The Time for Environmental Action is NOW!

Spotting Fake News

  • 6 Oct 2020
  • 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • online class - a Zoom link will be emailed

Registration

  • As a nonprofit, we charge just enough to cover our costs. However, full time students and those who can not afford the fees, may attend free of charge and our scholarship funds will cover your ticket.

Registration is closed




Spotting Fake News: How to Analyze the Validity of Claims about the Environment

Tuesday October 6, 2020
10:30 am - 12:30 pm PST

Just days ago, we woke up to a bright orange sky and choking levels of smoke from massive wildfires, the latest and most dramatic warning about the consequences of climate change. And yet the reality of climate change is still denied by many. In short, science is fighting a battle with conjecture and instinct.

Some assertions about the “climate change hoax” are so extreme and cynically self-serving that they can be dismissed out of hand. Others are more subtle and harder to spot. But all of us can learn to identify fake news and faulty arguments, even when they are cloaked in the guise of science and rationality.

In this EFM event, Mary Morgan, retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge, will teach you how to analyze and evaluate the information we are being given about climate issues. Susan Holloway, psychologist and educator at UC Berkeley, will help you identify logical fallacies, biases, and mental “shortcuts” that can undermine your ability to detect flimsy arguments.

We bring these principles to life by discussing one sophisticated example of “greenwashing,” namely the attempt by the fossil fuel industry to persuade us that the devastating effects of plastic pollution can be prevented by recycling. We’ll take a critical look at what industry representatives say as well as where, why, and how they say it.

Then you’ll have a chance to put your new skills into operation by conducting your own mini-analysis of a local controversy that is even dividing the environmental community.

Register now to learn the skills you need to make sure that scientific consensus, not cynical self-interest, wins the battle over climate change.

Speakers  |  Bios 


Susan Holloway
Professor of Graduate School, University of California at Berkeley; Internal Content and Communications Director, Environmental Forum of Marin (Master Class 46)
  Mary C. Morgan
Retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge and graduate of Master Class 40; President of the board of West Marin Senior Services
 
       

*Join this one class or more at Forum 2020. The choice is yours!

Thank you to our event sponsor

$20 members/$25 non-members per class

As a nonprofit, we charge just enough to cover our costs. However, full time students and those who can not afford the fees may attend free of charge. Choose the “donated tickets” option at check out and our scholarship funds will cover your ticket.

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