Message From the Editor

Americans support the steps taken by the Biden administration thus far to tackle climate change by large margins, according to a new poll. The widespread support comes as the White House and the U.S. Congress gear up for a major push on a roughly $3 trillion infrastructure proposal, which could potentially mark the most ambitious push on climate action ever attempted in the U.S. Read all about it here.

Campaigners, meanwhile, are calling for polluters to be denied access to this year’s pivotal COP26 summit and locked out of all future UN climate talks. A letter released this week, and signed by over 170 grassroots groups, urged the UK government to “kick out” polluters from sponsoring or even visiting the climate summit, claiming their presence is “poisoning” the climate debate. The letter by campaign group Glasgow Calls Out Polluters reads: “To protect vulnerable communities we urgently need a just transition to a fossil-free world but many polluters, whose profits depend on inaction, won’t let this happen.” Caitlin Tilley has the story.

And a new report warns that developing new shale gas fields in Appalachia “may not end up being profitable” in the years ahead. In addition, the associated petrochemical buildout that the region has pinned its hopes on as the future of natural gas is “unlikely,” the report states. For much of the past decade, the region has seen natural gas prices languish as drillers pumped too much gas out of the ground, which has resulted in persistently low prices. And now a renewed price surge appears unlikely as gas faces growing competition from solar and wind. Nick Cunningham reports.

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

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.

New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Climate Action as Congress Weighs Big Infrastructure Bill

— By Nick Cunningham (7 min. read) —

Americans support the steps taken by the Biden administration thus far to tackle climate change by large margins, according to a new poll. The widespread support comes as the White House and the U.S. Congress gear up for a major push on a roughly $3 trillion infrastructure proposal, which could potentially mark the most ambitious push on climate action ever attempted in the U.S.  

The new poll finds that in significant numbers Americans view climate change as an immediate threat, and by a two-to-one margin (60 percent agree versus 29 percent disagree), Americans say that “climate change is already having a serious impact on my part of the country.” 

Campaigners Urge UK Government To 'Lock Out' Polluters From COP26

— By Caitlin Tilley (4 min. read) —

Campaigners are calling for polluters to be denied access to this year’s pivotal COP26 summit and locked out of all future UN climate talks. 

A letter published today and signed by over 170 grassroots groups urged the government to “kick out” polluters from sponsoring or even visiting the summit, claiming their presence is “poisoning” the climate debate.

Appalachian Fracking Faces Financial Risks, Report Warns. Hopes for Petrochemical Plastics Boom ‘Unlikely.’

— By Nick Cunningham (11 min. read) —

Developing new shale gas fields in Appalachia “may not end up being profitable” in the years ahead according to a new report. In addition, the associated petrochemical buildout that the region has pinned its hopes on as the future of natural gas is “unlikely,” the report states.

Natural gas drillers need prices to rise in order to turn a profit and continue expanding, a scenario that appears doubtful, according to the report published by the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI), a Pennsylvania-based economic and sustainability think tank. Volatile market conditions for plastics are also putting the region’s plans for new petrochemical plants in question.

Why Companies’ ‘Net-Zero’ Emissions Pledges Should Trigger a Healthy Dose of Skepticism

— By Oliver Miltenberger, The University of Melbourne and Matthew D. Potts, University of California, Berkeley (6 min. read) —

Hundreds of companies, including major emitters like United Airlines, BP and Shell, have pledged to reduce their impact on climate change and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. These plans sound ambitious, but what does it actually take to reach net-zero and, more importantly, will it be enough to slow climate change?

As environmental policy and economics researchers, we study how companies make these net-zero pledges. Though the pledges make great press releases, net-zero is more complicated and potentially problematic than it may seem.

Experts Urge World Leaders to 'Put Marine Ecosystems at the Heart of Climate Policy'

— By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams (5 min. read) —

As global weather experts warned Monday that the world's oceans are “under threat like never before,” more than 3,000 scientists, politicians, and other public figures had endorsed an open letter urging national governments to “recognize the critical importance of our ocean and blue carbon in the fight against the climate emergency.”

Led by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and backed by 66 partner groups, the letter (pdf) calling on world leaders to “put marine ecosystems at the heart of climate policy” is now open to public signature and will be presented to governments before November's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a youth conservative activist organization with the mission “to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” When he was 18 years old, Charlie Kirk launched TPUSA with the guidance of William Montgomery and seed funding from Foster Friess, a conservative donor with ties to the Koch brothers. TPUSA now claims a presence on over 1,000 college campus and high schools across the country, and label themselves the largest and fastest growing youth organization in America.

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