climate deniers

A billionaire “vulture capitalist” and major backer of the US Republican Party is a major funder of the think tank of Danish climate science contrarian and fossil fuels advocate Bjørn Lomborg, DeSmogBlog has found. New York-based hedge fund manager Paul Singer’s charitable foundation gave $200,000 to Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC) in 2013, latest US tax disclosures reveal.

You’re not the only one who gets frustrated when John Boehner, Marco Rubio and others in Congress turn a blind eye to devastating, scientific evidence regarding climate change. In an interview with Thomas L. Friedman scheduled to air as part of the final episode of "Years of Living Dangerously," President Barack Obama revealed that he’s really no different than many of us when it comes to climate deniers.

There’s an old proverb that suggests it’s always the lie that gets half way around the world while the truth is still pulling its boots on. This is especially true in the realm of climate science, where deniers are quick to jump on anything that supports their theory (in itself a huge no-no according to scientific principles). The latest: a story in UK's The Times about an article rejected by a science journal for factual errors, but twisted to appear like a deliberate suppression of climate change denial.

Until recently, the Koch family empire ruled from the shadows afforded by unimaginable wealth. As more and more Americans open their eyes to the powers behind the modern conservative movement — and a whole lot of climate change denial — the information about this secretive family is beginning to spill out into the open. With a biography on the Koch family hitting bookstores on Tuesday, that story may finally be available for all to read.

While it's patently ridiculous to argue the reality of climate change, there is an argument to be said about the way scientists are selling the idea to the American people (and the world at large). Can they do a better job of explaining the facts — before it's too late?

Philosopher Lawrence Torcello wrote an article arguing there was “good reason to consider” that “the funding of climate denial” was morally and criminally negligent. He was prepared for blow-back, but not the malevolence that ensued.

Secretary of State John Kerry needs to talk with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Better yet, he should come see the South Carolina coast firsthand. Even a two- to three-foot rise in sea level will inundate many commercial areas and residential communities and destroy vital infrastructure. And this means we won’t be waiting until the end of the century to see our small-business coastal tourism economy start disappearing. It might be, as some scientists predict, only 30 to 40 years.

A new study backed by NASA warns that, much like the Romans and Mayans before us, our elite power brokers may be driving us towards a cliff as the 1% vacuums up wealth and natural resources. Although the study is largely theoretical, the new report is just one of many warning that the convergence of food, water and energy crises could create a "perfect storm" within 15 years.

Oogity boogity boo. Even as science shows that climate change is very real, something we can even see with our own eyes as the ice around both poles melts rapidly, some people still can't get over the mystical new nature created by the evil Wizard Global Warming.

The Supreme Court has agreed to make a decision on President Obama's executive actions regarding emissions regulations. The high court will review a lower court's upholding of the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases in power plants and factories. The EPA's authority, granted under the Clean Air Act, is an effort to stave off climate catastrophe and its upheaval would put Congress in charge of figuring out how to curb dangerous emissions. Because they're real good at getting things done.