heartland_billboard.jpg Although not likely to be the last, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) became the first speaker to distance himself from Heartland Institute's outrageous billboard stunt today, telling the Washington Post that he will no longer attend Heartland's forthcoming denier conference in Chicago, a.k.a. Denial-a-Palooza. Washington Post's Greg Sargent reports in his
Continue readingAuthor: Brendan DeMelle
DeSmogBlog: Will Heartland Institute’s Corporate Funders Tacitly Endorse Comparing Climate Realists to bin Laden and the Unabomber?
heartland logo.jpg UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that Joe Bast and the Heartland Institute will discontinue the outrageous billboard campaign in a matter of hours. Bast issued the following statement to the Washington Post: We will stop running [the billboard] at 4:00 p.m. CST today. (It’s a digital billboard, so a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Chesapeake Energy Well Blowout in Wyoming Causes Evacuation, Methane "Roared" For Days
chesapeake-energy.jpg A potentially dangerous oil well blowout at a Chesapeake Energy site in Wymoing caused at least 60 and perhaps 70 residents to evacuate within 5 miles of the disaster for several days until it was contained earlier today. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) was drilling the well in the Niobrara Shale
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Poll: American Voters Very Concerned About Global Warming Pollution, Support Taxing Dirty Energy
global climate change.jpg A new poll released today shows that American voters take global warming pollution very seriously and want to see action from government and the private sector to curb emissions and support clean energy solutions. The new Yale-GMU survey found that 76% of Americans believe that regulating CO2 emissions
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Climate Change "Hoax" Hoax [Video]
Some clever person used Xtranormal to create a great video addressing climate change denial and correcting common myths held by global warming skeptics. It sounds a lot like a Skeptical Science-inspired project, doesn't it? Whoever did it, our hats are off. Great work. Check it out: read more
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Heartland Payments to University of Victoria Professor Susan Crockford Probed
heartland logo.jpg University of Victory adjunct professor Susan Crockford doesn't seem interested in discussing the monthly payments she appears to receive from the climate denying Heartland Spinstitute. "Crockford would not respond to emails, and refused to speak with the Martlet," reports a UVic student newspaper attempting to probe the payments. The
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: On 2nd Anniversary of Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, Documentary Explores Lasting Impacts of Mountaintop Removal
Explore Coal Documentary.png Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch mine disaster that claimed the lives of 29 coal miners. LinkTV.org will premiere a special show tonight at 9pm EST called “Explore: West Virginia – Hillbillies, Coal Miners, Treehuggers & God,” taking a closer look
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: GM Dumps Heartland Institute, Will No Longer Fund Climate-Denying Spinstitute
heartland logo.jpg General Motors is breaking up with the Heartland Institute, announcing recently that the company will discontinue funding to the notorious climate-denying spin shop. The move by GM comes in direct response to a national outreach campaign organized by Forecast the Facts, which garnered more than 20,000 people, including
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Sierra Club Launches "Mr. Coal" Video Campaign to Mock Dirty Coal PR
The Sierra Club launched a funny new "Mr. Coal" video campaign this week in its ongoing 'Beyond Coal' effort to shut down coal plants throughout the United States. The campaign will feature a steady stream of satirical TV commercials mocking the coal industry's incessant and incredulous claims about job creation, "clean coal," and many
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Documents Reveal USDA Risking Lawsuits by Ignoring Own Staff On Fracking Mortgages Review
usda.png A major storm is brewing over the USDA’s sudden about-face on fracking and environmental laws. On Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled a 180-degree U-turn and decided to reverse the call made by his staff specialists, who advised that the agency immediately stop giving special exemptions
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Ethical Oil: The Puppet Rap
It's time for Friday funnies, and the top hit today is Ethical Oil: the Puppet Rap, which first popped up over at The Tyee. It's a foul-mouthed, satirical music video remix of Kathryn Marshall's ridiculous PR gymnastics to avoid answering a basic question from CBC's Evan Solomon whether Enbridge funds the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Republic Report Slams Media Obsession With Shiny Penny In Heartland DenialGate Coverage
Republic Report.png Lee Fang at the Republic Report has a great post noting the media's obsession with the shiny penny of the who/how story surrounding the leaked documents chronicling the Heartland Institute's planned attacks on science and democracy. While groups like Greenpeace, The Climate Reality Project and Forecast the Facts
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Congressman Calls For Hearing Into Heartland Institute Payments to Federal Employee Indur Goklany
indur_goklany.jpg Representative Raúl M. Grijalva today called for a full Natural Resources Committee hearing to probe whether Indur Goklany, a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Interior Department, improperly received payments from the Heartland Institute while collecting a paycheck from U.S. taxpayers. Rep. Grijalva, the ranking member of the House
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute Exposed: Internal Documents Unmask Heart of Climate Denial Machine
Internal Heartland Institute strategy and funding documents obtained by DeSmogBlog expose the heart of the climate denial machine – its current plans, many of its funders, and details that confirm what DeSmogBlog and others have reported for years. The heart of the climate denial machine relies on huge corporate and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Accountability Moment: Manhattan Institute’s Robert Bryce Squirms And Evades Question on Fossil Fuel Funding
Robert Bryce from the fossil fuel industry-funded Manhattan Institute just can't bring himself to answer a simple question about the fossil fuel industry funding flowing into his group. Readers of DeSmogBlog may recall our previous coverage about Bryce's anti-clean energy attacks in the New York Times op-ed pages and elsewhere.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Video of Josh Fox Being Arrested At House Energy Hearing, First Amendment Rights Ignored
Here is video footage of Gasland director Josh Fox being arrested by Capitol police earlier today. Josh Fox will be on the Ed Schultz show tonight on MSNBC at 8:45pm EST to talk about his arrest today. Fox released a statement about his arrest, which we reprint below (H/T Grist): read more
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Jim Hoggan Op-Ed in Vancouver Sun: Who Gets A Say In Our Democracy?
Tanker disaster.jpg Jim Hoggan, DeSmogBlog co-founder and president, has an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun today discussing the "ethical oil" crowd's attacks on democracy in the Enbridge Northern Gateway public hearings. Head over to the Vancouver Sun to read it: "Who gets a say in our democracy?" Here is an
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Greenpeace Calls On SEC To Investigate TransCanada’s Inflated Jobs Claims
keystone_xl_jobs.jpg Greenpeace USA President Phil Radford sent a formal complaint this week to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calling for an investigation into TransCanada’s use of wildly inflated jobs figures in promoting its application to build the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The letter asks the SEC to review
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Will The Global Warming Policy Foundation’s Seed Funder Be Revealed?
gwpf.jpg Who is funding the shadowy front groups that represent the interests of polluters by sowing doubt about climate change? One of the most aggressive climate denial “think” tanks spreading misinformation in Europe is the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), founded in 2009 by former British Conservative politician Lord Nigel
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rick Mercer’s Hilarious Takedown of the "Radical Foreign Interests" Echo Chamber
This Rick Mercer video started making the rounds several days ago, but in case you missed it, it's a hilarious skewering of the "radical foreign interests" talking point that the 'ethical oil' crowd is trying to inject into the debate over the Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline proposal. Watch:
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