities, from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma, without funding to protect against worsening climate-related disasters.

Thomas Frank reports for E&E News.

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Oil companies use free speech claims to challenge climate lawsuits

Oil companies are invoking the First Amendment and anti-SLAPP laws to argue that lawsuits accusing them of misleading the public about climate change violate their free speech rights.

Karen Zraick and Sachi Kitajima Mulkey report for The New York Times.

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Falsehoods about climate change slow action and deepen the crisis, global report warns

Misinformation about climate change — spread by fossil fuel interests, politicians, and state actors — is delaying action and worsening environmental risks, a new analysis finds.

Damian Carrington reports for The Guardian.

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