NASA chief scientist weighs in
Americans are "under siege" from disinformation designed to confuse the public about the threat of climate change, Nasa's former chief scientist has said.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ellen Stofan, who left the US space agency in December, said that a constant barrage of half-truths had left many Americans oblivious to the potentially dire consequences of continued carbon emissions, despite the science being unequivocal.
"We are under siege by fake information that's being put forward by people who have a profit motive," she said, citing oil and coal companies as culprits. "Fake news is so harmful because once people take on a concept it's very hard to dislodge it."
During the past six months, the US science community has woken up to this threat, according to Stofan, and responded by ratcheting up efforts to communicate with the public at the grassroots level as well as in the mainstream press.
"The harder part is this active disinformation campaign," she said before her appearance at Cheltenham Science Festival this week. "I'm always wondering if these people honestly believe the nonsense they put forward. When they say 'It could be volcanoes' or 'the climate always changes'... to obfuscate and to confuse people, it frankly makes me angry."
Stofan added that while "fake news" is frequently characterised as a problem in the right-leaning media, she saw evidence of an "erosion of people's ability to scrutinise information" across the political spectrum. "All of us have a responsibility," she said. "There's this attitude of 'I read it on the internet therefore it must be true'."
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(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday June 11 2017, @11:53PM
I doubt that. When an agreement breaks down, usually the parts invoke "you tricked me..." or "you forced me into a result that's detrimental".
When it happens, if violence is an option, at least one of the parties will try to use it. The stronger party (i.e. the one capable of most violence or the one that can afford the best mercenaries - your "private enforcers"), wins.
Guess what? Next time the winner will try the same course of actions - its prev experience and reputation pushes it towards.
Even if it's a Pyrrhic victory, others will do the same - because the annual shareholders meeting lets them no choice - in a dispute, it's either win or die trying.
At least govts can capitulate to spare its citizens, the corporates cannot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford