The Republican Party has always been a little reluctant to side with science and accept things like global climate change, but recently, polls have shown that the Grand Old Party is actually evenly split on accepting climate change science. That may not seem like a reason to celebrate, but considering
Continue readingAuthor: Farron Cousins
DeSmogBlog: "War on Coal" Talking Point Rises From The Grave Again
A common theme in cheesy slasher horror movies is to have the main characters lulled into a false sense of security. The rampaging psychopath has seemingly been destroyed, everyone breathes a sigh of relief, and just as someone cracks a joke, the killer re-emerges and claims another victim. This scenario
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Climate Policy Already Headlining 2014 Midterm Elections
The U.S. may still be more than a year out from the 2014 midterm elections, but Republicans in Congress are already making the Obama administration’s climate policies a key issue for voters. Republican Representative Ed Whitfield from Kentucky announced this week that he intends to make the President’s climate change
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: US Chamber President Tom Donohue Pushes Deceitful Dirty Energy Talking Points
Tom Donohue, the president of the massive business lobbying group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is once again doing the bidding of the dirty energy industry by claiming that America is on the verge of complete “energy security.” On the pages of the U.S. Chamber’s Free Enterprise website, Donohue claimed
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Worldwide Protests Challenge Fracking Industry
On Saturday, October 19th, from Romania to Canada and beyond, protests of varying size took place all over the globe to bring attention to the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The events, part of a worldwide effort by Global Frackdown, are designed to raise public awareness about the environmental and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Justice Delayed For Mayflower Oil Spill Victims
As the government shutdown enters its third week, new and disturbing side effects are beginning to surface. These adverse affects are arising from the U.S. court system, where federal prosecutors are unable to perform their day-to-day activities in many cases due to a lack of federal funding. While this is
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Four Days Into Government Shutdown, Economy and Environment Heading South
We’ve now entered the fourth day of the government shutdown, and the economic impacts are already being felt by states all over America. As it turns out, the environmental services provided by the government – everything from running our national park system to renewable energy development – is quite an
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: What The Government Shutdown Means For The Environment
The U.S. government was officially shut down yesterday, and those responsible for the shutdown are already singing its praises. Among other things, they were finally able to achieve their years-long goal of shutting down the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), even if only temporarily. Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee led
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: An Orchestrated Cover Up Of Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline Spill Health Hazards?
Nearly six months have passed since ExxonMobil’s Pegasus tar sands pipeline ruptured and released as much as 7,000 barrels of diluted bitumen into Mayflower, Arkansas. And as soon as the company realized that they had a problem, the cover up began. From the outset, there has been a clear effort on
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Regulatory Negligence Endangers Texas Citizens As Eagle Ford Fracking Impacts Soar
There’s no denying that Texas is the state that dirty energy built. It remains the single largest source of domestically produced oil in the United States, and currently has more fracking wells than any other state. With an abundant supply of dirty energy money, the state government of Texas is
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Whether Approved Or Not, Keystone XL Has Been A Victory For Lobbyists
For the past six years, lobbyists in Washington have made a killing shilling either for or against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. And with no clear end in sight, the folks on K Street will continue to see a flurry of cash headed in their direction. During last year’s
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Republican Congressman Says Syrian Conflict A Boon For Keystone XL
Will the turmoil in the Middle East surrounding Syria expedite approval of the Keystone XL pipeline? North Dakota Republican Senator John Hoeven believes it will. Hoeven, an ardent supporter of the pipeline, recently told a North Dakota newspaper, “Right now, we’re determining how to respond in the Middle East, specifically
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Washington Throws Chemical Safety Standards Out the Window, Are Fracking Chemicals Next?
As our elected officials in Washington attempt to sell us on the idea that we need to go to war against anyone who uses chemical weapons, they are working to remove safety standards that protect citizens from corporate America’s ongoing chemical assault. In recent weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Louisiana Governor Jindal Not Buying BP Spin on Gulf Coast Impacts
Have environmental priorities finally trumped extreme right wing politics in the deep south? Louisiana’s Republican governor Bobby Jindal has heard enough from oil giant BP, taking them to task recently for destroying sensitive coastal areas during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. For those of us who live along the Gulf Coast,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Away Our Water Supply
As many areas of the country experience severe droughts, the fight for clean, fresh water is becoming vital to survival for many American citizens. The problem has been made worse by the expansion of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which gobbles up hundreds of millions (billions, according to some estimates) of gallons
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: With Congress Back to Work, Republican Attacks On EPA Resume
Fresh off the August recess, the United States Congress got back to business today. Rather than focusing on pressing issues like a potential war, looming budget deadlines, and the growing problem of student loan debt, some Republican lawmakers thought it was the perfect time to pick up where they left
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: BP Launches Massive PR Campaign To Demonize Oil Spill Victims
BP, the oil giant that, along with Halliburton and Transocean, was responsible for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, is crying foul in the claims process of settlements for the victims of the spill. The company has launched a massive public
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Deadly Truth About Oil And Gas Industry Safety Standards
A new report delivers a dire warning to employees in the oil and gas industries: Your job could be the death of you. According to recently released statistics from 2012, on the job deaths in the oil and gas industries spiked by a staggering 23% last year, a larger increase
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Coal Industry Waging War Against EPA
After playing the victims of an allegedly unfair, and completely fabricated, “war on coal,” the coal industry has gone on the offensive by launching their own war on federal regulators. Specifically, the group has their sights set on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Coal lobbyists, led by the American Coalition
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Could Lead Paint Lawsuit Pave Way For Class Action Against Coal Industry?
Coal industry executives ought to pay attention to the lead paint lawsuit currently happening in the California court system. Recently, a lawsuit was filed against the makers of lead paint, alleging that the industry knew about the toxicity of their product and yet still promoted it as “safe” to the
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