The General Election and Fracking โ What do the Manifestos Say?
After two televised debates and several manifesto launches, the 2015 general election is well and trulyย underway. Promises, pledges and plans are being churned out by political parties on an industrial scale. However, what does each of the partyโs manifestos say it will do about fracking, ifย elected? Fracking will likely be a key issue for people […]
Coal Funded Congressman Takes Lead In Dismantling Coal Ash Safety Standards
In December 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released long-awaited coal ash safety standardsย designed to increase the reliability of coal ash disposal sites. These standards had been years in the making, butย stopped short of classifying coal ash as a hazardous waste material, which many advocates had been hopingย for. The new standards enacted by the EPA […]
How ExxonMobil Reacted When Environmentalists Crashed its First Annual Meeting 15 Years Ago
The DeSmog UK epic history series continues with a look at what happened when environmentalists attended an ExxonMobil meeting in Dallas, Texas. ExxonMobil and other industry hardliners came together in 1998 to create an โAction Planโ to combat Americaโs growing fondness for fighting climateย change. This plan would provide a blueprint for undermining the climate movement […]
Newly Released Documents Provide Further Indication That Florida Officials Were Directed Not To Talk About Climate Change
This is a guest post by Jesse Coleman that originally appeared on Greenpeace Blogs.ย In an email exchange from April of 2014 obtained by a records request, a communications official working for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Florida instructed a scientist to โmake no claims as to causeโ of Floridaโs sea level rise. […]
Proponents of Renewable Energy Will Own the 21st Century, Say Leaders at World Congress
Vancouver city councilโs unanimous decision to commit to running on 100 per cent renewable energy is the kind of political leadership the world desperately needs says Jรธrgen Randers, professor of climate strategy at the Norwegian Business School in Oslo,ย Norway. โDespite the looming catastrophe of climate change the market will choose to do nothing,โ Randers said […]
Chinaโs Disastrous Pollution Problem Is A Lesson For All
This is a guest post by David Suzuki. Beijingโs 21 million residents live in a toxic fog of particulate matter, ozone, sulphur dioxide, mercury, cadmium, lead and other contaminants, mainly caused by factories and coal burning. Schools and workplaces regularly shut down when pollution exceeds hazardous levels. People have exchanged paper and cotton masks for […]
Is the Fracking Lobby Setting the EU Energy Agenda?
A European expert panel on unconventional hydrocarbons has been almost entirely taken over by the fracking industry reveals a new investigation by Friends of the Earth (FoE) Europe and the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO). The advisory group, set up by the European Commission, is tasked with assessing ongoing fracking projects in Europe along with the […]
Gwynne Dyer Warns Climate Change Greater Global Threat Than Terrorism
When the iconic Gwynne Dyer recently spoke to a sold out crowd at Goldcorp Auditorium at Simon Fraser University he said although terrorism dominates media headlines itโs the global threat of climate change that keeps him up atย night. Delivering a lecture on his vision of โThe New World Disorder,โ Dyer said the Western world obsesses […]
Election 2015: What the Manifestos Say on Climate and Energy
This has been cross-posted from Carbonย Brief The UK‘sย closest election in a generationย is now three weeks away. Carbon Brief will be tracking the climate and energy content of the parties’ manifestos as they are launched over the comingย week. Labour went first today, followed by the Conservatives and Greens on Tuesday. The Liberal Democrats will follow […]
How ExxonMobil's PR Machine Impacted The Climate Change Debate
Our DeSmog UK epic history series continues as ExxonMobil uses its PR power to change the publicโs mind on climateย change. The basic tenet of ExxonMobilโs strategy was clear: it would use PR, not to change their image, but to change the public’sย mind. Exxonโs longstanding senior environmental advisor was a large, bullish, but โbrilliantโ, nuclear engineer, […]