The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Sen. John Kerry as the new Secretary of State, by a vote of 94-3. The three “no” votes were cast by infamous climate denier James Inhofe (R-OK), and two anti-environment Texas Republicans, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. All three Republican Senators, Cornyn, Cruz
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DeSmogBlog: Skeptical Science Video Debunks "No Warming for 16 Years" Denialist Claim
The talented team at Skeptical Science produced the video below to debunk the well-worn denialist argument that there’s been “no warming for 16 years” – a favorite lie of Lord Christopher Monckton and many other anti-science crusaders. It’s fantastic, and deserves to be spread far and wide to anyone who
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Ending Climate Silence – What Obama Should Say In State of the Union Address
What should President Obama say about climate change during his upcoming State of the Union address? Check out this preview clip from Bill Moyers’ interview with scientist Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, who articulates some key points that the President could use to end
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Powell Climate Science Pie Chart Featured On The Young Turks
The Young Turks discussed James Lawrence Powell’s pie chart and analysis of climate science on the show this weekend. Powell’s pie chart study has gone viral in the past month, thanks to coverage by a wide array of outlets, including DeSmogBlog, TreeHugger, UpWorthy, Slate and more. Watch the segment with
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fossil-Fuel Funded Operatives Litter the Mainstream Media, Despite Simple Fix
Have you ever found yourself reading a news article or op-ed in which an “expert” from a distinguished-sounding “think tank” or “institute” seeks to distort or attack climate change science or, alternately, decries public investment in clean energy solutions, and wonder in whose interest this individual and their organization is
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Monckton Banned From UN Climate Process For Offensive Stunt
Christopher Monckton, Lord Crazypants of Brenchley, made a fool of himself today at COP18 in Doha, Qatar by impersonating a delegate in a plenary session. He was immediately debadged and escorted out of the conference, and is likely being deported from Qatar right now. The UN now confirms that Lord
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fashion for the Discerning Climate Science Denier
Whether you’re skydiving onto the beaches of Durban, galavanting across the U.S. on the Tea Party‘s invitation to spread Birther lies about President Obama’s birth certificate, pitching ‘Fox News Australia‘ to a wealthy mining magnate, or referring to young climate activists as “Hitler Youth” without apology, the discerning climate science
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Shell’s Arctic Oil Spill Gear "Crushed Like a Beer Can" In Simple Test
Royal Dutch Shell, the massive multinational oil company, badly wants to be ready to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean next summer. This year, the company’s plans to begin drilling in the treacherous seas of the Arctic were thwarted by its late start …
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Hey Bill O’Reilly, You’re Busted! Fan Watches ‘Chasing Ice’ And Now Understands Global Warming Is Real
Bill O’Reilly has been put on notice by a former fan who claims to have watched his Fox News show every day and took his word for it that climate change is nothing to worry about. Well, today she watched the incredible new documentary film ‘Chasing Ice…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Represent.Us Campaign Launched To Promote Anti-Corruption Act
The time has come.
Today marks the launch of an interesting new bi-partisan campaign to get corporate money out of U.S. politics. Two new sites – Represent.Us and AntiCorruptionAct.org – contain lots of information about the effort, so I’ll only scr…
DeSmogBlog: Bill McKibben Kicks Off 350.org Do The Math Tour In Seattle
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Seattle kickoff of 350.org’s Do The Math tour, which will highlight the imperative for action to keep 80 percent of the fossil fuel industries’ tar sands, coal, oil and gas reserves in the ground, or the c…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Romney Aide Andrea Saul Denied Climate Connection to Hurricane Katrina, Is Sandy Next?
Over half a decade ago, Andrea Saul, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s press secretary, denied any link between Hurricane Katrina and climate change. Working as a hired gun on behalf of ExxonMobil at the Washington, DC PR firm DCI Group, Saul was listed as the contact person on a press
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: MTV Breaks Climate Silence In Interview With Barack Obama
What does it say about the fourth estate and the presidential debate moderators that it fell to MTV to break the climate silence by finally asking one of the candidates about climate change? Oh well, at least it’s broken now. H/T Forecast The Facts To the 2012 Presidential Debate moderators,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Delta Boys: Powerful Documentary Chronicles Niger Delta Oil Struggle
The next time I gas up my car, I will have a lot to think about after watching the new documentary film, Delta Boys, now available for digital download release starting today at Sundance and iTunes, and on DVD at Amazon.com. The film chronicles the plight of the people of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cuomo Resets New York Fracking Review, "Consigning Fracking To Oblivion"
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that his administration is pushing the controversial decision on whether to allow fracking in the state back to square one. This encouraging move by Gov. Cuomo is sure to upset the oil industry, but it was the right thing to do given the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Robert Manne: How Vested Interests Defeated Climate Science
Watch this thoughtful presentation by Professor Robert Manne at the University of Melbourne earlier this summer. It’s a concise review of the whole climate change denial movement as chronicled in Merchants of Doubt, Climate Cover-up and elsewhere. It lasts just over an hour, so make some popcorn first. Tags: robert
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Deepening Doubts About Fracked Shale Gas Wells’ Long Term Prospects
This month, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection released its bi-annual report on how much natural gas has been produced in the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation which stretches underneath much of Appalachia. Investors were shocked because the production numbers seemed far lower than expected. Watched closely by market and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Virginia Judge Tosses Frivolous American Tradition Institute Lawsuit
A Virginia judge issued an order today putting an end to the American Tradition Institute (ATI) frivilous lawsuit that sought to compel the University of Virginia (UVA) to release the private emails of climate scientist Michael Mann. Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, posted the news
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Want to Communicate More Effectively? Buy Joe Romm’s book Language Intelligence
Book-Cover1.png If you are a blogger, a commenter, a tweeter, a public speaker or any type of communicator, you will benefit immensely from picking up a copy of Joe Romm’s fantastic new book, "Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga." DeSmog readers are likely familiar
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Coalition Calls On Duke Energy To Dump American Legislative Exchange Council
Duke-Energy.gif A coalition of environmental, civil rights and democracy reform groups today called upon Duke Energy to join the 38 other companies that have left the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. In their letter sent to Duke CEO Jim Rogers this morning, the coalition requests that Duke Energy "disassociate
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