Message from the Editor

Since the Paris climate accord was agreed five years ago, climate denial on social media has evolved and shifted. To better understand today’s type of climate science denial we analyzed over 300,000 tweets since 2016. From doomsday scenarios to conspiracies totally removed from reality, the analysis found there are four main fear-based narratives that today’s climate deniers are spreading to prevent climate policy. Read more here.

Meanwhile, in a new study, scientists found that Appalachian mountaintop removal coal mining has put endangered species at risk thousands of times. Since 1985, streams and rivers have repeatedly suffered “acute” levels of toxic chemicals in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, despite U.S. efforts to paint a rosy environmental image abroad. Sharon Kelly reports.

And in case you missed it, this week a city in Oregon just broke off negotiations with a major gas utility that has resisted greenhouse gas reduction targets, and has instead opted to go the route of banning new gas hookups in new homes and buildings. The City of Eugene follows in the footsteps of dozens of other cities around the country going electric. Activists believe it could set off a domino-like trend in Oregon and more broadly across the Pacific Northwest. Nick Cunningham has the story.

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

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism.

Climate Deniers Are Using These Four Major Scare Tactics to Stop Climate Action

— By Stella Levantesi & Giulio Corsi (10 min. read) —

When fossil fuel companies found out about the link between their product and climate change decades ago, they did everything they could to hide it. They lied, manipulated, and deceived.

Today, denying the reality of climate change isn’t as easy, and it is certainly more controversial. But that doesn’t mean climate deniers — fossil fuel companies, lobbyists, and their allies opposed to climate action — have moved past the lies.

Scientists Find Appalachian Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Put Endangered Species at Risk Thousands of Times

— By Sharon Kelly (9 min. read) —

In the heart of West Virginia, somewhere along a 22-mile stretch of the Elk River, swims one of the world’s rarest fish, the diamond darter. This tiny partly-translucent fish buries itself beneath grains of sand and gravel in the river-bottom during the day, just its black eyes peeping out as it perhaps hunts or hides from predators itself. The darter’s silvery sides sparkle when it emerges in the evening, giving rise to its gem-inspired name.

It used to be that, if you were lucky and eagle-eyed, you might encounter a diamond darter in many places along the Ohio River Valley, not just this tiny stretch of the Elk River. But in the intervening decades, the region’s rivers were dammed or channeled and the fossil fuel era dawned across Appalachia. Meanwhile, the diamond darter’s numbers dwindled to the point that up until 1980, when biologists rediscovered the Elk River population, the fish was believed extinct.

This City in Oregon is Making Moves to Ban Natural Gas in New Homes and Buildings

— By Nick Cunningham (3 min. read)—

The City of Eugene, Oregon, initiated a process on November 17 that could lead to a ban on new natural gas hookups in residential and commercial buildings, following in the footsteps of dozens of other cities around the country. The move would be the first in Oregon, and activists believe it could set off a domino-like trend in the state and more broadly across the Pacific Northwest.

The Eugene City Council approved a process in which they would consider a ban on new gas hookups in the coming months, with the ban tentatively planned to take effect in January 2023. Wednesday’s vote did not immediately approve the prohibition, but the apparent strong support from a majority of the City Council suggested that there is considerable momentum in that direction.