Oil-funded Pat Michaels admits solving global warming is a problem of "political acceptability"
Fareed Zakaria: Can I ask you what percentage of your work is funded by the petroleum industry? Pat Michaels: I don't know. 40 percent? I don't know. In a telling exchange with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, long-time polluter apologist Pat Michaels conceded that the real challenge of solving manmade global warming is simply the "political acceptability" of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels as climate catastrophes grow. Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has the story. Michaels, aptly introduced as "a scientist who now works for the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank that strongly opposes caps to carbon dioxide," has promoted global warming denial for decades, funded by a network of oil and coal companies and their ideological allies. With calm questioning, Zakaria exposed Michaels' position as political "stand-pattism" as the world burns:
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U.S. Chamber lawsuit attacks basis for EPA emissions limits
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday filed a lawsuit that challenges EPA's recent rejection of its petition for reconsideration of the agency's 2009 "endangerment finding" that greenhouse gases threaten humans. The finding is the underpinning for upcoming EPA rules limiting emissions from power plants, factories and other sources that are opposed by a number of business groups. "The U.S. Chamber, policymakers, numerous trade groups, state governments, and businesses throughout the country have collectively raised strong concerns about the significant negative impact the EPA's endangerment finding will have on jobs and local economies," said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber's National Chamber Litigation Center, in a prepared statement. The chamber filed for judicial review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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Sunspots are behind climate change, Johnson says
Senate candidate shares view on climate change, court nominees, stimulus spending Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson on Monday offered uncompromising views on climate change and confirmation of Supreme Court justice nominees, during a session with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters. Johnson, an Oshkosh business owner, also signaled a softer stance on use of federal stimulus and deficit spending as a means to jump-start a recessionary economy. He hopes to oust Democratic incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold, who is seeking a third term. Johnson also faces small-business man Dave Westlake in the September GOP primary election. A global warming skeptic, Johnson said extreme weather phenomena were better explained by sunspots than an overload of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as many scientists believe. "I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change," Johnson said. "It's not proven by any stretch of the imagination." Johnson, in an interview last month, described believers in manmade causes of climate change as "crazy" and the theory as "lunacy." "It's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time," he said. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere "gets sucked down by trees and helps the trees grow," said Johnson.
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GOP candidates knock global warming
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 over the well-established link between man-made greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. GOP climate skeptics have held powerful positions on Capitol Hill recent years, including the chairmanship of the House Energy and Senate Environment panels. But they've typically been among the minority. Now, they could form a key voting bloc, adding insult to injury for climate advocates who failed to pass an energy bill this year. Environmental groups fear that adding more voices to the skeptic camp could further polarize the debate and make it more difficult at all levels of government to pass legislation curbing carbon dioxide emissions, especially if coupled with the defeat of standard-bearers such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
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API chief economist admits taxes on oil industry can create millions of jobs
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 increase in oil and natural gas industry taxes destroys 5,000 jobs," quoted in an API blog post: Citing a study conducted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), API Chief Economist Dr. John Felmy said every $1 billion increase in oil and natural gas industry taxes destroys 5,000 jobs. The administration's 2011 proposed budget includes tax hikes of $80 billion on the industry, which translates into a loss of 400,000 jobs throughout the U.S. economy. Noting this unusual claim, the Wonk Room reached Dr. Felmy for a telephone interview. Contrary to API's portrayal, "Green Recovery," the 2008 report prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, did not actually model taxes, but compared levels of investment into the oil and gas industry versus clean industry (renewables and efficiency). The analysis found that a ten-year $100 billion shift in capital from polluting energy to clean energy would create two million new jobs with a loss of only 500,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector. Using Felmy's logic, the Center for American Progress report found that a $1 billion increase in oil and natural gas taxes creates 15,000 jobs. The administration's 2011 proposed budget includes tax hikes of $80 billion on the industry, which translates into an increase of 1,200,000 jobs throughout the U.S. economy.
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Why oil billionaire David Koch is secretly funding Astroturf to repeal CA clean energy laws
Much has been reported about how Texan oil companies Valero and Tesoro have been fighting to repeal the landmark clean energy climate change law, AB 32. The Wonk Room recently obtained a PowerPoint from Tesoro showing that the company made a pitch to oil companies, including BP, to join their effort known as Proposition 23. But there is another powerful out-of-state fossil fuel interest trying to eviscerate California's pioneering climate change law: Koch Industries. The Wonk Room has learned that Koch Industries is funding the lead "grassroots" group organizing support for Proposition 23, and is also funding the Pacific Research Institute, the main think-tank producing junk studies smearing AB 32.
