{"id":1447072,"date":"2024-01-16T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=627121"},"modified":"2024-01-16T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T11:00:00","slug":"how-youtubes-climate-deniers-turned-into-climate-doomers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/01\/16\/how-youtubes-climate-deniers-turned-into-climate-doomers\/","title":{"rendered":"How YouTube\u2019s climate deniers turned into climate doomers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Imagine if you could walk from your house to anywhere you needed to go in less than 15 minutes: the pharmacy, the bakery, the gym, and then back to the bakery. In a certain, conspiracy-addled corner of the internet, this urban planning concept of \u201c15-minute cities\u201d gets a shady, sinister gloss. Conspiracy theorists evoke COVID restrictions and tout efforts to create walkable cities as steps toward \u201cclimate lockdowns.\u201d They warn of a plot by the World Economic Forum to restrict people\u2019s movements, trapping and surveilling them in their neighborhoods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey want to take away your cars,\u201d claims Clayton Morris, a former Fox News host, in a YouTube video that\u2019s been viewed 1.7 million times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
YouTube is riddled with false claims like these, so it\u2019s the place to document the evolution of arguments against taking action on climate change. A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit based in London and Washington, D.C., working to stop the spread of disinformation, analyzed 12,000 videos from channels that promoted lies about climate change on YouTube over the last six years. Over that time, the reality of climate change long predicted by scientists has become increasingly difficult to dismiss. The report, released on Tuesday, found a dramatic shift from \u201cold denial\u201d arguments \u2014 that global warming isn\u2019t real and isn\u2019t caused by humans \u2014 to new arguments bent on undermining trust in climate solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe success is that the science has won this debate on anthropogenic climate change,\u201d said Imran Ahmed, the nonprofit\u2019s founder and CEO. \u201cThe opponents of action have shifted their attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report suggests that, rather than doing a victory lap, climate advocates may want to focus on defending climate policies and renewable energy as necessary and effective. As the world was besieged by intense heat, expansive wildfires, and catastrophic floods in recent years, YouTubers promoting disinformation increasingly embraced \u201cnew denial\u201d narratives, such as that solar panels will destroy the economy and the environment, or that the United Nations\u2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a \u201cfraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n