Rupert Murdoch’s son James, chief executive, of BSkyB, the UK satellite broadcaster, claims his company is the world’s first “carbon neutral” corporation, according to Tony Walker in The Australian Financial Review (28/10/2006, p.22).
Clever James shows the way: This may or may not be the case, but News Corp insiders credit James – arguably the most liberal, possibly the smartest of Murdoch’s four adult children – with turning his father on to the risks of global warming.
Climate not anti-market: “He’s a person with a very open mind to ideas and it’s why he’s been able to stay ahead of the curve his entire working life,” says Andrew Butcher, the News Corp spokesman. A senior News executive who is close to Murdoch’s thinking on a range of issues had this explanation: “What’s informed Rupert’s response on all of this is that the issue of global warming has become a market issue, not an anti-market issue.”
To corporate mind, it makes sense: This means Murdoch can buy into the idea of corporate responsibility for doing something about the environment not because it is being imposed under some sort of arbitrary protocol, but because it makes sense from the standpoint of the individual corporation.
30pc odds are high enough: In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Murdoch addressed the global warming issue this way: “I’m still a bit more sceptical than most people. But if there is even a 30 per cent chance that the experts are right we should do everything we can to insure against a bad outcome.”
Commentators sniff the wind: Translate Murdoch’s “30 per cent chance” into a signal to his editors and you have an explanation for the sudden greening of John Howard-admiring, Kyoto-Protocol-opposing Australian commentators. They’ve suddenly discovered the environment in one of the worst droughts in the country’s history.
News on carbon-neutral trail: At a conference organised in Pebble Beach, California in the summer Rupert Murdoch urged News Corp executives to follow James’s lead on climate change issues. News Corp has established an in-house team to study ways in which to achieve carbon neutral status across the whole group.
The Australian Financial Review, 28/10/2006, p. 22
Source: Erisk Net