shutterstock_15465343 (1).jpg Erie, CO meet Naoma, WV. Though seemingly different battles over different ecologically hazardous extractive processes — hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for unconventional gas versus mountaintop removal for coal — the two battles are one in the same and direct parallels of one another. On June 2, a coalition of activist organizations
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DeSmogBlog: Public Accountability Initiative Produces New Report on SUNY Buffalo’s "Shill Gas Study"
PAI Logo.jpg The Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) has upped the ante on DeSmogBlog's reporting on what we coined a "Shill Gas Study" recently conducted by SUNY Buffalo. In our critique of the "study" we pointed out the fact that all of the authors and nearly the entire peer review board of the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Shill Gas Study Published by SUNY Buffalo Institute With Heavy Industry Ties
shutterstock_15465343.jpg When does a study on the unconventional shale gas industry become a "shill gas study"? The quick answer: when nearly everyone writing and peer reviewing it has close ties to the industry they're purportedly doing an "objective" study on. The newest kid on the block: a recent study published by
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Guardian Exposes Fossil Funded Groups Coordinating Renewable Energy Attacks
shutterstock_90778001.jpg Ever wonder why a blooming green energy industry has faced such harsh opposition? Now, as the old adage goes, "the cat's out of the bag." The Guardian today revealed the network of fossil-funded groups coordinating the ongoing onslaught of attacks on renewable energy, particularly wind power. A memorandum passed to The Guardian from
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: B.C. Protest This Saturday to Stop Warren Buffett’s BNSF Coal Trains
shutterstock_14976709.jpg Warren Buffett, the third wealthiest man on the planet (net worth: $44 billion), often referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha," is the target of a May 5 action called for by Stop Coal B.C. Well, not Buffett directly, but a rail company he owns through his massive holding company, Berkshire
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Wasn’t First Industry Trojan Horse Behind Fracking Disclosure Bill – Enter Council of State Governments
shutterstock_95581429.jpg 19th Century German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), put on the map by the Center for Media and Democracy in its "ALEC Exposed" project, is the archetype of von Bismarck's truism. So too are the fracking chemical
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: 2008 Shell Nigeria Oil Spill 60 Times Larger Than Originally Claimed
shutterstock_88735852.jpg Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) dropped a bombshell early this week, unveiling documents pertaining to the Royal Dutch Shell Oil 2008 Bodo oil pipeline spill. The documents indicate that the Shell spill released 60 times the amount of oil Shell had originally reported in
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Launches Assault on Renewable Energy Industry
ALEC Exposed Image.jpg The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), as covered previously by DeSmogBlog, is the "Trojan Horse" behind mandating that climate change denial ("skepticism," or "balance," in its words) be taught in K-12 classrooms. Well, ALEC is at it again, it appears. Facing an IRS complaint filed by Common Cause, one of the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rendell and Ridge: From "Militant" Labelers to Terrorist Enablers
Ed Rendell MEK.jpg A new chapter has been added to the shale gas industry's eco-terrorism, counterinsurgency and psychological operations saga. In March, NBC News investigative reporter Michael Isikoff revealed that many prominent U.S. public officials are on the payroll of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a group labeled by the U.S. State Department as a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Bakken Shale Pipeline to Cushing, OK in the Works
shutterstock_79616923.jpg The controversy over TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline has raged on for years now, with no end in sight. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry tar sands crude from the tar sands epicenter of the world in Alberta, Canada, take it down to Cushing, OK, and then eventually down to Port Arthur, TX, where
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Investors: No More Flaring of Fracked Oil and Gas in Bakken Shale
exxon-gas-flaring-photo01.jpg The debate over flaring unconventional oil and gas in shale basins across the United States has suddenly heated up immensely (excuse the bad pun). On March 27, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economy (CERES) penned a letter calling for an end to the practice, writing, We are a group of 37
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Climate Change Denial Model Bill Passes in Tennessee
alec-exposed-600x400_0 (2).jpg The month of March has seen unprecedented heat and temperatures. A rational thinking, scientifically-grounded individual could only posit, "Well, hmm, I bet climate change has something to do with the fact that in Madison, WI, it is 80 degrees in mid-March. Sometimes it's 60 or 70 degrees colder
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Obama Sojourns to "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" for Campaign Speech
Cushing .jpg It's the multi-pronged fight that never seems to end. The Alberta Tar Sands have been near the forefront of the North American energy and climate debate, thanks in large part to growing public concern and grassroots efforts like Tar Sands Action, a campaign led by climate activists to block construction of the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Kochtopus Cato Institute Power Grab: A Historical Perspective
Kochtopus-3_0.png A new chapter is being added to the ongoing Kochtopus saga. On March 1 the Washington Post, in a story sure to fill the airwaves for the weeks and months to come, revealed the Kochtopus is suing the Cato Institute for control of the recently deceased and former Cato Chairman William Niskanen's ownership share in the think-tank.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute: A Manifestation of the Kochtopus Empire
Kochtopus-3.png It is nearly impossible to discuss the vast climate change denial echo chamber and not mention the Koch Brothers, Koch Industries, and what some have called the Koch Empire. Perhaps unsurpisingly then, the origins of the Heartland Institute — whose internal documents were recently leaked to DeSmogBlog — have a direct historical link to the rise
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Warren Buffett Exposed: The Oracle of Omaha and the Tar Sands
Warren Buffett Barack Obama.png On January 23, Bloomberg News reported Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), owned by his lucrative holding company Berkshire Hathaway, stands to benefit greatly from President Barack Obama’s recent cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. If built, TransCanada's Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline would carry tar sands crude, or
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Model Bill Behind Push To Require Climate Denial Instruction In Schools
alec-exposed-600x400_0.jpg On January 16, the Los Angeles Times revealed that anti-science bills have been popping up over the past several years in statehouses across the U.S., mandating the teaching of climate change denial or "skepticism" as a credible "theoretical alternative" to human caused climate change came. The L.A. Times' Neela Banerjee explained, "Texas and Louisiana have introduced
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Demise of Keystone XL Means More Bakken Shale Gas Flaring
NA-Pipeline-Map-Theodora.png Damned if we do, damned if we don't – this is the CliffsNotes version of the ongoing Keystone XL pipeline debate. President Barack Obama recently halted TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project, which would bring tar sands crude, or dilluted bitumen ("dilbit") from Alberta, B.C. through the heart of the U.S., to
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: 72 Percent of Ohioans Want A Fracking Moratorium, Citing Need For More Study
The unconventional gas industry's latest rush in the United States will land it in the state of Ohio, but a recent poll shows that the state's residents are not rolling out the red carpet for an industry famous for threatening drinking water supplies, causing earthquakes, noise and air pollution and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ‘Consumer Energy Alliance’ Front Group Exposed by The Tyee and Salon
Consumer Energy Alliance.png In a must-read piece co-published today by Salon.com and The Tyee, Geoff Dembicki exposes the dark underbelly of the public relations and lobbying industry, revealing the interconnectedness between Alberta tar sands movers and shakers in Alberta and their oily compatriots in Washington. The investigative article focuses on the fossil fuel industry front group
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