In my weekly cruise through a list of trade journals and buff magazines, I found virtually no coverage of a major international climate change summit called COP26 (go here to see Indie Auto’s bibliography of links).
At least so far, Automotive News has been silent. So have other newsy websites such as The Detroit Bureau and car buff magazines like Car and Driver.
Autoblog mentioned the summit, but it was little more than a sentence included in a wire story about a $200 million federal program that will fund projects that reduce emissions in cars and trucks (Reuters, 2021). Meanwhile, Jalopnik borrowed a story from its corporate sibling, Gizmodo, that focused on the clickbaity but parenthetical issue of global leaders arriving at the summit in private jets (Noor, 2021).
The best source of auto media coverage has thus far been from Electrek, which promised daily reports about the summit. For example, on Monday Michelle Lewis (2021) highlighted President Joe Biden’s pledge to reduce US emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. He stated, “We will demonstrate to the world the United States is not only back at the table but hopefully leading by the power of our example.”
Auto buff and history media still close their eyes
The automotive media’s neglect of COP26 reflects its general attitude toward climate change. As a case in point, a few months ago we discussed how a major report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received meager attention by automotive trade journals and buff magazines (go here for further discussion).
The automotive history field hasn’t done any better. For example, little has been written about how US automakers dragged their feet in addressing climate change even though their own researchers detected it way back in the 1960s (go here). This foot dragging helped to create the current situation, where scientists warn that rapid reductions in greenhouse emissions will be needed to avoid catastrophic warming (Borenstein, 2021).
Climate change is arguably the single biggest issue that the contemporary automotive and auto history media will confront in the next decade. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away.
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RE:SOURCES
- Borenstein, Seth; 2021. “‘Code red’: UN scientists warn of worsening global warming.” Posted Aug. 10.
- Lewis, Michelle; 2021. “COP26 Daily Briefing.” Electrek. Posted Nov. 2.
- NBC 2021. “Biden Says U.S. Is ‘Back At The Table’ To Lead On Climate Change At COP26.” Posted Nov. 1.
- Noor, Dharna; 2021. “Ban Private Jets.” Gizmodo. Posted Nov. 1.
- Reuters; 2021. “U.S. DOE awards about $200 million to reduce vehicle emissions.” Autoblog. Posted Nov. 1.
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