Tag: climate denial

Why I am not surprised by Trump’s attacks on science, climate, education, & human health.

February 7, 2025

The Trump administration’s attacks on climate, on science, education, and on human health was completely predictable. Its roots are in the confluence and cooperation of big religion and big oil. These two factions in American life have been in a tacit alliance that goes back decades. As I’ve written in previous posts, it became clear … More Why I am not surprised by Trump’s attacks on science, climate, education, & human health.

Bill Nye’s blunder shows that we have to talk about climate change to move on. But that’s not what he did at the State of the Union.

February 1, 2018

Bill Nye made a big mistake by attending the State of the Union with Rep. Bridenstine. I, for one, am not surprised. Nye’s passion for his own image and celebrity seems to have driven him to stand in public with a science-attacking Representative. Some will say that Nye was extending the olive branch of diplomacy to … More Bill Nye’s blunder shows that we have to talk about climate change to move on. But that’s not what he did at the State of the Union.

Irma and Harvey came at two and a half minutes to midnight.

September 11, 2017

On September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy spoke at Rice University in Houston. He said that the people there were gathered “at an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance,” and by the end of the decade, we would land a man on … More Irma and Harvey came at two and a half minutes to midnight.

The climate is a concert and you have a part to play.

September 3, 2017

I was recently interviewed for the Analogous podcast. We talk about local government, sustainability, and how the climate is a concert. What do we want the music to be? Right now it’s being written by the fossil fuel companies and the merchants of doubt. It doesn’t have to be that way. We also explore sustainability … More The climate is a concert and you have a part to play.

When we bail out Houston, we will be massively redistributing wealth.

August 30, 2017

People are wondering whether climate change caused Hurricane Harvey. That’s the wrong question. Hurricanes have been happening on Earth as long as there have been oceans. The question should be “How did climate change influence Harvey?” Some pieces over the last few days from USA Today, Gizmodo, Michael Mann’s piece in The Guardian, and an interview with Dan … More When we bail out Houston, we will be massively redistributing wealth.

The far-right media’s problem with climate science

June 10, 2017

The right-wing media has a huge reality problem. With climate science, it’s especially bad. Just go to Google Scholar and type in “right wing media climate change” and you’ll see that for over twenty years they’ve been drumming a well-oiled anti-regulatory beat. It has had catastrophic impacts on climate actions as Riley Dunlap and Aaron McRight … More The far-right media’s problem with climate science

@BobInglis, the climate and energy champion from the reddest district in the reddest state.

September 8, 2016

Today I heard Bob Inglis speak at the Penn State Forum. It was thought-provoking and inspiring. As I’ve written before, Bob Inglis fell from his reddest-of-the-red congressional seat in 2010. He fell in some part because of his views on climate change and energy. As an ultra-conservative, his bona fides had been unquestioned. But with the rise … More @BobInglis, the climate and energy champion from the reddest district in the reddest state.

Republicans are seeing climate change is real. Ignoring that’s a risky business.

April 29, 2016

Conservatives across the U.S. believe that climate change is real reports Scientific American. As weird weather, rising disaster claims, disturbed livelihoods, scientific evidence, and clear messages fill the air, people’s minds are changing. Forty-seven percent of conservatives now say the climate is changing, a leap of 19 points since the midterm elections of 2014, according … More Republicans are seeing climate change is real. Ignoring that’s a risky business.

The carbon-combustion complex will crash

April 13, 2016

In their book, The Collapse of Western Civilization, Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway write about the carbon-combustion complex. They wisely adapt Eisenhower’s term, the military-industrial complex, to imply the force and power of fossil fuels on our entire way of life. They write, Historians have labeled this system the carbon-combustion complex: a network of powerful … More The carbon-combustion complex will crash

Marco Rubio bloviates and John Kasich sounds nearly reasonable on climate change

March 14, 2016

As I’ve said a couple of times, the tide is turning. Which members of the GOP will drown in it and who will learn to swim? Rubio’s drowning. Kasich’s swimming. That’s what I get from the last GOP debate questions on climate change anyway. Marco Rubio bloviates a bunch of do-nothing hand-waving in the face of … More Marco Rubio bloviates and John Kasich sounds nearly reasonable on climate change