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Climate Accountability

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  • Even Tea Partiers don't think environmental protection kills jobs

    Yale University and George Mason University took a deep dive into the relationships between political identity and views on climate change. In other words, they tried to figure out what the hell is going on in the minds of Tea Partiers. Godspeed, brave souls.

    Here's what sets Tea Partiers off from the rest of us:

    • They do not believe global warming is happening. Duh. Only 34 percent of Tea Partiers believe in global warming, vs. 53 percent of Republicans. 53 percent of Tea Partiers aren't even wavering: they know global warming's not happening.

    • Those snowstorms last winter made them wonder if global warming was real at all.

    • They seriously believe there's disagreement about the science behind this stuff.

    • They're so damn sure of themselves!

    Sarah Laskow Accountability

  • Climate convert says deniers are dumb

    In a beautifully written post on Climate Crocks, former skeptic D.R. Tucker illuminates the way that far-right climate change denialism encourages and feeds off of science-phobia. Tucker is clearly far from stupid, but he wonders if stupidity is a required characteristic for climate change denial -- not because there's really an IQ requirement, but because denialists glorify ignorance and roll their eyes at complexity. That's appealing to dumb people, surely. But it's also appealing to people who lack for good science education or who think they're dumb at science, and who feel disadvantaged and judged because of it. Climate deniers like Rush Limbaugh make them feel like that's an asset, not a flaw.

    Jess Zimmerman Accountability

  • 'Hockey stick' climate scientist quietly vindicated for the umpteenth time

    Despite countless investigations confirming his research methods and conclusions, the climatologist continues to be a target of climate-denier vitriol.

    Joseph Romm Accountability

  • Colbert gets a checkup from a GOP spin doctor

    Stephen Colbert is now getting communication coaching from lead GOP spinmeister Frank Luntz, the man who rebranded oil drilling as "energy exploration" and counseled Republican politicians to "make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the [climate change] debate." Luntz has done a lot to armor the GOP with the rhetorical weapons it […]

    Jess Zimmerman Accountability

  • Super Congress stacked with climate zombies

    Most of the Republicans named to the Super Congress committee are proud torchbearers of global warming denial.

    Brad Johnson Accountability

  • Right-wing pundits: 'People believe our falsehoods, so we win!'

    I guess it's no surprise that conservative pundits think climate science is about deliberately misleading people for political point-scoring. That's what their agenda is, so why should anyone else's be different? After a recent poll showed that 69 percent of Americans believe it's at least "somewhat likely" that "some scientists" may have falsified climate data, the right-wing media response amounted to "Hey, that's our lie! Look how well it's doing! We rule!"

    Jess Zimmerman Accountability

  • Companies claim concern for climate, but sponsor ALEC

    By sponsoring the American Legislative Exchange Council, many corporations violate their own greenwashed official policies on climate change.

    Brad Johnson Accountability

  • Fox News public enemy No. 1: Spongebob Squarepants

    Is Fox News getting bored now that Obama's produced his birth certificate and the Casey Anthony trial is over? Apparently, since their new barely-tethered-to-reality flogging point is that SpongeBob SquarePants is indoctrinating kids with a sort of extremist environmental zealotry. The Department of Education hosted an event where kids got to pick out free SpongeBob books, and the Fox hosts' heads promptly exploded. Why? Because in one of the books on offer, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs try to use car exhaust to cause global warming, in order to sell pool admission tickets.

    Jess Zimmerman Accountability

  • Climate scientists blow gaping hole in 'NASA data' paper

    The paper, full of shoddy science, got attention from a right-wing blogger on Forbes, but climatologists say it's bunk.

    Brad Johnson Accountability

  • Dear skeptics: Here is more climate data than you can handle

    For the climate skeptics who dragged us all through Climategate on the conviction that climate scientists are lying jerks, here is the data you wanted to see. Here it is. The University of East Anglia put it online for all to access. This might make it harder for scientists to get shared data in the future, since people don’t always like it when you give away their work for free, but it is worth it just to shut you up.

    Happy now? Oh, what, you actually have no idea how to interpret this raw data? 

    Sarah Laskow Accountability