Climate Change

Climate Change Deniers Abandon 'Befuddled Warmist' Physicist Who Came Around On Global Warming

Brian Beutler | October 22, 2011, 8:14AM

ribeiroantonio / Shutterstock

Climate change deniers thought they had an ally in Richard Muller, a popular physics professor at UC Berkeley.

Muller didn't reject climate science per se, but he was a skeptic, and a convenient one for big polluters and conservative anti-environmentalists -- until Muller put their money where his mouth was, and launched the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, in part with a grant from the Charles G. Koch foundation.

After extensive study, he's concluded that the existing science was right all along -- that the earth's surface is warming, at an accelerating rate. But instead of second-guessing themselves, his erstwhile allies of convenience are now abandoning him.

Read more »

Global Warming

What Consensus? Poll Shows Misconceptions About Scientific Agreement On Climate Change

David Teich | September 15, 2011, 2:30PM

ribeiroantonio / Shutterstock

While Republican candidates for president champion far right causes to try to capture the tea party vote in the primary, each will have to worry about moving back to the center should they win the nomination. On issues like entitlement reform, this may cause trouble. But when it comes to global warming, they might not have to scramble back to the middle: They may already be there.

According to a poll by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, while most Americans agree global warming is taking place, many are still badly misinformed about the scientific consensus surrounding its causes. From the study, only 29% of Republicans and 10% of Tea Partiers think most scientists believe global warming is taking place. While Democrats (55%) and independents (46%) do better on the question, they're still way off.

Read more »

Al Gore

Al Gore Slams Obama On Emissions Standards

Eric Kleefeld | September 7, 2011, 5:00PM

Former Vice President Al Gore, President Barack Obama

President Obama is now facing liberal criticism from a major name: Former Vice President Al Gore, the man who won the national popular vote in the disputed 2000 presidential election, and has since relaunched himself as a major environmental activist on the issue of global warming.

It is in some ways ironic to see Gore disparage a Democratic president from the left -- it was, after all, the left-wing spoiler campaign of Ralph Nader that cost him the electoral votes of Florida, thus handing the White House to George W. Bush.

Gore published a blog post on Wednesday, titled "Confronting Disappointment", criticizing the Obama administration for backing away from proposed smog regulations:

Read more »

Environment

Why Far-Off Canadian Tar Sands Have Become A Make-Or-Break Issue For Obama With Enviros

Brian Beutler | August 26, 2011, 6:25AM

For six days and counting now, hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the White House to demand President Obama intervene and stop the construction of an oil pipeline that will span the breadth of the United States -- from Montana to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 300 of them have been arrested -- and not just wild-eyed idealistic college students, but high-profile advocates including environmental leader Bill McKibben. Despite all this, the administration says this is a question for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

What the heck is this all about?

At issue isn't just NIMBYism or standard concerns about oil spills, but the question of whether the United States should accelerate an extraction process that some environmental experts say will lose the fight against global warming forever.

Read more »

2012 Presidential Primaries

Santorum: I'll Take Up Huntsman's 'Offer' -- He's Crazy To Believe In Global Warming (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 19, 2011, 4:33PM

On Thursday, Jon Huntsman tweeted a jab at fellow GOP primary candidate Rick Perry with the declaration: "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy" -- a brave move for a Republican presidential candidate in the age of the Tea Party. In response, his fellow (and much more conservative) candidate Rick Santorum seems to be saying: Yup, you are crazy.

Santorum on Friday singled out Huntsman for accepting the scientific consensus on manmade activities being a significant contributor to global warming -- and did not talk at all about Huntsman's belief in evolution, despite his own long political history of questioning evolutionary science and advocating for the teaching of the "intelligent design" movement of creationism.

"Yeah well, I'll be the first one to take him up on his offer," Santorum told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell. "You know, look, I've been very, very clear that the science just simply doesn't back up the issue of global warming.

Read more »

2012

Let The Games Begin! A Guide To Tonight's GOP Debate

Brian Beutler | June 13, 2011, 6:45AM

Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty

Not since the first head-to-CPU contest between Gary Kasparov and Deep Blue has the world waited so breathlessly for the kind of battle of the minds we're likely to witness Monday evening.

For the first time this primary season, seven of the top contenders for the GOP presidential nomination will field tough questions, pitch Republican voters, and take on each others' foibles and apostasies during an 8 pm ET, CNN/WMUR/New Hampshire Union Leader-sponsored debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

On hand will be Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) -- all of whom participated in the first GOP debate last month. They'll be joined on stage by three big names in Republican politics: Newt Gingrich, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Like every primary debate since the advent of cable television, the forum will be marked by predictable talking points, unctuous spells of self-flattery, and reflexive attacks on the incumbent president.

But as the GOP field takes shape, it will also be one of the first opportunities for the contenders to stake out or clarify their positions on the issues defining this race. Here are the five key things to be on the look out for.

Read more »

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum: The Idea Of Climate Change Is A Liberal Conspiracy

Jillian Rayfield | June 9, 2011, 10:06AM

Rick Santorum at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition's Spring Kickoff Event

Rick Santorum thinks the concept of man-made climate change is both "patently absurd" and part of a "scheme" by the left to get more government regulation.

Read more »

Montana

Montana GOPer: Montana Should Officially Declare That Global Warming Is Awesome

Jillian Rayfield | February 17, 2011, 12:24PM

Rep. Joe Read (R-MT)

Montana State Rep. Joe Read (R) believes climate change is real, and it is spectacular.

Read more »

Climate Change

House GOP Abolishes Committee On Climate Change

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2010, 2:05PM

John Boehner

The incoming House Republican majority has taken a first step in streamlining the way Congress operates -- by dissolving the committee that Democrats created specifically to hold hearings on global warming.

The AFP reports:

Democrats immediately assailed what they branded the "very disappointing" decision to dismantle the Select Committee on Global Warming, which did not have the power to approve legislation.

"We have pledged to save taxpayers' money by reducing waste and duplication in Congress," said a spokesman for Republican House speaker-designate John Boehner, Michael Steel.

Look on the bright side: House Republicans have clearly acknowledged that the Committee on Global Warming exists, was created by humans, and could be reversed.