Polluters Rely on Old Rhetoric to Block Clean Energy Future
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering proposals aimed at reducing climate-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing coal and gas-fueled power plants. Power plants are the second-largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, and the pollution standards, which are open for public comment until August 8, will mark a new milestone in climate action. But the United States’ biggest […]
Voters Support ULEZ-Style Policies, Finds New Poll
Voters back schemes that charge road users for driving highly polluting vehicles, according to a new poll from Omnisis for DeSmog. A higher proportion of voters (44 percent) support ULEZ-style schemes than don’t (36 percent), according to the polling. People who intend to vote Conservative at the next election support charges on more polluting vehicles […]
ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Could Foster Science Denial and Misunderstanding – Here’s How You Can Be on Alert
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Until very recently, if you wanted to know more about a controversial scientific topic – stem cell research, the safety of nuclear energy, climate change – you probably did a Google search. Presented with multiple sources, you chose what to read, selecting which […]
‘Eco-Fraud’: Influential Motorcycle Lobby Group Promotes Climate Science Denial
A well-connected motorcycle lobby group is denying climate science and telling bikers that climate change is an “eco-fraud” that will “cost you your freedom”, DeSmog can reveal. The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is one of the UK’s largest motorcyclist associations, and claims to have some 50,000 members. It met with the government in June, when […]
Why Polluters’ Greenwashing Works and How to Fight It
A young man goes up a mountain to study the terrain and collect data on his laptop, while epic, orchestral violins play in the background. He’s an ExxonMobil scientist in a company ad that also shows other scientists in a high-tech lab working to develop “low-carbon technologies.” The tagline reads “Advancing Climate Solutions.” The ad […]
Sizing up Big Food’s Appetite for Change
A BBC headline in July puts it starkly: “Eating less meat is like taking 8 million cars off road”. It’s the kind of topline that’s guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of food corporations, which are increasingly under pressure to cut pollution, just like the fossil fuel industry. The evidence of big agriculture’s role […]
Revealed: Fossil Fuel Giants Are Using British Influencers to go Viral
Oil and gas supermajors including Shell and BP are using UK influencers to push false solutions to the climate crisis and manufacture a more family friendly image, DeSmog can reveal. The influencers have included a popular former BBC presenter, a polar explorer, and an exasperated father of five who needs a break and finds it […]
Congressional Dems Request DOJ Investigation into Big Oil’s Climate Deception
Citing “new evidence” of Big Oil firms’ advanced knowledge of climate risks and their actions to publicly conceal these risks, Democratic members of Congress are renewing calls for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate carbon majors for potential violations of federal law. In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, the […]
Expert Panel Warns Journalists of Coordinated Climate Disinformation Campaigns
This story was originally published by The Energy Mix, and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate crisis. As reporters confront sophisticated tactics aimed at obscuring the reality of climate change, knowledge is their ultimate weapon against deception, say media experts, who exposed the greenwashing influence of […]
A Guide to the Anti-Net Zero Forces in Westminster Politics
The Conservative Party’s victory at last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election has been credited to an aggressive campaign against the expansion of the Mayor of London’s ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ). In the days since, the wider net zero “agenda” has been pulled into the spotlight, with opponents of green action seeing an opportunity […]