Utah's Hopes For Oil Shale Bonanza Has A Public Relations Problem, Industry Symposium Hears
By Kaitlin Butler The new U.S. oil and gas rush brings certain places to mind: the Midwest, California, the East Coast — Josh Fox’s Gasland, Governor Cuomo’s ban on fracking, the contentious battle over the Keystone XL pipeline. Amidst mounting public controversy over fracking practices, pipeline spills and exploding oil trains, one corner of an often-overlooked state […]
Ignorance for a Price: How The Fossil Fuel Industry Pays Politicians To Doubt Science
One year ago, 68% of American citizens believed that climate change was real. Today, that number has jumped to 76%, according to a new poll by UT Energy. That shift is not surprising, considering the record-breaking temperatures and widespread droughts and weather disruptions that have occurred in the last 12 months. But what is most surprising […]
Creative Self-destruction: The Climate Crisis and The Myth of 'Green' Capitalism
By Christopher Wright, University of Sydney and Daniel Nyberg, University of Newcastle The upcoming Paris climate talks in December this year have been characterised as humanity’s last chance to respond to climate change. Many hope that this time some form of international agreement will be reached, committing the world to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. And […]
Australian Government Withdraws $4 Million Grant For Climate Contrarian Bjorn Lomborg's Consensus Project
The Australian taxpayers’ short, fractious, “on again, off again” relationship with climate science contrarian Bjorn Lomborg has come to an end. Lomborg’s think tank, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, was once courted by the prior Australian government with an offer of $4 million of taxpayer funding to set up shop at a university. But this week it was […]
Shutdown Spin: Oil and Coal Industries Confident Congress Will Concede to Rail Industry
When it comes to effective lobbying groups, the American Petroleum Institute has to be near the top of the list with its relentless quest to preserve oil company profits at all costs. However, with the current threat of a rail shutdown over the rail industry’s failure to implement positive train control (PTC), which would effectively […]
Ivy League Universities Pushing Oil Industry Agenda With No Accountability
Harold Hamm isn’t the kind of guy you’d expect to be name dropping Ivy League schools. Born in Oklahoma, his education ended with his graduation from high school. Which didn’t stop him from becoming a multi-billionaire by building his own oil and gas fracking company, Continental Resources — a company that bills itself as “America’s […]
Carbon Pollution: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, And The Denial
Lord Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) argues that carbon pollution is terrific, but climate scientists and policymakers aren’t buying it, writes Dana Nuccitelli of the Guardian. The anti-climate policy ‘fact blurring’ advocacy group Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) recently published a report on ‘the good news’ about rising carbon dioxide, written by Indur Goklany. […]
Rudd's Renewable Cuts Send 'Perverse Signal' Ahead of Paris Climate Conference Says UN Scientist
Top UN environment scientist Jacqueline McGlade has criticised cuts in support for renewable energy pushed by Energy and Climate Secretary Amber Rudd and her department as sending a “perverse signal” ahead of the Paris climate change conference in December. McGlade, a former head of the European Environment Agency, is the most prominent international expert to join […]
Is the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Finally Dead?
In August 2014, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made the trek to the tiny Gitga’at community of Hartley Bay, located along Enbridge’s proposed oil tanker route in northwestern B.C. There, in the village of 200 people accessible only by air and water, he met with community elders and Art Sterritt, executive director of the Coastal First Nations. […]
Communities Pushing For Legal Rights To Regain Power Over Fracking Companies
By Blair Koch A Colorado group with concerns about the environmental impacts of fracking are pushing for a fundamental change to the state’s legal system to give communities greater power over corporations. Coloradans for Community Rights has set its sights on dismantling the legal system where state laws take precedence over local rules. This system where local authorities […]