tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post8162714186017510683..comments2023-10-04T03:49:15.384-06:00Comments on Environmental Journalism Now: IPCC Report: What's a Journalist to Do?CEJ Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04017381382025138213noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post-69336006921922789132007-02-02T15:57:00.000-07:002007-02-02T15:57:00.000-07:00Following another strand of this story... The Bush...Following another strand of this story... The Bush Administration today touted how much it is doing to study climate change. But a two-year study by the National Academy of Sciences, released in Janaury, found one crucial aspect of climate science — monitoring the Earth from space to see how the planet is changing — is at risk. <br /><br />From the <a href="http://books.nap.edu/execsumm_pdf/11820.pdf">National Academy report:</a><br /><br />"As documented in this report, the United States’ extraordinary foundation of global observations <br />is at great risk. Between 2006 and the end of the decade, the number of operating missions will decrease dramatically and the number of operating sensors and instruments on NASA spacecraft, most of which are well past their nominal lifetimes, will decrease by some 40 percent . . ."<br /><br />See the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501049.html">Washington Post story on the report.</a><br /><br />-- T.Y.Tom Yulsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10275951856622997605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post-60741592365206476872007-02-02T15:42:00.000-07:002007-02-02T15:42:00.000-07:00Einav is referring to a report in the Guardian, wh...Einav is referring to a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2004399,00.html/">report in the Guardian</a>, which says that the American Enterprise Insitute has offered $10,000 to scientists and economists willing to write articles undermining the IPCC report. The article points out that ExxonMobil provides funding to the AEI.<br /><br />According to the article, "The AEI has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees."<br /><br />ExxonMobil held a conference call with bloggers this afternoon to discuss the IPCC report, and it issued an official response to the Guardian story:<br /><br />"ExxonMobil has no knowledge regarding the allegations made in the February 2 article by Ian Sample. ExxonMobil does fund AEI for the purpose of promoting active policy debate along with many others including Microsoft, Dell, State Farm, International Paper, Dow Chemical, American Express and others. The AEI is an independent tax exempt organization and questions related to this matter should be directed to them."<br /><br />ExxonMobil recently seemed to be throwing in the towel on the "global warming: yes or no?" fight. "We believe climate change is a serious issue and that action must be taken,” Ken Cohen, ExxonMobil's vice president for public affairs, said last week during a conference call. He even implied that the company was more partial to one policy option over another — a carbon tax as opposed to mandatory caps on CO2 emissions. <br /><br />Cohen said ExxonMobil had stopped funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which stands accused of misrepresenting climate science and pursuing a disinformation campaign to help ensure gridlock on the issue. But he didn't say a word about the American Enterprise Institute. <br /><br />Now we know the answer.<br /><br />-- Tom YulsmanTom Yulsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10275951856622997605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post-10684231512690569752007-02-02T14:49:00.000-07:002007-02-02T14:49:00.000-07:00Of course, the ExxonMobil-funded think tanks are a...Of course, the ExxonMobil-funded think tanks are already preparing retaliatory efforts to cast a shadow of doubt on the IPCC's findings.<br /><br /><br />Check out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/pl_afp/unclimateusdeny_070202142458&printer=1;_ylt=AvsF6ecedge08Qz5EnVEmPitOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-<br /><br />This is a perfect example of the methods of groups like the American Enterprise Institute; grease the palms and let media's obligation to "fairness" do the rest.Einavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09628762222263488592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post-92091571867280519442007-02-02T14:46:00.000-07:002007-02-02T14:46:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Einavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09628762222263488592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377722265453627416.post-7019063694523849932007-02-02T13:44:00.000-07:002007-02-02T13:44:00.000-07:00Given a statement today from Energy Secretary Samu...Given a statement today from Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, some might argue that the administration is not being serious enough. According to an <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070202/ap_on_go_co/climate_reax_us">"AP report"</a>, Bodman continued the administration's opposition to mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, saying this would hurt the economy. He claimed that the United States is "a small contributor" to greenhouse gas emissions. For the record, as a country the United States is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and overall we are responsible for about 27 percent of all emissions. <br /><br />Does that sound like "small" to you? <br /><br />-- Tom YulsmanTom Yulsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10275951856622997605noreply@blogger.com