Message From the Editor

This week President Biden signed an executive order directing his Department of Interior to hit pause on entering new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands, the latest in a string of climate-related directives aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Unsurprisingly, various industry groups immediately sprang into action to oppose the move, claiming hundreds of jobs were at stake. But Nick Cunningham takes a closer look at this misleading messaging.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are suing to overturn a new LNG-by-rail regulation fast-tracked under Trump. The rule was put in place before any public meetings were held to discuss the safety of transporting such volatile fuel by train. “The Biden administration should take a very close look at reconsidering this rule in light of the overwhelming safety concerns,” Earthjustice told DeSmog. Justin Mikulka has the full story.

We also have for you this week a photo essay exploring scenes from a locked-down Washington D.C. as Biden entered the White House. For the inauguration, the streets were nearly empty — cleared by a military and police presence in the wake of an attempted insurrection by Trump supporters that left five dead. Just a handful of activists supporting either Biden, Trump, or neither, could be found. Read more from Julie Dermansky.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmogblog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. DeSmog’s public interest journalism exposes misinformation that harms the climate and democracy. Can you pitch in $10 or $20 to support this essential work right now?

Oil Industry Inflates Job Impact From Biden’s New Pause on Drilling on Federal Lands

— By Nick Cunningham (7 min. read) —

On Wednesday, President Biden signed an executive order directing his Department of Interior to hit pause on entering new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands, the latest in a string of climate-related directives aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

On the campaign trail, then-candidate Joe Biden proposed a ban on new leases on public lands, a pledge the Trump campaign falsely claimed would “end fracking.” After Biden’s victory, a coalition of nearly 600 organizations from western states wrote a letter in December to the president-elect, urging him to follow through on his promise. The executive order begins that process.

Regulators Discuss LNG-by-Rail Safety Concerns — After Approving New Rule To Allow Transporting LNG by Rail

— By Justin Mikulka (12 min. read) —

New regulations were announced by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in July 2020 allowing the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail.

That same month, PHMSA released the interim report for its LNG-by-rail task force. It concluded: “The task force did not identify any new safety gaps related to the transportation of LNG in tank cars.”

Scenes from a Locked-Down Washington D.C. as Biden Takes the Reins

— By Julie Dermansky (11 min. read) —

A few hours before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, I talked to a supporter of President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. who was on her way to celebrate Trump’s inauguration at The Ellipse, a federal park near the White House. She didn’t want to give her name but once I identified myself as a reporter she wanted to be sure that I would spread the word that Trump had actually won the election.

I asked her if she knew that Trump had already left the White House and had reached his home in Florida. “It doesn’t matter where he is,” she said, “he can be sworn in from anywhere.”

Alberta Inquiry Steps into a Past Era's Dark Denial

— By David Suzuki (4 min. read) —

That anyone today could deny the overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence for human-caused climate disruption is shocking. You don't even need a science background to see its worsening effects occurring worldwide, from record-high temperatures to increasing extreme weather events and wildfires. For a government — especially one in Canada — to spend taxpayer money on reports that deny climate science is deplorable.

But that's what the Alberta government has done. Its $3.5-million public inquiry into what it calls “foreign-funded anti-energy campaigns” (“energy” only meaning fossil fuels and not renewable sources) commissioned and posted reports that University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski called “textbook examples of climate-change denialism.”

Cheaper Solar Power Means Low-income Families Can Also Benefit — With the Right Kind of Help

— By Galen Barbose Eric O’Shaughnessy, and Ryan Wiser of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (6 min. read) —

Until recently, rooftop solar panels were a clean energy technology that only wealthy Americans could afford. But prices have dropped, thanks mostly to falling costs for hardware, as well as price declines for installation and other “soft” costs.

Today hundreds of thousands of middle-class households across the U.S. are turning to solar power. But households with incomes below the median for their areas remain less likely to go solar. These low- and moderate-income households face several roadblocks to solar adoption, including cash constraints, low rates of home ownership and language barriers.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce describes itself as “the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions.” The primary focus of the U.S. Chamber is advocacy and lobbying for pro-business policies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors includes representation from the fossil fuel industry such as ConocoPhillips and Consol Energy (one of the biggest coal producers in the US). The Chamber is among a handful of lobby groups that hosted impromptu press calls for journalists this week decrying Biden’s new policy to ban oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands.

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