Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

In June, Media Matters released a report showing that business news channel CNBC had cast doubt on science in more than half of its 2013 climate change coverage. [1] As the first analysis of its kind, the report was a wake-up call: by regularly denying climate science, CNBC was falling short of its core mission of providing “fast, accurate, actionable, [and] unbiased” business news to its viewers.

Environmental groups mobilized in response to the findings, collecting 42,000 signatures urging CNBC to improve its climate reporting. [2]

Four months after first sounding the alarm, Media Matters conducted a follow-up study to see if CNBC had adjusted its coverage. [3] Remarkably, we found that climate denial at the network actually increased, rising from 51 percent to 55 percent of climate reporting. Worse, one-third of the segments that did accurately report the science occurred during a limited “special week of climate coverage” on Worldwide Exchange, which airs at 4 AM ET. [4]

Help us let CNBC viewers know that they aren’t getting all the facts.

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that climate change exists, and more and more businesses are deciding that they can’t afford to wait and see. According to a recent study, more than 70 percent of companies think climate change can significantly affect their revenues—and many are already hedging against the risk. [5] In fact, businesses are becoming leading climate advocates: more than 650 major U.S. companies have already signed a letter calling for stronger federal clean energy laws [6], and just last month, nearly two dozen leading U.S. businesses announced support for carbon pollution standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency for new power plants. [7]

In business, there’s a clear trend toward taking climate science seriously—but on CNBC, there’s a clear trend toward dismissing and distorting it. As a network that prides itself on serving the information needs of the business community, CNBC is failing its viewers and damaging its reputation by rejecting science.

Last month, we sent a letter to CNBC, offering to help develop a plan to gradually improve its climate reporting. The network dismissed this outreach.

CNBC is ignoring scientists and media watchdogs, so it’s time to bring the truth to an audience it can’t ignore: its viewers.

CNBC has had multiple opportunities to address its climate denial problem, but has only let it get worse. At this point, the network can no longer claim ignorance: CNBC is intentionally misleading its viewers about climate change, and it needs to stop.

To push back, Media Matters will charter a fleet of fuel-efficient mobile billboards to blanket major U.S. financial districts with ads calling out CNBC for denying climate science.

Can you chip in $5 to help fund a billboard?

With your participation, we can scale up our efforts to expose the bad business of CNBC’s climate denial to the viewers that determine its bottom line.

Cynthia Padera
Campaigns Manager
Media Matters for America

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[1] REPORT: CNBC’s Climate Denial Is Bad For Business http://mm4a.org/12GKKLW

[2] Environmentalists Deliver 42,000-Signature Petition For Better Climate Coverage To CNBC Headquarters http://mm4a.org/1dE9gSI

[3] REPORT: CNBC Still Deeply In (Climate) Denial http://mm4a.org/1doZkKa

[4] After Petition, CNBC Unveils A “Special Week Of Climate Coverage” http://mm4a.org/156wbkn

[5] Carbon Disclosure Project and Accenture: “Reducing risk and driving business value” https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/News/CDP%20News%20Article%20Pages/major-climate-threat-to-global-supply-chains.aspx

[6] CERES: Major U.S. Companies Call For Climate Change Action http://www.ceres.org/press/press-releases/major-u.s.-companies-call-for-climate-change-action

[7] CERES: Major U.S. Companies and Investors Support Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants http://www.ceres.org/press/press-releases/major-u.s.-companies-and-investors-support-carbon-pollution-standards-for-new-power-plants

Imagine this situation: You’re stuck at the airport for who knows how long because your plane’s been grounded, you’re covered in the itchiest poison ivy you’ve ever had, and the airport bar is out of your favorite Cabernet.

What is going on?

Check out the new UCS Climate Hot Map. Travel the world to learn where global warming is already having an impact and you could win a trip for two to help find answers to the challenges of climate change in the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil!

This is climate change. Many people don’t realize it, but global warming is already affecting our lives and it’s causing trouble in surprising places—like in North Carolina where climate change has caused poison ivy to become more potent.

And unfortunately, itchy, thirsty, and impatient are only the beginning—there are dozens of ways global warming is already affecting the world and could be affecting you!

Today, the Union of Concerned Scientists introduces a new, interactive way to learn about the local consequences of global warming and the solutions available to meet the climate challenge. The Climate Hot Map allows you to travel the world and explore the places (or “hot spots”) where scientists have gathered evidence of climate changes that are already under way.

Check out some of the highlights from the Climate Hot Map by taking our Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt today.By joining the hunt for hot spots, you’ll be entered to win our grand prize: an Earthwatch Institute trip for two to assess the impacts of climate change on the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil! You’ll get additional entries for every correct Hot Spot you identify and for sharing the Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt with friends and family members. Five runners-up will receive a Solio Mono Hybrid Solar Charger—great for traveling or at home to charge your cell phone or MP3 player using the power of the sun.

So what are you waiting for? Travel the world, win cool prizes, learn about the local impacts of global warming today, and find out what communities around the world are doing to reduce global warming emissions. Start the Scavenger Hunt now.

Sincerely,

Brenda Ekwurzel, Ph.D.
Climate Scientist