Articles by David Roberts
David Roberts was a staff writer for Grist. You can follow him on Twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.
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Which of these three …
Exxon has hit back at the Royal Society, Britain's premier scientific organization. A few days ago news broke that the RS had sent Exxon a letter in September scolding it for funding organizations that mislead the public on global warming. This was a highly unusual thing for any august scientific body to do, but those familiar with the traditionally staid RS were particularly surprised.
Exxon accuses the RS of "inaccurately and unfairly" depicting it as an agent of scientific misinformation on global warming. That's horsesh*t. As anyone who's read Chris Mooney's definitive "Some Like It Hot" knows, the characterization is entirely accurate.
The more interesting question has to do with Exxon's relationship to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, source of this Spring's delightfully and unintentionally hilarious "CO2 ... we call it life" ads. Those ads kicked up a lot of dust, and since then Exxon reps have privately told a number of people -- including Bob Ward at the RS -- that it is no longer funding CEI.
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No
As you probably know, gas prices -- which peaked in August with a national average just over $3 -- are falling. Some optimists think the national average could drop below $2 by the end of the year.
This autumn also happens to mark the U.S. mid-term congressional elections.
Hmm ... [strokes chin, adjusts tinfoil hat] ... is something fishy going on here? Is Big Oil colluding with Big GOP to dampen voter discontent and preserve a Republican majority?
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A little media criticism
Unlike my blogospheric brethren, I rarely indulge in media criticism. Poking around for flaws and bias in mainstream news reporting is a rather masturbatory undertaking -- everybody who looks will find exactly what they're looking for, and the entire exercise will do nothing but decrease the prestige and authority of the press, which I happen to think is a bad thing on balance.
But. That's not to say reporters don't have their annoying habits, and just this once I'll indulge in a little rant about them.
