In case you didn’t manage to catch all 24 hours of the Climate Reality Project (I mean, what the heck else were you doing?), I wanted to flag this one video for you, as it’s particularly germane to the ongoing coverage here at DeSmogBlog.
It’s called “Doubt,” and it’s about how the fossil fuel industry took the tobacco industry’s playbook (didn’t just borrow a play, but really the whole playbook) to confuse the public on the science of climate change. Not by disproving the facts – because that’s impossible – but just by creating enough doubt to make a busy public dismiss it.
DOUBT from The Climate Reality Project on Vimeo.
Here’s the core of it all:
“How did the tobacco companies manage to lie to the public in face of all the scientific evidence?
They realized that the science didn’t need to be disproven. It was enough to create doubt in the minds of the public to keep them from recognizing the truth.”
While the subject might be one that we dive deep into regularly (and which Chris Mooney has covered from every direction, upside down and backwards), I think it’s important to spotlight a broader birds-eye perspective like this one. Especially as the video is incredibly well produced, and could be something that manages to reach a whole new audience. Speaking past the choir here.
Here’s to hoping that it goes viral. Spread the word!
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