Message From the Editor

Well, that was a little anticlimactic. 

After an estimated 4 million people took to the streets during last week’s historic climate strikes, world leaders gathered at the United Nations on Monday for a Climate Action Summit that was big on talk and low on action from major polluters, just as teen climate activist Greta Thunberg predicted in a scathing speech at the summit.

If you missed it, scope out our Covering Climate Now stories, which exposed the coordinated network of climate science deniers attacking Greta and highlighted Julie Dermansky’s powerful photos of the diverse crowds striking for the climate in New York City. 

On the same day leaders at the UN failed to call for immediate fossil fuel phase-outs, a “virtual pipeline” truck carrying fracked compressed natural gas crashed on a New York highway, killing its driver and leaking the potent greenhouse gas. Justin Nobel explains why these “virtual pipeline” trucks may be operating unlawfully.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to get the latest updates from DeSmog.

Greta’s UN Climate Summit Speech Successfully Predicted More Business as Usual From World Leaders

— By Julie Dermansky (7 min. read) —

On Monday, the United Nations Climate Action Summit opened with a glossy video projected around the room. It hawked a hopeful message that climate catastrophe can be averted. With the lights turned down and music turned up, for a few minutes the summit felt like an IMAX movie experience. 

“Unfortunately, the video is symbolic of the summit itself — all talk, little action,” Jesse Bragg, media director at Corporate Accountability, said via email.

New York City Climate Strike in Photos

— By Julie Dermansky (3 min. read) —

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, inspired millions of students worldwide to take part in climate strikes on Friday, September 20 to demand politicians take urgent steps to stop climate change. An estimated 250,000 strikers marched in New York City from Foley Square to Battery Park. 

The global climate strikes took place before the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. The opening session of the summit is on September 21, with the fitting kickoff: Young People at the Frontlines. Greta Thunberg will be addressing the assembly on September 23.

Another Virtual Pipeline Truck Carrying Fracked Gas Crashes in New York. Local Climate Advocates Demand Urgent Action

— By Justin Nobel (6 min. read) —

On Monday around 1:00 a.m., a “Virtual Pipeline” truck carrying compressed natural gas mined from the Marcellus Shale crashed on Interstate 88 near Binghamton, New York, after the vehicle swerved to avoid deer, flipped over, and fatally ejected 52-year-old driver Jeffrey Lind. The truck’s container system began leaking compressed methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in Broome County, where the crash occurred.

About 80 nearby homes were evacuated, two separate school districts shut for the day, and an army of state officials deployed to the scene, including agents with the New York State Division of Homeland Security.

The US Is Exporting a Fracked Climate Catastrophe

— By Justin Mikulka (6 min. read) —

According to climate scientists, limiting the worst impacts of climate change means weaning the world off of fossil fuels, not ramping it up. But two factors, the U.S. “fracking revolution” that helped boost domestic oil and gas production to record levels combined with lifting the 40-year-long ban on exporting crude oil in 2015, are complicating that vision.

In June, the United States displaced Saudi Arabia as the top exporter of crude oil, a stunning development for a country that only started exporting crude in 2016. That month, the U.S. exported over 3 million barrels of crude oil per day. To put that in perspective, the U.S. consumed 20.5 million barrels per day in 2018. That means that each day, the U.S. was pumping out of its borders a volume of oil equivalent to about 15 percent of its 2018 daily consumption.

US Lobby Groups Most Effective at Blocking Climate Action – Report

— By Richard Collett-White (3 min. read) —

US lobby groups representing the fossil fuel and automotive industries are world leaders when it comes to stalling government action on climate change, new research shows.

Of the top 10 trade associations considered to be the most effective at opposing climate-friendly policies globally, seven are based in Washington DC, according to a report published this week by lobbying watchdog InfluenceMap.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Energy In Depth

Energy In Depth (EID) is a joint effort of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the firm FTI Consulting to promote and defend unconventional gas development, namely, fracking. DeSmog obtained a leaked memo in 2011 that revealed Energy In Depth “would not be possible without the early financial commitments” of major oil and gas interests including BP, Chevron, Shell, and XTO Energy (now owned by ExxonMobil). EID has promoted the “climate benefits of natural gas” and criticized the #ExxonKnew initiative to determine if the oil company had misled the public about climate change.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database or our new Koch Network Database.