March Madness: Don’t Miss DeSmog UK’s Top Moments
We hit an exciting milestone in March with both our Facebook and Twitter pages reaching more than 1,000 followers. So, a big thank you is owed to everyone for liking and engaging with DeSmog UK! Our top story caused quite the stir, to say the least. In a two-part exclusive interview with Michael Mann – […]
How the Creation of Mann's Hockey Stick Led to a Climate Denier Counter-Attack
Our DeSmog UK epic history series continues with a look at the creation of Michael Mann’s hockey stick graph and the counter-attack launched by the climate deniers. Michael Mann was “still relatively fresh” out of graduate school when his work demonstrating the rise in global temperatures caught the attention of senior climate scientists. He was quickly […]
Fracking Has No Business in Lancashire – Local Firms Protest
Local small businesses seem to be throwing their weight behind the anti-fracking movement rather than the pro-fracking business lobby in Lancashire, finds Ben Lucas, MA Investigative Journalist student at City University. There are currently more businesses in Lancashire that oppose rather than support fracking, according to available data. The industry-funded North West Energy Task Force lists 349 […]
BNSF Engineer Who Manned Exploding North Dakota "Bomb Train" Sues Former Employer
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) employee who worked as a locomotive engineer on the company’s oil-by-rail train that exploded in rural Casselton, North Dakota in December 2013 has sued his former employer. Filed in Cass County, the plaintiff Bryan Thompson alleges he “was caused to suffer and continues to suffer severe and permanent injuries and […]
Lawson’s Desperate Bid To Distance Charity From In-Law Monckton’s Homophobic Rant
Lord Lawson’s climate denial charity, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, has this week attempted to distance itself from fundraiser Lord Monckton’s extraordinary homophobic rant. Lord Monckton published an uncharitable and spiteful attack on the “homosexual death style” under the headline “Left Fears Facts: From ‘Gay’ Marriage to Climate Change”. The former Tory party advisor and UKIP […]
Water Is Life; We Can’t Afford To Waste It
This is a guest post by David Suzuki. How long can you go without water? You could probably survive a few weeks without water for cooking. If you stopped washing, the threat to your life might only come from people who can’t stand the smell. But most people won’t live for more than three days without […]
Is This British University Becoming a 'Propaganda Machine' for the Fossil Fuel Industry?
Concerns over academic integrity have been raised following the appointment of John Constable, a well-known anti-wind farm campaigner, as the head of a new energy institute at the University of Buckingham. Britain’s leading private university “risks becoming a propaganda machine for the fossil fuel industry” The Independent wrote yesterday, noting that the university has a history […]
This is How the Energy Industry Reacted to the Kyoto Protocol
This DeSmog UK epic history post describes how an economic think tank became a beacon of light around which the industries most affected by the new Kyoto Protocol met to discuss strategies to deal with the international agreement. The first time is tragedy – the second time is farce. Lord Lawson, the former chancellor, is today […]
Sustainable Companies Are Using Trade Associations That Undermine EU Climate Policy
Many major multinational companies with strong sustainability policies, such as Facebook and Microsoft, are also members of trade associations that are actively lobbying against European climate policy, a new study released this week finds. According to the report by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) at the University of Westminster, businesses use trade associations to lobby on […]
Pipeline Industry Promises to Review Disclosure Rules After Kinder Morgan Secrecy Scandal
The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) is working hard to undo damage caused by pipeline company Kinder Morgan’s refusal to release oil spill response plans in British Columbia. The company’s lack of disclosure angered the province of B.C., especially when it was revealed that Kinder Morgan released detailed spill response plans in Washington State for […]