This is a worthwhile read about a morally confused guy who would, if he continues to do what he does so well, make the problem he is distressed about worse. He seems unable to see his own hand in all of this polarization and promotion of goofy ideas. I suspect that most
Continue readingAuthor: Jim Hoggan
DeSmogBlog: Vote To Protect BC’s Most Valuable Resources
A lot can change in politics over a four-year term, as British Columbians know all too well. Thankfully, the one thing citizens can count on is smart policy staying at the top of the political agenda. I’m talking in particular about the provincial carbon tax, a measure introduced in 2008
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Ethical Oil Doublespeak Is Polluting Canada’s Public Square
“Like any other tool, language can be abused, used not to build but to destroy, not to communicate but to confuse, not to clarify but to obscure, not to lead but to mislead.” - William Lutz Retired American linguist Dr. William Lutz spent much of his career at Rutgers University studying
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Communicating for Change: Anthony Leiserowitz on Climate Change Psychology
When it comes to climate change, Yale’s Anthony Leiserowitz says, “you almost couldn’t design a problem that is a worse fit with our underlying psychology”; an insight that is all too apparent. In spite of the dramatic increase in extreme weather events and growing scientific concern, climate change is seldom
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cleaning Up Canada’s Polluted Public Square
The most urgent environmental threat to Canadians isn’t climate change, the declining health of our oceans, or the extinction of species. It’s the pollution filling our nation’s public square. The public square – the forum for free debate that we depend on in a democracy – is being choked by
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Web We Weave When We Practice to Deceive
“We are not muzzling scientists.” – Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister. I shook my head reading Margaret Munro’s Weekend Vancouver Sun article on freedom of information documents that caught Canada’s Minister of the Environment lying about muzzling scientists. Kent has repeatedly denied that the government is muzzling scientists. But according
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: SPINalysis: Heartland’s Echo Chamber Shifts the Target
heartland logo.jpg President Joe Bast Dodges Responsibility – for Now It’s been a month since the Heartland Institute was caught in a St. Valentine’s Day Striptease – inadvertently exposing its entire budget and fundraising plan. Yet an objective analysis of the resulting internet and mainstream media coverage has to credit Heartland’s
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Unaccountable Oil: Is Enbridge Already Polluting the Canadian (Political) Environment?
Enbridge oil spill.jpg If the pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. is content to cower behind a 20-something blog manager rather than acknowledge its role in the recent attack on the patriotism of Canadian environmentalists, what hope have we that the company would ever stand accountable for the accidents that will occur
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Denial Of Facts Is No Way To Understand Science
On Thursday December 1st, Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente declared herself a defender of scientific integrity by calling upon the scientific community to replace the “rhetoric” of climate change with open, honest debate. According to Ms. Wente, the impacts of climate change remain a future fantasy, unquantifiable by data collected
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: 40th Anniversary of the Lewis Powell Memo Launching Corporate Propaganda Infrastructure
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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Lewis Powell Memo, a document that set the stage for the creation of the echo chamber that protects corporate interests ahead of the publi…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Thich Nhat Hanh and David Suzuki on How Individual Frame of Mind Has Everything To Do With Saving the Planet
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Getting people to believe that they really can make a difference in the struggle to the save the planet from human folly can be just as important as encouraging them to take action, ac…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: DeSmogBlog’s Brendan DeMelle on Ed Schultz Show and Ring of Fire Radio Discussing Denial-a-Palooza
DeSmogBlog executive director Brendan DeMelle appeared on the Ed Schultz radio show earlier this week to discuss the Heartland Institute’s sixth International Conference on Climate Change – a.k.a. Denial-a-Palooza – and other aspects of the climate cha…
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