Open Thread, September 2012

Posted on September 8, 2012 | 43 Comments

Climate change got its first mention of the U.S. political season with Mitt Romney’s “heal the planet” crack, and Obama’s memorable retort:

And yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet – because climate change is not a hoax.  More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke.  They’re a threat to our children’s future.  And in this election, you can do something about it.

For a Canadian perspective that somehow managed to miss the point of Romney’s ill-advised, small-minded joke, check out Andrew Coyne in the National Post.

Meanwhile, Canadian environment minister Peter Kent announced regulations for coal-fired electricty that are weaker than the original proposal of a year ago, while the government met renewed accusations of creative carbon accounting.

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43 responses to “Open Thread, September 2012”

  1. Marlowe Johnson | September 12, 2012 at 4:30 pm |

    DC if you haven’t seen it already check out Allan Gregg’s recent speech he gave at Carleton….

    http://allangregg.com/?p=80

  3. Holly Stick | September 15, 2012 at 1:29 am |

    Another stupid Harper Conservative decision:

    “OTTAWA- Atmospheric scientists from around the world are asking Environment Canada to back down from a plan that they believe would compromise ozone and radiation monitoring by putting it into the hands of an Information Technology computer expert…”

    http://o.canada.com/2012/09/14/scientists-shocked-after-harper-government-assigns-it-staff-to-monitor-ozone-data/

  4. Ian Forrester | September 22, 2012 at 11:05 am |

    What’s happening over at DeSmogBlog?

  5. mbrysonb | September 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm |

    Glad to hear it– I was concerned they might be having a more serious problem.

  6. J Bowers | September 26, 2012 at 10:22 pm |

    Given the countless times I’ve read that renewables should not be subsidised and must stand on their own in the market, this is sweet…

    Decades of federal dollars helped fuel gas boom

  7. J Bowers | September 28, 2012 at 1:47 pm |

    Quebec government hints at long-term fracking ban

    Harper’s ordered invasion plans 😉

  8. Holly Stick | October 2, 2012 at 1:15 pm |

    Wow, Andrew Coyne and non-disclosure of connections:

    http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/09/24/andrew-coyne-s-connections-free-market-think-tanks

    [DC: Comment form focus removed. ]

  9. Jeffrey Rubinoff | October 5, 2012 at 5:12 pm |

    Here’s a comic that will remind you of certain people. http://wondermark.com/876/

  10. Holly Stick | October 8, 2012 at 3:05 pm |

    “Organizations founded by an American oil baron and a Silicon Valley philanthropist are among the foreign charities being targeted by Enbridge in its battle against critics of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline…

    …It’s a point of contention for the pipeline proponent, which has asked the environmental review panel examining the Northern Gateway project to compel funding information from its critics. The panel returns to B.C. this week for final hearings on the controversial project…”

    http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/Enbridge+targets+Northern+Gateway+pipeline/7359036/story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

  11. Holly Stick | October 21, 2012 at 8:14 pm |

    BigCityLib comments on the lack of action at the “Ethical” Oil website and notes that Jordan Graham didn’t stay there long:

    http://bigcitylib.blogspot.ca/2012/10/its-usefulness-at-end.html

    http://thepurplevioletpressnb.blogspot.ca/2012/05/fredericton-city-councillor-jordan.html

  12. Holly Stick | October 22, 2012 at 2:23 pm |

    Blurred lines between newspaper reporting and oil shilling:

    http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2012/10/22/Globe-Oil-Sands-Advertorial/

  13. J Bowers | October 24, 2012 at 12:13 am |

    Interesting Frontline interview with AFP’s Tim Phillips:

    “And the No Climate Tax pledge — you are kind of a Grover Norquist of climate change as well. How many people have responded?

    We found about a few hundred elected leaders of Canada signed that pledge. And that’s a good thing. I think it’s good for Canada, for elected officeholders to make a contract with the people they represent.”

    ?

    • Deep Climate | October 24, 2012 at 1:16 pm |

      See the AFP statement on the No Climate Tax pledge, which refers to several hundred U.S. lawmakers and candidates who have signed the pledge.

      So I think it’s a (probably automated) mistranscription that wasn’t caught in the editing process. If you change Canada to “candidates” the quote makes a lot more sense.

