Investor Warning: Fossil Fuels and the Risk of Stranded Assets

It is becoming increasingly apparent that fossil fuels represent a substantial risk that should make investors wary. Fossil fuel reserves, including oil, gas and coal will be rendered obsolete in the coming decades, leaving investors holding valueless investments. A plethora of peer reviewed science tells us the curbing fossil fuel use is key to climate mitigation.

From widespread calamitous coastal flooding to devastating extreme weather events the need to urgently act on climate change has finally been accepted by every nation on earth. The economics of climate action is sound. A cost benefit analysis reveals the overwhelming logic. We must the eradication of fossil fuels as soon as possible. The impetus to act on climate change, once dismissed by some, is now a fact of life for all thinking people.

Video - McConnell Confirms the Koch Brothers Power Over America

Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) provides the smoking gun illustrating the Koch brothers control over America. These comments by one of their own are evidence for the Koch brothers insidious power. McConnell's remarks were recorded during a speech he gave at a secret strategy meeting hosted by the infamous climate denying oil billionaires known as the Koch brothers.

The Koch Brothers Control of America

Charles and David Koch are brothers and oil billionaires who have a long history of political interference and climate misinformation. Their multifarious support for fossil fuels has helped to slow America's adoption of renewable energy.

They have also undermined efforts to pass climate and energy legislation at both the state and national levels. They have even managed to influence the Supreme Court and help sour American attitudes on the veracity of global warming.

Video - Trailer for the Koch Brothers Documentary: Buying Democracy

This is the trailer for "Koch Exposed," a hard-hitting investigation of the 1% at its very worst from acclaimed director Robert Greenwald. Charles and David Koch are using their billions to put a stranglehold on American democracy. The film also explores what we can do about it. Click here to get the film.

Buying Support for the Keystone XL

US courts have cleared the way for wealthy oil industry elites to throw their massive financial weight behind candidates that support their interests. This includes the Keystone XL. While rich environmentalists are also free to do the same, they are nowhere near as numerous or as powerful as those who continue to earn billions from fossil fuels. 

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Anti-Science Journalism Helped to End Progressive Climate Governance in Australia

The popular media's campaign of climate change subterfuge helped to bring down Julia Gillard's government in Australia. Anti-science propaganda has been rampant in the Australian press. A number of extreme weather events (droughts and floods) succeeded in drowning out the voices of those that oppose action on climate change and helped Gillard to get elected in 2010.  Subsequently a determined anti-science media campaign eroded Gillard's popularity and ultimately led to her downfall.

Popular media has flouted their journalistic responsibilities on climate change. A widespread campaign against Australia's carbon policy was adopted by the company that controls most Australian metropolitan newspapers. According to a 2013 study of climate science in newspapers,  the coverage of the Gillard government’s carbon policy was mostly negative (73 per cent to 27 per cent). Negative coverage (82 per cent) across News Ltd newspapers far outweighed positive (18 per cent) articles. The Daily Telegraph was the most negative (89 per cent). The Daily Telegraph has since continued its campaign against Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and bike riders.

List of Climate Deniers in the US Congress

A 2010 study showed that 40 percent of Americans do not know that their is a scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. This should come as no surprise considering that the vast majority of Republican leaders eschew the science to this day. 

While the number of climate deniers are declining, the sad reality is that the lies are being kept alive by Republicans in Congress.

Here is a list of climate deniers in Congress who deny the veracity of the science of global warming. As explained in the forward to the list "Climate change is real, it's caused largely by human activities, and it poses significant risks for our health. Some members of Congress disagree with this simple, scientifically proven fact. We need to work to curb climate change, and a big step is to raise our voices to change the conversation in Washington. Call these deniers out. Hold them accountable. Ask them if they will admit climate change is a problem."
 

Climate Deniers Could Learn from Pascal's Wager

Rather than engage in protracted  psuedo-scientific debates, perhaps a touch of philosophy might help some climate deniers to see the value of acting to combat climate change.

Climate deniers must go through a series of intellectual gymnastics to find pretexts to poke holes in the legion of scientists and plethora of independent research that supports anthropogenic climate change. Perhaps the following philosophical position may save them from the effort needed for their intellectlual contortions.

Video - Evolution and Global Warming Denialism: How the Public is Misled

How can so many be so woefully misinformed about the veracity of anthropogenic climate change? To help answer this question we need only look at the history of the teaching of evolution. Teachers have long been pressured to teach "alternate views" of evolution. Now they're being pushed to deny that global warming is happening, or if it is, that humans aren't a major factor. In this video Genie Scott dissects the tactics of climate change deniers, and the parallels with anti-evolutionists.

