Fox News’ Link to Saudi Kingpin
As a short sequel to “Climate Skeptics’ Leading Scientist Funded by Dirty Energy“, this is a brief look at the close connection between Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (ok, not Kingpin, but close) and Fox News, one of the leading media outlets in the world regularly promoting climate denier and anti-clean energy “news” and information.
Prince Alwaleed is the world’s 5th richest man and has decided to put a large chunk of money into this US media company.
Prince Alwaleed owns the fourth largest stake in Fox News’ parent company, News Corp. Following New Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch (listed by Forbes as the 7th most powerful person in the world) and members of his family, Alwaleed is the leading owner of this humongous news company.
Now, it doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to come to the conclusion that Alwaleed has some influence over what is covered and how it is covered by News Corp (including Fox News).
Alwaleed, himself, has apparently boasted about his influence on Fox news coverage.
Whether his influence is as strong as his share in the company, who knows(?), but it is clear that Fox News and Alwaleed are doing all they can to keep America on oil and off of clean energy.
Dr. Joseph Romm of Climate Progress reports:
“In an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto last month, Prince Alwaleed emphasized the importance of the ‘strategic alliance’ of America’s reliance on Saudi oil. Other Saudi officials have called efforts to build a clean energy economy in America Saudi Arabia’s ‘biggest threat.’ Although little is known about the extent to which Prince Alwaleed weighs in on Fox content, Fox News dedicates much of its coverage to attacking clean energy legislation that would lead to American energy independence. If clean energy legislation dies, America will continue to be a foreign oil-dependent nation, which would benefit Prince Alwaleed and other members of the Saudi royal family.”
When are climate skeptics going to realize they are getting “news” from oil, coal and other dirty energy interests?
Image Credit: Presidency Maldives via flickr under a CC license
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