Think Progress

A Case Of Classic SwiftBoating: How The Right-Wing Noise Machine Manufactured ‘Climategate’ - Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

In mid-November, thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit webmail server — a top climate research center in the United Kingdom — were hacked and dumped on a Russian web server. Polluter-funded climate skeptics, along with their allies in conservative media and the Republican Party, sifted through the e-mails, and [...]

Right-Wing Billionaire David Koch Funding SwiftBoat Campaign Against Global Warming Science - Monday, December 7th, 2009

Right-wing billionaire David Koch, who along with his brother Charles owns the oil and gas empire Koch Industries, constantly presents himself as a champion of science. Next year, a wing of the Smithsonian will be named after him because of his generous donations. Indeed, in accepting Koch’s donations, the Smithsonian Human Origins Program director [...]

A $1,761 Postage Stamp: How The Glenn Beck Machine Constructed An Attack On Clean Energy Reform - Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Fox News host Glenn Beck, the new darling of the radical right, is part of a well-coordinated machine to block progressive reform. Yesterday, Beck fanned himself with a giant $1,761 postage stamp, claiming he had uncovered “outright lies” by a “spooky” White House. According to Beck, “buried” Treasury documents reveal that President Obama’s clean energy [...]

Michigan Chamber Of Commerce Embraces Glenn Beck, Invites Him To Be A Keynote Speaker - Friday, September 11th, 2009

On his Fox News show this past Wednesday, right-wing extremist Glenn Beck claimed, “The uber-left is in business with big business.” But next Tuesday, Beck is keynoting a U.S. Chamber of Commerce forum in Michigan sponsored by several major corporations, including AT&T, Comcast, and Dow Corning.
Although Beck’s race-baiting and McCarthyism have led a massive [...]

Exploiting 9/11, Glenn Beck, Extremists And Corporate-Backed Groups Plan Anti-Obama March - Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

This Saturday, right-wing protesters will gather in Washington DC for a march to oppose health reform and President Obama. The event, scheduled intentionally on September 12 to coincide with the anniversary of the day following the September 11 terrorist attacks, was conceived largely by Fox News’ Glenn Beck. However, most of the day-to-day organizing has [...]

DC Tea Party Protesters Agree: ‘Chairman Maobama’ Is Leading The Country On A Path To Socialism - Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Today, ThinkProgress went over to Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House to attend one of the many right-wing Tax Day Tea Parties taking place nationwide. Although the speaking program wasn’t set to begin for another hour or so, there were already about 50 people standing around in the rain from as [...]

CEI: Fixing Climate Change Will Cause ‘Death On A Massive Scale’ In The Developing World - Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Today, the right-wing think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) launched its new round of ads attacking Al Gore for his leadership on climate change. According to CEI, the ads “contrast Gore’s energy-consuming lifestyle with the life-and-death need for energy in developing countries.” The ads are set to run for two weeks on CNN, CNBC, and [...]

Global Warming Denier Group Set To Recycle Attacks on Al Gore - Monday, March 10th, 2008

Tomorrow, the ultra conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will launch a new round of television ads attacking former Vice President Al Gore for his leadership on climate change. The right-wing Washington Times gleefully reported on CEI’s ad buy on Saturday:
Al Gore’s opulent lifestyle and his virtuous plea to save the planet from global warming don’t [...]

Beck Blames California Wildfires On The ‘Damn Environmentalists’ - Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

Last night, CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck blamed California’s massive wildfires on the “damn environmentalists” and their “bad environmental policies.” He also claimed that global warming has nothing to do with the situation, stating, “[I]f I hear global warming one more time, blood is going to shoot out of my eyes.”
To prove his points, [...]

Right Wing Launches Dishonest, Misinformed Attacks Against Live Earth - Saturday, July 7th, 2007

Right now, the Live Earth concert series is ongoing in each of the seven continents. Spearheaded by Vice President Al Gore, the event “marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign…to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming.”
With more than 2 billion people in 100 countries across the globe expected to [...]

