Message From the Editor

The war in Ukraine has spurred efforts to get Europe off Russian gas and onto more of America’s fracked gas. Getting U.S. gas to Europe will involve liquifying it and then shipping it across the Atlantic. And as shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the United States increase, so too do the threats from an unwelcome intruder inherently part of America’s natural gas mix — radioactivity. Justin Nobel reports.

LNG exports were also on the mind of a guest columnist, John C. Allaire, an environmental engineer and resident of the Gulf Coast, where many export terminals are located. Allaire warned that we can’t guarantee that American LNG will actually end up in Europe, and that increasing exports “sows environmental destruction, benefits our adversaries, and pads the pockets of executives to the detriment of the average consumer.” Dive in.

We know that climate change has worsened existing inequality. But new research suggests the reverse is also true: Not only is climate change contributing to greater inequality, but inequality is also fueling climate change. Nick Cunningham interviewed one of the authors of the study about why policies focused only on greenhouse gas emissions will be less successful than a broader approach that tackles inequality and climate change together. Read the Q&A.

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

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

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As U.S. LNG Expands in Europe, a Hidden Threat Grows

— By Justin Nobel (8 min. read) —

In March, President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a joint task force with the goal of getting Europe off Russian gas and onto more of America’s fracked gas. Most Russian gas reaches Europe via pipeline, so getting U.S. gas to Europe will involve liquifying it and then shipping it across the Atlantic. And as shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the United States increase, so too do the threats from an unwelcome intruder inherently part of America’s natural gas mix — radioactivity.

That’s because government figures indicate that much of the gas that will be shipped to Europe may come from the Marcellus and Utica, black shale formations in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. About 40 percent of natural gas produced in the United States comes from these formations, and, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, they have particularly high radioactivity levels.

Q&A: The Causal Relationship Between Inequality and Climate Change

— By Nick Cunningham (10 min. read)—

Climate change has worsened global inequality, with poorer countries less able to withstand and adapt to climate change’s effects. It also has worsened inequality within countries between the rich and the poor: The impacts of drought, floods, hurricanes, and extreme heat are disproportionately felt by low-income communities and communities of color.

But new research suggests the reverse is also true: Not only is climate change contributing to greater inequality, but inequality is also fueling climate change.

Opinion: America Does Not Need More LNG Export Terminals

— By John C. Allaire (3 min. read)—

When I look out my window here in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, I see hundreds of marsh birds: ospreys, pelicans, ducks, ibis, terns, roseate spoonbills — beautiful wildlife that now is under attack, as in many areas along the Gulf Coast.

This truly is God’s country, but massive gas export terminals proposed to be built here will destroy these precious natural resources and cause irreparable harm to the environment and those who depend on this region for their livelihoods — all just to export more energy to America’s competitors.

Big Tech Must Do More to Combat Climate Disinformation ‘Super-spreaders’, Report Says

— By Phoebe Cooke (3 min. read)—

Big Tech platforms are spreading climate disinformation “with impunity” but have the tools to solve this crisis, a new report has said today.

“Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate Disinformation at COP26” was launched on Thursday at the Bonn Climate Change Conference.

Researchers from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a think tank monitoring extremism, and the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition, captured misleading social media climate narratives over an 18 month period, with a focus on the 2021 Glasgow climate conference.

BP and Shell Pension Schemes Still Lack Net Zero Targets Despite Company Pledges

— By Adam Barnett (3 min. read) —

Pension schemes run by BP and Shell have yet to bring in net zero targets for their investment portfolios despite the fossil fuel giants’ “green” marketing, new analysis has found.

The report, from the Make My Money Matter campaign, casts further doubt on the companies’ climate commitments, after experts have found the companies’ own net zero goals to be insufficient.

Patrick Moore is a Canadian nuclear energy advocate and founder of Greenspirit Enterprises, a PR company he started in 1991 that works “with many leading organizations in forestry, biotechnology, aquaculture and plastics, developing solutions in the areas of natural resources, biodiversity, energy and climate change.” Moore has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry, and in defense of biotechnology. In Marc Morano’s 2020 film Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a clip was played in which Moore described the climate crisis as “fake news”: “In fact, the whole climate crisis, as they call it, is not only fake news, it’s fake science. There is no climate crisis,” Moore commented.

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