Canada's Climate Hoax: Yes Men Release False Press Releases, Canadian Government Shamed
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph
As much as Fox News has made a concerted effort to misinform people about climate change, they probably expected to have the most lasting impact on the Copenhagen talks, at least in terms of fake news. However, notorious pranksters The Yes Men sent out authentic-appearing press releases promising sweeping changes on behalf of Canada's government that may not have included much in the way of factual information, but they certainly put the onus on Canada to make legitimate change.
It all began with a press release that reported a major development in Canada's commitment to the environment. According to the release, Canada would pursue the ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions to 40% below levels in 1990 by 2020 and to cut emissions to levels 80% below 1990 by 2050. It also committed Canada to a "Climate Debt Mechanism" that would set aside money to aid developing nations in dealing with climate change's effects on them. The initial sum set aside would have been $13 billion, the value roughly equivalent to 1% of Canada's GDP. Anticipating the impact of such a sweeping commitment, especially the innovative CDM, observers around the world heaped praise on the nation, including the Ugandan delegation that created a video expressing as much.
Then came the clarification. Another press release denigrated the first as a hoax that worked only "to generate hurtful rumors and mislead the Conference of Parties on Canada's positions on climate change." That much appeared plausible as a government reaction to the hoax.
Later, the press release included a suspicious statement from Canada's Minister for the Environment, Jim Prentice, saying, "It is the height of cruelty, hypocrisy, and immorality to infuse with false hopes the spirit of people who are already, and will additionally, bear the brunt of climate change's terrible human effects." The "false hopes" sentiment was probably intended as a clue; the press release was just another part of the spoof.
Even a later release expressing apologies to the Ugandan delegation turned out to be part of the elaborate spoof, as the "impassioned response" cited in the release actually came from a colluding member of ActionAid, an organization dedicated to ending poverty.
Part of the spoof's effectiveness owes to the attention to detail by The Yes Men. For example, they created a site claiming to be from the government. Juxtaposed with the actual site for Environment Canada, the fake site is difficult to distinguish.
The Yes Men, a group of Americans who spend time "impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them," had previously garnered attention with their movie release exploring topics such as Dow Chemical culpability in a Bhopal tragedy and companies profiting from Hurricane Katrina. Generally, members present the appearance of executives or other higher ups and make grand apologies or claims of restitution for issues otherwise ignored to elicit a reaction.
In the wake of the hoax, when people prepared to offer Canada high praise, the Conservative Canadian government had to deal with the ire generated from news released that the Conservative Party actually began debating drawing back existing emissions targets.
The Copenhagen talks continue, and though Canada has not yet made a strong commitment to the environment, neither have The Yes Men agreed to end their criticism of the nation. What the eventual effect will be remains to be seen. But can a series of falsehoods, in the right hands and with the right intentions, eventually create a better truth? Just ask The Yes Men and see what they say.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
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