Climate Hypocrites and the Media that Love Them

The not-so-green habits of Hollywood gasbags

Arianna Huffington: A Paycheck Signed by Actual Activisits

Net worth: $50 Million

Famous for: Media Mogul (The Huffington Post)

Notable Quote: “There seems to be an epidemic of literal-mindedness at the moment.”

Media mogul Arianna Huffington has committed an entire section of her Huffington Post website to environmentalism and climate change alarmism, yet she herself flies in aprivate jet. According to Huffington, though, it’s not her jet that endangers the climate – it’s soccer moms and their SUVs.

In 2003, she condemned SUV owners for “supporting terrorists,” in a series of television commercials. But when she was asked to clarify that comment by the liberal (and Soros-funded) outlet Mother Jones, she complained that “[t]here seems to be an epidemic of literal-mindedness at the moment.” She claimed she was just creating satire. Not surprisingly, Mother Jones accepted this explanation, and fully endorsed Huffington’s campaign, dubbed the “Detroit Project.”

The “satirical” commercials stated “this is George ... And these are the terrorists who get money every time George fills up his SUV." Huffington compared these commercials to “A Modest Proposal,” in which the famous author Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) suggested that the poor Irish fatten up their children and sell them to the wealthy Irish as food.

Huffington also attends the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This year alone, an estimated 1,700 private jets flew into Switzerland for the conference.  Ironically, the top article featured on the “Agenda” section of the World Economic Forum website on January 19, claimed that “[d]ecarbonising the global economy in a matter of decades is the number one priority” at Davos.

The Huffington Post admitted that “it's a bit ironic to discuss climate change at Davos, a remote location in Switzerland that requires a tremendous carbon footprint to even get to,” but didn’t call out attendees, including Huffington herself, for attending the conference.

Huffington also ran into trouble when she sold The Huffington Post to AOL. Angry and unpaid Huffington Post bloggers complained about her $100-million payday, demanding a piece of the action. That escalated into a strike that involved the newspaper union and even a law suit against her.