GWPF_0.jpeg This is the sixth post in a series examining the UK-registered educational charity and climate denial 'think-tank' Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). Previous posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) have identified very serious shortcomings and it is now make-or-break time for the GWPF's reputation. GWPF Briefing Paper No1 – 'The
Continue readingTag: Desmogblog
DeSmogBlog: Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS Doubles Down On Gas Price Talking Points
Karl-Rove.jpg The Karl Rove-helmed lobbying group Crossroads GPS (in conjunction with their parent group American Crossroads) has decided to double down on the debunked talking point that President Obama is to blame for the spike in gas prices. Their latest ad, titled “Too Much,” specifically takes aim at the President’s
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: 49 Cliff Clavin’s Walk into a Bar and Talk Climate Change
Cliff1.jpg This is a guest post from Dr. John Abraham You could almost set your watch by it. It has become a regular absurdity that a bunch of non-scientists try to tell the world that they know something the experts don’t. Those of us who watched that iconic television show called
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Oil and Gas Industry Refused to Protect Caribou Habitat, Pushed for Wolf Cull Instead
Picture 6.png There’s something really wrong about the Canadian government’s recent proposal to spend millions of dollars to scapegoat Alberta's wild wolf population for the impact on caribou populations that is in fact due to industrial development wrecking wildlife habitat. (See our earlier coverage of this issue here.) It’s not just
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cry Wolf: An Unethical Oil Story
Picture 4.png Over the last several months, Alberta has killed more than 500 wolves using aerial sharpshooters and poisoned bait in order to conceal the impact of rapid industrial development on Canada’s iconic woodland caribou. Independent scientists say that declining caribou health stems chiefly from habitat destruction caused by the encroachment
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Tar Sands in the United States: What You Need to Know
Think that that dirtiest oil on the planet is only found up in Alberta? You might be surprised then to hear that there are tar sands deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, much of which are on public lands. While none of the American tar sands deposits are actively being
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Survey Says…Fracking IS Causing Earthquakes
oh-frack1.jpg A new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) says that the increased seismic activity taking place in certain areas of the United States is almost certainly the result of oil and gas drilling activities. The group has been studying dozens of earthquakes across America for the last 8
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Who Is Monitoring Fracking Wells And Pipelines? Nobody
see-hear-speak-no-evil.jpg As we here at DeSmogBlog have been covering in exhaustive detail for quite some time now, there is virtually no safe way to perform hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for unconventional oil and gas. Fracking has been linked to numerous problems, including the release of radioactive molecules that cause an array
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: S.E. Cupp Attacks Climate Science and Climate Scientists on MSNBC
Yesterday, I appeared on MSNBC’s Now with Alex Wagner to talk about The Republican Brain. It was largely an interview about what’s going on with conservatives and science right now—why they distrust it so much—but S.E. Cupp, the conservative on the panel, called my argument “infuriating.” Then, she proceeded to attack
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: Young Americans Sue Government to Stop Global Warming, Polluter Interests Granted Intervention To Defend
Screen shot 2012-04-03 at 4.37.19 PM.png Last May, a group of young Americans, fed up with government inaction on climate change, decided to sue to protect their future. The group, led by 16-year old Alec Loorz, founder of Kids vs. Global Warming and the iMatter campaign, filed legal actions against
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Judith Curry Was For Me Before She Was Against Me
400px-Curry_2006_200dpi.jpg I first got to know Judith Curry—the Georgia Tech researcher who blogs at “Climate, Etc.,” and has been drawn into controversy for, in her words, “challenging many aspects of the IPCC consensus”—when I was working on my second book, Storm World. I spent a fair amount of time with Curry,
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: As The Maldives Slowly Erode Away: A Review Of "The Island President" Documentary
photo4thumb.jpg Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed caught widespread attention when he held a cabinet meeting underneath the sea in the months leading up to the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009. He continued to captivate negotiators, governments, and climate advocates with his frank and outspoken demeanor, sometimes for better or for worse. As
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: Oil Industry Lobbyist / Mushroom Farmer Claims Family Farms Need Fracking
Fracking_Graphic_t670.jpg Because apparently the only way for small American farmers to sustain themselves is not with crops they produce, but by letting the good 'ole gas man tap the reserves under their land. "Agriculture and industry go together, if you want prosperity in these little towns, you need balance, that's the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Deadly Bacteria Found In Gulf Coast Tar Balls
tar balls.jpg Since the very first tar balls began rolling onshore along the Gulf of Mexico following 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion and subsequent underwater oil geyser, the oil industry told us to relax because those tar balls were completely harmless. But as we approach the two year anniversary of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Conservatives versus Science: A New Scientific Validation of the Republican War on Science (and Republican Brain) Thesis
rwos.jpg For a while now, I’ve been aware of a powerful new paper that directly tests the central argument of my 2005 book The Republican War on Science—and also validates some key claims made in my new book, The Republican Brain. I’ve had to keep quiet about it until now;
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Guardian Reveals Key Funder of Global Warming Policy Foundation Is Michael Hintze
GWPF.jpeg Cross-posted with permission from The Guardian by Graham Readfearn, Leo Hickman and Rupert Neate Michael Hintze, a leading Conservative party donor who runs the £5bn hedge fund CQS, has emerged as a financial backer of the climate sceptic thinktank founded by former chancellor, Lord Nigel Lawson. The Global Warming Policy Foundation,
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