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The Koch Brother's Ties to GOP
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SourceWatch on Greenwashing: Definitions, Allure and Detection

This January 10th 2013 article offers a great summary of greenwashing as well as an explanation of why greenwashing occurs and rough rules of thumb to detect it.

Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.

The U.S.-based watchdog group CorpWatch defines greenwash as "the phenomena of socially and environmentally destructive corporations, attempting to preserve and expand their markets or power by posing as friends of the environment." This definition was shaped by by the group's focus on corporate behavior and the rise of corporate green advertising at the time. However, governments, political candidates, trade associations and non-government organizations have also been accused of greenwashing.

Video - Greenwash Coverage from TerraChoice: The Seven Sins (CBC Newsworld)

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc president Scott McDougall talks about the dangers of Greenwashing on CBC NewsWorld on April 17th, 2009.

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New FTC Green Guidelines for Marketers

In October 2012 the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) updated its Green Guides for marketers. The original draft of the updated guidelines were released in 2010. The changes that should be noted pertains to the FTC's interpretation of general environmental benefits, more specifically claims that a product is “eco friendly” or “green,”

There are at least two salient points to be made here. The first is that the FTC now requires proof of any stated environmental benefit and the second is what it calls “environmental tradeoffs.” The replacement employed in the greener offering must indeed be green. The net effect is that companies will have to work harder to prove the claims they make. The FTC also has new powers to act against those who contravene these guidelines.

Romney Lied about the Success of Obama's Green Stimulus

During the presidential debate, Mitt Romney lied to the American public about the success of President Obama's green stimulus spending. A big part of the success of the Democrat's stimulus spending concerned the creation of green jobs. The US unemployment rate is now at 7.8 percent, this is the first time since the President took office that they have dropped below 8 percent. The President's support for green jobs are part of this favorable employment trend. According to a study from the Bureau of Labor as of 2010 there were already 3.1 million green jobs in the US. While the Obama administration was growing the number of green jobs, the Republicans were pushing legislation that undermines green job growth.

Popular Media is Distorting the Facts about Climate Change

Major news organizations are not accurately reflecting the truth about climate change. Fox News, the Wallstreet Journal and even PBS have been charged with misrepresenting the facts about climate change.

According to a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, 93 percent of Fox News' and 80 percent of the Wall Street Journal opinion pages' climate coverage is inaccurate and misleading. This is the finding of an analysis titled "Is News Corp. Failing Science". Even the PBS aired an interview with a biased climate skeptic tied to the controversial Heartland Institute.

New York Times Inadvertently Supports Denial

In May 2012, the New York Times published an article by Justin Gillis titled, "Clouds' Effect on Climate Change Is Last Bastion for Dissenters." This article lends legitimacy to the climate deniers subterfuge by unwittingly casting doubt.The article seems to infer that if you cannot predict with certainty the way clouds will behave you cannot predict that the earth will keep warming. The article explains that scientists cannot predict future temperature, so the inference is that we cannot predict global warming. "The result is a big spread in forecasts of future temperature, one that scientists have not been able to narrow much in 30 years of effort." 

Media Coverage of a New Climate Study Misrepresents the Impact of the Oil Sands

As reviewed in a February 20th article by Joe Romm, there has been a lot of misunderstanding about the findings of the new study entitled “The Alberta oil sands and climate” by climatologists Neil C. Swart and Andrew Weaver.

Rick Santorum's Anti-Environmental Theology

Republican presidential front runner Rick Santorum said President Barack Obama subscribes to a theological worldview that "elevates the Earth above man." This is how the former Senator from Pennsylvania describes Obama's belief in a fact based understanding of climate change.

Heartland Institute’s Deniergate: A New Definition for Irony

The past few days haven’t been very pleasant for the faux think tank Heartland Institute. On Tuesday a source going by the name of “Heartland Insider” leaked several strategy documents and Heartland’s 2012 budget to the DeSmogBlog.

Foster Friess is the Climate Denying Money Man Behind Rick Santorum

Foster S. Friess is the climate denying money-man behind Rick Santorum's bid for the GOP presidential nomination. The Republican hopefuls are following the money, Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is betting on Newt Gingrich and Friess is bankrolling the pro-Santorum super PAC. Friess is a Wyoming cowboy who is known for his opposition to the science of climate change.

Science and Pernicious Ignorance of Climate Change Denial

It is nothing short of tragic that so many Americans continue to dismiss the scientific veracity of climate change. Deniers are not moved by the coherency of the research that weaves together the different points of measurement. The plethora of data includes higher global mean surface temperatures, melting glaciers, retreating sea ice, increasing water temperature, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and extreme weather. The data is unequivocal yet there are scores of confused people who are woefully unaware of the facts.