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EIA: U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions to Increase 3.4% in 2010
Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are projected to increase by 3.4% in 2010 over the previous year, according to a new report by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (STEO), released on August 10, projects carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal to increase by 6% due to increased use of coal at electric power plants. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas are projected to increase by 3.9%, due to greater use of natural gas in the industrial and electric power sectors, while emissions from using petroleum are expected to increase by only about 1%. The STEO projects relatively low growth in all three fuels in 2011, leading to a projected growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of 0.8%. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are the biggest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and are generally a good indicator of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions trends.
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Europe's Brisk Energy Transition
Europe's evolution toward a heavier reliance on renewable energy is nicely documented in a report released this week by Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency. The study, "Statistical Aspects of the Energy Economy in 2009," provides a wealth of interesting detail without a lot of editorializing. From 2008 to 2009 alone, the use of renewable energy in the European Union increased 8.3 percent. As I've reported as part of our continuing series, "Beyond Fossil Fuels," some countries have made particularly great strides in this arena. Portugal now gets nearly 45 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, up from 17 percent five years ago. The Eurostat report found that the production of energy from hard coal and natural gas showed an "important decrease" (9.2 and 10.1 percent, respectively). To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union is also aggressively pushing its members to cut back on their use of coal.
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Climate on the Campaign Trail: 5 Races to Watch
From cap-and-trade vs. "cap-and-tax" to bickering over the science behind global warming, climate and energy issues are a common theme in this year's midterm election campaigns. Many lawmakers are being forced to defend their votes for the House's cap-and-trade bill last summer, while gubernatorial candidates are being quizzed on whether they'd team with other states to reduce emissions. Here's a preview of five races in which environmental issues are playing a leading role:
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France Launches €1.35 Billion Clean Energy Program
The program is called "demonstrateurs energies renouvelables et chimie verte," which in English would mean "renewable energy and green chemistry demonstration." It will include €450 million ($577 million) in subsidies and another €900 million ($1.15 billion) in low-interest loans for "cutting-edge technology projects." The emerging, cutting-edge technologies it would be supporting projects in solar energy, marine energy, geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, and advanced biofuel. This is quite a surprise, to me at least, since France has traditionally put so much of its "clean energy" money into nuclear energy and, to some extent, wind energy. About €190 million ($244 million) is supposed to be invested by the end of the year, and then €290 million ($372 million) every year afterwards until 2014. The French government is, reportedly, looking to get private investors to put in €2 billion ($2.56 billion) as well.
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More from Al Gore: Climate bill failure costs the U.S. billions of dollars
Al Gore, who days ago called for mass demonstrations on climate change, is also arguing that the failure of Congress to pass a global warming bill is "already costing our nation billions of dollars." The former vice president, in a blog post on his website Wednesday, highlights a recent Reuters story about investment in green energy. "Alternative energy investment prospects have shriveled in the United States after the U.S. Senate was unable to break a deadlock over tackling global warming, a Deutsche Bank official said," the Aug. 11 Reuters story notes.
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Judge hears UVa climate dispute
The fate of the University of Virginia's petition to block Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's document demands relating to research of a former UVa climate change scientist will be decided in the next 10 days. After reading all of the case documents for the first time Friday and hearing oral argument in Albemarle County Circuit Court, Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. ruled that he would need more time to make a decision. The judge is expected to issue his opinion in the next 10 days. During Friday's hearing, attorneys for UVa and Cuccinelli reiterated their positions outlined in a series of briefs filed over the last several months. Cuccinelli has been trying to subpoena a mass of data, documents and correspondence relating to the research of Michael Mann in an attempt to investigate whether Mann violated Virginia's Fraud Against Taxpayers Act by accepting $466,000 through four federal and one state research grants between 1999 and 2005. Chuck Rosenberg, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing the university, said in court that Cuccinelli's demand fails the statutory requirements of an investigation under the act - a statement of "the nature of the conduct constituting the alleged violation" and a "reason to believe" that UVa as the CID recipient has data about a violation of Virginia's anti-fraud law. The attorney said case law shows that would require "more than an intuition" of wrongdoing.
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Senate candidate Ron Johnson not alone in sunspot belief
But scientists blame greenhouse gases for bulk of climate change Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson's comments this week that sunspots are a factor in global warming has come under fire from Democrats, but his views are in line with those of many Republican conservatives. Johnson told the Journal Sentinel this week that sunspot activity and natural cycles of the Earth can explain a warming in the Earth's atmosphere. The majority of climate scientists would take issue with Johnson. Caspar M. Ammann, an expert on sunspots at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said Friday that the energy produced from such activity is a factor, but greenhouse gases from man-made activities is the biggest cause in explaining warming of the Earth. Still, "Johnson is reflecting conservative Republican skepticism about man-made global warming," said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist and an expert on polling and public attitudes. Franklin said that skepticism of climate change has "become the accepted position within the conservative movement," and he doubted whether Johnson's comments will hurt him in a race now considered close against Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold.
