U.S. politics

Exposed!

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Science Historian Naomi Oreskes writes:

When I wrote the book Merchants of Doubt in 2010, I only wanted one thing: to uncover the truth about who was behind the widespread, and sadly effective, campaigns to undermine the established science of climate change, and why they were doing what they were doing.

I never imagined that, a few years later, Sony Pictures would release Merchants of Doubt, a captivating feature film that exposes the ugly world of climate denial like never before.

Thousands are about to see this movie, and when they do, they’ll be fired up and anxious to take action — let’s make sure they do. Together, let’s create a surge of people power strong enough to bring down climate denial.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/j8ii9zGFDtc]

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Forecast the Facts.org

Merchants Of Doubt

 

The KXL Ad TransCanada Doesn't Want You To See

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Following yesterday’s defeat of the push to okay the Keystone XL Pipeline across the continental United States, here’s a video that the company trying to construct the tar-sands-oil-carrying “black snake” doesn’t want you to see.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ZThuXogileE]

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TransCanada has made a series of videos entitled “Straight Talk about KXL” that seeks to convince people about the safety of the pipeline, as well as selling the (highly questionable) number of jobs connected to it, and the fears of a spill.  It’s these videos that the video above is spoofing.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/HSSHCoagBTE]

For a little more truth-telling, as opposed to TransCanada’s greenwashing, here’s a video of TransCanada CEO Russ Girling conceding that only 50 permanent jobs will be created by the pipeline:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/G_7rX-C2cS8]

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CEO of TransCanada concedes just 50 permanent jobs from Keystone XL Pipeline

Pro-Keystone Vote Fails in US Senate

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More good news on the climate front, after last week’s announcement of a US-China climate agreement.

A few years ago, pro-Keystone XL pipeline legislation was depicted as a “no-brainer” by Washington insiders.  It looks like our climate isn’t the only thing that’s changing; so is the political climate with regards to the acceptability of pro-oil climate-destructive projects.

graphic via 350.org
graphic via 350.org

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In response to the yesterday’s vote in the United States Senate on the Keystone XL pipeline, 350.org Executive Director May Boeve issued the following statement:

“Once again, Congress tried to play games with our future–and failed. Since Keystone XL has always been President Obama’s decision, this vote was never anything more than an empty gesture of political theater.

“Rather than letting Congress continue to pantomime for Big Oil, President Obama should step up and reject this dirty tar sands pipeline once and for all. By dramatically accelerating tar sands oil development, Keystone XL clearly fails President Obama’s own climate test. The pipeline is a lose-lose for everyone except TransCanada. The President has all the information he needs to reject this pipeline now, and we’re going to stand by him to make sure he does.”

Today’s vote also clarified the political dynamics for the incoming Republican-controlled Congress. Post-election, pipeline proponents are still at least four votes short of the 67 votes necessary to override a Presidential veto.

Links:

350.org: Keystone XL Bill Defeated in the Senate

No to pipeline – but GOP vows replay

Senator Inhofe Destroyed By Colleague Versed In Science

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In the U.S. Senate this week, Senator Klobuchar called for Unanimous Consent to pass a resolution acknowledging that climate change is occurring and that it will continue to pose an ongoing risk. Senator James Inhofe objected to the resolution. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse offered this cogent, informed response.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/YDL4Bs3NbB0]

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Whitehouse.Senate.gov

ThinkProgress.org

 

Get Ready To Dial In For Climate Action

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If you live in the United States, and you are concerned about climate change, circle Monday June 23rd on your calendar.  From the comfort of your own home, you can support action on climate change and the over 600 climate-concerned citizens who will be on Capitol Hill that day meeting with every congressional office to discuss putting a price on carbon pollution.

Congressional call-in

Grassroot Activists Gather On Capitol Hill To Lobby For Carbon Tax

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360 citizen lobbyists gather on Capitol Hill to ask for a carbon tax
360 citizen lobbyists gather on Capitol Hill to ask for a carbon tax

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It was no easy feat trying to keep my cool while racing in my high heels between Congressional and Senate offices in the scorching D.C. heat last Tuesday. More than once I wondered about the wisdom of leaving behind the comfortable Red Lake summer to join nearly four hundred other citizen lobbyists from across the U.S. and Canada who were fanned out across Capitol Hill, making the case to U.S. lawmakers that it was time to put a price on carbon pollution. Was all our effort worth it?

