Climate Progress: An insider's view of climate science, politics, and solutions

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See also Science bombshell explodes myth of clean coal: Mountaintop “mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses.”

This is a TP repost by Brad Johnson.

Yesterday in Washington, DC, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) exhorted citizens to “get angry about the fact that they’re being killed and our planet is being injured by what’s happening on a daily basis by the way we provide our power and our fuel.” In West Virginia, climate activists are not just getting angry, they’re taking action — blocking the demolition of Coal River Mountain by coal company Massey Energy. The activists, members of the aptly named organization Climate Ground Zero, have been living in trees for over a week to prevent bulldozers from reaching the summit:

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[If you want to let Dr. Seuss Enterprises know what you think of this misappropriation of the Lorax name, you can email them at "drseuss at drseuss dot com."]

This is repost from Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson.  Coal use is not green (see Science bombshell explodes myth of clean coal: Mountaintop “mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses”).  You can watch the entire video of The Lorax below.

In a shameless act of greenwashing, a coal-gasification startup has named itself without permission after Dr. Seuss’s beloved Lorax. LoraxAg, LLC, is a western Massachusetts company that is seeking investors for its “Green Coal Technology” of a coal gasification and chemical production facility. The company, whose principals include Michael Sununu, the son of former New Hampshire senator and governor John Sununu, has raised over $1 million in seed capital to build a high-sulfur coal factory. The name choice was a deliberate attempt to cloak their coal-and-chemical company as an eco-friendly venture:

And, yes, the name is inspired by the Dr. Seuss story, Farina said. “The Lorax is the protector of the truffula trees,” he said. “We think this is the greenest use of coal.”

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It’s no surprise that Massey Energy leaves a lot to be desired as a corporate citizen (see “Byrd rips Massey Energy for refusing to fund a new school so students can move away from coal processing plant“).  But WV journalist Ken Ward, Jr., has the story of just how bad an actor the company is in this piece reposted with permission from The Charleston Gazette’s Coal Tattoo blog.

Two years ago, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a record $20 million Clean Water Act settlement with Massey Energy, this was the lead of my Gazette story on the deal:

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You won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes — and maybe not even then.  From the GOP witness to the December 10 hearing on “Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal” — a medical doctor (!):

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The subhead quote is from Elliott Negin of the Union of Concerned Scientists a year ago on NBC:

Even the NYT editorialized at the time on the “Collapse of the Clean Coal Myth.”

Sadly, the Washington Post reports today that the dirty coal is still there, quoting one of the locals saying, “I don’t think they will ever get it cleaned up“:

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When we last left the Chamber of Commerce, Apple was leaving over their ‘frustrating’ global warming denialism.  NRDC’s Pete Altman has the latest on the incredible shrinking Chamber in a piece first published here.

John Broder has an illuminating story in today’s New York Times “Storm Over the Chamber” discussing the US Chamber of Commerce’s climate crisis and how Mr. Donohue’s style exacerbates it.

Tellingly, the story begins with an anecdote that suggests where the US Chamber gets its tin ear.

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David Roberts at Grist has the winner of the irony-can-be-so-ironic award:

From a sharp-eyed reader comes this ad for Humble Oil (which later merged with Standard to become, yes, Exxon). It may win the All Time Millenial Award for Maximal Irony. It’s from a 1962 edition of Life Magazine, available on Google Books (click for larger version):

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You may recall from September that the dirty coal group’s 14th forgery impersonated American veterans, whereas real vets support strong action on climate and clean energy — as does GOP Senator John Warner, former Armed Services Committee chair. The coal industry is still up to its dirty tricks, as made clear in this Think Progress repost.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) — a front group of big utilities and coal companies — is no stranger to fraud. During the summer’s House debate on cap-and-trade legislation, lobbyists working on behalf of the coal group sent forged letters to members of Congress, and lied under oath about it. Now, ACCCE is trying to exploit Veterans Day by misrepresenting veterans groups in an email to supporters:

With Veterans Day around the corner, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the military personnel who are involved in ensuring our country is protected.

Energy security is one issue that has become increasingly important to our veterans. In fact, national veterans groups Votevets and Operation Free are urging the government to become more energy independent and less reliant on foreign oil.

We can do this by using the abundant domestic fuels we already have. With more than 250 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, the United States has more coal than the Middle East has oil.

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This is a Think Progress repost.  Click on cartoon to see the whole coloring book.

Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to “inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry” and “provide a united voice” for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.

FOC is now selling coal to children. ThinkProgress obtained the “Let’s Learn About Coal” coloring book, which asks children to unscramble statements about the “advantages” of coal, such as “Than coal other cheaper is fuels” (”Coal is cheaper than other fuels”). Kids also learn that coal is “important” and “provides jobs for lots of people!”

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This is a Think Progress repost.

Today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing investigating fraudulent letters forged by Bonner & Associates on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) to attack the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454). As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, ACCCE President and CEO Steve Miller lied under oath when he told the committee that his organization has never opposed clean energy legislation.

Later during the hearing, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) asked Miller about the purpose of ACCCE. Miller replied that in addition to grassroots lobbying (astroturfing) and state-based lobbying, his front group has only began federal lobbying in “April of 2008″ in its “16 year history”:

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You can’t make this stuff up, as this Think Progress repost makes clear.

A group led by Alliance Coal CEO Joseph Craft recently proposed donating $7 million to the University of Kentucky for a new dorm for the men’s basketball team. The catch, however, is that the dorm would have to be named after Craft’s true love: coal. The proposed change sparked intense protests from local environmentalists and students. One professor said that as universities become “models for new energy sources,” putting “coal” on a prominent building could “make it difficult to attract top students and faculty members to the university.”

