Fox Distorts, We Reply

We've known for a long time that what Fox News was broadcasting couldn't exactly be called "news." But this week, a new film by Robert Greenwald exposes just how frightening the network's propaganda really is. The film, "Fox Attacks: The Environment" documents the network's consistent pattern of misinformation on global warming. It shows Fox commentators arguing that global warming is "a hoax" and a myth on par with astrology and psychics.

Meanwhile, Fox owner Rupert Murdoch announced plans to give his News Corporation a green makeover, reducing the company's carbon footprint, and, he says, educating his viewers about global warming. Clearly, he has failed in that regard.

Murdoch says going green "is just good business." That's one fact he's got right. But if we hope to combat global warming, we need companies to make substantive changes, not just engage in greenwashing in order to drum up business.

Companies that say they care about the planet -- companies like Home Depot -- can show a real, honest commitment to the environment by pulling their ads from Fox. Supporting Fox at this point, after all, fuels a stream of lies and deception about the most pressing and far-reaching environmental problem in the world: global warming.

What's so alarming about Fox's distortion of facts is that it has the potential to delay our response to climate change. The less information Americans have about the threat global warming poses to life as we know it, the less likely they are to ask lawmakers for quick, comprehensive, decisive action to combat the problem.

Scientists say we can combat this problem, but only if Americans have the facts and demand change. That's why the Sierra Club and a coalition of faith and activist groups are asking Home Depot and other companies that say they care about the environment to pull their ads from Fox News immediately.