After my last appointment of the day, I walked back to the hotel with George, a commercial fisherman from Alaska. He talked about the devastating impact of the warmer and more acidic ocean on his livelihood. As we said goodbye and I gratefully stepped into the air conditioned hotel lobby, my attention fell on the newspaper headlines about Alberta, where people were losing lives as well as homes during that province’s second “100 year” flood in 8 years. I realized then that although my fellow climate lobbyists and I face an uphill battle to get a carbon fee and dividend bill passed, so did David when he and his slingshot faced off against Goliath. And you know how that story turned out. As Nelson Mandela so powerfully said, “It only seems impossible until it’s done.”

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M & C with Dr Jim Hansen. Washington.June 2013
With Dr James Hansen, climate scientist and climate hero. Dr Hansen was a keynote speaker at the CCL International Annual Meeting.

 

The Obama Tar Sands Pipeline

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Is the Keystone XL pipeline really what President Obama wants to leave as his legacy, for future generations to remember him by – and curse him for?

[youtube=http://youtu.be/GVpK61CJt3E]

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Meanwhile climate destabilization continues as unabated as our carbon dioxide emissions:

  • Czech PM Declares Emergency As Floods Threaten Prague: Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas declared a state of emergency for most of the nation on Sunday as swollen rivers caused by days of heavy rain threatened Prague’s historic center and forced evacuations from low-lying areas.Prague authorities limited public transport and planned to close underground stations in the center of the city as water from the Vltava River overflowed into picturesque areas popular with tourists. The main train line connecting the capital and the east of the country was also shut. Click here to read full story.

Rising waters from the Danube, Ilz and Inn rivers have inundated parts of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic after days of heavy rainfall. Emergency operations are under way to deal with record levels of flooding in some areas, as landslides have killed at least nine people, with many more still missing. Click here to see pictures.

  • Meanwhile it’s so dry and parched in Texas even the dead can’t rest quietly:       …Across South Texas, the drought scorched front yards, dried up lakes and forced Corpus Christi into water restrictions. But one of the unexplored consequences has been the drought’s effect on cemeteries. Once serene sanctuaries, these final resting places now show signs of distress from too little rain.

Sections of Rose Hill Memorial Park where Matson’s parents are buried are patchworks of cracked dirt and weeds. In Seaside Memorial Park, where slain Tejano star Selena Quintanilla lies in rest, scattered live oaks that once provided shade have died and started to shed their bark. Click here for the full story.

As U of Ottawa climate scientist Paul Beckwith tweeted this morning:

PB tweet

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At the present time we humans are behaving like brainless frogs. Frogs, it turns out, don’t remain in water being heated to the boiling point unless their brains have been removed.

Tom Toles Cartoon
Tom Toles Cartoon – click for larger display

Politicians Fiddling While Planet Burns: Scientists Warn 400 PPM Milestone Ahead

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scripps_400ppm_soonMay 2013-1

From Citizens Climate Lobby Canada:

MAY 1, 2013 – “For the first time in 3 million years [1], the average daily concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, is about to exceed 400 parts per million (PPM), a strong indication that the Canada and other nations must quickly implement policies to reduce greenhouse gases,” Citizens Climate Lobby said today.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has monitored and tracked the steady increase of CO2 concentrations as measured at Mauna Loa. Known as the Keeling Curve – named after scientist Charles David Keeling, who started monitoring CO2 in 1958 – these measurements show a steady increase of CO2 that parallels the use of fossil fuels. Prior to the Industrial Age, CO2 concentration fluctuated between 180 and 300 PPM.

In the past century, average global temperature has increased 0.8 degrees Celsius. Based on current rates of CO2 emissions, a World Bank report estimates the average global temperature could increase 4 degrees Celsius (about 7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. Such warming will cause sea-level rise, more severe droughts and greater volatility in weather patterns, which in turn will result in displaced populations, food shortages, and greater damage from storms.