ExxonMobil Lied, Continues to Lavishly Fund Prominent Global Warming Deniers - Friday, May 18th, 2007

In January, oil giant ExxonMobil tried to “soften” its stance on climate change, asserting that it was “misunderstood” and now acknowledges the contribution of humans to global warming. Subsequently, the company promised that it would “not be providing any further funding” to groups that distort global warming science, such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
But a [...]

Statement Of GSA Administrator Lurita Doan To House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, 3/28/07 - Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

STATEMENT OF LURITA DOAN
ADMINISTRATOR
U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT
AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 28, 2007
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Davis, and Members of the Committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today to address the matters raised in your March 6, 2007 invitation. This is my first opportunity to testify since being [...]

House Conservatives Appoint Chief Climate Skeptic To Lead New Global Warming Panel - Friday, March 9th, 2007

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to create a new congressional committee devoted solely to addressing the global climate crisis.
Unable to block the creation of the committee, House conservative leaders are now doing everything they can to neuter it. Conservative leadership aides reportedly told Republican members that a vote in favor of the bill creating [...]

Exxon’s New Position On Global Warming, Same As Its Old Position On Global Warming - Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

The Guardian is reporting that ExxonMobil chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson recently promised investors that it plans to “soften” its public image on global warming. But as one person at the meeting noted, Exxon doesn’t actually plan to change its positions:
Chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson made clear to a select group of [...]

BBC Newsnight Transcript, 9/20/06 - Thursday, September 21st, 2006

(Visual: Cigarette Ad)
Tobacco Advertisement: Gold Leaf are made of the finest Virginia Tobacco in the world
Narration: We’ve been here before. A few decades ago the tobacco companies could blithely create the impression that cigarettes were good for you.
Tobacco Advertisement: Thayer’s Gold Leaf are really worth smoking.
(Visual: Tobacco Company CEO Hearings, 1994)
Narration: For a long time [...]

ExxonMobil Stops Funding Competitive Enterprise Institute - Wednesday, September 20th, 2006

ExxonMobil is notorious for funding groups that attack global warming science. A recent survey by the Royal Society, “Britain’s premier scientific academy,” found that “ExxonMobil last year distributed $2.9m to 39 groups that the society says misrepresent the science of climate change.”
Exxon may be on the verge however of giving up these efforts. Following the [...]

Al Gore, NYU Law, 9/18/06 - Monday, September 18th, 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you Paul and Jim for those kind introductions. I would especially like to thank our host, New York University and the President of the College John Sexton and the Dean of the Law School Richard Revesz. I am also grateful to our co-sponsors, the World Resources Institute and Set America [...]

CEI Expert: ‘The Best Policy Regarding Global Warming Is To Neglect It’ - Tuesday, August 15th, 2006

Over the weekend, Donald J. Boudreaux — George Mason Unversity professor and “adjunct analyst” at the Exxon-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute — wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune called “The case for neglecting global warming.” He argued that the “documented health gains that people in the West have enjoyed over the past five or [...]

LEAKED MEMO: Coal Industry Coordinating Propaganda Blitz Attacking Global Warming Science - Thursday, July 27th, 2006

A secret memo by the coal industry details a coordinated campaign to spread misinformation about global warming. The memo expresses fear that if the government addresses climate change — through a carbon tax or regulating greenhouse gasses — it will cut into their profits.
Their solution: “support the scientific community that is willing to stand [...]

CEI Scholar: Gore Thinks Climate Change is Caused by ‘Widespread Sin,’ a Sign of ‘the Antichrist’ - Tuesday, June 6th, 2006

Ian Murray, senior fellow at the Exxon-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes for the National Review on global warming issues. Today, he excerpts some promotional material from a horror movie that he says “mirrors Al Gore’s views” on global warming:
[G]lobal warming is caused by the widespread sin, immorality, and materialism of our current society. The looting [...]