[JR:  Yes, coal industry will spend millions for a new dorm -- and yet Massey Energy refused to fund a new school so students can move away from coal processing plant!]

Yesterday afternoon, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees voted 16-3 to approve the proposal for the new dorm, which will be named the “Wildcat Coal Lodge.” Significantly, two of the “no” votes were from faculty representative Ernie Yanarella and Student Government President Ryan Smith, who said he opposed the motion “as a voice for the student body.”

Students in the audience were reportedly not allowed to speak at the meeting. After the vote, people began chanting, “Move forward, not backward,” forcing the trustees to temporarily recess. More on the events at the meeting:

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The key point about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is that they do not speak for “American business.” That’s why there’s been an exodus of leading companies from the denial-pushing industry group.  That’s why as Grist reported, Microsoft’s Rob Bernard wrote in an e-mail that “The views expressed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce do not reflect Microsoft’s position on climate change and we are not participating in their climate initiatives.” This repost from Wonk Room tells the story of yet another industry leader speaking out for clean energy jobs and against the Chamber.

Last week, over 150 business leaders from major American companies came to the capital to tell Congress to “pass comprehensive climate change and energy policy legislation this year.” One of the corporate titans who participated in the We Can Lead effort was Jeffrey Hollender, the co-founder, executive chairman, and “chief inspired protagonist” of Seventh Generation, the leading producer of green household products. In an exclusive interview with the Wonk Room, Hollender had strong words for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, explaining that it made sense for prominent companies like Nike and Apple to cut ties to the chamber over its opposition to climate action:

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The exodus of leading companies from the Chamber has been downsizing the denial-pushing industry group (which most certainly does not speak for the business community).  But Think Progress has the story (first posted here) of rapid weight loss that easily beats any of the winners of the reality show, “The Biggest Loser.”

As Mother Jones reported yesterday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce consistently says that its membership is 3 million, even though it’s actually closer to 200,000. The reason for the artificial inflation is that the organization is counting the memberships of 2,800 state and local chambers around the country, even though many of these businesses have no relationship with the national organization. Some of these members are now protesting the Chamber’s numbers game:

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Coal is not healthy for kids. As one U.S. study found, “Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on children’s cognitive development and health” (See “If you want smarter kids, shut coal plants“). Hence, Coal for Dummies.

Perhaps the only thing worse for kids than living downwind of a major coal plant is living downwind of coal itself.  As the BBC reported in February (see Chinese birth defects “up sharply”), “A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects….  The coal-mining heartland of Shanxi province had the biggest problem.”

Do coal companies have any responsibility to directly protect children from the harmful effects of air pollution?  Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) thinks so, but Massey Energy thinks otherwise, as Think Progress explains.

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U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday applauded companies that have quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because they disagree with the business group’s climate change policy. “I think it’s wonderful,” Chu told reporters at a solar energy event on the National Mall. He said companies that left the Chamber object “to foot dragging, to denials” and realize that efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses are “part of our economic future in the United States.”

… “I would encourage the Chamber of Commerce to realize the economic opportunity that the United States can lead in a new industrial revolution,” said Chu, a supporter of alternative fuels and strong regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

You just can’t keep up with all the news about the nano-Chamber of Commerce.  But here are the key points:

• BusinessWeek asks, “Does the U.S. Chamber Speak for Big Business?”  The answer, on climate policy, is “no.”
• The Chamber has not been following its own stated guidelines (see The Chamber claims its “Board of Directors is the principal governing and policymaking body.” Nike says that’s false, and American Enterprise Institute agrees, calling the Chamber board “mostly ceremonial.”)
• The Chamber has been lying to the public (see The incredible, shrinking industry group falsely claims “We’ve never questioned the science behind global warming”)
• The Chamber has been lying it is members, as this repost from Wonk Room makes clear.

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Memo to media:  The ever-shrinking Chamber of Commerce is not “the voice of business.”  Indeed, we now know that besides being anti-scientific, it is anti-democratic, not even bothering to consult with its own Board of Directors on its own climate policy — in direct contradiction to its stated policy.

Greenwire (subs. req’d) reports the amazing news:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce staff decides the trade group’s climate and energy policy positions without approval from the board of directors, Nike Inc. charged as it formulated a plan to call for greater chamber openness.

Nike, which last week left the chamber’s board of directors but decided to remain a chamber member, described a lack of transparency at the group that conflicts with how the chamber describes its operations. Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike said it is determined to work for changes in the group.

“We just weren’t clear in how decisions on climate and energy were being made,” said Brad Figel, Nike’s director of government relations. “They’re not being made at the board-of-director level, because we’re a member of the board of directors. We were not consulted. We’re convinced that’s not really where the action on climate change is being made.”

As previously documented, the vast majority of the major businesses on the Chamber’s board who have a publicly stated their position on climate legislation support strong action (see here).

Kenneth Green, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, defended the Chamber’s anti-democratic denialism:

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The US Chamber of Overstated Horrors has been hemorrhaging credibility and members since it blurted out its true agenda with its Luddite call for “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century” on global warming.   The Chamber is shrinking faster than the size of Apple Computer’s products.

Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon have already left, leading to more desperate lies from the Chamber, which falsely claimed “We’ve never questioned the science behind global warming.”

The NY Times reports yesterday that the latest company to come to its senses is Apple.  The innovative tech giant issued a blunt letter saying:

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