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Clearing the Air on States' Rights
There's been some heavy breathing from several states on the U.S. administration's plans to regulate greenhouse gases, and their bluster may butt up against White House bluffing. When the Environmental Protection Agency concluded last December that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health, the agency set itself on a path for the first time to regulate the emissions scientists blame for causing climate change. "I absolutely prefer that the Senate take action," EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said at the time, referring to everyone's favored fix to the problem: a comprehensive climate bill stamped by Congress. "And I'm hopeful that they will." But, well, that never happened. And it's hard to imagine now when it will. (Flash forward five months, and Jackson was sitting empty-handed this spring at an awkward Jon Stewart interview clearly booked to celebrate the release of a bipartisan climate compromise in the Senate. Republican Lindsey Graham backed out in the 11th hour.)
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In the Wake of the Oil Spill: Lawsuits
The Gulf Coast BP oil leak has been plugged with cement. The White House says that 75% of the oil has been captured, burned, evaporated, or dissipated into Gulf waters. BP has reduced cleanup workers' pay and is sending its workers home (or in some cases back to jail.) Is that the end of it? Not exactly... • The world science community contends that 50 - 60 million gallons of escaped oil are still in the Gulf. The dispersant Corexit that BP dumped into the water in quantities far more than EPA had authorized is known to cause internal bleeding and kidney damage. Plus, some are worried about the large amounts of the less discussed toxic greenhouse gas, methane, which persists as a result of the dispersant.
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China closes factories as green deadline looms
BEIJING - China, facing the risk of embarrassment if it misses a looming environmental deadline, has ordered thousands of companies to close high-polluting plants as its leadership vies to retool economic growth. Beijing has pledged to slash China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010, as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter seeks to reduce pollution and clean up its environment. Official data suggest China is likely to miss the year-end deadline -- potentially causing red faces for top leaders who have trumpeted efforts to curb emissions growth and develop renewable energy. "It is a gesture to show that the country is trying its best to achieve the target," Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai, told AFP. "The leaders need to save face." Beijing this month ordered 2,087 firms producing steel, coal, cement, aluminium, glass and other materials to close their old and obsolete plants by the end of September -- or risk having bank loans frozen and power cut off.
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Peak oil alarm revealed by secret official talks
Behind government dismissals of 'alarmist' fears there is growing concern over critical future energy supplies Speculation that government ministers are far more concerned about a future supply crunch than they have admitted has been fuelled by the revelation that they are canvassing views from industry and the scientific community about "peak oil". The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is also refusing to hand over policy documents about "peak oil" – the point at which oil production reaches its maximum and then declines – under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, despite releasing others in which it admits "secrecy around the topic is probably not good". Experts say they have received a letter from David Mackay, chief scientific adviser to the DECC, asking for information and advice on peak oil amid a growing campaign from industrialists such as Sir Richard Branson for the government to put contingency plans in place to deal with any future crisis.
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Cap-and-trade debate
Ameren says process would cost consumers; supporters justify ALTON - Two rather unlikely sources recently came together to educate people on the theory of cap and trade and its controversial legislation. The manager of Ameren's Strategic Initiatives program this month joined the Sierra Club Piasa Palisades chapter for the club's free summer seminar series to discuss emissions trading, more commonly known as "cap and trade." In a 13-state area, primarily in the Midwest and central United States, including Illinois, 79 percent of its energy comes from coal - an energy source particularly affected by cap-and-trade legislation. Downstate and Southern Illinois are mostly solely coal-using regions. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal supplies 45 percent to 50 percent of energy to the United States overall. "The East and West coasts have passed regulations restricting the use of coal and have a huge amount of hydro-energy," Anthony J. Artman, managing supervisor of Ameren Strategic Initiatives, told about 10 people gathered for the seminar at Riverbender.com Community Center in Alton. "The Ameren utility gets most of its energy from this part of the country."
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Every GOP New Hampshire Senate candidate is a global warming denier
Every single Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) is a global warming denier. Wonk Room Brad Johnson has the story in this cross-post. Appearing at a debate hosted by the Seacoast Republican Women in Portsmouth, NH on Wednesday, the six candidates - from millionaire businessmen Bill Binnie and Jim Bender to former attorney general Kelly Ayotte - were unanimous in their denial of man-made climate change, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence and the obvious changes that have already hit New Hampshire: It was symbolic when the six Republican candidates for U.S. Senate stood up together side-by-side during a debate Wednesday. It resembled their positions on major issues. All said they would have voted against extending long-term unemployment benefits. All argued Elena Kagan should not have been appointed to the Supreme Court. All said man-made global warming hasn't been proven.
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