Rolling Stone magazine is taking an eco-friendly political stand by pointing fingers and laying blame on those they feel are the worst offenders to the environment. Rolling Stone’s political columnist Tim Dickinson authored the list entitled “The Climate Killers: Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming”. This is multi part series to examine the list that weighs public perception vs. his finding. You probably read the first part of our series, which focused on Warren Buffett, a name that shocked many because of his newly acquired public persona. The second name on the list is not shocking if anything it seems to be a given that he would be an eco-friendly offender. He is the uber conservative, ultra rich man who gave the world Fox news, if you haven’t guessed yet, well where have you been in the last two decades? It is none other than News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch.

Now, simply creating a controversial new network does not make an eco-offender, so why does Dickinson add Mr. Murdoch’s name to the list? You may or may not know that in 2007 Murdoch made a commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility Responsibility, “Murdoch promised that not only would News Corp. itself become carbon-neutral by 2010, but that his media outlets would explain the urgent need for a cap on carbon emissions.”  This is something that would have a wide reaching effect, as Murdoch’s power in the business community is profound.

The issue that Dickinson and Rolling Stone find with him is the disconnect between his corporate mandate for an eco-friendly way of doing business and the stance his many news outlets took in dealing with the issue of climate change. Dickinson sites many examples of how the various outlets undermine an eco-friendly outlook, the one that stands out amongst them is this quote from Fox News, right-wing attack dog Sean Hannity [when he] misinformed his viewers that 2009 — the fifth-hottest year in the past 130 — was “one of the coldest years on record.” Hannity then summed up the deranged denial that permeates Murdoch’s media empire: “I don’t believe climate change is real,” he said. “I think this is global-warming hysteria and alarmism.””

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