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Message From the Editor

Fracking for oil and gas has a double-pronged water problem, as Justin Mikulka points out. [[link removed]]

It requires injecting a lot of freshwater — often pumped from very dry places like New Mexico and Texas — while also bringing up a lot of toxic wastewater with the oil and gas. Figuring out where to get water and what to do with the waste is a major challenge for an already cash-strapped industry.

Much of those fracked fossil fuels are feeding a boom in petrochemical and plastics development, and as Julie Dermansky reports [[link removed]], residents of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley are trying, and having some success, in pushing back against that wave.

And last week climate science deniers gathered at a Trump hotel in D.C., but signs point to recent struggles for the group of deniers [[link removed]] with the Heartland Institute.

Still, Sharon Kelly reports [[link removed]] on a study that found YouTube’s video recommendation engine has helped foment the spread of climate science denial on the internet. Not too surprising, if you’ve ever read the comments on YouTube.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [[email protected]].

Thanks,

Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

Fracking's Dirty Water Problem Is Getting Much Bigger [[link removed]]

By Justin Mikulka (8 min. read)

While fracking for oil and gas in the U.S. has contributed to record levels of fossil fuel production, a critical part of that story also involves water. An ongoing battle for this precious resource has emerged in dry areas of the U.S. where much of the oil and gas production is occurring. In addition, once the oil and gas industry is finished with the water involved in pumping out fossil fuels, disposing of or treating that toxic wastewater, known as produced water, becomes yet another problem.

These water woes represent a daunting challenge for the U.S. fracking industry, which has been a financial disaster, something even a former shale gas CEO has admitted. And its financial prospects aren't looking any rosier: The industry is facing another round of bankruptcies as producers are overwhelmed by debt they are unable to repay. Read more. [[link removed]]

New Concerns Raised by Opponents Delay Wanhua’s $1.25 Billion Plastic Complex in Louisiana [[link removed]]

By Julie Dermansky (7 min. read)

“Look at what is coming into the Parish, instead of saying ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’—it is time to say ‘No,’” Pastor Harry Joseph told the St. James Parish Council on July 24. He implored councilmembers to consider freshly unveiled public health and economic concerns before they reaffirmed a permit allowing yet another petrochemical plant in a southern Louisiana community fed up with its already rapid industrialization.

Joseph, pastor of Mount Triumph Baptist Church in St. James, is one of the plaintiffs appealing the parish council’s permit granted May 20 to Wanhua Chemical, which is planning to build a $1.25 billion plastics factory on the banks of the Mississippi River. During the appeal, new information about the project caused the council to halt a vote on repealing the permit. Instead, it sent the matter back for reconsideration to the parish planning commission, which had previously granted the project permission. Read more. [[link removed]]

Hard Times in the Climate Denial Business for the Heartland Institute [[link removed]]

By Justin Mikulka (7 min. read)

Last week, the Heartland Institute was again trumpeting climate science denial at its 13th “International Conference on Climate Change” at the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. But by a number of measures, the Chicago-based free market think tank's science denial doesn't exactly seem to be a growing — or cohesive — movement at this point.

That's even with more media coverage than five years ago, and with friends in high places. In early 2017, following the election of President Trump, attendees of the Heartland Institute conference were clearly excited to have a climate denier in the White House. Frontline reported that the mood at the conference was “jubilant.” Read more. [[link removed]]

YouTube’s Video Suggestion Engine Boosted Climate Science Denial as World Warmed, Study Finds [[link removed]]

By Sharon Kelly (6 min. read)

Back in 2015, if you’d searched YouTube for information about climate change, the videos offered up might have left you with a warped sense of the state of climate science and the degree of scientific certainty that people are heating the world’s climate, a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Communication suggests.

That year was, at the time, the worst year on record for U.S. wildfires, including California’s Butte fire, which burned 900 buildings. It was the year when Pope Francis issued an encyclical urging rich countries to ward off climate change. And, for the first time in over 800,000 years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere crossed 400 parts per million on average in 2015. Read more. [[link removed]]

4 Automakers Strike Emissions Deal With California, Steering Clear From Trump's Pro-Pollution Agenda [[link removed]]

By Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch (3 min. read)

Four automakers from three different continents have struck a deal with California and agreed to adhere to the state's stricter emissions standards, undercutting one of the Trump administration's environmental regulatory rollbacks, according to The New York Times.

The agreement between the California Air Resources Board and Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW of North America followed weeks of secret negotiations. The four automakers agreed to a fleet average of 51 mpg for light-duty vehicles by the 2026 model year. That's slightly lower and longer than the fuel economy standards of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 set by the Obama administration in 2012. Read more. [[link removed]]

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Steven Goddard

Steven Goddard [[link removed]]is a pseudonym used by Tony Heller. Heller describes global warming as the “biggest scientific fraud in history” and is a regular contributor to Anthony Watts’ blog WattsUpWithThat, which primarily publishes articles critical of mainstream climate change science. He has spoken out against YouTube’s efforts to combat climate science misinformation [[link removed]]. In June 2019, Heller posted a video claiming to have discovered “data tampering” by NOAA/NASA regarding the climate tipping point.

Read the full profile [[link removed]] [[link removed]]and browse other individuals and organizations in our research database [[link removed]].

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