Fossil Fuels

By Michael T. Klare It’s a ritual long familiar to observers of American politics: presidential hopefuls with limited international experience travel to foreign lands and deliver speeches designed to showcase their grasp of foreign affairs. Typically, such escapades involve trips to major European capitals or active war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. New Jersey Governor […]

Climate Change

Keystone of Corruption: The Money Pipeline from Big Oil to Congress

contributors

By Kitty Stapp NEW YORK (IPS) – With battle lines sharpening over the stalled Keystone XL pipeline, a new analysis details the intense industry lobbying of both houses of the U.S. Congress since 2013 – to the tune of 58.8 million dollars by five refinery companies alone. According to MapLight, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organisation […]

Climate Change

Big Oil wants N. Dakota to ease radioactive waste laws on Fracking

contributors

RT | – “Amid falling oil prices nationwide, energy industry players in North Dakota want officials to alter radioactive waste disposal laws so that more toxic fracking fluid can be stored in-state, saving companies tens of thousands of dollars per truckload.” RT: “Big Oil wants N. Dakota to ease radioactive waste laws – to save […]

Climate Change

Yes, Virginia, Global Warming can mean Heavier Snowstorms (for a while)

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By Kevin Trenberth | National Center for Atmospheric Research | (The Conversation) As first glance, asking whether global warming results in more snow may seem like a silly question because obviously, if it gets warm enough, there is no snow. Consequently, deniers of climate change have used recent snow dumps to cast doubt on a […]

Energy

The false promise of fracking and local jobs

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By Susan Christopherson | (The Conversation) In a surprise decision that led to consternation in the oil and gas industry and elation among fracking opponents, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in December banned fracking in the state. He attributed his decision to unresolved health risks associated with this drilling technique, but the governor surely also […]

Climate Change

Why Fracking & Tar Sands are Doomed: Low-Cost Oil and Pollution

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Tom Giesen| (Informed Comment) — Here is a brief primer on the real implications of the decline of oil prices and environmental degradation on the unconventional petroleum industry (fracking, tar sands and deep-water drilling). Oil has been relatively inexpensive, energy intensive, portable, relatively safe, convertible to myriad uses – an incredibly useful substance, especially in […]

Climate Change

Climate-Denial Buffoon Inhofe takes Big $$ from Big Oil, Says Scientists Corrupt

contributors

ThinkProgress Video | — ThinkProgress: “Jim Inhofe (R-OK) Tells The Senate Why He Thinks Global Warming Is A Hoax” [Added by Juan Cole]: The Center for Responsive Politics’ website Opensecrets.org details that Big Oil and fossil fuel companies play a major role in funding Inhofe’s political campaigns: Senator James M. Inhofe has reported a total […]

Climate Change

Ocean Life on the Verge of Mass Extinction

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TheLipTV | — “Humans are leading us to unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them potentially putting us on the verge of a major extinction event, according to Douglas J. McCauley, an ecologist at the University of California. However, while the damage is accelerating, it’s not irreversible, according to Malin Pinsky, […]

Climate Change

2014 Warmest Year on Record; So much for the “Pause”: NASA

contributors

NASA | Goddard Center | — “The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years since modern records began have now occurred since 2000, according to a global temperature analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies […]