Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Pledges to ‘Triple Down’ on Her Climate Denial
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pledged to “triple down” on conservative principles, including energy extraction and anti-trans policies at the Alberta United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting in Red Deer today in front of an energetic crowd of 6,000 people. “We will build new pipelines, oil and gas facilities, petrochemical plants, hydrogen plants, and more because […]
Utility Industry Dollars Continue to Pour Into Louisiana Public Service Commission Elections
On Tuesday, Louisiana voters in 13 parishes will decide who will fill a vacant seat on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, a little known but powerful five-member body that regulates electric companies, oversees telecommunications services, and sets utility rates. The person elected to District Two of the Public Service Commission will fill the seat left by […]
Majority of PR and Ad Sector Clients Obstruct Climate Action: Report
The world’s largest advertising and public relations firms continue to get the majority of their work from major polluters, a new report has found. Known as the “Big Six,” WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic Group (IPG), Publicis, Dentsu, and Havas — operating as holding companies — dominate the ad and PR industry through their hundreds of subsidiary […]
DeSmog and Pocket Project Team Up to Host Climate Consciousness Summit 2024
To read a previous DeSmog story on the relationship between the climate crisis and collective trauma healing, please click here. As the COP29 climate talks get underway in Azerbaijan next month, DeSmog will partner with the Pocket Project to bring together leading climate justice advocates and trauma specialists to explore the psychological barriers to effective […]
Norwegian Oil Giant’s Plan to Capture UK’s Carbon Is Fraught With Risks
This story is the sixth part of a DeSmog series on carbon capture and was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe. Norwegian state-owned oil and gas company Equinor, the North Sea’s largest fossil fuel producer, is positioning itself to play a key role in plans to turn Britain into a world leader in capturing carbon. Earlier this […]
How Saudi Arabia’s Neom Giga Project Became a Global Showroom of False Climate Solutions
Neom was launched in 2017 with a whirlwind of promises. The 26,500 square-kilometre “futuristic” giga project is the brainchild of Saudi Arabia, a fossil fuel state that has pitched Neom as a “revolution in civilisation”. Neom’s crown jewel, The Line, is a linear city that the kingdom claims will be serviced by high-speed trains and […]
Chicago Utility’s Plan for Aging Natural Gas Pipelines Runs Up Against Energy Transition
If you ask Chicago’s gas pipeline utility, Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, or PGL, the best way to fix the problem of leaks from underground gas pipelines, their answer is the most ambitious option — running new, upgraded plastic pipelines throughout the city, leaving their old network of leak-prone iron pipes behind. Consumer watchdogs, […]
Alberta’s Oil Sands Operators Still Won’t Pay for Their Own Cleanup
In a scathing 2023 report, University of Calgary researchers summed up provincial oversight of the oil patch with the following opening sentence: “Alberta policy on inactive and orphan oil and gas wells is a massive regulatory failure characterized by a historical lack of transparency, excessive regulatory discretion, and regulatory capture…” That storied tradition apparently continues with […]
Southern Company Is Promoting ‘Propaganda’ Disguised as Research — With Help From a Major Media Company
As I was writing about the first local government to sue a gas utility for climate deception, I received a message in my LinkedIn inbox from another major power provider — Southern Company, a utility holding company heavily invested in gas throughout the South. The message promised “exclusive insights” about the clean energy transition, and it […]
The Telegraph Ramps Up Anti-Climate Coverage During Labour’s Early Months
Columnists at The Telegraph newspaper repeatedly attacked the new Labour government’s climate policies during its first 100 days in office, DeSmog can reveal. A DeSmog analysis of over 1,600 opinion pieces and editorials from The Telegraph’s website found that 94 percent of those written about environmental issues were anti-green – attacking or undermining climate science, policy and […]