Message From the Editor

Living near oil and gas drilling is not healthy for pregnant women and fetuses … and perhaps other living things. However, new research out of Oregon State University looking solely at the outcomes among nearly 3 million births in Texas over 13 years found that women living within 1.8 miles of a drilling site proved to have significantly higher risk for potentially deadly complications like eclampsia, according to Nick Cunningham’s write-up of the study.

If you’re looking to sneak a little climate change info into your next movie date, “Don’t Look Up” will fit the bill. Two psychologists explain how this black humor hit dresses up its climate change allegories in the guise of a regular disaster movie, resulting in a devastating take-down of how and why politicians, the media, and other power players avoid taking action and willfully disinform the public. Read more.

Hundreds of household names, from mayonnaise maker Heinz to financial asset manager BlackRock, are doing “little or nothing” to end deforestation, a major new report by environmental group Global Canopy has found. Despite a global pledge to halt the net loss of forests, a third of companies examined in the report have no policies in place at all to ensure their products are not driving deforestation. Phoebe Cooke has the story.

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

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle, Executive Director

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Living Closer to Oil and Gas Drilling Linked to Higher Risk of Pregnancy Complications, New Study Finds

— By Nick Cunningham (5 min. read)—

Living near oil and gas drilling may increase pregnant women’s risk of developing gestational hypertension and eclampsia, according to a new study.

“We observed for those pregnant women within one kilometer of drilling that there’s about a 5 percent increase in odds of gestational hypertension, and 26 percent increase odds of eclampsia,” Mary Willis, a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University and one of the authors of the study, told DeSmog. “So, it’s this really close range where we are seeing a potential impact right on women’s health.”

‘Don’t Look Up’: Hollywood’s Primer on Climate Denial Illustrates 5 Myths That Fuel Rejection of Science

— By Gale Sinatra (5 min. read)—

Every disaster movie seems to open with a scientist being ignored. “Don’t Look Up” is no exception – in fact, people ignoring or flat out denying scientific evidence is the point.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers who make a literally Earth-shattering discovery and then try to persuade the president to take action to save humanity. It’s a satire that explores how individuals, scientists, the media and politicians respond when faced with scientific facts that are uncomfortable, threatening and inconvenient.

Top Global Brands and Asset Managers Still Lack Adequate Anti-Deforestation Policies, Report Finds

— By Phoebe Cooke (3 min. read) —

Heinz, Jimmy Choo and BlackRock are among hundreds of household names doing “little or nothing” to end deforestation, a major new report has found.

The new Forest 500 report, published today by environmental group Global Canopy, assessed 350 top companies and 150 financial institutions that fund them, finding that a third of companies have no policies in place at all to ensure their products are not driving deforestation.

Coverage of Tory MPs’ Energy Bills Letter Ignores Ties to Climate Science Denial Group

— By Adam Barnett (4 min. read)—

A media blitz by backbench Tory MPs calling for cuts to green taxes, more North Sea oil and gas extraction, and the return of fracking, is led by politicians with close links to the UK’s main climate science denial group and reflects many of its demands.

A letter by the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) of 19 MPs and one peer, published in the Sunday Telegraph this week and covered on the front page of Monday’s Daily Mail as well as by the BBC, has fed into the ongoing debate around rising energy bills.

Echoing Climate Deniers, Washington Post Op-ed Imagines Electric Cars Stuck in Snow Instead of Gas Ones

— By ClimateDenierRoundup on Daily Kos (3 min. read)—

No one wants to get stuck in traffic. Or in the snow. Getting stuck in an all-day traffic jam because it snowed, well, that’s pretty much the worst. And that’s exactly what happened in Virginia this week, when hundreds of drivers spent all day stuck on the highway after a severe snowstorm turned a jackknifed semi from a relatively routine highway occurrence to a major SNAFU.

Fortunately, everyone was okay. But imagine if they weren’t! Wouldn’t that have been terrible! Imagine if zombies had attacked while they were stranded, or if a horde of chuds emerged from the frozen sewers to convert everyone to Scientology, or, and this may be worst of all …

The Western States Petroleum Association describes itself as the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States and its members include some of the largest oil, pipeline and energy companies in the United States, like Shell, Chevron and Exxon. The group seems to specialize in creating astroturf groups that sound like civic involvement 101 – such as the “California Drivers Alliance” – that lobby against environmental protections, carbon emissions caps, and other climate action legislation.

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