As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, right-wing media has unified in decrying President Joe Biden’s climate policies and demanding that the U.S. drill for more oil and gas to offset the Russian energy industry. As part of this campaign against climate action, conservative media figures have launched unhinged attacks on climate activists – including Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, of course – blaming them for the domestic and global policies that supposedly emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. Right-wing media personalities are even going so far, in some cases, as to suggest climate activists have been funded by the Russian government. These arguments are chock-full of climate misinformation and denial, intentionally misplacing blame for the invasion and furthering the right-wing media’s efforts to vilify climate activists.
This isn’t the first time that the right-wing media ecosystem has exploited breaking news to launch absurd attacks on climate activists. For example, in the early days of the pandemic, Fox and other outlets ran with the false notion that climate activists were somehow “celebrating” over the coronavirus lockdowns. When youth climate activism made global headlines in 2019, right-wing media outlets used the opportunity to compare them to Stephen King's “Children of the Corn.” It’s not just recent news, either; as far back as 2010, right-wing media was blaming the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on environmental activists.
Here are some of the most shameless examples from the past two weeks of right-wing media figures attempting to scapegoat climate activists for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine:
Right-wing media even revived the conspiracy theory that climate activists are being funded by Russia
The claim that Russia is funding climate activists in the U.S is also a well-worn tactic – it’s been going around conservative media circles for the past several years – but it is also without merit. In 2018, Republican lawmakers claimed that Russia was backing Dakota Access pipeline protesters. The Guardian, however, noted that “evidence is thin.” Politico also covered Republicans' efforts to tie Russia to climate groups in 2017, noting that “there’s little but innuendo to base them on.” Now, right-wing outlets are using the crisis in Ukraine to once again claim that Russia is secretly backing climate activists in Europe and the U.S:
These attacks blaming climate activists for Russian aggression are absurd. Decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels is the only way to move forward.
It’s shameless to blame climate activists when one looks at the reality of the situation on the ground.
Russia derives much of its power by being a major exporter of fossil fuels, and keeping regions like Europe reliant on its product. The best way to curb its power and become truly energy independent is to decarbonize our economies. As Erin Sikorsky, director of the Center for Climate and Security, told the Los Angeles Times: “There’s been a lot of concern about dependence on Russian [natural] gas, and whether that inhibits countries’ ability to stand up to Russia. … The more that countries can wean themselves off oil and gas and move toward renewables, the more independence they have in terms of action.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch explained:
With this in mind, it’s time to shun right-wing media’s calls for expanding fossil fuel production in the face of a mounting climate crisis. Rather than climate activists being the problem for the Ukraine crisis, they can be the solution – but only if leaders heed their calls for decarbonization and end our addiction to fossil fuels.
