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Grassroots Coalition Launches Campaign to Expose Fox Network's Consistent Pattern of Misinformation on Global Warming Environmental, Religious, and Activist Groups Ask Home Depot to Pull Ads A grassroots coalition of environmental, religious, and activist groups launched a campaign today to expose the Fox News network's consistent pattern of spreading misinformation about global warming. As part of the campaign, the coalition is urging Home Depot -- a company that says it cares about the environment -- to stop advertising on Fox. The campaign, led by the Sierra Club and Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, includes a YouTube video called Fox Attacks: The Environment exposing Fox's pattern of misinformation, and an online petition to Home Depot – both located at www.FoxAttacks.com. The broad coalition behind the campaign includes environmental, religious, and online activist groups including MoveOn.org Civic Action. "Fox consistently spreads misinformation about global warming and denies the problem exists," said Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope. "We have a very real, urgent problem that scientists tell us we need to respond to immediately. The fact that Fox is ignoring widely accepted science on global warming is irresponsible and dangerous. Fox is effectively accelerating global warming by delaying efforts to solve the problem." "Any company that cares about the environment should be disturbed by Fox's consistent pattern of spreading misinformation about global warming and should not support Fox with advertising dollars," said director Robert Greenwald, whose Brave New Films produced the three-minute YouTube video documenting Fox's inaccurate reporting on the environment. "Fox Attacks: The Environment reveals the shocking extent to which the network intentionally spreads misinformation. The video exposes CEO Rupert Murdoch's claim that he is fighting global warming while Fox does the exact opposite by consistently spreading misinformation on the issue," Greenwald said. "Home Depot needs to decide: Will they just talk the talk on global warming, or will they walk the walk by stopping advertising on Fox?" The video includes Fox anchors and commentators arguing that trees cause more pollution than cars, reporters saying there is no scientific evidence for climate change, that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and repeated references to global warming as "a hoax." In recent months, presidential candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, and Chris Dodd have all refused to appear in Fox-sponsored debates because of the increasing consensus that Fox is not a legitimate news organization. Today, Sierra Club, Brave New Films, Progressive Christians Uniting, FaithfulDemocrats.com, The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, American Family Voices, Campaign for America's Future, Campus Progress, the California Council of Churches, the National Organization of Women, Democrats.com, Democracy For America, and MoveOn.org Civic Action urged the public to sign a petition to Home Depot asking them to also reject Fox. Home Depot recently began advertising products identified with an environmentally-friendly "eco options" label. The company also says it supports building green homes, planting trees, and is working to offset carbon emissions from company headquarters in Georgia. The coalition is calling on Home Depot to demonstrate its commitment to the environment by pulling ads from Fox. A petition addressed to the company says, "If Home Depot is serious about protecting the environment, they must stop advertising on Fox -- a network that consistently spreads misinformation about and denies the existence of global warming." "The most meaningful action companies like Home Depot can take to help the planet is to make sure the public knows the truth about global warming. That means rejecting Fox's pattern of misinformation," Carl Pope said. The Fox Attacks: The Environment video is part of a series produced by Brave New Films that includes Fox Attacks: Black America and Fox Attacks: Obama. To view the video documenting Fox's attack on the environment, visit www.FoxAttacks.com. |
