A roundup of the news, views and ideas from the main stream press and the blogosphere. Click on the headline link to see the full article.
The Death of Climate Denialism
Kate Arnoff, In These Times
Soon the Right will have to abandon its head-in-the-sand strategy—but its next tactic may be more dangerous.
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… right-wing acknowledgement of climate change in the United States might not be far off. There are signs that conservative elites’ opinions on global warming may head the way of their stance on gay marriage: Stalwart opposers will mysteriously “evolve” their views as it becomes politically expedient. The danger is that the shift will be accompanied by an American version of Rudd’s “climate Thatcherism,” in which deregulation and deep cuts to the public sphere go hand in hand with a move away from fossil fuels.
As Dana Milbank, a Beltway standard-bearer for the Washington Post, wrote in a recent op-ed, “Climate has become one of those issues where the gulf between the insular far right and the rest of American … culture has become so vast that it is serving like a moat, keeping out the very demographic groups the GOP needs in coming years.” Eighty-three percent of people in the United States believe climate change constitutes a “very” or “somewhat serious” threat, and institutions from the IMF to Goldman Sachs are sounding the alarm. A New York Times and Stanford University poll this year found that nearly half of Republicans nationwide support some type of government action to curb global warming.
Some influential Republicans are taking heed.
(15 June 2015)
Cracks appear in the climate change deniers’ defenses
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post
… cracks are appearing in the climate change deniers’ defenses. Today, the movement to seriously address global warming is gaining unlikely supporters, a potential preview of the tectonic shift to come.
Last month, six major oil and gas companies based in Europe, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, wrote a letter officially endorsing an international price on carbon. “Climate change is a critical challenge for our world,” they declared. “The challenge is how to meet greater energy demand with less [carbon dioxide]. We stand ready to play our part.” In the short term, these companies stand to benefit from carbon pricing, which would shift demand away from coal. But even if their position is partially self-serving, it’s an important declaration, and one that deeply undercuts the climate change deniers’ arguments.
These developments are a reflection of broader shifts in public opinion, as evidenced by multiple polls finding that climate change denial is increasingly unpopular outside of Washington. For instance, a Yale University survey conducted by Gallup found that 71 percent of Americans say global warming is real; 69 percent believe that human activity is contributing to the problem; and 62 percent agree that “global warming is an urgent threat requiring immediate and drastic action.” Moreover, while Republicans are split on the question of climate change, a Yale-George Mason University poll found that “half of all Republicans (56%) support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant, including conservatives (54%).”
(16 June 2015)
Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years
Suzanne Goldenberg and Helena Bengtsson, The Guardian
The secretive funders behind America’s conservative movement directed around $125m (£82m) over three years to groups spreading disinformation about climate science and committed to wrecking Barack Obama’s climate change plan, according to an analysis of tax records.
The amount is close to half of the anonymous funding disbursed to rightwing groups, underlining the importance of the climate issue to US conservatives.
… The funds, which when channelled through the two organisations cannot be traced to individual donors, helped build a network of thinktanks and activist groups. These worked to defeat climate bills in Congress and are mobilising against Environmental Protection Agency rules to reduce carbon pollution from power plants which are due to be finalised this summer. In many cases, the anonymous cash makes up the vast majority of funding received by beneficiaries – more than comes openly from the fossil fuel industry.
(9 June 2015)
As 700 Die in Pakistan from Extreme Heat, Pakistanis Deny Climate Change
Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Pakistan is in the midst of an extreme heat wave with highs around 110 degrees F., which has killed 700 persons in the past 3 days. Three weeks ago it was India’s turn, when extreme heat killed 1200 in the country’s south.
Despite the severe dangers to Pakistan posed by climate change, opinion polls show that only about a quarter of Pakistanis view the issue as a powerful threat. In contrast, over 80 percent of South Koreans are afraid of climate change.
South Asia is already unbearably hot in the summer. I’ve lived there in May and June, which are the worst, before the monsoon rains come. The heat is unbearable, but many Pakistanis have no choice but to bear it. Pakistan’s electricity capacity is inadequate and there are frequent electricity outages, which they call “load shedding” (our “brownouts”). Hot weather and drought hurt electricity production, because about half the country’s electricity is generated by hydro, i.e. dams. When the water levels decline, not as much electricity is made.
(24 June 2015)
Tragic. Areas like Pakistan will be hit the hardest by climate change. -BA
Coal plant fires, Google hires
Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld
Google is building a $600 million data center on the grounds of a soon-to-close coal plant in northeastern Alabama. The project may create an iconic image of the shifts in the economy.
Near the banks of the Tennessee River will be sprawling a data center facility on property adjacent to a backdrop of towering but dormant coal smokestacks. Google said it plans to run the data center on renewable energy sources.
(25 June 2015)
