Monthly Archives: December 2009

A New Year’s resolution for Obama: Figure out how to talk to the public about climate change

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Rick Piltz

In the U.S., public understanding of and support for climate science and its findings about the likely consequences of global climatic disruption is seriously underdeveloped, and even appears to have slipped during 2009.  This may be due in part to … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessments of Climate Impacts and Adaptation, Obama Administration | Leave a comment

Stephen Schneider: Climate Denier Gate a case of Science as a Contact Sport

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Rick Piltz

In Climate Denier Gate (Stephen Schneider’s term for what the deniers call “Climategate”), “the private frustrations of a few climate scientists was turned into an ostensible plot by the entire climate science community in dozens of countries, hundreds of institutions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming Denial Machine, Science-Policy Interaction | Leave a comment

Shameful treatment of whistleblower who exposed Pentagon failure to protect troops in Iraq

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Rick Piltz

Marine Corps whistleblower Franz Gayl says military officials are trying to force him from his job for exposing the Pentagon’s unconscionable delays in delivering lifesaving equipment to troops in Iraq. This shameful treatment suggests that the White House has yet … Continue reading →

Posted in Whistleblowers | Leave a comment

Reps. Joe Barton and James Sensenbrenner carried global warming denier message to Copenhagen

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Rick Piltz

“We don’t have an icecap in Texas,” Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said at a December 18 press briefing in Copenhagen. The “theory [of anthropogenic climate change] has never … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress: Legislation and Oversight, Global Warming Denial Machine | Leave a comment

Text of the Copenhagen Accord

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Rick Piltz

The United Nations climate conference of 193 nations in Copenhagen ended early this morning with particpants agreeing to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord, an agreement brokered by the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa. With the Copenhagen … Continue reading →

Posted in International Climate Policy, Science-Policy Interaction | Leave a comment

Two whistleblowers who exposed misconduct further endangering Katrina victims are honored today

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Rick Piltz

Two courageous individuals will each receive meritorious awards today for blowing the whistle on two separate instances of misconduct that put Hurricane Katrina victims in unnecessary jeopardy, reports Government Accountability Project colleague Jess Radack on the Daily Kos today. Maria … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change Preparedness, Whistleblowers | Leave a comment

Setting the record straight on stolen e-mail: Associated Press, FactCheck.org, and other sources

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Rick Piltz

A team of reporters at the Associated Press did an “exhaustive review” of the climate scientists’ e-mail stolen from the University of East Anglia in the UK and concluded that “the messages don’t support claims that the science of global … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming Denial Machine | Leave a comment

Setting the record straight on stolen e-mail: Nature, AAAS, AMS, Union of Concerned Scientists

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Rick Piltz

A strong editorial in the journal Nature, statements from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society, and an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists set the record straight in countering the effort by … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming Denial Machine | Leave a comment

Andy Revkin’s Last Day at The New York Times: December 21

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rick Piltz

“Science writer Andrew C. Revkin, the individual journalist most identified with reporting on climate change, is leaving The New York Times,” the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media reports. “His last day will be December 21.”

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David Michaels, author of Doubt Is Their Product on anti-regulatory assault on science, to head OSHA

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Rick Piltz

David Michaels, the author of Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health, was confirmed December 3 to head the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  Michaels has contributed to framing our understanding … Continue reading →

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