The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a major Synthesis Report this week, explaining as patently as possible, for one last time before it’s too late to take action, that we can’t build any more fossil fuel infrastructure if we want any hope of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to under 1.5° C. Initial reactions from […]
Back on Valentine’s Day, we talked about the latest round of overly-credulous AI reporting, in the context of some ridiculous disinfo about EVs. We made it clear that we’re unimpressed by the very-much-artificial “intelligence” displayed by chatbots, but now it turns out that even these unthinking regurgitation machines are too clever for climate disinfo! By Climate […]
A paper published on February 19 by researchers at the University of Leeds is gaining the attention of conservative commentators and media outlets across the Anglosphere. The paper argues “that rationing could plausibly play an important role in an effective and fair means of reducing emissions and is therefore worthy of serious consideration,” despite the fact that […]
Since the dawn of humanity, people have cooked food. From roasting meats over a fire to sourdough starters passed down from one generation to the next, cooking has been a deeply personal yet communal part of the human experience. But if you’d rather cast aside centuries of subjective, place-based, family-driven cooking and turn from the […]
Last week, the Financial Times reported South Africa’s coal-dependent power grid is regularly failing to meet demand, requiring rolling blackouts to the extent of requiring an official declaration of a national state of disaster. The country’s power monopoly Eskom “has had to cut off swaths of customers for up to 10 hours per day in recent months […]
When an environmental disaster strikes, what do you do? Do you advocate for those affected and implement policy solutions to keep the problem from occurring again? Or do you exploit this one environmental disaster to make the argument that other environmental issues are now somehow invalid? Right-wing media chose the latter option in response to the train derailment and […]
The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) getting caught lying in the Washington Post about heat pumps in Maine raises the question of whether this Congressionally-sanctioned body established to research and improve oil heat should still exist, given its track record of spending the public’s money on disinformation to lobby for public support for oil heat, instead. By Climate Denier […]
Is there currently a “nasty fight between environmental groups” over right whales, as a recent Washington Times headline suggests? Or is there a nasty fight between environmental organizations and fossil fuel-backed NIMBY groups opposed to offshore wind? By Climate Denier Roundup The first would be a surprising story of conflict within a normally united advocacy space. […]
Back in 1991, President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff, John Sununu, told White House staffers not to discuss “climate change” or “global warming.” In 2012, the Republican administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett ordered the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to remove the term “climate change” from its website. In 2015, the North Carolina-controlled […]
The recent fracas about gas stoves has clearly riled up the methane gas industry – rebranded as “natural gas” – and its conservative supporters are still determined to defend gas stoves. We showed that the methane gas industry has internally recognized the health risks of gas stoves since at least 1907. Now, in 2023, these harms are dominating news cycles […]
Last week, within three days of each other, right-wing media outlets ran three remarkably similar hit pieces attacking Dr. Kim Cobb, a climate scientist who was appointed to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. By Climate Denier Roundup In reality, no one is better suited than Dr. Cobb to advise President Biden on climate risks. She is an award-winning scientist, […]
One of the growing themes we unfortunately expect to continue to grow this year is the classic “but what about China!” excuse, which contends that the US shouldn’t have to clean up its emissions if China isn’t cleaning up theirs. By Climate Denier Roundup While there are certainly legitimate criticisms to be made regarding the Chinese government’s human rights […]
Lately, we’ve noticed that bare-bones Breitbart, having lost a ton of its advertising revenue in recent years, has taken a real interest in the right-wing fight against Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards. While it would certainly make sense for the outlet to oppose ESG measures, given its billionaire-backing, its laundering of white supremacy, and its loyalty to Donald Trump, these […]
Yesterday, we laid out the backstory of Oxford’s recent moment in the disinfo spotlight thanks to a conspiracy theory in UK’s Vision News, which resulted in multiple fact checks that did little to stop the stream of abuse directed at local public officials. So how did a plan to let people walk without fear of getting hit by a […]
According to a (faulty) new “study” comparing the cost of driving electric vehicles (EVs) with that of gassing up an old-fashioned car, EVs were cheaper for 18 straight months, from Q2 of 2021 to Q3 of 2022. But in Q4 of 2022, gas prices had dropped and electricity prices had risen enough based on the high prices […]