* Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and renewable energy pioneer and a giant in that field, is the speaker on this month’s Citizens Climate Lobby international conference call, this Saturday February 4th. His most recent book is “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the
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DeSmogBlog: The Cornell Team Redux: Shale Gas a Disaster for Climate
Picture 3.png Unconventional gas offers no advantage over other fossil fuels when considering its impact on the climate, according to a new report from a group of researchers at Cornell University. The Cornell Team, who made waves in the shale debate with groundbreaking research on methane leakage in gas production
Continue reading350 or bust: PMO Issues Alert: “Foreign Radicals Threaten Further Delays”
Last night, Prime Minister Harper’s office sent off this “alert” to the media folks on its mailing list (via Kady O’Malley at the CBC). When I first read it, I thought it was political satire out of the pages of Rick Mercer or the gang over at This Hour Has
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 reading350 or bust: Dear Mr. Oliver: I Am Not a Member of a “Radical” Group
Today’s guest blogger is Jason Hildebrand. A so-called “radical” Canadian opposed to the Northern Gateway Pipeline, Jason is employed in the IT field, is married with two young children, and is an active member of his church. Jason has allowed me to share his recent letter to Natural Resources Minister
Continue reading97 out of 100 climate experts think humans are causing global warming
From John Cook’s Skeptical Science blog comes this intriguing bit of factoid goodness. The 97% figure comes from two independent studies, each employing different methodologies. One study surveyed all climate scientists who have publicly signed declarations supporting or rejecting the consensus (Anderegg 2010). Another study directly asked earth scientists the
Continue reading350 or bust: Meatless Monday Musings
It’s Meatless Monday, and here in Northwestern Ontario we’ve just come through a January cold snap (which some people complained about, but which was reassuring for a climate activist!). It’s the time of the year that it’s great to curl up in front of our pellet stove with a good
Continue readingTerahertz: Canada is screwed in the long term
I’m not found of believing in miracles, but imagine for a second that one happens and after 2015 we have either a NDP or Liberal majority, or even some coalition arrangement of the two. Either case will be better then what we have now, obviously, but in either case we’re
Continue reading350 or bust: “Ethical” Oil? House Speaker Boehner Promotes Keystone Pipeline While Investing In It
Last week, House Speaker John Boehner’s office released a video that tried to make the case to build the Keystone Pipeline. Mr. Boehner has taken millions of dollars from oil companies and is personally invested in the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline. His video contained more than a few factual
Continue reading350 or bust: Canada: Under Attack By Foreign Interests Groups & Radicals
Bless you, Rick Mercer, when the goings-on in Ottawa get completely intolerable, you give Canadians something to laugh at. Here’s Rick’s response to the Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s letter attacking environmentalists (read: anyone opposed to the Northern Gateway Pipeline and/or unrestricted development of the Alberta tar sands) as
Continue reading350 or bust: The Myth of Keystone Jobs Must Give Way To Real Job Opportunities For Canadians & Americans
Press Release from Citizens Climate Lobby Canada in response to President Obama’s decision yesterday on the Keystone XL Pipeline: President Obama made the right decision in rejecting approval for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The constraints imposed by Congress gave insufficient time for a thorough, unbiased review of the pipeline’s
Continue reading350 or bust: There’s Nothing “Ethical” About Tar Sands Oil
If anybody reading this is wondering about whether or not Canada’s tar sands oil is “ethical” or not, this presentation by photographer Garth Lenz, from TEDx Victoria this past November, will leave no doubt: * More links: Garth Lenz.com Indigenous Environmental Network: Tar Sands Campaign
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald are a Northern California-based folk duo. This song, Ship Gonna Sail, was written to discouraged activists several years ago: Paul wrote the song with the late Utah Phillips in response to frustration their local Peace Center friends felt when they tried to affect change, in
Continue reading350 or bust: Alberta Oil Sands Crude: Not As Conflict-Free As “Ethical Oil” Proponents Wish
* Yesterday I posted a clip from Power & Politics where EthicalOil.org’s spokesperson Kathryn Marshall happily sprayed paranoid, inflammatory rhetoric around the room about how “environmentalists” who are speaking out against the Northern Gateway Pipeline are funded by “foreign” interests while clamming up about whether or not her group gets
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadians Ignore the Warning Lesson of Haiti’s Environmental Destruction At Our Peril
Today marks two years since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti where more than 200,000 died and an estimated 1 million were left homeless. We are used to hearing that Haiti is a very poor country, yet rarely do we hear that at one point in its history, Haiti was the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Does PolitiFact Adequately Cover Scientific Misinformation? Well, Sort Of
pinocchio.jpg I’ve been harping a lot lately on the fact-checkers, like PolitiFact, and how they too often fall for a type of phony journalistic “balance” that those of us who practice science journalism as a trade have long abhorred. And then it occurred to me: Maybe the deep difference between science
Continue reading350 or bust: Fresh Meat: A New Perspective On Meatless Monday
It’s Meatless Monday! The Meatless Monday campaign encourages people to give up meat at least one day a week, for their health and the health of the planet. This hilarious yet thought-provoking video demonstrates how far removed from the sources of our food many of us in the developed world
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Introducing: Deep Accountability
siberia001.jpeg This is the first in a series of occasional posts I’m writing to grow an idea I’m calling “Deep Accountability.” Currently, fossil fuel industry lobbyists, flacks, allied pundits, and government officials are far too comfortable dismissing concerns about what their pollution does to other people. In their minds, it’s a big country,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: As Santorum Surges, Sound Science Sags
blog_harmon_santorum-320×268.jpg This is a guest post by Bill Walker, originally published at Climate Central. There’s a new ringleader of the skeptics' circus — otherwise known as the 2012 field of Republican presidential candidates. Rick Santorum’s out-of-nowhere surge to a virtual tie for first place in the Iowa caucuses may not boost
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