Chu compares climate disinformation campaign to tobacco industry’s efforts – Energy Sec also says “we will not be economically competitive” if we don’t price carbon in a comprehensive clean energy bill

Here is our Nobel prize-winning physicist Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, in a San Jose Mercury News interview:

SJMN:  Are you worried that the political will to enact a national policy or somehow tax or price carbon emissions is gone now? If you look at recent polls, the number of Americans who believe that global warming is [...]

The Lomborg Deception: The Septical Environmentalist (sic) says 16 feet of sea level rise wouldn’t be so bad, absurdly claims it would only “force the relocation of 15 million” people

Another op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg, another Gish Gallup of non-stop disinformation.  The good news is that the task of debunking the Septical Environmentalist (sic), has been made easier by the publication of whole book dedicated to that tedious task, The Lomborg Deception.
And yes, “Septical Environmentalist” is not a typo.  Sure, it may seem like a [...]

The Dark Ages return: Texas Board of Education rewrites the Enlightenment

Another vote, another win for the conservative majority on Texas’ State Board of Education.
Science is in a street fight with anti-science, as Nature has argued.  Now the forces of the dark ages are taking on the Enlightenment itself.
As the NYT reported, “Last year, the Texas Board of Education adopted language requiring that teachers present all [...]

Why is good messaging so hard? – A somewhat off-topic post about Tiger Woods hiring Ari Fleischer

I have been very critical of the scientist at the center of the email maelstrom (e-mailstrom?) — Phil Jones — “for adopting the Tiger Woods approach to media relations” (see With science journalism “basically going out of existence,” how should climate scientists deal with well-funded, anti-science disinformation campaign?).
Jones is now talking to the media, of [...]

Daylight saving time saves as much energy as daylight, maybe less

You can’t save daylight by moving around the hands on your clock, of course. So daylight saving time remains as absurdly named as it ever was.
The general pointlessness of DST was the subject of a Rachel Maddow interview Friday (video below) with the author of a whole book (!) on the subject.
What’s germane here is [...]

Illusory revenues from ANWR strike again

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) wants to pay for nuclear loan guarantees and clean energy incentives in exchange for one of our most precious natural treasures, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Kristen Miller of the Alaska Wilderness League has the story:
Last week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) called drilling in the Arctic Refuge a big “no-no.” You [...]