There's A Shiny New Playhouse For Climate Liars And Hacks - It's Called "QAnon"
Naomi Seibt was supposed to be the right’s answer to Greta Thunberg — a charismatic, blonde, German teen who would challenge climate science, like a comic book nemesis who is endowed with the same powers and abilities as her foe. Her conservative backers at the Heartland Institute billed her as a much needed voice of reason. Seibt, now 20, earned coverage in The Washington Post and The Guardian for rebuffing climate advocates, and she built a small following online.
But Seibt never reached the heights of fame or influence that Thunberg had achieved. After her debut at the start of this year, she began to drift from the spotlight. That changed in May when she doubled down on her wholesale rejection of facts, giving credence to QAnon, a far-right conspiratorial movement claiming that Donald Trump is trying to stop a satanic cabal of pedophiles made up of liberal elites. A new analysis shows that Seibt saw a spike in new Twitter followers after repeatedly referencing QAnon.
“After her initial intro, Seibt’s star faded very quickly,” said Michael Khoo, an advisor to Friends of the Earth. “When she started talking about Qanon, she started to gain a lot more traction. And that’s the dynamic that has a long-term danger to us.” Khoo oversaw a recent analysis of climate denial online undertaken by the firm Graphika. It found that climate deniers, like Seibt, have begun sharing content related to QAnon in recent months. Khoo believes that climate deniers are vying for support of QAnon believers, and that if they succeed, it could pose a serious threat to the goals of the climate movement.
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Currently, two in 10 Americans, including four in 10 Republicans, say that QAnon is a “somewhat good” or “very good” thing for the country, according to Pew Research. Some 81 current or former congressional candidates have in some way promoted QAnon, according to Media Matters. Khoo worries that, if Joe Biden manages to win in November and Democrats take control of Congress, QAnon supporters will help stymie efforts to pass major climate change legislation needed to avoid catastrophic warming.
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http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/09/29/climate-deniers-embracing-qanon-scariest-thing-ive-ever-encountered/
