8 Most Absurd Attacks On Clean Tech In 2013

[TomCADem]

It is important to keep in mind the heavy hand that Fox News plays in right wing politics. The fact that Fox News repeatedly attacks clean energy industries says a lot about the influence of the oil industry on the Republican party.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/12/23/8-most-absurd-attacks-on-clean-tech-in-2013/197306

1. Fox Business Reporter: Germany's Solar Industry Better Than U.S.'s Because "They've Got A Lot More Sun Than We Do." In February, Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson pushed the claim that the solar industry's future in the United States "looks dim." Fox Business reporter Shibani Joshi then compared the state of the U.S. solar industry to that of Germany, saying that Germans enjoy more success because "they've got a lot more sun than we do." Joshi added that "In California, it's a great solution, but here on the East Coast it's just not going to work." After her comments were widely derided since the U.S. actually has much greater solar potential than Germany even on the East Coast, Joshi was forced to issue an online correction. The U.S. solar industry is on track to outpace Germany's solar industry this year for the "first time in more than fifteen years," according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

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2. After Electric Automaker Tesla Becomes A Success, Fox Forgets Its Federal Loan. Fox News and Fox Business hosts and pundits alike attacked Tesla Motors after the green technology company received federal loans to begin to produce electric automobiles. Once Tesla turned a profit, however, these conservative media figures developed amnesia about the company's federal loan, even trying to use the company to dismiss the need for clean energy subsidies.

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4. WSJ Editorial Board Member: New York City's Bike Share Program Part Of "Totalitarian" Plot. With a straight face, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board member Dorothy Rabinowitz said that bicyclists were the "most important danger" facing New York City, and raged against bike share programs that are pursued by the "all powerful" "bike lobby" emboldened by "totalitarians." She emphasizes that "the city is helpless" before the driven ambitions of its "autocratic" mayor. Rabinowitz's overly hyped attack of a bike-share program attracted criticism, notably from Comedy Central's The Daily Show. However, Rabinowitz stuck by her attack, saying the bike racks are "instruments of aesthetic torture" and told a bicyclist who asked her a question to instead ask "the therapist we hope this biker is consulting."
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7. Fox News: Solar Power "Might Be Tanking Our Economy." In February Fox News hosts used the misfortune of one solar company to admonish the entire solar industry, going so far as to say that this sector is "tanking our economy," despite the fact that solar actually has helped to grow the U.S. economy. After California-based solar panel company, SoloPower, laid off employees and had trouble meetings requirements for its federal loan guarantee, Fox News hosts surmised that the solar industry and the nation's entire economy was in peril as a result. However, solar industry jobs have grown in recent years, and dropping prices are driving record installations.

[hibbing]

1. Freidman unit

The Faux news item I can disregard as they are always so full of crap. I like this overbearing and all powerful bike lobby that she speaks of though. I can see the future, in five years the headline will be "Our totalitarian overloards triked to Tribeca on Treks".

Peace

[dougolat]

2. Their propaganda is rarely so obvious...

...I guess their overall success lets them get carried away like that.

Now, when is the public going to notice?