Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1183

Tar balls hit Texas, whose governor said the BP disaster was an 'act of god'

Back in May, speaking at trade association supported by BP, Texas Gov. Perry (R) claimed the rig disaster was an 'act of God.' Now the oil has hit his shores, and TP has the story.

Tar balls have now hit every single state on the Gulf Coast, "after a bucket's worth of tar balls hit a Texas beach." The AP reports:

The oil's arrival in Texas was predicted Friday by an analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which gave a 40 percent chance of crude reaching the...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 6: Why is Fannie Mae waging war on energy savings? Wind-power is healthier than coal or nuclear; China now has the per capita CO2 emissions of France

Why Is Fannie Mae Waging War on Solar Panels and efficiency?

Fannie Mae has been taking some very peculiar actions against homeowners lately. First, it decided to crack down on strategic defaulters. Now, we learn that it (along with Freddie) is threatening not to accept loans if the associated borrowers retrofit their homes with solar panels through a government stimulus program. This might seem odd, especially if you consider another strange action on the part of Fannie that we learned about...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 6: Why is Fannie Mae waging war on energy savings? Wind-power is healthier than coal or nuclear; China now has the per capital CO2 emissions of France

Why Is Fannie Mae Waging War on Solar Panels and efficiency?

Fannie Mae has been taking some very peculiar actions against homeowners lately. First, it decided to crack down on strategic defaulters. Now, we learn that it (along with Freddie) is threatening not to accept loans if the associated borrowers retrofit their homes with solar panels through a government stimulus program. This might seem odd, especially if you consider another strange action on the part of Fannie that we learned about...

Obscure 1970s BP Offshore Oil Strike board game bears 'spooky' parallels to current disaster - Cover portrays "overall sense of doom"

BP is Beyond Parody.  The UK Metro has dug up the fact that decades ago, BP endorsed a board game called "Offshore Oil Strike" on the "thrills of drilling" that has "spooky" parallels to the Gulf disaster:

The mint-condition game, made by Scottish company Printabox, was donated by a private collector to The House On The Hill Toy Museum in Stansted, Essex. It was very rare and 'obscure', said museum owner Alan Goldsmith, who added: 'The parallels between the game and the current crisis…...

UK Telegraph retracts and apologies for bogus Tata story, but doesn't apologize to Pachauri for smear

European newspapers are retracting bogus climate stories almost as fast as they are printing them!

I didn't see this UK Telegraph retraction of piece by Christopher Booker (and another one with Richard North) smearing IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri when it came out a few weeks ago.

It is worth reprinting because the original story was widely reprinted by the anti-science crowd, because this retraction hasn't gotten all lot of attention, and because the Telegraph chose not to apologize to the...

Turn Off the Oil Subsidy Spigot

Eliminating oil subsidies will have little if any effect on consumer prices, explains CAP's Sima J. Gandhi in this cross-post.

Three weeks ago, the Senate rejected a proposal to eliminate about $35 billion in tax subsidies to oil companies as millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) proposed using these funds to reduce the deficit and fund state energy efficiency programs. The Sanders plan to close these loopholes lost by a vote of 35-61...

Video: Climate Change and National Security

Our favorite climate de-crocker, Peter Sinclair has a new video:

Related Posts:

Senior military leaders announce support for climate bill — 33 generals, admirals: "Climate change is making the world a more dangerous place" and "threatening America's security
Memorial Day, 2030
NYT: Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security
Quadrennial Defense Review Should Spark Interagency Climate Conversation

We're having a heat wave. New daily high temperature records beat new cold records by nearly 5 to 1 in June - How hot is it? So hot that June "breaks the record for the warmest average temperature observed for any calendar month in Miami"

"We're getting a dramatic taste of the kind of weather we are on course to bequeath to our grandchildren," says Tom Peterson, Chief Scientist for NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

An "excessive heat warning" has been issued this week for parts of the East Coast, home of the status quo media, so please send me examples of coverage — good or bad. Also, drink plenty of fluids and stay cool!

I got a call last week from a Florida reporter.  Did I know that it was so hot that Miami set the...

Dutch assessment of IPCC: "Overall the summary conclusions are considered well founded and none were found to contain any significant errors." - Dutch foresee much higher sea-level-rise risk than IPCC -- and urge IPCC to "to pay attention to 'worst-case s

Our findings do not contradict the main conclusions of the IPCC on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability related to climate change. There is ample observational evidence of natural systems being influenced by climate change on regional levels. The negative impacts under unmitigated climate change in the future pose substantial risks to most parts of the world, with risks increasing at higher global average temperatures.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) examined the...

Dutch assessment of IPCC: "Overall the summary conclusions are considered well founded and none were found to contain any significant errors." - Dutch foresee much higher sea-level-rise risk than IPCC -- and urge IPCC to "to pay attention to 'worst-case s

Our findings do not contradict the main conclusions of the IPCC on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability related to climate change. There is ample observational evidence of natural systems being influenced by climate change on regional levels. The negative impacts under unmitigated climate change in the future pose substantial risks to most parts of the world, with risks increasing at higher global average temperatures.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) examined the...