“This is one milestone no one should be happy about reaching,” said Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of Citizens Climate Lobby.

Cathy Orlando, Canada’s National Manager of  Citizens Climate Lobby added, “Fortunately we have technological solutions and economic plans available to avoid tragic consequences.”

In April 2013 the Conference Board of Canada released a report that outlined four plausible scenarios for energy in Canada taking into consideration the economic and social impacts of climate change. They suggested, “Canada’s priority in the short-term should be to put a significant price on carbon.”

In order to reduce Canadian emissions and encourage other nations to do the same, Citizens Climate Lobby has recommended passage of a steadily-increasing, revenue-neutral carbon tax that returns proceeds to the Canadian people.

In the USA, this proposal is supported by a number of conservatives, including former Secretary of State George Shultz, as a way to employ the power of the free market to shift away from the use of fossil fuels. Citizens Climate Lobby also recommends coupling the carbon tax with border adjustment tariffs on imports from nations that lack equivalent carbon pricing. This would provide the incentive for other nations to adopt their own carbon taxation.

“We have a solution that should have multi-partisan support. It’s time for Parliament to act. Nero is fiddling while Rome burns,” concluded Orlando.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/xFrTqn-PEXc]

Obama Calls Out Climate Deniers, & Other Good News

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It’s always enjoyable (and all too rare!) to share good news, and I’m pleased that there’s some to share on this, the last Friday in April:

  • The Ontario government under newly elected premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Wednesday that it will be partnering with the government of Manitoba and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to keep the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northwestern Ontario open. The federal government of Stephen Harper made the controversial decision last year to withdraw funding and shutter the 40 year-old world-renowned freshwater research station. As the SaveELA website describes,

“Studies conducted at the ELA have provided sound scientific knowledge for the development of environmental policies both nationally and internationally. Some key areas of influence have been in understanding and managing algal blooms, acid rain, climate change, mercury pollution, greenhouse gas fluxes from hydroelectric reservoirs, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.” 

I understand that ELA scientists were gearing up to study whether or not emissions from the Alberta tar sands reached beyond that province’s borders. While carefully worded, the press release from the Ontario government does seem to underscore the importance of science to their government, in contrast to the anti-science bent of the Harper Conservatives. It will be interesting (in an appalling way, I’m sure) to see the spin Greg Rickford, the increasing elusive CPC Member of Parliament for the region (and my own MP) puts on the whole ELA disaster when he attempts to run for re-election in 2015. Here’s part of what the Ontario Government press release said:

Experimental Lakes Area is a one-of-a-kind, freshwater research region in northwestern Ontario that attracts scientists from across Canada and around the world. 

The important science and research performed in this area informs our pollution reduction strategies, our understanding of climate change and how we can protect our lakes and rivers here in Ontario, across Canada and around the world.

Supporting science and research is part of the new Ontario government’s plan to build a fair, prosperous Ontario for the benefit of all. (Click here for full press release)

Kudos to Diane Orihel, who got the Save The ELA campaign off the ground last summer, and to Peter Kirby, the Kenora lawyer who has been working tirelessly to keep the momentum going when Diane pulled back to finish her studies. And of course Dr. David Schindler, the founder and former director of the ELA, has been a tireless and outspoken advocate for the ELA and against this reckless decision. A friend and fellow environmental activist wrote yesterday, “I’m in a bit of a shock because we actually succeeded” but it may still be too early to break out the champagne. As Dan Lett wrote in the Winnipeg Free Press yesterday, there are still stiff obstacles to overcome – mostly in Ottawa – before the ELA is secure. I’ve got my fingers crossed!

Rickford in happier days, at funding announcement in 2009
MP Greg Rickford (centre) in happier days, at funding announcement in 2009

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  • This news may fall under the category of “too little, too late” but it’s still progress; President Obama tweeted around pointed attack on the climate deniers in Congress. The link went to a page on his website headlined “Call out Climate Deniers in Congress”.  It reads:

The science on climate change is clear

But many members of Congress are in complete denial, and they’re standing in the way of progress.

We need to call them out.

Watch this embarrassing video – and join the fight to get serious on climate change:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/biUc0D6_UPA]

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Sweet!  Have a wonderful weekend.