      We found about a few hundred elected leaders and candidates signed that pledge. And that’s a good thing. I think it’s good for candidates, for elected officeholders to make a contract with the people they represent.

      Having said that, it would be interesting to trace the “carbon tax” meme: one that demonizes any and all measures (including cap-and-trade) that put a price on carbon as a “carbon tax”. This has become a favourite ploy of the Canadian Conservative government (which ironically was for cap-and-trade up to three years ago, when there was more political pressure to deal with the issue).

    • J Bowers | October 24, 2012 at 1:48 pm |

      Ahaaaa. Just watched the show. Don’t recall it mentioned there.

    • Gavin's Pussycat | October 26, 2012 at 2:56 am |

      Carbon will find ways to tax us

  14. J Bowers | October 24, 2012 at 1:55 pm |

    “it would be interesting to trace the “carbon tax” meme”

    I’m pretty sure it was kicked off by Freedomworks.

  15. Holly Stick | November 7, 2012 at 1:05 pm |

    Ezra Levant tweeting a lot about the Obama win: I wonder if he anticipates needing to push “ethical oil” some more:

  16. Holly Stick | November 11, 2012 at 8:40 pm |

    An ad for “Ethical ” Oil? Are they becoming more active again?

    • Deep Climate | November 12, 2012 at 9:31 pm |

      Perhaps it was a Conservative government ad for the Economic Action Plan, which has a gauzy sustainability message (but is really all about Northern Gateway).

      It doesn’t look like Ethical Oil is very active right now, as you mentioned a couple of comments back.

  17. Holly Stick | November 20, 2012 at 12:07 pm |

    As Canadian Cynic points out in several tweets: the leaked document about Canada’s current foreign policy: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/11/19/pol-foreign-policy-.html shows that they don’t care about being ethical anyway:

  20. Holly Stick | December 6, 2012 at 2:30 pm |

    Ethical Oil says it’s not dead, it feels fine and it thinks it’ll go for a walk:

    http://bigcitylib.blogspot.ca/2012/12/ezra-levant-forced-to-deny-rumors-of-eo.html

    http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/2012/12/05/ethical-oil-not-dead-levant

    Sop where are all these thousands of grassroots supporters going to spring up from?

  21. Holly Stick | December 7, 2012 at 4:02 pm |

    BCL continues to follow “Ethical” Oil, which has started tweeting again:

    http://bigcitylib.blogspot.ca/2012/12/ethical-oil-comes-alive.html

  23. Holly Stick | December 21, 2012 at 11:06 pm |

    Apparently that climate change denier course will be taught again at Carleton by Tim Patterson in 2013; see this tweet and the rest of the conversation:

    http://katatrepsis.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/climate-change-denial-my-part-in-its-downfall/#more-1477

  24. Taylor B | December 23, 2012 at 6:31 pm |

    Perhaps it’s time for a wrap-up of the “year in rebuke” (h/t to Harry Shearer). And time to thank you, DC, for all you’ve done here to defend honest scientists and debunk the charlatans who try to muddy the waters. You’ve done a great service, for which I’m extremely grateful. I’m looking forward to more of your excellent work in the years ahead!

  25. Holly Stick | December 27, 2012 at 1:32 pm |

    Ezra Levant interviewing Monckton; I’ve heard some lies just within a minute or so: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/2056528725001

  26. Holly Stick | January 7, 2013 at 6:10 pm |

    In the news today:

  27. Holly Stick | January 15, 2013 at 1:52 pm |

    Nasty little creep Levant claims Chief Theresa Spence must be a frontman for American groups opposing oilsands:

    http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2013/01/20130115-073326.html

    Because indigenous people could not really be concerned about having clean air, land and water.

  28. Holly Stick | January 15, 2013 at 2:56 pm |

    Vivan Krause responds to Levant’s BS:

    Interesting tweet conversation:
    http://storify.com/APicazo/even-vivian-krause-is-calling-ezra-on-his-bs

  29. Holly Stick | January 17, 2013 at 1:41 pm |

    Some interesting dot-connecting here, including Carleton University:

    http://drdawgsblawg.ca/2013/01/harpers-christianist-agenda-dots-before-our-eyes.shtml