#1 Stick in the Muck – Rupert Murdock
The vast majority of scientists — even American ones! — agree that human beings are pumping too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and that this is causing the global climate to warm. So why aren’t we trying to do anything about it? Well, we are. Millions of concerned citizens, climate activists, scientists, business leaders and policymakers understand the grave threat climate change poses, and are actively working to find the best ways to curb our emissions. But these 12 people — very, very powerful people — are doing their damnedest to stop them. And thanks to their inordinate amount of power, influence and media control it’s working!
Here’s Rolling Stone’s list, the Top 12 Politicians and Execs Blocking Progress on Global Warming — the abridged edition (links go to the RS profile):
12. Fred Upton — The moderate-representative-turned-Tea-Party-favorite who now sits as the Chairman of the House Energy Committee. He’ll lead the charge in dismantling the EPA.
11. Bjørn Lomborg — Danish climate skeptic who traffics in making misleading but vaguely believable (to the layperson) claims about global warming, arguing action isn’t needed.
10. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) — Chairman of the House Oversight Committee who’s making “investigating” climate scientists who have already been exonerated numerous times one of his chief goals.
9. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV): Claims to want to fight climate, but is intent on blocking the EPA, and is integral in keeping the coal industry powerful.
8. Ken Cuccinelli: “Here’s a novel strategy to make sure nobody thinks too hard about the risks of global warming: Criminalize climate science. Cuccinelli, Virginia’s ultraright attorney general, is using his prosecutorial power to harass and intimidate those who are raising the alarm about climate change…”
7. Tim Phillips: As leader of AFP, a corporate front group that funnels cash to the Tea Party, Phillips is on a mission to convince Americans that global warming is a plot hatched by Al Gore to take away their freedom and destroy the economy….
6. Rex Tillerson: The CEO of Exxon, Tillerson helms the biggest carbon-polluting company in the world. He directs millions towards lobbying against climate action.
5. Tom Donahue: As head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Donahue is one of the nation’s most powerful opponents to climate legislation, directing millions of dollars and untold influence against it.
4. Gregory Boyce: The owner of the world’s largest publicly-owned coal company.
3. Sarah Palin, Retired half-term governor, Alaska: ‘Nuff said.
2. Charles and David Koch: The notorious billionaire brothers who bankroll just about every effort to block climate progress imaginable — these guys need no introduction. (In case they do, see this brief synopsis of their wide-ranging influence)
1. Rupert Murdoch: “No one does more to spread dangerous disinformation about global warming than Murdoch. In a year of record heat waves in Africa, freak snowstorms in America and epic flooding in Pakistan, the Fox network continued to dismiss climate change as nothing but a conspiracy by liberal scientists and Big Government.”
via Treehugger