UPDATE 1: We’re at 128 signatures and growing, not bad for the 1st day. I know a lot of DeSmog’s friends are going to post stories, so the numbers should keep rising. Remember to email it to your friends!

Yesterday we reported that News Corp. CEO and Fox News owner, Rupert Murdoch announced that his company would join the battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Murdoch stated: “Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent but we certainly can’t afford the risk of inaction…”

The first thing Murdoch and News Corp. can do to show that they are truly committed to fighting global warming is ending its reporting of misinformation about the science behind global warming on the Fox News Channel.

And the best thing you can do to help make this happen is by signing DeSmogBlog’s online petition (click link) and then send it to all of your friends and have them sign it as well. Ask them to forward it on to their friends.

Steve Milloy (aka. “The Junkman”) is a regular Fox News columnist and tireless campaigner in the war against climate science. A quick read of Milloy’s website and you will find the usual laundry list of scientific claims that have long been dismissed by the scientific community – the experts in the field of climate science.

Milloy was at one point the director of an organization called the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which by many is considered the grand-daddy of modern industry front groups. TASCC cut its teeth on the war against tobacco smoke and later expanded into other areas like global warming. News Corp. CEO, Rupert Murdoch stated that: “Our audience’s carbon footprint is 10,000 times bigger than ours … Imagine if we succeed in inspiring our audiences to reduce their own impacts on climate change by just 1 percent. That would be like turning the state of California off for almost two months.”

One of the first big steps Murdoch can make to show this commitment to climate change would be to ensure quality coverage based on the best available science.

Offer viewers the real scientific story.

That is not to say that other scientific opinions should be somehow censored, but instead there should be effort put into ensuring that these other opinions represent the current scientific thinking on the issue of global warming. The public deserves the best media coverage possible on this issue, so we can make informed decisions and separate the “spin” from the truth.

If Rupert Murdoch is true to his words and is committed to real action on global warming, then he will throw the “junk science” off Fox News.

This petition will be forwarded to News Corp. once we have 1,000 signatures – so sign up, email it to your friends and ask them to email it to their friends. 5 minutes of your time could really make a difference in ensuring quality news coverage on the most important issue we are facing today.

If you’re so inclined, you can Digg this story.