Climate zombie Joe Barton defends plagiarism and incompetence

by DWG

USA Today ventured into investigative journalism in covering plagiarism in the Wegman report, which was commissioned by Texas Republican Joe Barton in 2006 when he was chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The USA story was covered in detail in a diary by Keith Pickering. However, plagiarism is really the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the Wegman report.

Barton and staff brushed off the plagiarism in the Wegman report, claiming the conclusions were valid.

Lisa Miller, a spokeswoman for Barton, reiterated the congressman's support of the Wegman report on Monday, saying it "found significant statistical issues" with climate studies.

False. Absolutely false.

continued at Daily Kos....

Indiana, hotbed of climate zombies

by DWG

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing John Mellencamp perform in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. For those unfamiliar with Mellencamp, many of his songs focus on rural and urban decay and the people left in the wake. In the introduction to "Longest Days," he told the story of a friend that died last year because the health insurance company decided his condition was not severe enough to warrant the treatment recommended by his doctors. His story was interrupted several time by shouts from the Tea Party Klan about "Obamacare." Since Mellencamp's message was social ("we have to look out for each other") rather than political, it was a stark reminder of the callousness and belligerence of Tea Party Republicanism.

The Republican Tea in Indiana is heavily infused with religious fundamentalism. That mixture was recently profiled in the New York Times in a story about climate zombies.

continued at Daily Kos....

Big European polluters funding Tea Party climate zombies

by DWG

The Tea Party Republicans like to pretend to be patriots while they take large sums of cash from European companies. A new report released by the Climate Action Network Europe (CANE) indicates that Republican climate zombies received even more money from European polluters than from the Koch brothers.

Big European emitters Lafarge, GDF-SUEZ, EON, BP, BASF, BAYER, Solvay and Arcelor-Mittal supported climate change deniers in the US senate in 2010 for $107,200. Their total support for senators blocking climate change legislation in the US amounts to $240,200, which is almost 80% of their total spendings in 2010 senate race. This is why those funds are seen as systemic. This amount is higher than the same type of spending of the most notorious US climate denier and Tea Party funder: Koch Industries ($217,000).

continued at Daily Kos....

More strange tales from the Republican war on science

by DWG

Climate science is a major front in the Republican war on science. In fact, rejection of climate science is a policy requirement to be a Republican running for elected office. Ronald Brownstein nicely summarizes the zealotry of Republicans in climate change denial in the National Journal.

Indeed, it is difficult to identify another major political party in any democracy as thoroughly dismissive of climate science as is the GOP here.

Virginia provides a perfect example for how extreme Republicans have become in their war on climate science. Last Monday, Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli announced that he was continuing his witch hunt against climate scientist Michael Mann. A funny thing happened a few days later. George Mason University finally admitted publicly that a misconduct investigation was underway on Edward Wegman whose 2006 report to Congress is the basis for Cuccinelli's harassment of Michael Mann.

continued at Daily Kos....

Virginia AG Cuccinelli continues climate science witch hunt

by DWG

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli has decided to continue to waste taxpayer money and embarrass the state with his witch hunt of climate scientist Michael Mann. Cuccinelli's attempts to harass Mann reveal the depths to which Republicans are willing to sink as full-fledged climate zombies in the service of fossil energy companies.

There are several reasons you should pay attention to the actions of Cuccinelli. First, he is attempting to intimidate a scientist that was formerly employed by a state university, leveling accusations of fraud, and demanding access to personal correspondence as part of a discovery process. Second, Cuccinelli has gained national prominence for his actions, endorsing candidates, and providing a blueprint for attacking federal regulations. Third, Virginia has become ground zero for Tea Party Republicanism.

continued at Daily Kos....

Finally, military intelligence that is not an oxymoron

by DWG

The military has begun to deploy clean energy technology into combat zones. The reasons for the military's interest in clean energy are important because they undercut the disinformation campaign by the fossil fuels industry. For the military, clean renewable forms of energy are reliable, cheaper, and produce less supply chain vulnerability.

With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels.

New York Times, Oct 5, article by Elisabeth Rosenthal

continued at Daily Kos....

Good and bad moon shots

by DWG

Thomas Friedman makes the case for an Apollo program to develop electric cars and get off oil in an editorial in the New York Times. He makes that case with a contrast between two large public investments in China and the US. China is investing trillions in modernizing its air transportation sector, creating a web of high speed trains, creating research and development infrastructure for biotechnology, and focusing on a growth industry for the future - electric cars.

Beijing just announced that it was providing $15 billion in seed money for the country’s leading auto and battery companies to create an electric car industry, starting in 20 pilot cities. In essence, China Inc. just named its dream team of 16-state-owned enterprises to move China off oil and into the next industrial growth engine: electric cars.

And the U.S. moonshot?

Not to worry. America today also has its own multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing moon shot: fixing Afghanistan.

Ouch.

continued at Daily Kos....

Markey to Deniers: Go Live on the Greenland Iceberg

by MeMeMeMeMe

Saw this and thought it was too good not to pass along:

The Hill reports that on Saturday, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who has been leading the legislative effort to confront climate change, used the occasion to chastise his obstructionist colleagues:

   "An iceberg four times the size of Manhattan has broken off Greenland, creating plenty of room for global warming deniers to start their own country," Markey said in a statement.

Great idea. The population density of New York City is 26,403 people per square mile, so if the iceberg is approximately 100 square miles, that means over 26 million people can comfortably fit on it! Maybe not enough to accommodate every global warming denier, but as the old lawyer joke goes, "it's a good start".

But back to the story...

continued at Daily Kos...

Exxon continues funding climate denial, 3 years after promise not to

by Keith Pickering

The multi-million dollar pipeline from Exxon-Mobil to the climate denial noise machine has continued unabated, 3 years after the company promised not to fund climate deniers any longer.

Big Business, lying?

Is anyone surprised?

continued at Daily Kos...