FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2009
"We're Screwed": Media Heist Blankets City With "Special Edition" New York Post Tabloid Tells Truth About Climate Change
And How It Will Affect City, World
Video News Release: http://www.nypost-se.com/video City report on climate change: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2009/NPCC_CRI.pdf Wake-up call: http://www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup
Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a "special edition" New York Post
blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global
warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.
Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition
of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the
lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has "less than 10 years to halt
(the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet,"
adding that Copenhagen is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."
Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team
of editors and climate change experts.
"This could be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "Climate change is the biggest
threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the
problem."
The fake Post's cover story ("We're Screwed") reports the frightening conclusions of a blue-ribbon panel of scientists
commissioned by the mayor's office to determine the potential effects of climate change on the City. That report was
released in February of this year, but received very little press at the time. Other lead articles describe the
Pentagon's alarmed response to global warming ("Clear & Present Disaster"), the U.S. government's sadly minuscule response to the crisis ("Congress Cops Out on Climate"),
China's alternative energy program ("ChinaÕs Green Leap Forward Overtakes U.S."), and how if the US doesn't quickly pass
a strong climate bill, the crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could be a "Flopenhagen."
The paper includes original investigative reporting as well. One article ("Carbon counter counts New Yorkers as fools")
reveals that Deutsche Bank - which erected a seven-story "carbon counter" in central Manhattan - not only invests
heavily in coal-mining companies worldwide, but has recently entered the business of coal trading itself.
The paper has the world's gloomiest weather page, covering the next 70 years rather than just 7 days. The "Around the
World" section describes the disproportionate effects of climate change on poorer parts of the world, including extreme
droughts, floods, famines, water shortages, mass migrations and conflicts. Developing countries will bear the brunt of
climate change effects even though they have done very little to cause the problem.
But the paper isn't all doom and gloom. An article called "New York Fights Back" notes that the carbon emissions of Big
Apple residents are only one third the national average, and that the city is building 1800 miles of bike paths,
planting one million trees, and replacing its fleet of police cars with hybrids. There's also a page of black-humor
cartoons (in one, Charlie Brown finds Snoopy drowned), a gossip section that takes no prisoners, and a number of truly
cheerful ads - for sex ("Awesome. No carbon emissions."), tote bags, bicycles, and tap water ("Literally comes right out
of your faucet!").
Another ad promotes civil disobedience, encouraging readers to visit http://BeyondTalk.net and pledge to risk arrest in a planned global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.
"We need strong action on climate change," said David Solnit of Mobilization for Climate Justice West, one of the
partners in BeyondTalk.net. "But history shows that leaders act only when people take to the streets to demand it.
That's what needs to happen now."
This paper is one of 2500 initiatives taking place in more than 130 countries as a response to the "Global Wake-up Call"
on climate change. For more information, visit www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup
ENDS