Evlondo Cooper

Hurricane Milton's unprecedented rapid intensification to a Category 5 storm with 180 mph winds on October 7 was a clear indication of global warming's role in driving stronger, more intense storms. Fueled by record-warm Gulf waters made up to 800 times more likely by global warming, Milton became the strongest late-season Gulf storm on record. When Milton made landfall on October 9 as a Category 3, it devastated Florida's west coast, causing at least 24 deaths and a preliminary estimate of $30 billion to $60 billion in damage. While only 6% of national TV news segments about Hurricane Milton mentioned climate change — in line with previous storms — these mentions generally provided deeper analysis of the global warming connection than in past coverage of storms, representing a qualitative improvement in climate reporting, even as the overall frequency of climate discussion in extreme weather coverage remained low.

Last weekend’s Hurricane Helene devastated several states, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. As the federal government mobilizes significant resources for response and recovery, right-wing media outlets and influencers are spreading falsehoods about these aid efforts. While President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris coordinate comprehensive relief operations, Fox News, other conservative outlets, and right-wing social media personalities have propagated several key lies about the federal response to the storm.

CBS' October 1 vice presidential debate put climate change front and center, breaking from recent debates that sidelined the issue. In the wake of Hurricane Helene's devastating path across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, moderators Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan pressed candidates on specific climate plans and reinforced the scientific consensus on climate change's role in intensifying hurricanes.  This approach promptly drew criticism from right-wing media figures and online influencers who argued that CBS had overemphasized climate at the expense of covering issues like the economy and immigration. These critics, many of whom have previously questioned climate science, disregarded both the context of Helene's destruction and increasing public concern over climate impacts. Their responses often employed familiar narratives of climate skepticism and attempted to challenge the scientific information presented by the moderators, illustrating right wing media's ongoing resistance to substantive climate d

Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions after making landfall on September 26. The storm, which killed at least 135 people with hundreds more still unaccounted for and left millions without power, was the strongest ever to hit Florida's Big Bend region. The rapid intensification of the storm was fueled by "exceptionally warm" ocean water, as well as hot Gulf waters  – a clear signal of global warming's impact. Despite these climate links and the storm's unusual strength, national TV news coverage largely failed to connect Helene to climate change. This coverage gap exemplified how TV news continually sidelines climate change reporting, even as extreme weather events harm increasing numbers of American lives.

ABC News relegated climate change to a brief, last-minute question during the September 10 presidential debate — even as millions of Americans faced a stark backdrop of climate-driven disasters.  The consequences of this choice to downplay the climate crisis extended beyond the debate itself — major cable news networks completely ignored the issue in more than 31 hours of combined post-debate coverage.  This omission highlights a systemic issue in news media: The frequent deprioritization of climate change despite the urgent and pervasive harm global warming is causing to communities across the country. In fact, 99% of Americans experienced at least one alert for extreme heat, wildfires, storms, or flooding this summer. As climate-related events continue to reshape America, this lack of substantive coverage from influential news sources raises significant concerns about public awareness of this critical issue in the context of the 2024 election.

ABC's September 10 debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will take place against the backdrop of an escalating crisis marked by destructive climate-related disasters such as flooding, wildfires, and heat waves. This pivotal first debate between the two nominees offers a critical chance to spotlight climate issues in the 2024 election, building on the precedent set in 2020 when moderators Chris Wallace and Kristen Welker elevated climate change and environmental justice in presidential debates.  With anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis moderating, and bolstered by its improved climate coverage, ABC is uniquely positioned to drive a substantive climate discussion that meets rising voter expectations across the political spectrum. As climate impacts intensify, ABC's moderators must set a new standard for addressing climate issues in presidential debates.

Chevron-sponsored “news” site Permian Proud represents one of the fossil fuel industry's latest and most insidious greenwashing strategies, exploiting the decline of local journalism to shape public opinion in oil-rich regions. This tactic epitomizes a broader trend of deceptive practices by Big Oil, which — combined with national TV news’ failure to scrutinize the industry amid the escalating climate crisis — highlights an urgent need for robust accountability reporting.

During the August 13 episode of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, host Laura Ingraham and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo pushed misleading narratives about U.S. oil production and fossil fuel industry jobs to claim that the Biden administration has “banned more drilling and exploration on federal lands,” and argued this was hurting the economy and job creation. However, both claims are clearly contradicted by current data. As reported by Politico, “We're pumping more oil than any country in history and so much natural gas it’s driving the price down.” In addition, oil production on federal lands has soared during the Biden administration according to E&E News, increasing by approximately 530,000 barrels a day since 2020. Politico further notes that U.S. oil production reached a new record last week, with “production clocking in at an average of 13.4 million barrels a day.” This represents a 5% increase in production from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Despite this production boom, employment in

The recent one-year anniversary of the Lahaina wildfire highlighted the need for improved post-disaster reporting. This moment of renewed attention exposed a persistent gap in disaster coverage: the lack of sustained, in-depth reporting on affected communities beyond the immediate aftermath of an extreme weather event. National TV news must make concrete improvements in current practices in order to establish a more comprehensive approach to disaster journalism — one that better serves impacted communities and keeps the public informed about the evolving realities of climate change adaptation.

The 84 large wildfires that have ravaged North America this July reached a tipping point on July 24 as California's Park Fire exploded to over 71,000 acres after only a day. This came on the heels of a Canadian fire that burned approximately a third of the structures in Jasper, Alberta, and consumed an estimated 79,000 acres of Jasper National Park. Climate change-induced conditions, including prolonged droughts and record-breaking heat, have made landscapes increasingly susceptible to these massive fires, which now burn hotter, spread faster, and prove more resistant to containment efforts than ever before. Despite these clear climate signals, a Media Matters review found that while national TV news extensively covered the wildfires, corporate broadcast and cable news shows rarely connected them to climate change, missing yet another opportunity to inform the public about how global warming is intensifying wildfire risks across North America.