Climate contest — $175 reality vs. $3,100 fiction
In a rational world, the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the Waxman-Markey climate bill will cost the average American family only $175 a year by 2020 would deflate arguments that the legislation is horribly expensive.
Well, better late than never for the CBO, I suppose. Last week’s study did get coverage in major news sources — except, of course, in Fox.
But I’m skeptical that the actual estimate of $175 will become the accepted number in popular culture.
For weeks, industry groups, anti-solution politicians and professional crisis deniers have been throwing around two numbers — $1,600 per year and $3,100 per year — as scare tactics. Read more
Fox News turns a red herring into red meat
My first “Media Mayhem” column for the Mother Nature Network:
OK. Take a few deep breaths. Don’t get as worked up about these things as I do: This is how cable news coverage of the climate change bill that’s working its way through Congress will go for the next two months — at least in some media quarters.
Story continued on Mother Nature Network
