{"id":5118,"date":"2018-02-27T14:09:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T19:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecooptimism.com\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2018-02-27T14:09:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T19:09:09","slug":"the-distillery-november-17-2017-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecooptimism.com\/?p=5118","title":{"rendered":"The Distillery: February 27, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We can all use some positive news these days, especially on the environmental front in which science is considered evil, denial is an alternative fact and the EPA is now what I\u2019m calling the Environmental Destruction Agency. And while I don\u2019t want to gloss over the issues \u2013 there isn\u2019t enough paint in the world to do that \u2013 I offer here The Distillery, a weekly (or thereabouts) selection of posts to help offset the PTSD of our current nightmare.<\/span><\/p>\n

The posts I pick will be \u201creal\u201d in the sense that they aren\u2019t pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, as fun as those can be, but are evidence of EcoOptimism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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A recent EcoOptimism Distillery post was on the theme of \u201cgood news disguised as bad news.\u201d Here, perhaps, is the ultimate example of that. In spite of and maybe because of all the astoundingly bad news about Trump\u2019s environmental “witch hunt” (to redirect his term)\u2026.<\/h3>\n

From ThinkProgress:<\/span><\/strong>
\nFebruary 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Poll reveals Americans are hitting their breaking point on the environment<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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(The previous high point \u2013 2006 – was shortly after Al Gore\u2019s An Inconvenient Truth came out.)
Image source: ThinkProgress<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

EcoOptimism’s take:\u00a0<\/span>Sure, it\u2019d be better if public support for environmental actions was due to something positive, but this support as a reaction to the absolute illogic of Trump is encouraging. And even better, must piss off the denier-in-chief. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping it makes his twitter finger sore.<\/span><\/p>\n

And in a similar vein, though media coverage of climate change still lags ridiculously behind other topics\u2026<\/p>\n

Also from ThinkProgress:<\/span><\/strong>
\nFebruary 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s climate denial backfires, drives more media coverage of the issue<\/a><\/p>\n

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Image source: MediaMatter<\/a>s<\/p><\/div>\n

EcoOptimism’s take: <\/span>The post\u2019s subtitle kinda says it all. \u201cHow the president is getting more people to think and talk about climate change.\u201d The post then explains: \u201cTrump is driving TV coverage of climate change, and as a result, he is raising the profile of the issue. Last year\u2019s spike in coverage of climate change corresponded with an uptick in public concern. Worry about climate change is now at an all-time high across several polls.\u201d (As shown in the article and graph above.) But it also goes on to say \u201cNews outlets gave an uncontested platform to climate deniers.\u201d And Media Matters, the data source for the post, said \u201cThe networks undercovered or ignored the ways that climate change had real-life impacts\u2026.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I guess that makes it a qualified “good news disguised as bad news.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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