Climate change

Successful lobbying by the US, Saudi, and other governments at the UN in the late 1980s replaced the phrase ‘global warming’ with ‘climate change’ in official reports, because it sounded less threatening and less obviously related to the oil industry. The term is still preferred by politicians whose interests are aligned with those of ‘energy’ companies.

Republican spin-doctor Frank Luntz’s 2003 memo on why his party should use the ‘less frightening’ term ‘climate change’ instead of ‘global warming’

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