Republicans Censor Climate Information in Schools

Climate denial is alive and well in the GOP. Republican legislators are conspiring to deprive kids of a science based climate education. In at least one state they have already succeeded. Earlier this year Republican lawmakers in Idaho voted to remove all fact-based references to climate from the state's science curriculum.

The state's House Education Committee voted for the new K-12 statewide science standards in February.  Republican legislator Rep. Scott Syme said he wanted the standard to include what he called "both sides of the debate". However, rather than invoke the baseless claims that constitute the other side of the argument lawmakers opted to excise all mention of climate change.

Trump's First 100 Days are a Climate and Environmental Nightmare

Trump's first 100 days have been a dismal failure. Trump failed to deliver on almost every single one of his promises leading many to conclude that the self-proclaimed deal-maker can't seem to close. True to his word he is making progress on one front, depriving Americans of clean air and clean water.

Trumps Muslim ban failed, his attempt to pass health-care legislation also failed. Congress will not finance his wall and nor will Mexico.  Rather than drain the swamp he has made the swamp bigger. The president has rewarded the wealthy on the backs of the poor and the middle class. His one-page reward-the-rich tax plan does not have a snowball's chance in hell of passing and if it were ever enacted by Congress it would trigger economic ruin.

Republicans Trying to Kill the EPA Quickly

Trump drew first blood with an Executive Order that enfeebled some of the EPA's activities, now Republicans are going in for the kill. They recently proposed a bill that seeks to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Known as H.R.861, the bill has the following self-explanatory title: "To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency."

While this bill is unbelievably destructive for the American people it should come as no surprise when you consider Republican obstructionism for the last eight years and the man who is now President of the United States. Within his first two weeks in office, Trump signed an Executive Order that targeted the EPA.

Mother Nature Strikes Back: A Review of Extreme Weather in 2016

Extreme weather is a deadly corollary of climate change. A UN study found that between 1995 and 2015, 600,000 people died from natural disasters. Global warming is known to exacerbate the intensity of extreme weather events. We are already seeing clear evidence of climate change playing a role in a growing number of natural disasters. Thanks to advances in attribution science we can now see the role that climate change plays in driving a succession of increasingly severe extreme weather events.

Event - Green Sports Alliance Summit: College Sports Sustainability Summit

PAC-12 will host the first conference wide College Sports Sustainability Summit. It will take place on June 27th 2017 in Sacramento, California. This event is part of the annual Green Sports Alliance Summit.

The College Sports Sustainability Summit is part of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) call to action to tackle climate through sports. This event is supported by member universities that have pledged to take a leadership position in promoting sustainability through sports.

Green Sports Alliance: Making Athletics more Sustainable

With 344 members, 300 teams, 172 venues and 20 leagues, in 14 different countries the Green Sports Alliance is a major force in sustainable athletics.  The Green Sports Alliance helps sports leagues to be more sustainable.

Sports are an incredibly powerful activity that garner the attention and interest of billions of people around the world. With this is mind the Green Sports Alliance strives to leverage the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy, sustainable communities.

They inspire sports leagues, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, species preservation, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices.

Keystone XL is Rejected Energy East to Follow

TransCanada's tar sands pipelines are being thwarted at every turn. US President Barack Obama has officially rejected the Keystone XL and the new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to cancel the Energy East.

Proof of Disinformation from Fossil Fuel Companies (Video)

The fossil fuel industry is widely known to be the driving force behind climate denying front groups and disreputable scientists. Their aim is to make the public question the veracity of climate scientists and by all accounts they have been successful. In the US they managed to increase public skepticism and gain control of the Republican party.

As revealed by a series of internal company and trade association documents the fossil fuel industry has funded climate denial. This summary of evidence from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows how the fossil fuel industry funds a campaign of deception. 

Here is an assemblage of some of the most compelling evidence to date:

Infographic - Funding of Climate Denial

Video - Arctic Emergency: Scientists on Melting Arctic Ice

In this video climate scientists address how rising temperatures in the Arctic are contributing the melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, and destabilization of a system that has been called "Earth's Air Conditioner". They make the point that global warming is here and is impacting weather patterns, natural systems, and human life around the world - and the Arctic is central to these impacts.

Dipole Explains How Climate Change can Cause Diverging Weather Systems

A dipole is a term that has been coined by researchers to explain two different weather systems such as hot dry weather in the West and cold snowy weather in the Midwest and the East. Traditionally, a dipole is a term used in physics and chemistry to describe two electric charges or magnetic poles that have equal magnitudes but opposite signs and are separated by a small distance. It is also used in chemistry to define a molecule in which the center of positive charge does not coincide with the center of negative charge.

Video - Science Based Reason vs. Climate Denial in the US House of Representatives

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) exposes the ignorance of Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) as he schools him on the irrationality of blocking a resolution that would have acknowledged the reality of climate change.

Video - Fear is at the Heart of the Psychology of Climate Change Denial

At first glance climate change deniers are simply ignorant. However, when seen through the lens of climate psychology we realize that it is a far more complex issue. Denial is motivated by pain and fear. The harrowing reality of climate change augers despair and causes people to shut down. People are overwhelmed so in this context denial can be understood as a psychological coping mechanism. For more information on how the negative emotions associated with climate change are impeding action click here. For information explaining why we need a new climate narrative click here.

Video - An Introduction to Climate Denial

This video reviews different types of climate denial. What it is, how it manifests and why it exists at all.

The US is the World's Leading Climate Denying Nation

The United States is the world's leading bastion of climate change denial. According to an international poll, the US is the nation with the largest percentage of people who refute the veracity of anthropogenic climate change.

A total of 52 percent of American agreed with the statement, “the climate change we are currently seeing is a natural phenomenon that happens from time to time.” India was tied with the US followed by China. In contrast, only 34 percent of Swedes, 26 percent of South Koreans, and 22 percent of Japanese agreed with the statement.

What Resistance to Evolution Teaches us about US Climate Denial

In this article a comparison is made between resistance to evolution and climate change denial. With roughly one third of Americans rejecting evolution and climate change, those engaged in raising awareness may be able to learn something from the comparison. Despite the pernicious ignorance of deniers, there are reasons that some of them may be forced to change their tune. While a cogent case could be made for the need to reach climate deniers, we may have to accept that there will always be some people who are beyond the reach of reason.

Those engaged in efforts to enlighten climate deniers can learn a great deal from the long history of the anti-evolution movement.

Almost one hundred years ago this month, a young high school teacher by the name of John Thomas Scopes went on trial for teaching Darwinian evolution. From its inception to this day, the science of evolution has been under siege.

Rubio's Opportunistic Denial of Climate Change is both Ignorant and Shameful

On Sunday May 11, Marco Rubio the Republican senator from Florida said that he does not believe that humans are causing climate change, nor does he believe that lawmakers can do anything about it.

Given the state he represents, it is hard to understand how Rubio can deny the veracity of climate change. Climate change is destined to hit Florida harder than most states in the future and its effects are already being felt in that state today. This is what makes Rubio's climate denial so utterly ignorant. It is not only anti-science, Rubio's statements defy common sense.

Infographic - Climate Denial is Anti-Science

Video - Years of Living Dangerously (Premiere Full Episode)

Watch the world premiere of the new series, "Years of Living Dangerously" which involves celebrities and respected journalists as they span the globe to explore the issues of climate change and cover intimate stories of human triumph and tragedy. The "Years of Living Dangerously" takes you directly to the heart of climate change issues in an awe-inspiring, cinematic documentary series event.

Infographic - Climate Change: Threat or Opportunity