brainsWEB.jpg I was on the road last week, so I couldn’t properly respond to this Daily Caller item, which is really sort of marvelous. Basically, it’s an attempt to use a handful of survey data points to turn the whole Republican Brain line of analysis on its head, and argue
Continue readingTag: Political Spin
DeSmogBlog: Let’s Just Say It: When It Comes to Science, The Right is the Problem
polar_House_Means.jpg This weekend in The Washington Post, two deans of the Washington establishment, the Brookings Institution’s Thomas Mann and the American Enterprise Institute’s Norman Ornstein, finally stated what has been increasingly obvious: The problem with U.S. politics is coming from the right, not from “both sides.” In their piece, provocatively
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Koch Brothers fund Fraser Institute
Fraser Institute.gif Hats off to Alex Stoymenoff at the Vancouver Observer for turning up evidence that the Koch Brothers have been ladling money into Canada's own climate dissembling Fraser Institute since at least 2008. It helps to answer why a so-called "think" tank – even one so ideologically hidebound as the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Dirty Energy Industry Front Groups Launch Misleading PR Blitz Against President Obama
gas price screenshot.jpg The American Energy Alliance (AEA) isn’t pulling any punches with their new advertising campaign, spending millions of dollars to air 45 million ad spots on Pandora Radio. They are attempting to hang the high cost of gasoline around the neck of President Obama, using a series of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Institute for Energy Research Launches “Save Oil Tax Breaks” Offensive
IER.jpg In late March, Senate Republicans torpedoed an effort by Democrats to repeal the $4 billion a year that is flowing to the oil companies in the form of subsidies. The Obama Administration had proposed ending the subsidies so that this unnecessary money for the oil industry could instead be
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: 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: 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: Beginning of The End for Big Oil’s Billion Dollar Subsidies?
oil-drum-stuffed-with-money.jpg Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (N.J.) has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to kill, once and for all, the billions of dollars worth of subsidies that are flowing from the federal government to the oil industry. Under Menendez’s proposal, the $4 billion annual corporate welfare handed out to oil companies
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: How Do You Build a Scientific Republican?
411px-Jon_Huntsman_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg It’s widely known that Republicans, far more than Democrats, reject modern climate science. And more and more, it has become apparent that this is at least partly because Republicans have a deep distrust of scientists in general, or at least environmental scientists. But there are many other causes for this
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Tracking The Origins Of The "Blame Obama For Gas Prices" Talking Point
4+dollar+gas.jpg Since at least last summer, conservatives have been parroting the oil industry talking point that President Obama is somehow the one responsible for the spike in gasoline and oil prices. As we have pointed out, they base this on their assertion that the President has been “hostile” towards the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Science of Truthiness: Why Conservatives Deny Global Warming
Final Cover.png These are notes for remarks that Chris Mooney gave recently at the Tucson Festival of Books, where he was asked to talk about his new book on a panel entitled “Will the Planet Survive the Age of Humans?” Video of the panel is currently available from C-SPAN here. Please note:
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Got Framing? Why Scientists Must Pay Attention to Communication Science, and Not Just as an Afterthought
dont_tread_on_me.jpg There was the Tweet, from Andy Revkin: “Scientists Call For Stronger Global Governance To Address Climate Change.” Revkin linked to a Forbes story, that, in turn, linked to a new paper in Science by the “Earth System Governance Project,” described as “the largest social science research network in the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: U.S. Chamber Front Group Holds “Whine And Blame” Facebook Party – Nobody Shows Up
American_Free_Enterprise_logo1.jpg American Free Enterprise, a front group of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, held a complaint session on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon to let Americans vent about “who is to blame” for rising gas prices. Unfortunately for the group, few people attended their virtual party. The pity party was an attempt
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Is James Inhofe Shilling For God, or Oil? The Correct Answer is “Both”
hoaxbook.jpg Last week, we were treated to one of those facepalm moments that make those of us who care about the future of planet intensely frustrated. Or worse. Senator James Inhofe, climate conspiracy theorist, was on a Christian radio program talking about his new book The Greatest Hoax: How the Global
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fox News’s Attacks on Climate Science Now Include The Denial of Basic Physics
varneybastardi.jpg There was a time, believe it or not, when Fox New’s Shepard Smith openly mocked global warming deniers—seriously comparing them to a man who got stuck in a portable toilet. (Hat tip to D.R. Tucker for showing me this clip.) But since then, Fox has become a veritable misinformation machine
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Republican Claims About Gas Prices Demonstrate Lack Of Knowledge About “Free Market”
gas prices.jpg As the national average for gas prices pushes closer and closer towards $4 a gallon, Republicans have wasted no time in attempting to convince the public that President Obama and his “hostility” towards the oil industry is the reason we’re feeling the squeeze at the pump. read more
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Can Geeks Defeat Lies? Thoughts on a Fresh New Approach to Dealing With Online Errors, Misrepresentations, and Quackery
fact check universe.png This afternoon, I’ll be at MIT for this conference, sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and the MIT Center for Civic Media and entitled “Truthiness in Digital Media: A symposium that seeks to address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem.”
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Don’t Blame the Victims: Why Public Outreach By Climate Scientists is More Vital Than Ever
speakout.jpg In the last few years—and especially in the wake of the ClimateGate pseudo-scandal—climate researchers have become much more politically engaged. They’ve sought to become better at communication, and to have a greater influence on public policy. They’ve tried to establish rapid response capabilities, and also, better ways of protecting
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Canadian Environmentalists: Tree Hugging Terrorists or Just Concerned Citizens?
Super Evil Tree.png The Canadian Federal government’s new counter-terrorism strategy has been ruffling feathers in the environmental community since it was released by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews on February 9. The report says that the Federal government will be vigilant against domestic extremism “based on grievances – real or
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: U.S. Chamber Hits The Road To Promote "Oily" Highway Transportation Bill
us_chamber_of_commerce_0.jpg A bitter fight has erupted in Washington, D.C. in recent weeks surrounding the fate of a much-needed transportation and infrastructure bill. Congressional Democrats wanted to pass a bill that would fund projects to help rebuild roads and bridges, but Republicans were against the idea. So, in an attempt to
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