Costa Rica Aims For Carbon Neutrality By 2021, But Plans $1.5 Billion Oil Refinery

This is a guest post by Diego Arguedas Ortiz. Costa Rica’s plan to build a $1.5 billion oil refinery, a joint venture with China’s state-owned petroleum company China National Petroleum Corporation, continues to cast doubt on the country’s path toward a low-carbon future and the feasibility of its self-imposed goal of being carbon neutral by 2021. The […]

Can You Guess How Climate Deniers Reacted to the Stern Review on Climate Change Economics?

In this DeSmog UK epic history post, we recall the climate denial backlash to the influential Stern Review, which called climate change the greatest market failure ever seen. Tony Blair heeded an appeal made by Lord Lawson and the climate sceptic economist David Henderson that the Treasury in Britain and finance ministries around the world should take […]

Richard Tol's Gremlins Continue to Undermine His Work

This is a guest post by Brandon Shollenberger  Global warming is, if you’ll forgive the pun, possibly the most heated topic of debate this century.  While most debate over it focuses on extreme weather, sea level rise and climatic events, there is another part.  This is the part that focuses on the economics of global […]

Permits Required to Build TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline in Jeopardy As Hearings Reveal Missteps

TransCanada’s decision to purchase all of the pipe needed to complete the Keystone XL Pipeline before receiving a presidential permit could prove a costly mistake. Not only is President Obama expected to reject the permit TransCanada needs in order to cross the U.S.-Canadian border, the company must recertify an expired permit before it can install the pipeline though South Dakota as well. […]

Wind Farm Subsidies Bad; Farm Subsidies Good

Climate deniers have huffed and puffed in their war against wind farms in Britain, claiming that environmental subsidies are a pernicious evil taxing the poor and distorting the market And their cries were heard. In June, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) blocked subsidies for new onshore windfarms. One month later, the department has […]

Once Burned, Twice Shy? Utica Shale Touted to Investors As Shale Drillers Continue Posting Losses

For the past several weeks, the drilling industry — hammered by bad financial results — has begun promoting its next big thing: the Utica shale, generating the sort of headlines you might have seen five years ago, when the shale drilling rush was gaining speed. “Utica Shale Holds 20 Times More Gas Than Previous Estimates”, […]

Blankenship Lawyers Fight To Keep Mine Explosion Discussion Out Of Criminal Trial

As jury selection begins for the trial of coal baron Don Blankenship, his team of lawyers are doing everything possible to prevent prosecuting attorneys from mentioning the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that claimed the lives of 29 mine workers. Blankenship is currently awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to violate mine safety standards and making […]

California Father Sues State Over New Fracking Rules That Discriminate Against Latino Children

A California family is suing the state for failing to protect their children from fracking. At issue are the state’s new fracking regulations, which went into effect on July 1. Rodrigo Romo, the named plaintiff in the suit, says the rules discriminate against Latino children, like his daughters, because they are far more likely to […]

DeSmog UK's July Recap – What Stories Did You Miss?

July will perhaps best be remembered as the month the UK Government cut all the “green crap”. In total, nine environmental policies were scrapped: subsidies for wind, solar and biomass will be cut along with the Green Deal which aimed to help homeowners improve energy efficiency, most of the Green Investment Bank will be sold off, […]

Coal Ash Coming To Groundwater Supplies Near You! Thank Your Congress

Congress adjourned at the end of this week for their annual August vacation, and as usual, they used this last week of July to push their most extreme anti-environment legislation. One of the main goals of the industry-funded House of Representatives is to loosen coal ash rules before they go into effect in October, and that’s […]