Corporate broadcast TV nightly news and Sunday shows devoted just 112 minutes to climate change in 2020, the shortest duration since 2016, according to an analysis from Media Matters.

 

While last year saw the biggest-ever California wildfire, the most named storms in the Atlantic, the costliest thunderstorm in U.S. history, and a presidential race in which climate change played a central role, coverage of climate change dropped 53% from 2019 to 2020 across ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News Sunday. ECO-WATCH

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Broadcast television outlets, still a primary source of news for many Americans, devoted less than 50 minutes in 2016 to climate change coverage, nearly one-third less than in 2015, according to a recent study.

 

Why?

 

Six Corporations or 15 billionaires own America's news media companies and control 90% of the media in America. By contrast in 1983, 90% of the American media was owned by 50 companies. But the fact that a few companies own everything demonstrates "the illusion of choice.” They control what you watch and conversely how you think.

Until climate change smacks us in the face and starts to affect our daily lives (actually it already has), will we take notice and believe it's happening.

 

President Biden wants the U.S. to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030 — a goal on par with some of the most ambitious in the world.

 

Likewise, many corporations like Starbucks, is committed to cut their carbon, water, and waste footprints by half by 2030. Others have more distant goals like 2050. It makes them appear they are doing their part and looks good in their marketing profile. But it's no more than "greenwashing' and playing to the camera. 10, 20, 30 years from now? We may be up to our knickers in saltwater.

 

BUT what's being done today? The only way climate change will effectively be addressed is if the general population, worldwide, demand it, and actively gets involved. According to NASA, 97 percent of scientists acknowledge that our planet is getting warmer due to human activity. However, only 48 percent of adults in America recognize that climate change is being caused by human activity despite overwhelming scientific consensus, according to an October 2016 Pew Research Center poll.

 

However, expecting the masses to get behind climate change is a real stretch, when we can't even do simple things like using reusable shopping bags and water bottles. What's it going to be like when we're asked to do the nearly impossible like walking or riding a bike?

 

THE PROBLEM and the question we all ask is, "what can one person do to help make a difference in climate change?" The answer is EVERYTHING! We don't realize what clout we have until a majority is assembled against, or for a cause.

 

We take the position that it's NOT MY PROBLEM. NOT MY JOB. We look to the government or the media to come up with answers for us. And that's definitely NOT THEIR JOB. Their job is satisfying either their major campaign contributors, advertisers and/or investors. Kinda all the same these days. To them, pollution is money in the bank, not solutions.

 

BIGFORK ADVENTURES promotes Sustainable Travel which includes everything from:

• Supporting local economic development

• Minimizing plastic consumption

• Making greener transportation choices

• Eating at locally-owned restaurants

• Booking eco-conscious accommodations

 

Simple Stuff

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