Elite‑Led Climate Catastrophism

A pattern in which academically and media‑credentialed elites amplify worst‑case language and selective statistics (e.g., misframed corporate emissions figures) to press urgency, creating a form of highbrow misinformation distinct from right‑wing denial. This elite amplification both undermines credibility for coercive speech‑laws and invites strategic retaliation when regulators seek to police 'misinformation.' — Calls to criminalize or tightly regulate climate claims will fail (and erode legitimacy) unless elites themselves stop using distorted, high‑salience framings that mirror the conduct they would punish.