Global spin: the corporate assault on environmentalism

Abstract

Global Spin reveals the sophisticated techniques used by powerful conservative forces to change the way the public and politicians think about the environment. Large corporations are using their influence to reshape public opinion, to weaken gains made by environmentalists, and to turn politicians against improved laws. The corporations' techniques include employing specialized public relations firms to set up front groups that promote the corporate agenda while posing as public-interest groups; creating astroturf -- artificially created grassroots support for corporate causes; deterring public involvement by imposing SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation); getting corporate-based environmental education materials into schools; and funding conservative think-tanks, which cast doubt on problems and oppose stricter regulations. In the media, corporate advertising and sponsorship affect the content of news programs, and industry-funded scientists are presented as independent experts. In stores, green marketing (sometimes called greenwashing) tries to persuade consumers that corporations are addressing serious problems. Global Spin is the first book to document in detail how corporations in the U.S., Europe, and Australia manipulate the international debate to obscure their role in causing and prolonging our crisis. While certain to be controversial, the book is so deeply researched and well-written that few will be able to dismiss its troubling insights.