Articles by David Roberts

'Clean coal' non-debate produces fake rift among lefties!

Wow, this is one craptastic piece of journalism. It's about "the clean coal debate," but you can get all the way through it without stumbling across a single fact about the purported subject. Al Gore and environmentalists "portray" "clean coal" as a mirage. Is it? Are there clean coal power plants somewhere? The reader never knows.

Dumber than that is the whole frame of the article, which pits Al Gore against Barack Obama, despite the fact that they recommend identical approaches to "clean coal" -- research it, but don't rely on it, and don't build dirty coal plants while waiting for it.

The fact is, the average citizen trying to find out more about "clean coal" by consuming U.S. media is likely to emerge from that effort knowing and understanding less. Nice job, media.

Memo outlines history and success of 'clean coal' propaganda campaign

Ever wondered about the inner workings of the "clean coal" propaganda campaign? Wondered how the rancid sausage was made?

Lucky for you, the Hawthorn Group -- the PR firm hired by ACCCE to mount and run the campaign -- recently published a memo "to friends and family" merrily laying out the details.

Even in a communication-saturated environment we achieved, even exceeded, our wildest expectations (and we believe those of our client!). Not only did we raise the awareness of the issue, but we got the major candidates on both sides of the aisle talking about the issue in the debates, at campaign rallies and in interviews. We did this by finding creative ways to increase the visibility of the issue and by demonstrating strong voter support. We successfully integrated traditional communication and grassroots tactics with online strategies and tools.

The presidential campaign concluded with both candidates, their running mates and surrogates talking about and supporting clean coal technology. The issue was mentioned in all four general election debates. This was a 180-degree turn from earlier in the campaign when none of the candidates were focused on this issue.

The program also had an impact on the perception of coal among public opinion leaders. In September 2007, on the key measurement question -- Do you support/oppose the use of coal to generate electricity? -- we found 46 percent support and 50 percent oppose. In a 2008 year-end survey that result had shifted to 72 percent support and 22 percent oppose. Not only did we see significantly increased support, opposition was cut by more than half.

Wheee!

Peter Barnes chats about cap-and-dividend

Here's Peter Barnes on video talking about his preferred solution to climate change: cap-and-dividend.

Much more on SolveClimate.

I understand the appeal of cap-and-dividend, not just practically but theoretically, as it establishes common ownership rights over the atmosphere. But I still have never heard convincing answers to my two biggest issues with it: one, that it will never pass, despite the evidence-free claims of its supporters that the public would rally around it, and two, that it would squander a major source of revenue that could be invested in clean energy and green infrastructure.

Energy density is not an immutable requirement

This article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists makes an important point: no energy storage mechanism is ever likely to approach the energy density of hydrocarbons like oil and coal, certainly not at scale.

Part of the reason coal and oil are enemies of the human race is precisely that they are so seductive -- they really are fantastically designed energy carriers, with high energy density in easily portable packages. It will take incredible collective self-discipline to keep from using them up (and reaping the long-term consequences).

The conclusion, however, bugs the snot out of me: