Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1129

GOP WI Sen. candidate Ron Johnson: "I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change," claims "sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time" is warming the planet - Republicans embrace pro-pollution, anti-science

GOP candidates for Senate are rushing to pander to their extremist anti-science Tea Party base by denying even our most basic understanding of climate science.  Most notably we've seen the dumbing down of Carly Fiorina.  The Politico has an article today that examines this trend:

Fueled by anti-Obama rhetoric and news articles purportedly showing scientists manipulating their own data, Republicans running for the House, Senate and governor's mansions have gotten bolder in stating their doubts...

GOP WI Sen. candidate Ron Johnson: "I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change," claims "sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time" is warming the planet - Republicans embrace pro-pollution, anti-science

GOP candidates for Senate are rushing to pander to their extremist anti-science Tea Party base by denying even our most basic understanding of climate science.  Most notably we've seen the dumbing down of Carly Fiorina.  The Politico has an article today that examines this trend:

Fueled by anti-Obama rhetoric and news articles purportedly showing scientists manipulating their own data, Republicans running for the House, Senate and governor's mansions have gotten bolder in stating their doubts...

What climate activists can learn from the NRA and the gun-control wars

I've been thinking about writing a post along these lines, when someone far more knowledgeable on the subject beat me to the punch.

Here is a Grist post by Robert J. Walker, the former president of Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence), who "helped to lead the fight for passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and the 1994 federal assault-weapons ban":

[Italics are mine.  Bold in original.:]

Supporters of climate-change legislation have much...

API chief economist admits taxes on oil industry can create millions of jobs

This is a Wonk Room cross-post.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) — the lobbying giant of the oil and gas industry that also writes its own rules — is continuing its work to keep oil industry profits high as the American worker suffers. API demonizes any effort to cut the industry's billion-dollar subsidies as "energy taxes" that "destroy jobs." In fact, API chief economist John Felmy has claimed a report commissioned by the Center for American Progress finds that "$1 billion...

The "CO2 is Plant Food" Crock

Our favorite climate de-crocker, Peter Sinclair has a new video that features someone who may be smarter than all the other anti-science disinformers [combined?:]:

Related Posts:

Hate-speech promoter Lord Monckton tries to censor John Abraham
MN professor eviscerates Monckton in must-see video

Cook: "When someone mentions to you that CO2 lags temperature, remind them they're actually invoking evidence for a positive feedback that further increases global warming by an extra 15 to 78%."

Physicist John Cook of Skeptical Science has a good piece on "The significance of the CO2 lag" that I'm reposting here, followed by a discussion of the best-studied feedbacks and their likely impact (with links to the literature).

When we examine past climate change using ice cores, we observe that CO2 lags temperature. In other words, a change in temperature causes changes in atmospheric CO2. This is due to various processes such as warmer temperatures causing the oceans to release CO2...

Energy and Global Warming News for August 17th: Record floods threaten to drown Pakistan's economy; Levels plummet in crucial Lake Mead reservoir; Are batteries the key to electric cars, more responsive grid?

Are batteries the key to electric cars and a more responsive grid?

The Obama administration is betting that some of its stimulus grants for batteries will have a double whammy — helping electric cars as well as the electric grid. Yesterday, the president gave remarks at ZBB Energy Corp., a company northwest of Milwaukee. ZBB builds large batteries that can cushion the grid when there's a power hiccup — and, it is hoped, that can eventually smooth out the electricity generated from the...

Are ethical arguments for climate action weaker than self-interest-based arguments?

Guest blogger Donald A. Brown is Associate Professor for Environmental Ethics, Science, and Law at Penn State University.  This cross-post is from his ClimateEthics blog.

I. Introduction

Many commentators to ClimateEthics argue that since people are self-interested beings, it is more important to make arguments in support of climate change based upon self-interest rather than ethical arguments. Some go so far to assert that people don't care about ethics and therefore only...

Global weirding: Naming climate change disasters after the deniers

This Huffington Post repost is by Peter Gleick, is Co-Founder and President of the Pacific Institute.

The most recent report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says, "Global warming is undeniable," and it's happening fast. NOAA's study, an in-depth analysis of ten key climate indicators, all point to marked and accelerating warming. This disturbing consistency should scare policy makers — if they were listening. As Derek Arndt, head of NOAA's Climate Monitoring B...

West Virginia pol Walt Helmick: Compared to drug overdoses, coal isn't so bad

This is a Wonk Room cross-post.

At an exclusive coal industry retreat this month, a top West Virginia politician bemoaned the negative image of the state's coal industry in the wake of this year's Upper Big Branch disaster that killed 29 miners. Looking for a silver lining, Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick (D-WV) contrasted the death toll from mining coal to the deaths from drug overdoses in McDowell County, West Virginia's poorest. In a stream-of-consciousness speech during the...